XIII rocks XIII ranks the Community Episodes

In June 2015, XIII decided to rank the episodes of one of his favourite TV shows, NBC/Yahoo sitcom Community. The show was also very popular on board 8, leading to some interest.



The Rankings
Here are the rankings and writeups in full. Copypasted directly from notepad file, so excuse any stray HTML.

110. Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations

Annie: We were just…

Abed: About to…

Troy: Eat Garbage Dip! …Why did I have to go third?!

Jeff and Britta spend Thanksgiving with Jeff’s estranged Father and Half-Brother; Pierce, Annie, Abed and Troy have a horrible Thanksgiving at Shirley’s and attempt to escape it.

I don’t want my write-ups on the Season 4 episodes to be dominated by “I wish Dan Harmon were here” – it’s unfair to the people who worked on it - but holy shit doing this episode without Harmon at the helm is tantamount to blasphemy. This is the episode that prompted him to (stupidly) compare Season 4 to “being held down and watching his family get raped on the beach”, and what’s funny is I didn’t even remember this was the specific episode he was talking about when he said that until I was halfway done with the ranking – I googled his reaction to Season 4 again out of curiosity, and to procrastinate from the very hard process of pulling this ranking together.

This is still not awful television, or anything like that. I love the characters and for the most part the reference humour too much to despise an episode of Community. I just re-watched it before starting this writeup and there are amusing parts. Though the very worst of Britta comes out in the early-middle parts of this episode, the end conversation she has with Jeff is sweet. One of my favourite S4 episodes shows how Britta and Jeff’s relationship has by that point grown into a very respectful, friendly one and this is an episode that – after a struggle – shows that off. Jeff throwing a surprise Thanksgiving at the study room table is also sweet. Britta having a stereo queued up so she can start a “when I say thera, you say pist! Thera! Pist!” thing with Troy and Abed was also genuinely amusing. Jeff’s speech was a little too syrupy, a little too on-the-nose, a little too “look how damaged Jeff really is!” (which we knew already) but Joel McHale did a great job of selling it – another feature of Season 4 generally is the actors doing a phenomenal job of selling questionable material.

But then there’s this guy.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/community-sitcom/images/4/45/Willy_Junior.jpg

At his worst, Chang can be an episode-damager. But he’s never an episode-destroyer, and man, Jeff’s half-brother is an episode destroyer. I get the point of him being so annoying to the characters is designed to show William’s incompetence as a father, but that doesn’t excuse a character whose dialogue I wanted to fast-forward through when I rewatched. He’s over-the-top, irritating, and just poorly conceived and executed. Jeff’s Dad is relatively nondescript, and that’s what was most disappointing – and where this episode needed Dan Harmon to ever make it to air. I’m not saying they would have got Bill Murray with Harmon at the helm, but I’m not even sure they tried, and that’s a damn shame. Also, why did he try Pierce’s “fake heart attack” thing? A really weak callback.

The B plot sees the rest of the gang at Shirley’s for Thanksgiving, and this is where the episode became the worst of all – because it’s so utterly disappointing, the Shawshank parody so forced. In Community, if the A plot misses the mark, the B-plot – usually featuring Troy, Abed or both – can almost always help to pick up the slack because the actors have chemistry both with each other and the entire rest of the cast, and their goofy antics are almost always fun. You’ll find a decent example of this at number 98 on the list. Here we have the reverse of that happening – the A plot missing the mark and the B-plot serving as a further ballast to bring down the whole thing. Season 4 is underrated (though maybe I only think that because of my love for Community as a whole), but this is one of those times where the criticisms of it are on the money. This was an attempt by the new showrunners and writers to say “look, we can do movie homages too!” and failing spectacularly because it was far more broad. This was a plotline that ran a serious risk of breaking an already shaky base. The “Shirley’s relative said Batman is gay!” gag from Troy made me want to throw something. Even the quote I used for this episode is recycled from the “we were just getting Jeff ready for the fiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ght” gag in Season 1.

Also, man, Pierce I sort of get, but I can’t buy the other three turning up at Shirley’s for hospitality then hiding away, even after – or especially after – Shirley guilt-trips them. Likewise Britta wanting to be a therapist SO badly that she openly inserts herself into Jeff and his Dad’s first conversation with each other. I get that she’s the worst, but even she has some boundaries, some sense of awareness. It’s great characters doing horrid, cringeworthy things that make me like them less – but not being presented like they’re doing horrid, cringeworthy things, like in Competitive Ecology, for example – in order to force comedic situations.

And then, again, there’s this guy.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/community-sitcom/images/4/45/Willy_Junior.jpg

Bad bad bad bad bad

109. Alternative History of the German Invasion

Dean Pelton: We frown on anyone celebrating their own cultural heritage…it’s why I keep a detailed list of every student’s race and nationality, to prevent racism and nationalism.

The study group goes to war over the study room with an irritating group of German students.

My Dad never loses his temper, but one time I’m told he truly lost it was when we were on holiday in Spain. I was like 4 or 5. Basically, our family (and most of the other people who were staying at the same hotel, British or otherwise) were repeatedly beaten to the good seats around the pool by a bunch of Germans. Fair enough, they beat us there. So one day we decided to get up extra early and get the towels around the pool before breakfast. And we did it, we got the good seats. So then we go to breakfast, come back to the pool, and the Germans are legitimately moving the towels out of the way – throwing some on the floor, dumping them, what have you. My Dad lost it with them at that point. It’s a story I’ve been told and have heard told dozens of times over the years because of how rare it is for him to go ape shit over anything, really. He’s a very mellow person. So “Germans waking up early to do stuff and non-Germans having to get up even earlier to stop them doing stuff” is a gag that’s well rooted in my own family mythology.

My point is I should find the gags in this episode – such as when the group get up “crazy early” to book out the study room before the German students do - just hilarious. But I don’t. Because it’s really poorly executed. Making fun of Germany was just a gag device to enable a nice Jeff/Shirley plotline in Season 3, but expanding that theme to a whole episode just felt awkward and the study group becoming the Nazis was just beyond ridiculous, even for a show that loves to go beyond ridiculous.

This could easily be last, I just despise the principle of not-Dan Harmon overseeing Jeff reuniting with his Dad so much. But this is a really poor episode of Community. I like when the entire group bands together in the name of one cause, but here it’s done in such a messy plot, with a horribly rushed ending. It’s a montage of the group doing some fixy-up-y things to Greendale, and then the Dean comes in and says “well done you guys, everyone forgave you”. Like seriously, they went from “You are Nazis” to “you’re forgiven”. Such a shoddy resolution. The show somewhat justifies it by saying they are making “reparations” to continue the WW2 resolution, but it’s lipstick on a pig when it’s so rushed and the reparations so shallow.

Good things: Troy not knowing any of the German puns Jeff was making (I liked Angela Jerkels), and the third flashback to the group shutting people out of the study room showing Jeff in some kind of ice skating outfit and saying “you have to come back later, I’m trying to prove a point”; Leonard pointing out that the group are like Nazis and using the fact that Shirley was wearing an SS t-shirt as evidence, Britta literally comparing Jeff to Hitler, Pierce really wanting to be Hitler instead of Jeff, a decent enough end tag but god damnit you don’t need to use Daybreak every single time.

Oh and “yay” Chang is back. Changnesia Chang is probably the least offensive/intrusive brand of Chang, while also falling way behind the quality of S1 or even S3 Chang.

108. Basic Genealogy (Season 1, Episode 18)

''It’s Family Day at Greendale. Abed’s and Shirley’s respective families clash, Britta tries to prove to Troy that Troy’s Grandmother isn’t a monster, and Jeff flirts with Pierce’s ex stepdaughter.''

Troy: I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU BRITTA! I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU AT ALL!


 * Jeff walks in with Amber wrapped around him*

Jeff: You know what? Totally wrong room. Would you get the door?

The above-mentioned quote is one of a few genuine laughs in this episode, but the fact remains that if I do the thing I do now and then where I put “1-3” and then “1-22/24/25” into random.org to watch an episode and I end up on this one, I almost always randomize another episode to watch. I just have too many problems with this episode to put it anywhere but in the lower reaches of the list.

Firstly, Jeff and Slater’s relationship ending at a really odd time in a really shoddy way solely to justify. I didn’t mind Slater at all – she was occasionally very funny and beautiful – and this was basically the end of her character, with the exception of a misjudged appearance in the S1 finale. Second, I thought Katharine McPhee as Pierce’s ex-stepdaughter was kind of a misfire. I mean, yeah, she was gorgeous (I kind of dig the shorter hair), but her performance otherwise left me cold. I like Annie’s role in the episode, mitigating Jeff’s asshole side (I didn’t do it twice! I wanted to do it twice), but it centres itself around a character I can’t enjoy.

The Abed/Shirley storyline kind of annoyed me – I get that this is the point, but Abed’s Dad is such an uncomfortable character to watch, so severe, and offers so few laughs that he’s kind of a turn-off. I suppose I  am amused by the fact that he was the “kidney stones!” guy in Friends. I think he was best-used in Heroic Origins, which wasn’t until Season 4. Also I think Community handles racial/ethnic issues best when it’s just the main cast and they’re able to crack easy jokes about it due to their familiarity with each other – when you get an on-the-nose Muslim vs. Christian dichotomy it gets awkward and uncomfortable and very un-Community. It’s not devoid of Community’s signature strong writing: “that’s Elijah, after the prophet, and Jordan, after the 14-time NBA all-star” and Shirley’s kids in the vending machine were decent, and the whole “playing hide and seek” “where are they?” “I don’t think that’s how it works” exchange was stiletto-sharp - the deadpan delivery of Danny Pudi made it even better. But on the whole this wasn’t a storyline I enjoyed.

I enjoyed Britta and Troy’s reaction to Troy’s grandmother, but the cringe-worthy grandmother character and Britta slowly digging a bigger hole for herself while being unable to admit it isn’t usually my kind of humour, or the jokes missed this time. It did end up with the great scene I mentioned in the quote, and Donald Glover makes literally everything he’s given work* (and generally Gillian Jacobs too), so it’s still worthwhile television.

Jeff hates Glee.


 * Seriously, why is Glover not in all the movies? Pudi plays Abed excellently but Glover is possibly tied with Jim Rash as the most consistently outstanding performer while generally being given more difficult material.

107. Conventions of Space and Time (Season 4, Episode 3)

''The gang go to an Inspector Spacetime convention. Annie pretends she’s married to Jeff; Jeff pretends to be a British actor to get sex; Abed meets a British Inspector Spacetime superfan, which makes Troy jealous; Shirley and Pierce partake in a focus group for an American version of the show.''

What Jeff and I are exhibiting is more a platonic symbiosis than hormonally-induced courtship behavior.

