Community's first two episodes back from its unplanned hiatus left us mildly disappointed, but third time proved to be the charm as "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" -- the first of a two-parter that concludes next week -- got the show back on track, striking the right blend of broad comedy with a light touch of tragedy.

We could make a joke about how last night's Community episode was doing an impression of a previously hilarious show by the same name, but, much like the episode itself, that seems a bit too tortured.

The last time Community was on the air, 30 Rock hadn't kicked off what has actually been a pretty good Season 6, The Voice hadn't premiered showcasing Christina Aguilera's odd taste in headpieces, Maya Rudolph hadn't hosted the best Saturday Night Live in ages and Parks and Recreation hadn't scored such great guest stars as Paul Rudd, Louis C.K. and Kathryn Hahn. In other words, there's been lots of funny stuff on NBC of late, so Dan Harmon and the rest of the Greendale gang were going to have to bring their A-game for the show's highly anticipated return, "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts." So how did they all fare? Here's our post-hiatus status report, along with the new details we learned about each character:

As voice of (semi) reason Jeff Winger remarked at the end of last night's holiday-themed episode of Community, "Regional Holiday Music," it's been a dark semester for our favorite Greendale students, what with Jeff "basically killing a guy", Dean Pelton going mad in the jungle and the creation of an alternate timeline with evil versions of Troy and Abed. So it was thoughtful of the writers to offer up a light-hearted, music-filled Glee spoof for the show's last episode of 2011. Of course, then we remembered that this could potentially be the last Community episode of the entire midseason and we got dark and depressed all over again. So we watched "Regional Holiday Music" a second time and its spot-on side-swipes at Glee (particularly Taran Killiam's scary-good Matthew Morrison impression as Cory Radison or, as he prefers, "Mr. Rad"), glimpses of the Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special (we'll get to see more of that one day, yes?), the sweet finale with all the gang together and -- best of all -- the musical numbers that raised our spirits all over again. Here's how we graded each original tune.

So far, Season 3 of Community has evenly divided itself between high concept outings like "Remedial Chaos Theory" and "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux" and more standard sitcom narratives like "Geography of Global Conflict" and "Studies in Modern Movement," with the former episodes generally proving stronger than the latter. Given the mostly weak competition, "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" was probably the best "normal" episode Community has aired this season; the A and B-storylines were juggled far more effectively than in "Advanced Gay" (the show's worst outing so far this year) and the writers still left plenty of room for their pop-culture flights of fancy, from the welcome return of Abed's Batman -- who emerged from his Batcave (actually the Dreamatorium) to investigate the theft of his super-special Dark Knight DVD -- to the dead-on Dragon Ball Z-homage during Jeff and Shirley's epic, revenge-driven foosball game.

By now we've all heard the news that NBC, in its infinite wisdom, has removed Community from its midseason schedule with plans to air the rest of Season 3 at an unspecified date. It's a disappointing development, but not altogether surprising since the show's already low ratings have dipped even further since its return in September. And, quite frankly, episodes like last night's "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux," an elaborate spoof of the excellent 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness -- about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War classic Apocalypse Now, featuring remarkable behind-the-scenes footage shot by his wife, Eleanor -- won't do anything to turn Community into a ratings monster.

After its awkwardly constructed, humor-challenged Pierce and Troy-centric outing last week, Community thankfully spread the comic wealth around to the entire study group in "Studies in Modern Movement," instantly making it one of Season 3's better episodes. While Annie and #AnniesMove into Troy and Abed's apartment took up the bulk of the half-hour, the episode also featured Dean and Jeff sharing some quality karaoke time, Shirley and Britta battling and then bonding over a random hitchhiker they picked up and Pierce... uh, getting high off paint fumes (hey, not every plot can be a winner, right?). Here's how we graded the episode's four storylines:

Well, that was... different. One of the admirable things about Community is its willingness to regularly reinvent itself from episode to episode, with the writers often playing around with narrative, tone and even genre. As a result, the last thing you typically expect from a Community episode is a typical A-plot/B-plot sitcom structure. But that's what we got with "Advanced Gay," which split its focus between two very different storylines, the first involving Pierce and Jeff's daddy issues and the second positioning Troy at a crossroads between two careers: plumber or air conditioner repairman. There's something to be said for playing it straight, particularly after the high-concept hijinks of the past two Community outings. But as the episode progressed, things felt increasingly off and not in a deliberate way. Part of the problem was that one plot -- specifically Troy's -- proved significantly stronger than the other and there wasn't much connective tissue binding them together. So "Advanced Gay" wound up feeling like two distinctly separate episodes mashed together in a lumpy, misshapen way. It wasn't unpleasant -- just unfocused. Here's our breakdown of the good, the bad and the meh.

Coming on the heels of a stellar outing like "Remedial Chaos Theory," it was perhaps inevitable that the next new episode of Community was going to feel slightly disappointing. And sure enough, last night's Halloween-themed "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" was a more uneven affair than its brilliantly conceived and executed predecessor.

Probably because I grew up devouring every "Choose Your Own Adventure" book in existence, I've always had a deep affection for stories that juggle multiple "What if?" timelines. Sliding Doors? Back to the Future Part II? Run Lola Run? The ending(s) of Wayne's World? Love 'em all. (The only one I can't abide by is The Butterfly Effect. The Kutcher factor torpedoes that one from the get-go.) So really, there was little chance of me not enjoying "Remedial Chaos Theory," Community's take on this peculiar genre. And I thought the episode delivered -- each of the six (seven if you count the primary reality) timelines had its own distinct mood, jokes and set of consequences. (Best of all? None of them featured a surprise appearance by Chang.) But which timeline was the absolute best? Read on.