'Community' sneak peek: The Dean has Christmas kittens

The much-beleaguered fourth season of NBC's critically acclaimed comedy series Community is slowly approaching; we're less than two months away now. It's been a rough journey; first there was the unceremonious firing of creator Dan Harmon due to his conflicts with star Chevy Chase, and then, months later, there came the news that Chase was also leaving the series. Fans are hopeful but not quite confident that new showrunners David Guarascio and Moses Port can keep up with Harmon's enormously high quality of writing. And, of course, there's the whole October 19 debacle, when it was announced that season 4 had been delayed from that premiere date until February. 

That wouldn't have been such an issue if Community didn't already have its yearly Christmas episode lined up, meaning that we'll be getting a holiday version of Community sometime in the spring. To remind us of this fact (and, really, to remind us that Community is indeed returning), NBC has released a new clip from season 4, from the Christmas special episode. 

The clip sees the group all over at the Dean's house. And, for some reason, Chang is there, despite all the unforgivable things he did in the final episodes of the show's third season. Chang also appears to have cats and dogs confused, for no apparent reason. It's not a very funny clip -- in fact, it's a little baffling -- but I'll take any Community I can get at this point. 

Check out this clip, with a special introduction by your friend, Joel McHale, below. 

Community season 4 will premiere February 7 on NBC.