This episode has some clever things to say about Abed as a character – to me it seemed to say that he doesn’t need to be as sheltered and babied as he is by the group. That he doesn’t really need to be protected from the knowledge that Troy and Britta are sleeping with each other, and people walking on eggshells around him sometimes leads to more problems than treating him normally. That maybe Troy needs Abed just as much as Abed needs Troy. Examining Abed isn’t particularly new but it was refreshing to maybe get a slightly different perspective.

The big structural issue with this episode is that it’s seriously overstuffed. Jeff and Annie both have different semi-plotlines which then later merge into each other, and the gag of Annie trying to throw water on Jeff but the glasses being empty was good, but that’s precious time eaten on setup. Pierce and Shirley have a C-story that leads to a genuinely funny end tag – Abed’s look of horror was perfectly played - but the scenes involved aren’t actually very good (YNB does a solid job, as always).

But yeah I find Troy/Abed heartwarming and the best part of the show on the whole, so I should love an episode that raises a toast to it and puts it in something vaguely resembling peril. But this was done with far more believable stakes, and in a far more entertaining way, in Pillows and Blankets, so my instinct here is to compare the two and in every single aspect this episode falls woefully short. Also I’ve always found the Inspector Spacetime stuff very hit and miss, maybe because - try as I might - I simply cannot love Doctor Who.

And then there’s this guy.

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/community-sitcom/images/6/6b/Toby_Weeks.jpg

The best thing related to Toby is the whole “Nigerian prince email scam” thing. Then he starts speaking and acting and being things and I want to fast-forward through all of his  scenes. My reaction to seeing him was “oh hey it’s Matt Lucas, I know that guy! Cool.” Then about 5 seconds after he started talking I remembered why I didn’t like Matt Lucas and my reaction became “oh god it’s Matt Lucas, I know that guy. Shit.” It’s not just that he’s unfunny; he actively drags down every scene he is in, the character is an awful foil for Abed, and just god go away go away go away. Like Jeff’s half-brother, he is another “episode-destroyer”.

This episode just has some nice things going for it that put it marginally higher than the rest; the opening sequence, despite it blatantly being a stunt-double and not Gillian Jacobs, is very funny – wacky enough to be classic Community and featuring nice comedic beats like Britta hiding her shoes in the lamp and Annie handing her the curling iron as she swings around. It’s wacky, inventive, and well-choreographed with a good punchline. Also I laughed hard at “BOW BEFORE THORAXIS!”

OK, you caught me. I used an EDI quote, mostly because one of the few times I came alive in this episode was when I heard that familiar voice and then felt oddly disconcerted when she wasn’t talking about Biotics, relays, or D-Day locations. (71 years, btw)

In all seriousness, getting Tricia Helfer for this episode was a nice little piece of casting given her roots in Sci-Fi stuff.

106. Intro to Knots (Season 4, Episode 10)

''The group have a Christmas party and attempt to butter up their history professor in order to get a higher grade on their latest paper. Chang ties him up.''

Annie: So our age difference isn't a problem for you?

Jeff: No. I wish you were even younger.

The other episodes have serious flaws that keep them low, but this is just about the most forgettable episode of Community there ever was, I think. Apparently it was originally meant to be a homage to the Hitchcock movie Rope, but even the creator of the episode acknowledged they were unable to fully commit to that movie’s “one-take” style, which really says it all about this half-baked effort. It’s so poor that I really had to work hard to find that quote, in the end settling for one from the bizarre movie-traileresque end tag which foreshadowed the finale (though at the time it was just a semi-funny aside, even if it did smack of the general desperation S4 smacked of).

One of S4’s greatest crimes, apart from the obvious, was the misuse of Malcolm McDowell. I mean, he did OK, but he’s pretty solid and they did very little with him. Given Professor Kane in S3 was pretty good, and S1 Chang was probably the best Chang, and I knew going in how talented McDowell is. This is MMD’s starring episode and it’s a pity it’s in such a weak one. That said, he does a good job with what he’s given.

Community did two very good Christmas episodes and one I found not-great, but this one just fell seriously short of the mark. That’s a shame, because Community is a show with the heart and characters to do great Christmas episodes, and what’s more, S4 was the most sentimental of the seasons to date at that point. A combination that should have worked, but the sentimentality left me cold, far too often the humour often didn’t land, and just…blah.

I did enjoy Jeff dumping his Greendale hoodie, though. And kittens.

105. Competitive Wine Tasting

Jeff is puzzled when a woman he hit on ignores him in favour of Pierce; Troy lies about past traumas to fit into an acting class, which causes Britta to become attracted to him; Abed tries to prove to a stuffy professor who the boss was in “Who’s The Boss?”

Troy: MY EMOTIONS! MY EMOTIONS!

Before anyone attacks me for this (though I don’t see why you would), Dan Harmon also hates this episode, so there.

http://www.avclub.com/article/dan-harmon-walks-us-through-icommunityis-second-se-57312

''Is there anything good about that episode? It’s got to be one of the worst.''

(His recap of the 2nd season is well worth a read if you have time, btw)

Anyway, yeah, it’s not great. Like every episode, it’s a worthwhile 20 minutes and has some funny moments, but the main two stories are really unremarkable and lack fun moments. Troy hamming it up with the above quote was great, but the various euphemisms he had for his ass weren’t funny, Britta making out with him and it being the start of the Britta/Troy romance subplot, which didn’t pay off until the end of Season 3. Meanwhile, the main storyline just whiffs - Jeff’s jealousy, Pierce’s delusion, it’s kind of old hat by this point in the story and does nothing new with those traits. I didn’t dig the ending either.

I loved the “there’s a class on how to write jokes” “no don’t take that, I dropped it after the lesson on setups; the professor is so old…” gag though. Pretty intelligent and the kind of thing I tune into Community for. It was also cool to see Abed and Troy have an entirely normal conversation, where they confided in each other about the separate issues they were facing that week. That’s the kind of thing I like, where they touch base with each other even when they’re not necessarily involved in the same storyline. I believe it only happens like three or four times total in the whole show, but it’s good stuff and a clever expository device that doesn’t really feel like one, because of their close friendship.

This show’s one unqualified success, and the reason I bumped it up a few places at the last minute, is the C plot with Abed. It’s only 3 or 4 short scenes – otherwise this would be higher - but they’re really good scenes and establishes that “never miss with Abed in a TV debate” thing. It kind of messes with continuity, since Abed said in a previous episode he could never make it past the opening credits of Who’s The Boss, but I’ll forgive it. Also, I give it some extra credit because the actor who played the Professor wrote this really nice story of his time on the set, and how it was his first job since heart surgery. Another thing well worth reading.

http://www.thewrap.com/stephen-tobolowsky-essay-community-chevy-chase/

104. Celebrity Pharmacology 212 (Season 2, Episode 13)

The gang take part in a play to promote drug awareness; Pierce wants a bigger part.

Annie: You don’t count, Britta, you don’t respond to anything appropriately.

Britta [joyful]: Thank you!

This is the epitome of “episodes where I immediately randomize a new one”, but not because it’s worse than the two S1-3 episodes below it but because it has such a recognisable opening; Troy rolling his eyes wearing a bee costume.

The Jeff/Britta storyline is really creepy and drags the episode down a lot too much for me to enjoy it. Jeff taking Britta’s bra and giving it to her nephew is just straight-up blugh. A lot of S2 episodes in the ranking get dragged down by the below-par Shirley/Chang/Andre, and that rears its ugly head here too, though the ending was a neat resolution to bring Chang’s desire to prove himself into the drugs play and save it, but everything before it is stuff I kind of want to skip.

Annie/Pierce is a sweet relationship and works really well in the earlier documentary episode and at other occasional parts of the series, and I liked the glimpse into Pierce’s origin when he watches that old film. But here I couldn’t get into Pierce’s attempts to blackmail Annie, and most of the plotline, right up until the resolution which was sweet – even if I think Annie was a little too forgiving. I just instantly think of this as a really ho-hum episode and there’s nothing I can do to shake that feeling – that this is an episode to be avoided.

#104. Advanced Introduction to Finality (Season 4, Episode 13)

Jeff prepares to graduate, and the group throw a party for him in the study room; the darkest timeline comes into play.

Abed: LISTEN UP PEOPLE! We got an interdimensional battle on our hands. Our evil counterparts are waging a war and it’s either us…or us.

Ah, this notorious episode.

OK yeah, so people criticise Season 4 all the time for constantly trying to say to the viewer in a very on-the-nose way: “Look at us! We’re still Community! In-jokes! Continuity! Far-too-broad homages!” This is absolutely the guiltiest episode of them all, coming right at the end of the season. It takes the unanimously well-received plot of Remedial Chaos Theory, and the “darkest timeline” meme that became a big deal when it looked like the show would be cancelled, and turns it into an episode.

What really gets me about this episode is that it’s Joel McHale’s weakest performance in the series. That’s not saying much because he’s a very consistent, and sometimes underrated, performer (everyone’s always so keen to praise Alison Brie, Donald Glover or Jim Rash it seems, but McHale keeps the whole thing together and does a great job with it weekly). Not Evil Jeff, I think he pulls off Evil Jeff with aplomb and does a good job with a completely stupid idea. But Good Jeff…man. The scene were Good Jeff is talking to Evil Jeff is the most poorly-acted ever, and his delivery on the line “I was hoping for more,” right after he threw the die, was shocking. When a performer is as good as he is, you do notice cracks when they appear far more easily.

I don’t mind the darkest timeline thing being all in Jeff’s head, because had it not been that might have irreparably damaged the show. The concept of it being a daydream is full of plotholes but I can sort of just go with it or explain them away for the sake of entertainment. But it does make the 15 minutes seem rather wasted, even if the totally outlandish nature of it and seemingly elevated stakes allow for the show to explore new (but not necessarily wanted) places.

I did laugh at several points in the episode – Abed’s delivery of the quoted line is absolutely top-notch, and while The Cape getting to Season 3 on cable was maybe something you could fit into that aforementioned “on-the-nose” category, it still made me chuckle. Pierce shooting himself (“well that bow tied itself”), Shirley telling her evil self to get help, Troy saying “ballin…” after he shot his evil self, Troy coming up with the Troyjan Horse only for Evil Jeff to tell him people would think it had horse in it – which breaks Troy completely and makes him hate Jeff - and a virtually-naked Jeff appearing Terminator-style in the Dean’s office, only for the Dean to miss it completely because his back is turned. Also I like the aesthetic of the evil timeline guys.

The ending is also very sweet, an argument in favour of S4’s greater sentimentality, and it wrote Pierce off in a neat enough way given the limitations on Chevy Chase’s appearances at that point. The tag is weak though; Troy and Abed in the morning is fine apart from the punchline here, which is just Jeff saying TAAITM doesn’t exist, ie what he did the first time he was on the show. That could well have been the last we ever saw of Community, which would have been unacceptable.

