"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" Review

I was asked to review an episode of NBC's "Community," a smart comedy series about a band of misfits who attend Greendale Community College. It is first showing TONIGHT, Thursday the 9th on NBC.

Let me first tell you a little bit about this particular episode:

At the center of the group is Jeff Winger (Joel McHale, "The Soup"), a fast-talking lawyer whose degree has been revoked. With some help from his fellow classmates, Winger forms a study group that eventually learns more about themselves than their course work.
Also among the series stars who comprise the group are: comedy legend Chevy Chase ("Chuck") as Pierce, a man whose life experience has brought him infinite wisdom; Gillian Jacobs ("The Book of Daniel") as Britta, the 20-something dropout with something to prove; Yvette Nicole Brown ("Rules of Engagement") as Shirley, a sassy middle-aged divorcée; Danny Pudi ("Greek") as Abed, a pop culture junkie; Alison Brie ("Mad Men") as Annie, a high-strung perfectionist; Donald Glover ("30 Rock") as Troy, a former high school football star trying to find his way, and Ken Jeong ("The Hangover") as Señor Chang.

The "Community" Christmas episode everyone will be talking about!

EPISODE:

ABED'S UNCONTROLLABLE CHRISTMAS - (TV-PG)

In this special stop motion animation episode, the meaning of Christmas is lost and Abed's intense fixation on Christmas concerns the group.

When Abed (Danny Pudi) wakes up in stop-motion animation, he takes it as a sign that he and the group must re-discover the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) become growingly concerned about Abed's mental health and enlist the help of Professor Duncan (John Oliver). The group undergoes hypnosis to explore Abed's winter wonderland and soon unravel the truth behind Abed’s madness. Chevy Chase, Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, and Ken Jeong also star.
everyone will be talking about!

MY TAKE:

The new Claymation Christmas episode is kind of like the old Christmas shows "Frosty the Snowman", "Rudolph", just more up to date.

Abed is Muslim....trying to figure out the meaning of Christmas.

This is not like any other Christmas special I have ever seen. The characters in the show are of multiple religions. It highlights most of the BIG religions, and how they celebrate in tidbits. For example...you see a Jewish Menorrah, a song is sung with the mention of Baby Jesus, etc.

I can't honestly say that I liked the show. There was some mild language, that I didn't feel was appropriate for a Christmas special. It is DEFINITELY NOT for children. It simply is a discussion of the meaning of Christmas...or what the characters believe the meaning of Christmas is...with what some may believe to be comedy. It wasn't really my type of comedy...but I could see where some might find it funny.

Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas (rated PG)
Thursday night December 9th (8/7pm) on NBC.

*I was asked to review this episode and in exchange I was put into a drawing...all of the thoughts in this post are mine and mine alone*