The episode isn’t as bad as it was made out to be, but then I’m capable of closing my mind to plotholes in favour of entertaining myself. I sympathise with, say, the AV Club, who gave it a D (by far the lowest ever score for a Community episode), but I don’t see it as this dark moment for the series. It’s a below-par episode, sure, and in a lot of ways it’s pretty dumb. But it also has its moments. It doesn’t get bogged down in soapy relationship stuff like S1 does or in a misfiring subplot like some S2 stuff does, but it is both less amusing and a little less meaningful than almost any episode from those two series.

I will give the episode credit – if you have to do an episode where you bring the darkest timeline over to our reality, having the Jeff from that timeline serve as a contrast to “our” Jeff in order to highlight and discuss how he has developed over the four seasons was quite a clever way to do it. I mean, the worst case scenario would literally have been evil Abed trying to take over the prime timeline, but this idea had more dramatic stakes and Abed’s speech right before Jeff snapped back to reality worked well to show it.

It’s weird to find myself defending an episode that it outside the top 100 in a list featuring only 110 participants! I feel like this is an episode a lot of people would have expected to be in the bottom 3.

102. Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy (Season 2, Episode 18)

Shirley convinces Jeff to make Chang sign a forfeiture of parental rights; Britta dates Troy and Abed’s new European friend.

Luka: Britta? Like…Britta-ny Spears?

Britta: Exactly like Britney Spears! …Hit me with your Genie’s bottle…rub it all over me…”

Troy: Britta! There’s a difference between telling us a guy likes nipple play and telling us a guy makes HATS out of BABIES.

This episode has Chang/Andre scenes.

I’m tempted to just leave it at that, because that should more than justify its low placement.

And you know what, yeah, I basically will. It has Chang at his Changiest and worst and Andre just isn’t a very funny character – he’s a believable husband for Shirley and he’s fine, but any scene featuring him AND Chang is just going to be dead air. The whole A-plot is bad. I’ve already mentioned how much I disliked the Chang/Andre/Shirley storyline and it rears its ugly head again here. The B plot is actually good and saves the episode; I like it when somebody else gets to interact with the Troy/Abed pairing and comes at that relationship from the outside. A lot of laughs, and the dude who played Luka did a good job. But I just want to skip through almost everything involving Chang or Andre. Yvette Nicole Brown is great, as always, but she can’t save it.

But seriously, Chang/Andre scenes. That says it all.

#101. Regional Holiday Music (Season 3, Episode 10)

The gang slowly but surely gets roped into joining Greendale’s Glee Club and singing at the Christmas pageant.

Annie: Beepidoopibeepdoop sex.

The ending of this episode is touching, but it treads similar ground to that of Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, so points off for originality. It’s weird to me that they had Abed’s problems at Christmas serve as a central issue for the Christmas episode two years running; why couldn’t this episode have been about, say, Britta. It could have addressed her parents, potential loneliness at Christmas, or something like that. I don’t know, I just feel like Abed being the central figure here was kind of a re-tread. That said, though, the Troy/Abed rap is one of the show’s all-time highlights. It’s so good, so funny, and I’ve watched it a ton of times.

Because of that rap I want to love this episode more, but those are the main highlights. I’m not a fan of Glee, and I know Community hates Glee or something so they thought they’d do this episode as a weird parody of Glee and also turn it into an Invasion of the Body Snatchers homage or something but god I just want to skip it. I usually love it when Community does songs (spoilers: the puppet episode is high), but I don’t like them here, and I just generally dislike the premise. It’s just that little bit too bitchy, and pushes that “regionals” gag that little bit too far – one of those times I want to call Harmon out for being an asshole, even when he’s mocking a show I don’t have a whole lot of love for. It’s like when you say a show is bad for, that’s funny. Everyone in the room laughs. But when you start saying it’s bad over and over, for slightly different reasons, and then more aggressively and more loudly and more obnoxiously, everyone in the room looks at you like you’re an alien.

The problem is that I fucking LOVE Christmas episodes, too. The fact that it’s a Christmas episode actually puts this higher, because Christmas episodes are, or should generally be, better (god damnit Intro to Knots), but man, I just can’t love this one. It’s another episode I just have a tendency to skip when it comes up on the randomizer.

Annie’s song taking the “young girl” fantasy to its logical extreme and showing how creepy it can be was admittedly quite clever.

100. Pascal's Triangle Revisited (Season 1, Episode 25)

''It's the end of the first year at Greendale. Jeff is embroiled in a love triangle with Britta and Slater; Troy tries move in with Abed; Annie contemplates going to Delaware with Vaughn.''

Troy: Why does Abed hate me?

Pierce: What are you kidding? Look at him. He probably hates America.

Community doesn't make me absolutely lose it with laughter very often - I mean, it's a hilarious show, but the humour is so quick and so frequent and so clever I almost have to laugh quickly and move on to keep up with it at times. But now and then you come across something funny enough to make me truly lose it, and the above quote is one of a couple of times Pierce made me hit the pause button. Absolutely hilarious.

Unfortunately, that's the sole highlight of this episode. Season 1 almost outstays its welcome, really; Modern Warfare feels like it could and should be a finale, and the episode after it - the one where Annie tries to make the study group take all the same classes - feels like a season finale too. And then you come to this one, which is just the apotheosis of all the soapy relationship stuff that occasionally dragged S1 down. Though Gillian Jacobs and to an extent the actress who played Slater did a good job with their material, when it comes down to it they were doing something that was such a generic soap opera angle it was hard to save, even if they do go the typical Community route of subverting it a bit, particularly with the ending.

Speaking of which, I was happy to see Vaughn written out of the show; I actually liked the character and thought he had some legitimately amusing moments (I loved him and Pierce being in the band together, however brief it was), but him and Slater both kind of represented the "soapy relationship" stuff that hampers S1.

The episode does get some good mileage out of jokes like the "tranny dance" and the Dean's sexual deviances, and I liked the resolution of the Troy/Abed plotline - I think it was good that the show resisted having them move in together for a year, and waited until S3, when the show was more comfortable with taking the show off-campus, to make that happen. John Oliver as a supporting cast member also shines in this episode, both as Jeff's foil and sort-of confidant and as an antagonist for Chang who eventually gets his comeuppance.

I love the first episode of Season 2 because its pivotal scene blows all of the tension developed in S1 off at once, and reverts to "faster, self-contained escapades" as Abed called it. Community ultimately rejected the sort of thing prevalent in this episode, but it had to come to a boil first, and it did here.

Yay for Professor Whitman showing up though.

99. Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts (Season 2, Episode 22)

Shirley goes into premature labour in the Anthropology room; Pierce buys the rights to Abed and Troy's handshake.

Britta: Women have a connectedness to their bodies that you will never understand.

Jeff: [Whispering] You have a booger.

Britta: [Hesitates] I know...it's...part of me.

It's the finale of the not-so-good Shirley/Chang/Andre storyline, and not a moment too soon.

Something that's worth mentioning - Chang's look of being absolutely crushed when Andre shows up in the nick of time. It's one of very few times in the series that the Chang character evokes any sympathy whatsoever, and it's almost like if the baby HAD been Chang's he might have not been the irritant he was. But then you have things like the "drinking duck sauce" gag, which whiffs horribly, and you go right back to being all "ugh, Chang" again. He's not a total loss in this episode though, with the ending a nice redemption for him. I wish the character had gone up from this point, rather than further down into the insanity he exhibited in S3.

The thing about this episode is that everything NOT the central storyline is pretty great. John Oliver is great for the short time he's in this; he rocks the opening 5 minutes or so, and plays drunkeness so hilariously. I liked him telling the class to throw the paper balls at Annie, who was being a ruiner of fun. The Dean attempting to calm down Shirley by making some bizarre, high-pitched noise was great, as was his complete ignorance of cultures (eg not knowing there was a difference between North Korean and South Korean BBQ) which is a well the show goes to fairly often with the Dean - right up until the final episode, in fact - and usually with pretty great results.

Jeff and Britta have amazing chemistry as always, and their little asides in this episode are probably the highlight. I liked Jeff's little pep talk to Britta to get her to deliver the baby, and Jeff's little smile as Britta got in the zone was sweet. Funniest part of the episode was a few minutes before that, when Britta looked underneath Shirley's skirt to see if the baby had appeared and Gillian Jacobs puts on the most fantastic look of slow horror. It's so gradual and subtle and the music in the background just gives it extra kick.

In the meantime, Pierce doesn't congratulate Shirley or have any role in the birth, cementing his role as an outsider, and all he does here is buy the rights to Troy and Abed's handshake in an attempt to destroy it. It's a fun enough thing to cut to, and Abed/Troy running to Jeff to snitch on Pierce was a nice look at the dynamic of the group and how Jeff is seen so completely as a leader and pseudo-father figure.

Oh, and that little subplot gave us probably the best reading of a single word in the whole series by who else but Donald Glover:

https://youtu.be/AgiDL65PLOk

All in all, too much Chang, too much Andre, too much baby story. Shirley gets some good one-liners and her facial expressions and such are really good given the relative limitations of the role she's given. And as usual with possibly-standard episodes of this show, the supporting cast and other member characters pull it through.

98. Grifting 101 (Season 6, Episode 9)

''The group takes a class on grifting, and gets grifted by the teacher. They plot revenge.''

Chang: There's nothing to get better at. The class is a grift!

Elroy: THE NEXT PERSON THAT SAYS GRIFT IS GONNA...grift! Oh my god, now it's replacing other words.

Firstly, it must be said that the teacher was guest star Matt Berry, which was fucking excellent because Matt Berry is absolutely the man. Also a weird, little-known IT Crowd connection with Joel McHale. Berry does a good job with this (and there's a great reference to Donald Glover's album "Because the Internet" about halfway through), but it's probably the weakest of Community's high-concept episodes. It lacks laughs and momentum and again goes to the "Jeff Winger is insecure" well, but this time without success.

Like I can't believe in Britta being expelled at this point, it just felt like kind of a weak crisis to throw in there, even when it was revealed to all be part of the grift. Elroy getting the group's history wrong is one of my favourite gags though and him thinking Britta started the study group to sleep with Troy was 10/10. (Most things Elroy does are 10/10.)

Also what the hell is it with the group doing completely crazy, over-the-top celebrations that last way longer than they need to? This also happens in Wedding Videography and it was just so...odd. Off. Wrong somehow. And certainly not funny. It's like being the only sober guy at the party. Except, as I said, not funny.

The great thing about Community's concept episodes is often that they're funny even if you haven't seen the movie or TV show it's sending up. GI Jeff worked well for me and I've never watched an episode of GI Joe, for example. But here, I've never seen The Sting and thus it didn't really work as well as it could have. And the opening was super cheap, being visually the same as normal but with slightly different music.

I still laughed at a lot of it, though, mostly because Matt Berry was so great.

97. Course Listing Unavailable (Season 3, Episode 18)

''In the wake of Starburns' death, the gang learn they will have to retake Biology over the Summer and instigate a riot. Meanwhile, Chang plots to gain more power.''

Troy: I was gonna be the first one in my family to graduate from Community College. Everyone else graduated from normal college. Now they're really gonna give me a hard time.

My main issue with this episode is how...transitional it is. It's like exposition: the episode, purely there to get the group expelled to set into motion the season finale arc. And those final episodes are good, but this is like the 2nd movie in a trilogy (rarely the best), where narratively it's more about setup than delivering as a standalone deal. It's another episode I skip on the randomizer, purely because it's so deeply embedded in that arc it becomes a little bit inaccessible. Meanwhile, the episode that follows it - Curriculum Unavailable, aka the second "clip show" episode - is able to stand fantastically well on its own, because it uses a hilarious and well-executed standalone concept (that had already worked well in Season 2) to provide  amusing, accessible viewing while also advancing the plot.

I mean the episode is fine. Britta trying to be a therapist and being absolutely terrible at it was terrific - in fact that whole sequence was probably the highlight of the thing, especially when she gets the group to imagine puppies on fire. Chevy Chase's delivery of "LET'S BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN!" to instigate the riot is absolutely terrific, and I thought the Dean having to hold his calls to select the appropriate outfit to talk to the study group was hilarious. The sheer drunken incompetence of the Greendale school board is one of my favourite running gags in the series, and the board laughing off the truth about Chang was a great way to highlight how ridiculous the whole thing had become.

Also, as per usual, it had a sweet ending that nicely called back to Remedial Chaos Theory  (including the same Pizza guy!); it's good to know that when things are at their lowest point, the group will come together and make it abundantly clear to Britta that no, she's not the worst and that really either she's the best or they're all the worst, and that in times like that they're even more willing to compromise on Abed's whimsy (the timelines thing). The fact that it's Troy who snaps them out of their funk rather than Jeff was also appreciated, too - I wish they'd played more with Troy becoming more of a leader, which they used as a device in both the S2 finale and Remedial Chaos Theory but rarely came up otherwise. But here is one of the times Troy proves Pierce's will right, and showed that he does indeed have "the heart of a hero".

But overall I just can't get past this idea that narratively it feels like a necessity rather than a labour of love. It's maybe the only one of 110 episodes that doesn't stand on its own.

96. Paranormal Parentage (Season 4, Episode 2)

On Halloween, Pierce locks himself in his panic room and the group split off into pairs to explore his mansion and get him out of there.

Abed: I remember when this show was about a Community College.

This episode really didn't deliver for laughs, and the jokes that missed (and every episode of Community has at least one joke that misses for me, either because it doesn't quite work or I don't get what it's referencing, but in a show that tends to pack in like 4 or 5 jokes per minute, that's forgivable) missed in a far more negative way than they usually would.

In the same way the S4 finale was McHale's weakest performance, I don't think Donald Glover did well here. He couldn't make the "something in the wall behind you" gag funny, his response to Abed knowing the theatrical release date of Do The Right Thing was badly delivered. I mean, he's still good - "secret dogs!" was very nearly the chosen quote for this episode - but I just noticed that while he's normally one of the best parts of the show, he was off on more than a couple of occasions. Oh yeah, and the "no sweat Boba Fett" line was so contrived in its setup that it's a classic example of S4 Community trying too hard to be S1-3 Community. Even Glover couldn't make it appear natural. But Shirley is great here, and for the first and only time in the show's history the talents of a usually-underused YNB make up for Glover, who flounders a little.

In fact, it's kind of weird to me that Troy and Shirley  weren't used together more often. Not because I'm racist (shut up) but because on more than a few occasions the show alludes to Shirley/Troy as a mother-son relationship, with Troy's innocence and childishness igniting Shirley's maternal instincts. It's mostly referenced in S1 ("You're not my mother." "She's not?!"), but in S3 Pillows and Blankets Shirley sides with Troy against Abed, referring to Troy as "my boy". It's a relationship that's alluded to but basically never explored until S4, maybe because the writers were worried it would make the show appear racist or something like that. But this episode gets some good mileage out of it - Shirley tries to be a mother to Troy, telling him not to do anything with Britta he's uncomfortable with. Troy has no idea what she means, and  in a broader sense Troy's naivete contrasts with Shirley's lack of it - Shirley being a little ashamed that she knows what the indoor swing is for was also a nice touch. The characters meshed well together even with a subpar Troy and, like I said, it's a shame they didn't get more out of it before Glover left.

And of course Jeff/Britta is an amazing pairing because of their electrifying chemistry. Jeff running away from Britta as though she were a ghost in the haunted house was great, nice way to show Jeff's as scared of therapy as he would be of a ghost, I suppose. Oh, and Britta's "is this what the zone feels like?" dance was one of my favourite parts of the episode. Annie/Abed missed though, which is weird because they're another pairing that's worked well since S1 (and continued to work right up until the end of S6, in fact).

The episode also highlights Troy and Britta as a couple, but resists partnering them up - which is good. Community is a show that I've found always (well, post-S1, but even partly during S1) handled romantic relationships very well, simply by rarely making them the focal point once they're steady. So here Troy and Britta get a nice, sweet, little scene at the end and at the beginning, Troy mentions how they've not done "all the things" yet, but they have done "things", but that's about it. They're dating. OK, so? I love that. The fact that they're having sex doesn't need to be the be-all and end-all, it's just another thing that's happening in the lives of these people.

I should probably talk about the main plot. S4 sets out to repair a lot of the damage done to the Pierce character over the years, and this is the first of three key episodes in S4 that do this in spades. The ending with Gilbert is a sweet conclusion and a neat way to provide a "haunted" presence in the house while not being anything paranormal. This episode nailed sentiment quite well on the whole.

This could have been lower, but it was both hugely significant while not being ruinous (like the bottom episode of the list was), and I really dug the aesthetics. Pierce's mansion was appropriately bizarre and stupid, and I liked the mansion floorplan as a way to cut between scenes. The costumes were great too.

95. Early 21st Century Romanticism (Season 2, Episode 15)

On Valentine's Day, Jeff fights with the group and stays home to watch football with Dunan and Chang; Abed and Troy compete for the attention of a cute librarian, Pierce's painkiller addiction continues to escalate, Britta flaunts her friendship with a lesbian.

Jeff: You know what Pierce probably needs more than anything? Some space. Maybe i do too.

Britta: You know what? Maybe we all need some space. To pull the knife out of the back of the most celebrated Canadian alt-rock band of the mid-90s, you selfish, jaded, ass!

Jeff: This is a fight! We are fighting!

That whole Barenaked Ladies argument in the show's opening was an absolute slice of fried gold, some of the best study room work yet.

But this is another low-ranked S2 episode dragged down by Chang. John Oliver was as great as he always is but then Chang arrived at Jeff's house and it took a huge nosedive. Props (Pops?) for introducing Magnitude though. Troy and Abed's plot was clever because it managed to circumvent the predictable route of them fighting over the girl - in fact, as Community typically does, it hung a lampshade over it, ensuring that the two were very above board about the whole situation and, ultimately, Troy dumped the girl for Abed when she even gently criticised him. And it was funny, too. The scenes it got were the highlights of the episode, from Troy and Abed carrying Tacos in the briefcase (when they turned to do a whispered deliberation in that scene, I'm like 90% sure Troy said "I want to eat those Tacos"), to the end scene. I always thought the heart of Friends wasn't Ross and Rachel but Chandler and Joey, and those two were at their best when the had scenes mocking their own close relationship - like the chick and duck being their kids ("stay for them!"), for example. Troy and Abed do something similar here and it strikes a similar comic chord to positive results.

The Britta/Annie storyline kinda whiffs, mostly because I think Annie - though innocent and prone to look up to Britta as a more enlightened, worldly person - would protest more about being called homophobic. It did nicely carry on the episode's sort-of theme of odd relationships - from Pierce's with his pills, to Troy and Abed with each other, to Britta using Paige's supposed sexuality to appear more tolerant, to Jeff's dependence on the study group, which is a nice ribbon with which to tie the episode together.

Oh, and "YOU GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!" was another time Community made me burst out laughing simply because it was so completely out of the blue. Chevy nailed explosive rage so well and I was still laughing about it at the end of the episode, which left things on a real cliffhanger.

94.  Asian Population Studies

''Returning from Christmas, Annie tries to get Rich into the study group, but Jeff resists. Meanwhile, Shirley's ex-husband Andre appears and she reveals her pregnancy; Troy and Pierce try to figure out if the baby is Chang's or Andre's.''

Jeff: How old is he again?

Annie: 30 something, I'm assuming? He has a landline and uses the word "album".

Go away Chang/Andre stuff pls

This episode does have the brilliant Winger speech where he manages to convince half the group that Chang would be a better addition to the group than Rich. Oh, and Britta lifting her top for fat Neill in exchange for concert tickets was hilarious, mostly because the indignant way she shouted "MEZZANINE?!" was excellent. I love Gillian Jacobs in this show. The ending thing whiffs (and is never touched on again), and it was really obvious to me that it wasn't Annie Jeff was talking to.

Great tag though. I love how Rich is actually OK with Troy and Abed in the morning not being a real show and just likes it as a fun way to start the day, because that's how good a person Rich is. And it makes him really weirdly hateable.

But all in all this marked something of a return to the soapy relationship stuff of S1, even if it was done with a little more elegance and classic Community craziness. But between the Shirley/Andre/Chang triangle and the Annie/Jeff fluff, that's a lot of the episode being dragged down. Troy and Pierce were great together though.

93. Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts (Season 3, Episode 11)

''Britta convinces Shirley and Pierce to invest in a sandwich shop in the cafeteria, but then Andre re-proposes to her. Troy and Abed attempt to de-weirdify for the wedding and Jeff tries to come up with a good speech.''

Britta: This may shock you, Annie, but I come from a long line of wives and mothers.

Annie: Many do.

Troy: There are a lot of layers to this.

Abed: It's almost too conceptual to follow, but...I love it.

What I really noticed about this episode was some kinda lazy visual gags. The celebrity impersonator episode does this with Jeff's apple-ego expanding and I didn't like it then, while this episode did it with Jeff "looking in his heart" and it cycling through a bunch of things Jeff likes before settling on alcohol, as well as Shirley laughing and the screen showing a "literally two full minutes later" card. That's pretty unoriginal Top Gear level humour, and Community is and should be a cut above that. They do something a little better with the joke, showing Shirley's laughter ending and her handing back a bottle of water to someone, but that's not enough to save a broken concept. This kindf of thing happening not once, but thrice in the same episode was kind of jarring to me.

The episode also makes use of Andre, who is maybe just that little bit too normal and straight-laced to fit into Community, especially in Season 3 when the weirdness was starting to become maybe a little on the "inaccessibly weird" side. He's got a couple of good, funny moments, but it's kind of a push and a lot of his scenes kinda hurt the momentum of the episode. The ending was sentimental, and Community usually does sentimentality well (it's often better at sentiment than it is at comedy, which is saying something), but because I don't have much invested in Andre and Shirley it doesn't work as well as it should.

But the other characters hit their mark here which is great. Pierce plays up his blithering idiocy as well as ever, but he manages to be sympathetic and more human in this episode than usual. Him admitting Hawthorne Wipes fired him was a genuine gut-punch and Shirley's compassion played into it nicely as well. I thought it was a bit of a shame that Subway ended up getting the shop instead, but they got rid of Subway in the end so it worked out fine.

Troy and Abed being normal was pretty great, probably the highlight of the episode. It's telling about them that their take on "being normal" is to actually be sarcastic douches, and it shows that no matter what they do they'll never fit in. And they accept that, making the ending - featuring Abed talking off with a bowl upside-down over his head - very nice. The "dreamatorium weird-down" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px8D8wc4C2o) was the best laugh of the episode too. As was the quote I used, which is basically  a description of Community.

92. Basic RV Repair and Palmistry (Season 6, Episode 11)

When the gang take a road trip in Elroy's RV to sell a giant fibreglass hand the Dean bought, they run out of gas and are stranded.

Annie: You have no sense of accountability. You're like a child.

Dean: If I'm a child, you're a child abuser. No, not cool, Annie.

This episode is fucking weird. Now to be fair that's pretty redundant when you're talking about Community, but this episode is really, really fucking weird.

I'm gonna get right to it: in this episode, Jeff slaps Abed around the face, and that is Community's most shocking moment ever for me. It wasn't played for laughs like when Jeff slapped Troy in the S3 clip show episode, Jeff legit got sick of Abed to the point of physically abusing him, and this was the second time that had happened this season (though the first one was played more for laughs). Abed's regression post-Troy is actually kind of tragic. Abed with Troy had another human to ground him but he became more and more like early-S1 Abed as time went by, and I don't see that as bad writing but as a conscious decision. The end result is that Jeff - who every episode this season shows that he is more and more depressed by the fact that he's stuck at Greendale, drinking even more heavily than usual - has much less patience with Abed and almost literally pulls fewer punches.

That slap was the most memorable part of the episode, rather than say the Dean's silly behaviour. But it was memorable in a really good way - it felt like it made sense, and the episode had been building to it more and more as the episode went on. The flashback sequences Abed uses, and Jeff mitigating Abed in all of them, was good. It was Abed's mind processing how overbearing Jeff had become, but being unable to stand that feeling, and then getting so caught up that rabbit hole that he ended up losing his grip on reality even more, which in turn frustrated Jeff even more. And then Abed goes to help the Dean, because at this point they're both outcasts. Abed sees the Dean as a lifeline, and so when they flash back Abed visualises Dean tazing Jeff - removing Jeff's controlling nature.

To top it all off, the way Frankie manipulated Abed into helping them was clever, funny (and absurd) and kind of showed that while Frankie maybe a little softer than Jeff, she's also kind of a monster, unafraid to deepen Abed's delusions in order to get what she wants/needs. The only thing I would say is that it all seems to hinge on Abed thinking TV flashbacks are the people in the show actually travelling in time, and I feel like Abed can tell life from TV a little better than that. He understands structure and nonlinear narrative, so it's a little weird that in this episode he would actually think he could flash back and change the future. I suppose you could say Jeff drove him further away from reality into believing that, but it feels more like Abed being stupid - and he's far from stupid - more than it does him being out of touch with reality.

The episode's message seems to be is that if you hold onto something too tight, you'll miss other stuff, so now and then you need to let go - as in, you need to let go of Community. This is further highlighted by Jeff (one of Harmon's two voices, the other being Abed) being "sick of the show". It's a nice message, and even with the prop used being a hand it doesn't feel too "heavy-handed" >_>

My point is that this episode is a very, very intense character study, as well as a message about how maybe it's time to let go of the show. Harmon's comments recently about how his heart wasn't fully in Season 6 bear this out, I think - he was ready to let it be, and maybe it was time everybody else was, too. It's really one of the most layered episodes in the show's entire run, but that becomes kind of a problem because it gets in the way of the humour of the episode. It seems like Community does Chekov. So while it's a very interesting, entertaining half-hour, I'm also a little disconnected from it.

Comedically Elroy is absolutely fantastic here - his barely suppressed rage when everyone charges their phones and drains the RV's battery is perfectly played, almost scary but comedic gold. I do have a problem with him being excluded from the final group hug; if I have one issue with this series it's that at times it treated Elroy too much like an outsider. There's no reason why he shouldn't have been at the bar in the finale, for example, other than "3 characters saying they're going to leave in one bar scene" would have been a bit of an overload. But in this episode he's mostly quite central until the end, which is a little jarring, but whatever, minor complaint.

Also it didn't cover how they got home, which would have taken like 30 seconds and this was a Yahoo episode, meaning there wasn't as much time pressure. Bit of an odd decision. The ending does seem kind of neat and rushed all-around. The music used at the end of the episode is one of my favourite songs used in Community, too; it was also used at the very end of the S1 Valentine's Day episode, if I recall correctly. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8fSnMqQQYk)

Final observation: Jeff acting like he knew everything about RV Repair and constantly interrupting and talking over Elroy was great.

Oh and that tag was maybe a little too dark to enjoy.

91. The Art of Discourse (Season 1, Episode 22)

Jeff and Britta enter into a feud with some high-schoolers and go to any length to win; Pierce crosses a line with Shirley and is expelled from the group; Troy tries to help Abed complete a list of classic collge experiences.

Abed: We lost our Cliff Clavin! Our George Costanza! Our Turtle...or Johnny Drama...or E. Man, that show is sloppy.

This isn't a particularly loved episode, and I can kind of see why because the payoff is literally Britta and Jeff making indiscriminate "duhh!" noises to a bunch of supremely irritating high school kids and getting the same thing back, followed by Pierce pantsing said kids.

The thing about those high-school kids is they're MEANT to be fucking irritating beyond belief and they pull it off almost too well. Like, they were very effective antagonists for Jeff and Britta to team up against and for that I kind of applaud the episode, but there's also the fact that it got to the point that I didn't want to see them on screen at all because I hated them so much. So I don't know if it was X-Pac heat or actual heat. Collectively they're the Joffrey of Community.

And I know neat conclusions isn't Community's jam, but god, those kids were so fucking annoying that if there was ever a time to give us a perfect happy ending, this was it - but they just had to put up those title cards saying the kids ended up becoming like, Supreme Court Justices and whatnot. No. Tell me they grew up homeless or something. Blagh.

So this is a little higher than a lot of people might put it, mainly because while I hated the kids I kind of applaud the show for making me hate them so much.

And also because I loved the other plots. Shirley and Pierce don't get a whole lot in the way of main, substantial plots in the first Season and this is something for both of the talented actors to sink their teeth into. Pierce thinking he's absolutely hilarious when he pantses Shirley and the "shit man you went too far" reaction to that, and then Pierce demanding an apology, was just all perfect. Then later, Pierce apologises to the wrong black woman which is one of the funniest moments in S1, coupled with the completely resigned reaction of the rest of the group (Jeff: "yep.").

Then in that same scene, you get the hilarity of Jeff and Britta finally realising how to "beat" the high-school kids with the pettiest, most pathetic scheme possible - bang one of the high-schoolers' mothers. It's hilarious in two ways. One, to see their silly feud overtake the more serious issue of Shirley storming out of the group, and two to see their sheer ecstasy about winning the feud and the length they would go to in order to ensure victory. It's pretty much solid gold all-around.

Another flaw is that I thought the scene where the group realised they needed Pierce was kinda rushed and a little too neat, but you've only got 20 minutes to play with, so I get it I suppose.

I love when Troy and Abed just mess around in the background for an episode. Their plot here is basically a fun thing to cut to or to include funny sight gags during the other scenes (Troy having a goat and calling it an "escape goat," which was almost the quote for this episode, the two of them wearing Togas, the robot thingy), so it's not much of a substantial plot, and it has a weak conclusion (Troy more or less just says "let's stop" and Abed agrees, leading into the episode-ending food fight). But to be honest there are never enough Troy/Abed plots and it's a relationship that's so enjoyable it works at whatever level you want to pitch it - as the central issue of Pillows and Blankets or Geothermal Escapism, or as a fun C-plot like here. Fun end tag involving them too, as always (this was the porn names one).

Oh and this episode set up the "Britta owns an iPod nano" thing which eventually got paid off 5 years later, so sort-of-props for that, but more for Cooperative Polygraphy.

90. History 101 (Season 4, Episode 1)

''The gang return for senior year. Abed is aware their time at Greendale is coming to a close and at Britta's advisement retreats to his internal "happy place"; Troy and Britta put coins in a wishing fountain; Shirley and Annie play senior pranks; Jeff tries to get the entire group into the History of Ice Cream by taking part in a series of bizarre challenges devised by the dean.''

Abed: All our wishes come true. Last year Troy wished that we got Bin Laden and the Dorito Taco.

Troy: Yeah, but Obama got credit for both.

There was a lot of anxiety going into this episode, because it was the first post-Harmon. And no, it's not great and a lot of the jokes miss, but it also hits a lot of the right notes and there's something to be said for its earnestness, its determination to win the fanbase's approval. It's chock-full of classic Community stuff - meta references, jokes within jokes, the Dean in silly costumes (three!), the whole ", " gag (in this case, Britta saying "here's the deal, Jessica Biel"), that kind of thing. The fake-"Abed's mental sitcom" thing lead to some good jokes, particularly the opening with references to Troy's Letterman's jacket, Jeff/Britta getting it on in paintball, and evil Abed's fake goatees. It was perhaps a little too "don't worry, this is still Community!" but I suppose I like the earnestness in the first episode of the season before it got a bit pushy later on.

The episode centres around Jeff's attempts to get the entire group into History of Ice Cream while Abed "incepts" into first a 3-wall sitcom setting and then, when Jeff's intense desire to leave permeates that too, a cartoon baby-thing (which is kinda cute). These are quite well-handled and the episode does a decent job portraying a 3-wall sitcom version of itself, since in the fantasy all the characters lose a lot more of their subtlety, becoming less human and more tools to bring out the next batch of canned laughter. It's smart, and maybe the episode's funniest joke is Abed mentally recasting Pierce as Fred Willard, whch works on two levels - one, the meta level of Chevy's imminent depature, and two,  the idea that Abed is "intensely bored" by Pierce (of all the possible pairs in the group, I'd wager they are the least involved with each other - though they do get a couple of little scenes here which is nice) and would rather he be replaced or, in this case, "recasted".

It so badly wants to be loved that the episode ends up being kind of overstuffed. I mean, just look at my plot summary. I'm pretty sure it's the longest one I've written yet, and that should prove something. The Britta/Troy "plot" amounts to all of one scene and a weak "don't ask" "don't tell" joke with Jeff later, though Abed's passive-aggressive rejection of Britta's "no rules" rule was nicely played.

There was initially criticism of the Hunger Deans concept, but I think that's a misunderstanding and an unfair stick to beat the episode with - a way of saying "look! the homages are pointless and broader now!". This wasn't a "Community does The Hunger Games" episode - the Hunger Deans was a one-off Dean pun that wasn't referenced again after the "Dean comes out in a chariot wearing a dress" gag. It was just a series of ridiculous challenges done in classic Dean style, and was in no way a direct homage (or a failed homage). It was just one reference. So that's one way to defend the episode.

But yeah it was a struggle to get fully invested in anything but Jeff's storyline. The Annie/Shirley pranks thing ends up being quite meaningless, and lacked real resolution (although the Dean later admitting he smelt like a movie theater 'but not for the usual reasons' was pretty great). I wasn't feeling Annie's depressed monologue when they were putting popcorn in the Dean's car, and it didn't amount to much...I suppose her going into forensics instead of hospital admin was a payoff of sorts.

On top of that, the "jokes that miss:jokes that land" ratio shifted more to the left than maybe any episode in the previous three seasons, which didn't bode well and indeed was a sign of Season 4 being the least funny of the 6.

Some stray things:

The Dean/Jeff Tango was hilariously well-choreographed. I can't understand how they got through that without laughing. Troy's face when he tried to get through to Abed at the end also apparently led to "hours lost on set" according to YNB.

According to Troy, "fyne" is code for "fine", and "fine" is code for "not fine".

89. Advanced Safety Features (Season 6, Episode 7)

''Rick from Subway returns, this time working for Honda, and Britta falls for him again. Meanwhile, the group are worried Elroy doesn't like them.''

Frankie:

Are you...? I don't know how to... I have a rule about being constructive so I can't ask any questions right now, because all of the questions that I have right now are rhetorical and end with the word 'idiot'. Do you know what rhetorical...? Of course you don't, you are an idiot.

I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! You are so stupid and you have no idea, you are the only one who has no idea, because guess why? Don't answer that, you'll get it wrong. Also don't, you are just dumb little man who tries to destroy this school every minute. I am sorry! I'm so sorry!

Oh it's ok! I mean, it's not ok, shh. Oh stupid, so stupid... such a dummy.

I had to go and find that whole quote and copypaste it, because it's by far my favourite part of the episode. Frankie trying so hard not to rage at the Dean and it just leaking out of her is hilarious.

IDK, I just feel like I saw a lot of this before. Like, Britta having a sordid affair with the Subway guy happened before, even though this time it was taken in a very different direction where they were a bizarre power couple for a while that could sell absolutely anything. And I saw Britta being completely weak to certain men in Origins of Vampire Mythology, with Blade, and this doesn't do a whole lot new with it, so it feels like too much of a retread. Rick's boss, played by Billy Zane, squeezes every drop of comedy out of his two scenes though. Very good stuff.

The Elroy story is a lot better, mostly because, as I said before, everything Elroy does is 10/10. Jeff's jealousy is pretty nicely played - again, it's hardly new, but it's done in a more different and interesting way than Britta's plotline. Jeff going way too far (by actually booking Natalie is Freezing) and it blowing up in his face was a  bit predictable, but fun.

Oh, and Elroy and Britta trying to figure out the word drawbridge was so bizarre and hilarious.

I would play "The Ears Have It" tomorrow

88. Introduction to Film (Season 1, Episode 3)

Britta pays for Abed to take a film class; Jeff tries to seize the day at the behest of Professor Whitman; Pierce helps Troy fix his girly sneeze.

Abed: Jeff, I think you should play the role of my father.

Jeff: I don't want to be your father.

Abed: Perfect, you already know your lines.

The thing that hurts this episode for me is mostly Abed's dad. He's too severe a character and when he does try to be funny it kind of whiffs. I'm not a fan of his, and because I can't invest at all in him the would-be emotional finale kind of whiffs. That said, the documentary is so hilariously poorly cut together it kind of works, and it was clever in how it used quotes from the course of the episode to form the words used in the documentary. I also credit this as being an episode that neatly sets up, and is kind of in conversation with, Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas, and I appreciate it for that.

Professor Whitman is great, and I enjoy the various members of the group reacting to his bizarre stuff (also, "A BIRTHDAY CAKE!" cracked me up). Shirley going into a little rant about what she wants was a good way to establish her character more, because until that point she was mostly relegated to the sidelines and she needed that before she got a more focussed episode later on.

Oh, and this is one of the few episodes that highlights Troy and Pierce as the "Beavis and Butthead"-type relationship that they were supposed to be before Troy/Abed became the central bromance of the show. They hang around, having a few brief scenes, and eventually Troy comes up with the most ridiculous possible sneeze.

Last but not least, this episode has both one of the best openings and best end tags of the series' entire run. The opening is the classic "Pierce will beat that in 1 minute" "29 seconds" gag, along with Troy's "how about I pound you like a boy - that didn't come out right" quote. The end tag is a classic Troy/Abed antic - crumping - but then Jeff chimes in as kind of a cool older brother to show them how to do it right. Like I said before, I love when someone approaches the Troy/Abed relationship from the outside, it's generally interesting and amusing.

87. Wedding Videography (Season 6, Episode 12)

''Garrett is getting married, and Abed's filming it for a documentary. The gang go and cause a ruckus.''

Dean: OK, Britta, we're all the worst right now. Take a day off.

This might be a bit of a controversial placing, but I just found it so bizarre it was hard to love. Like when Jeff, Chang, Elroy and the Dean arrive at the apartment the whole thing has this bizarre, manic energy to it that I just sort of scratched my head at when I first watched it. It's the same problem "Grifting 101" had where the gang do these crazy OTT celebrations that aren't funny and just serve to confuse me. This episode was also essentially a way to get around not having Danny Pudi, since he was filming his pilot that week and he added his voice later on. The lack of Abed led to a disconcerting time, since he's one of the bedrocks of the show, though his little asides did help and were often funny. Not having seen the US Office, I had to look up what it was to "Jim" the camera, but I still laughed at the end where he said "so much Jimming."

I always liked Garrett, but a bit like the ugly naked guy on Friends, he was better as a side joke than as a main focus of the episode. To use S6 examples, Garrett's roles in Modern Espionage and in Robotics were both great and I like both the character and the way the actor plays him, but there's not enough there to base an episode around there for me. Because he's such a bizarre character, he possibly doesn't evoke the sympathy of Fat Neill in the Dungeons and Dragons episode or Todd in the "lab partner" episode.

But this episode does provide plenty of opportunities for the gang to play off each other, and though I earlier said I wasn't a fan of the manic celebration scenes I laughed at Frankie saying her sister was mentally retarded only for the boys to burst in loud and drunk at that very moment was funny, and Britta attempting to clean, but throwing up, while Annie explains how much the group love each other was a really amusing background gag. The quote I used is the aftermath of the central "incest reveal" and that scene alone provided five or six quotes I could have used for the quote for this episode. Pretty great stuff.

Though it's kind of a retread of the aforementioned lab partner episode, this episode works on its own by delivering on a bigger scale and taking them outside of the college. It gives an entire room for the group to make a fool of themselves in front of and the group "making it about them" is even more obnoxious when done at a wedding as opposed to when it's just the group + Todd. However, I'm not sure I want the group to be as obnoxious as they were here, so there's that. It also doesn't pack quite the same punch because this is a group that includes the Dean, Chang, Frankie and Elroy - some great characters, but outsiders to varying degrees - and not Shirley, Troy, Pierce or really Abed, so the unity and insular blindness about the distress they cause during the ceremony is less believable. Chang gets the big win in the episode with a heartfelt Winger-esque speech but I just can't buy into Chang pulling that off. He's just been too crazy for too long. I do, however, buy him perfectly as an actor in Advanced Waxing, which I guess says a lot about actors.

The absolute solid gold of this episode though?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAIJD5OA4y0

Elroy was hands-down the best part of Season 6 (Frankie fucking "nailed it" too, in fairness) and to me this is possibly his crowning moment.

http://i.imgur.com/NHdVjD6.png

His delivery, the writing, the subtext, it's just so funny and clever and well-executed. I love it so much. And the punchline to it later where he breaks the silence of the incest revelation with "NOW THERE'S A MAN WHO KNOWS HOW TO MARRY HIS COUSIN!" was just the best. So good and that 2-minute block is one of the highlights of Season 6. Every time I thought about ranking this episode lower, I remember Elroy encouraging white people and just couldn't do it.

Oh and that tag did not work for me I don't know what it was going for, but apart from the mock writers room with a fake Harmon and the little notes on the board, it was neither funny nor sentimental or really anything.

Annie's "lost girlfriend" footage was crazy hot.

86. Advanced Documentary Filmmaking (Season 4, Episode 6)

Abed makes a documentary on Chang's "Changnesia" as he attempts to procure a grant.

Annie: Something about this trout farm smells...wrong.

This episode finally deals with "Changnesia", and ends up being surprisingly good considering the centrality of one of the show's worst characters. Jeff being determined to be the spoiler is great, because he's always been the cynic of the group, and I just generally enjoyed the episode.

The highlight of the episode is the Annie/Troy combination. Troy being an idiot and falling into the apparent cop-partner stereotype of disagreeing with everything Tom does, and then that somehow working, was the episode's highlight. Then minutes later you have Jeff brushing aside human rights abuse because he didn't get what he wanted, another highlight. Abed in the documentor role also works, as it has done since S2, because he's so funny.

This episode shows flashes of Community at its best, and understands its characters pretty well (Abed: "occasionally he practices smiling and frowning in the mirror. We've all done it."), but like most S4 episodes it misses a little too often. But what impressed me most about this episode was Ken Jeong actually playing the innocent, wronged party and doing a reasonable job with it, maybe his best job in any episode since at least S1. I think Chang - after a poor S2 and 3 - was one of the big victories for S4 and it's mostly because of this episode.

85. Advanced Criminal Law (Season 1, Episode 5)

Britta cheats on a Spanish test, prompting Jeff to defend her in Greendale court; Abed tries to mess with Troy; Annie recruits Pierce to write the school song.

Abed: "Is this Bruce Hornsby?"

Jeff: "Yup."

Abed: “Does he know he stole it?”

Jeff: “I don't think so. Let him enjoy it

Abed: “Can we get sued?”

Jeff: "Not sure."

Pierce [singing]: “...Greendale's the way it goes.”

Jeff: Yeah, they got us.

There's a certain charm to the early S1 episodes, including this one, and it's actually kind of important for a few reasons. And it always delivers for laughs, especially the study room scene early on.

I just feel like it doesn't mean all that much. There's an overload of Jeff/Britta in S1, as I've talked about before, and this is more of that. Jeff pretty much only has scenes with her in this episode, reducing his interactions with Shirley (barely used here) or any of the other members of the study group. This episode kind of foreshadows Britta being "the worst" in a way but this is at a time where she is just the worst full stop.

That might be a little harsh, I enjoy Britta's feistiness and resistance to Jeff's charms and what have you, but she's just a little bit too off-putting and, in early episodes, almost defined by Jeff. As a result, then, it's almost like this episode looks worse in hindsight because I know for a fact that Britta can be so much more than we see in this episode, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

The Annie/Pierce storyline isn't much of anything but I like their relationship and Annie inspiring Pierce is a nice, heartfelt touch. For me it kind of highlights how ultimately childish Pierce is, especially evident when he triumphantly adds the lyric "Annie believes in me" to the school song. Annie's speech to Pierce is a goldmine both comedically and in terms of revealing Annie's backstory, why she is how she is. So while I say this storyline "isn't much of anything", it does pack a good bit into its few short scenes.

For the record, Annie saying "euw, no, I hired a composer" when asked if she's a musician is one of the quick, somewhat subtle little bits of comedy that make me love this show so much. Also, Annie is notably the only one of the study group who throws paper balls at Britta when Britta confesses to cheating - another nice touch.

My favourite part of this episode, by far, is the Troy/Abed storyline. It's clever in the way that it makes relatively clear that Troy knows Abed isn't really an alien, and the audience too, so it becomes both tragic and hilarious - a Community staple - to see Abed misunderstand it so badly and go so far to try and mess with Troy. It's also something that could only be a B plot, using its time constraints very well. This is a story that profits from having only a small amount of time dedicated to it - it didn't need anymore.

This is also one of the best early Troy episodes. I'm not a fan of him in, say, the pilot, where he's a little bit too hard-edged, almost mean-spirited, scowly jock. He's still that here to some extent, especially in the first two scenes where he tricks Abed, but this is a key episode for him because of how he softens at the end. Their bromance is the beating heart of the show, and Troy sighing and just saying, "ok, from now on, Abed, friends don't mess with each other. Cool?" is adorable and a significant moment for him tempering his high school persona in order to maintain a functioning relationship with Abed - the only guy his age that he hangs around with, and thus his only real chance at a close male friendship that's recognisable with what he's had before in his life. Also this marked the debut of the handshake, which is good.

And we got "you are not believable...in your face. Your face? It's bad." So yeah, good stuff all round there. Pity the rest of it wasn't quite as good.

84. Economics of Marine Biology (Season 4, Episode 7)

The group and the Dean plot to lure a particularly rich student to Greendale, with Jeff keeping Pierce busy off-campus; Troy and Shirley join a Physical Education Education class; Abed starts a frat.

Pierce: The barber shop--a reminder of the era when men were men, and women were sex-cooks who did laundry.

This isn't a great episode or anything like that, but I have so much love for the Pierce/Jeff storyline that it gets bumped up several places. It's pretty much the C-story, but relegating Jeff - and the often-explored Jeff/Pierce relationship - to that level lends it a tremendous amount of weight. Jeff is put in the A story so often it sometimes becomes tired (and there are times that the episode is seemingly somebody else's story but eventually becomes Jeff's, and that can be annoying), but the result of that is every time Jeff is relegated the whole thing just feels more important.

In a lot of ways their conversations remind me a lot of the "serious" talks they had in Season 1; like at the end of the STD fair episode or when Pierce is fixing his boat in the "pottery" episode. Pierce acts like a mentor to Jeff, almost a father-figure, and it's a genuinely touching moment when Pierce tells Jeff he's proud of him for reconnecting with his dad - and it feels all the more brutal when Pierce realises Jeff was only sent to distract him. The conclusion is nice and works well; you can tell Pierce is still upset with Jeff, but still craves his company and acceptance to the point that he'll put what happened behind him. I like the way this final season softened Pierce and Jeff's speech to the Dean about how Pierce might not be the absolute worst was a good moment. If Chevy Chase was always going to leave at the end of S4, I think it's good they spent a lot of the time softening him.

I like Troy/Shirley being in a plot together - as a I mentioned in a previous writeup, there's a ton of potential with those two characters interacting and it doesn't get explored enough. I mean this isn't great or anything and the Chang conclusion came off as kind of weak and forced (something it has in common with the A plot, really), but it's nice to see the two of them have scenes together, and it gives YNB a lot of material to work with -  and a great foil in Donald Glover, who works well with anyone. So while this isn't great or anything, Troy/Shirley is still fresh enough for me to give it some points. I still don't get why it wasn't explored more in S1, 2 and 3, particularly 1 where several references are made to Shirley trying to "parent" Troy. If it's because the show was afraid of being seen as racist, that's really disappointing.

Abed running around and doing frat stuff is a nice gag to interweave between episodes, but it's hardly weighty and therefore I'm not spending too much time on it.

So then you come to the Archie/Britta/Annie/Dean main plot. I think Annie serves as a nice moral foil to the Dean, who will do anything to get Archie at Greendale and secure his vast wealth. However, I think it should have gotten Annie more closely involved with Archie, rather than being kind of separate from him. The Dean seeing Archie's antics corrupting the pure, innocent Annie would have been a stronger gut punch and might even have matched the storyline value of the Jeff/Pierce storyline, but it seemed scared of doing that for fear of making Archie irredeemable. However, Archie taking Pop Pop from Magnitude and that giving Magnitude a nervous breakdown was pretty great.

83. Investigative Journalism (Season 1, Episode 13)

Jeff becomes editor of the school newspaper and has to manage Annie's intrepid reporting, while a member of the Spanish class - Buddy - tries to inset himself into the study group.

Jeff: It's just a little nosebleed. I get 'em when it's dry, and my face gets kicked.

Here's an episode I should like way more than I do. I'm a fan of Jack Black (so sue me), but I feel like somehow he doesn't mesh as well with the Community universe as he should and I didn't laugh much at the whole idea of him being a crazy stalker or whatever. I did like the whole "I'm sure your whole group has a certain rapport and timing and I hope I don't mess-OPENING CREDITS-it up" gag, and I mean he wasn't bad or anything like that, but idk, it was just ever so slightly disappointing.

It's weird though because it's an episode that I generally avoid if it pops up on the randomiser, but then I rewatch it and find it to be a very enjoyable 22 minutes. It's got some good stuff in it, particularly the scene where the group gather in that other room to decide if they want Buddy in or not.

I also like Jeff-as-newspaper editor and the way it turns into a M.A.S.H homage while building on the Jeff/Abed relationship, with Abed finally finding a TV reference Jeff can enjoy and get into - Jeff is quite happy to slip into the role of  and I almost wish that had yielded other future storylines, because there might have been some stuff to tap into there (just off the top of my head, this could have happened in S2 or 3, where someone could ask Jeff to do something involving the newspaper and then one of the study group could say "you're still the editor?" and Jeff could be confused and reply "um, apparently" or something like that).

I also think this is one of those times I mentioned in the previous writeup where Jeff maybe gets too involved. There's an A plot and a B plot here - one is Jeff-as-newspaper-editor, trying to convince Annie not to run the story that would get the Dean fired, and the other is Buddy's attempts to become part of the group. The problem is, they're really both Jeff stories, a two-pronged attack on his attempt to become a more positive, laid-back guy that he mentions at the start of the episode.

So while all the scenes zip along and are amusing, entertaining and great, intelligent TV, it's all a bit Jeff Jeff Jeff, while Troy, Britta, Pierce and Shirley are largely relegated. Obviously all four offer killer lines in the whole-group scenes but that's not enough of a fix. Like for instance Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas is an Abed episode, but it also provides key commentaries on every member of the group, as well as on how we view Christmas generally. There's more to it than this, which is the TV equivalent of Joel McHale playing tennis with a wall.

82. Football, Feminism and You (Season 1, Episode 6)

To get rid of mailers and posters advertising his presence at Greendale, Jeff tries to convince Troy to join Greendale's American Football team, which annoys Annie; Britta tries to be more "mainstream feminine" and goes to the bathroom with Shirley; Pierce and the Dean try to come up with a new mascot for the school; Abed lays low for an episode.

Jeff: You'd be surprised how many players got started at Community College.

Troy: Really? Name one.

Jeff: Who's your favourite player?

Troy: Me. ...Whoa.

Unfortunately the first thing I think of when I think of this episode are "Troy's shamefully outdated politically conservative fight raps", which to me personally might just miss the comedic mark more than anything Community has done, and so I can't possibly rank this episode any higher. Like I dunno man I just don't find it funny, maybe because like I said in the Advanced Criminal Law episode, early S1 jock-Troy isn't a great character (and in that one, the way he softens towards the end makes the whole episode).

That's despite the fact that I love how the Shirley/Britta storyline stereotypes women wildly but also winks at the fact that it's doing that, and occasionally subverts it, in the same way the Annie/Britta oil-fighting episode does in season 2. The way it ties in with the Annie storyline towards the end is clever, and Britta's pep talk to Annie is a definite winning moment for Britta. And then YNB does a great job of subtly pushing Annie out of the way so she can congratulate Britta for nailing the bathroom conversation.

It also has some classically great Community moments like the "that's racist", "that's racist", "that's gay?" "that's homophobic" "that's black" "that's racist!" "damn" exchange, which even though I think the final bit if a bit of a leap is still one of the sharpest and funniest exchanges of the early season. In fact, that whole scene with Jeff and Troy on the football field is pretty much gold; I also laughed at the confidence with which Troy says "you're saying I could be a lawyer".

In terms of "classically great Community moments", there's also the  reveal of the Human Being itself and Jeff/Annie's reaction to it at the conclusion. Honestly, even though it's very clearly a C-storyline the Pierce/Dean story is hilarious and probably the highlight. It comments a lot on obsessive political correctness, and it combines the most racist character on the show with a character who is also somewhat racist but is trying so hard not to be, in a storyline about coming up with the ultimate non-racist symbol of humanity. It's hilarious and they obviously had a lot of fun with the various race gags ("a Desmond Tutu with just enough milk to make it a Lou Diamond Phillips" is just 10/10 writing).

Iunno, it's just a very personal thing. Like every time I thought of ranking this a few places higher I just keep remembering the fact that I want to skip that scene with Troy/Annie in the cafeteria. But it has a lot in its favour, too.

81. Intro to Recycled Cinema (Season 6, Episode 8)

After Chang becomes a viral sensation, the gang tries to cash in on his new fame by producing a sci-fi movie using some leftover footage.

Leonard: "I feel the force. What? I don't feel the force, I'm not allowed to. What do I feel...? I feel Dracula... force. I feel Dracula... signals."

So this episode seems to be quite disliked by a number of people, and I kind of see why because the first two acts lack the sentimental weight of Community, the emotional stakes that anchor its best episodes. Those two acts come off as more of a sort of Community-does-a-sketch show kind of thing.

But I liked that, to  a limited extent. Jeff emerging in a ridiculous outfit and exclaiming "WHAT IN THE SPACE?!" was hilarious, and it's one of those laughs that lingers as you mentally unpack the layers - the immediate surprise of such a bizarre line, then you taking in Jeff's outfit, then the realisation that it's either bad, rushed writing or it's a careless improvisation by Jeff. So it starts off well, then you get Jeff's incredibly vain rant to Abed about his body and how he premieres it and it's not done or whatever and that's good too.

Those two acts do a great job of featuring the extended cast of Greendale too, with Magnitude being shot twice instead of saying pop pop, Leonard as the psuedo-emperor, and Garrett kind of turning into a minor sensation as Glorp Glorp or whatever. Seasons 4-6 don't use the extended cast as well as 1-3 did but this was a chance for a lot of the old faces to shine with somewhat limited cast time.

It's actually kind of surprising how much mileage they got out of the "bad sci-fi movie" gag. It seemed to escalate more and more with every scene, the rip-offs becoming both more blatant and more bizarre as it continued. The cantina scene, the garbage shute scene with Jeff knowing a monster is going to appear out of the frisbees, etc. It's funny. Oh, and an eye dropping off of Elroy's head and Elroy just playing it cool like that always happens. Honestly, Elroy has an episode  highlight in every one he's in (except for how he was woefully misused in the finale).

The episode has more of Jeff abusing Abed and that's kind of interesting. It's by far the most interesting relationship of Season 6, Jeff and Abed, since the show seemed insistent on leaving Annie/Jeff and Britta/Jeff behind until the final episode. Basic RV Repair and Palmistry as well as this episode showcase that well, though this is kind of the opposite because here Abed really is the innocent party and it's Jeff that's losing his grip on reality, desperately trying to keep his footage in the movie even when he knows the movie is dumb. It becomes a key episode in Jeff's S6 arc of accepting where he's at, even if it takes a bout of violence and rage for him to get there. I especially liked Abed's delivery of "are you nuts?" Partly because it was Abed asking that question and partly because Pudi just killed the line.

And the whole thing is tied up with the movie being an analogy for life; it's kind of forced but I like the idea of "occasionally, great things happen in life" being roughly equivalent to "Annie occasionally pulling a lazer bomb out of her cleavage".

What I would say is that this is an episode that ended up being mostly about Jeff when the whole time it seemed to be more about Abed. I mean, it's Abed's episode too to an extent (nobody else could have given Jeff that speech in the Frisbee room) but the crisis becomes Jeff's, not Abed's, and I dunno, while I do sort of like the subversion - because until that point it was the constant compromise of Abed's vision that was the conflict of the episode, more than Jeff's insecurities - Community has pulled that once too often for me to be completely on board with it. Because seriously there's an episode where Pierce's mother dies and yet that's somehow a Jeff episode. I mean jeez. Jeff is a great character and astoundingly consistent through the show's entire run, but the rest of the cast are great too.

The scene near the end with Chang in the recording booth is fantastic, though. So wonderfully bleak and imo some of the best Chang stuff. I actually love Chang in this episode, mostly because the way they use the footage to make a movie is hilariously inventive.

Also Abed's Chang footage is a callback to the script he wrote with Professor Hickey, and that's really cool imo. I loved Hickey and he was barely mentioned at all in S6; he wasn't even written out of the show like Shirley was, he just flatout didn't appear  in the pilot and then Chang gives him an offhand mention in the finale.

Frankie playing Steel Drums is so good.

80. Home Economics (Season 1, Episode 8)

Jeff moves in with Abed after being kicked out of his Condo; Pierce joins Vaughn's band; despite feelings for Troy, Annie helps him court a different girl.

Abed: "Use your lady parts."

True story: I looked at the list and checked the wiki entry for this episode to remind me which one it was, and what episode number it was. At first, when I saw it was the "Jeff moves in with Abed" episode, I was scratching my head. Why on earth did I rank it this low when I love that storyline so much? Then I scrolled down and remembered it also has the Troy/Annie subplot and it all came screaming back to me.

When I was asked to do an early character ranking during my watch-through topic on b8, my ranking had the males of the group dominating the top 4 and the girls in the bottom 3, with Annie last, and that was mostly because of this episode. It's just awful. The absolute nadir of Annie as a character, her desperate claiming back of the blanket at the end fell short both comedically and as a moment of sympathy or empathy. Her constant hand-wringing just isn't good to watch - it's not only not entertaining, it actually makes me think worse of the character. It's a good job there's another 109 episodes of Annie ranging from tolerable to outstanding (the character would be "outstanding" for the first time in the very next episode after this one, in fact, which was very welcome), because any more of this Annie and she might become hot female Chang. Donald Glover obviously does some good stuff with the material (he nails "I'm funny" in particular), even if this incarnation of Troy is still quite hard-edged compared to how he finished. But considering it's really Annie's plot and Troy is just the piece of meat she's lusting after, he doesn't actually get that much to do. Every scene is from Annie's perspective, and like I said, this is the worst possible Annie.

It's funny what leads to episodes being put in certain places. Intro to Recycled Cinema ended up in 81st because it's just a decent episode of Community - it maintains a relatively average level throughout. This is one spot higher because it has one absolute pollutant of a subplot and then a bunch that I like. If Annie, Troy and Shirley are dragged into a swirling vortex of diabolically awful necro-Community, Pierce, Jeff, Abed and Britta all ascend into some kind of hyper-distilled nirvana-Community. The Abed quote I used is among the funniest lines of Season 1, and Joel McHale has a great time playing Jeff as an absolute slob for a few scenes. Then you have Pierce in Vaughn's band and Britta's reaction to that...it's wonderful.

Britta bounces between storylines a bit here, being both outraged at Vaughn's song and trying to get Jeff back into the real world, and honestly they don't really seem to have a thematic link unless you count "fear of public perception" (Britta hating that there's a popular campus song about her being a "b" and Jeff trying to maintain his public face), so she's a little...I dunno, schizophrenic here. But she still nails all her scenes so there's no complaining.

This is also a stellar episode for Pierce. The scene where Britta walks in on band practice and Pierce is playing the keyboard is absolutely hilarious, just the ridiculous faces he's making. It's the simplest comedy, but it's also great. When he starts singing "she's a no good b", I love that too, as well as his attempt to create a revenge rap against Vaughn and trying to get out from behind the drums and also "did you just defend my honour?" "oh yeah, totally." Chevy Chase is an absolute star in this episode - it's possibly one of his best.

And of course you have the Jeff/Abed relationship, which shines through in the second half of this one. I've mentioned many times already how much I enjoy that relationship and this showcases it once again, with Abed genuinely enjoying being needed by Jeff and having Jeff around, but also making the decision to try and get him out gently because he knows it's bad for Jeff. For Abed, who was portrayed as being incredibly socially unaware in these early episodes (he becomes less so as the show continues), this is a heartfelt moment.

So really, if this episode had utilized Troy, Annie and Shirley as well as it did the others it'd have been in the top 30 somewhere and a highlight of the show and of S1. As it is, it's low because of just how much I couldn't stand that storyline. Ah well.

79. Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (Season 5, Episode 10)

The group do another Dungeons and Dragons game, this time to help Hickey bond with his son.

Dean Pelton: You’ve made me so proud today.

Jeff: Does anyone know where we can buy a real sword?

It'd be harsh to label this episode a failure, because it's a very entertaining 22 minutes and the concept remains solid gold, but the first D and D episode is one of the classic Community episodes and this one just isn't.

I found Hickey's son too obnoxious, so we're already struggling. At least with Hickey we know that even though he has a harder edge he's got a softer side. We see this guy - played by the equally obnoxious dude from Men in Black (2?) and a bunch of other stuff - and he's already in a volatile situation, and it seems to get worse and worse as the show continues. The show's messy conclusion does very little to soften him, so he was kind of a flop to me.

But you still have the great interplay between the characters, the amazing Jeff/Dean father/son dynamic, Abed as the dungeon master again, and a litany of neat little jokes. And Hickey is a great character who slotted right into the series, so you get to see a lot of him doing great stuff.

I dunno. I feel like they wanted to do another D+D episode but it just lost so much of its luster the second time. The addition of the Dean helps because him and Jeff can do their usual unrequited love gag, this time with a weird father/son twist on things, and that's fine, but yeah. I don't have a whole lot to say about it other than it feels a little contrived, a little forced, but man the interplay between the characters is good.

78.  Social Psychology  (Season 1, Episode 4)

Shirley and Jeff gossip about Britta's new boyfriend; Annie recruits Troy and Abed for Professor Duncan's psych experiment; Pierce buys earnoculars.

Troy: [crying] THE SOUL TRAIN AWARDS WERE TONIGHT!

YOU PROMISED BUTT STUFF!

This episode is a ton of fun but it's also more of the whole relationshippy stuff. I also think Britta kind of forgives Jeff a little too easily because that's a pretty horrid thing Jeff did - taking a photo of the poem and causing Vaughn and Britta to break up.

This forms the first part of what I'll call the Jeff/Shirley trilogy - the sequel is "Custody Law", where they nearly frame Chang for child trafficking, and the third is "Foosball", where they turn into monsters (and anime characters). It's nice to have a pairing that don't have storylines together often but for that to actually be explained. I think HIMYM did that with Marshall and Robin at some point and I appreciated it.

There it was because I think Marshall was worried hanging out with Robin would cause him to see her as a viable sexual option, while here it's because Jeff and Shirley clearly bring out the worst in each other. In S3 they seem to address it, leading to them hanging out more, such as in the Blade episode, and ending up being quite close with each other in the end of that Social Media App S5 episode.

But the episode still rocks along with great pace. John Oliver does great with all his material, especially his tantrum at the end. Troy's breakdown is probably the highlight of the episode, and Abed turning the tables on the experiment (which is quite mean-spirited, so it makes Abed weirdly heroic, and sympathetic, and turns Annie into the bad guy). Abed's robotic loyalty to Annie is adorable and evokes more sympathy for the character than say Introduction to Film did.

Pierce has a fun role in the background, working as a plot device to advance the story due to his earnoculars and his hilarious misuse of them. The last conversation between him and Jeff is poignant, and then wonderfully undercut by Jeff.

But the bottom line of this is that it's a whole bunch of "soapy relationship stuff" between Jeff and Britta, and that kind of episode has something of a ceiling on it - except Modern Warfare but it's not like that one counts. This episode does a good job of subverting it to an extent, with Jeff realising he's caught in "Degrassi High" and resenting that his life is turning into something so silly. But still.

77. Repilot (Season 5, Episode 1)

Jeff is coaxed back to Greendale by his old colleague Alan; the group also appear there.

Abed: Season 9 of Scrubs, Zach Braff was only in 6 episodes.

Troy: Son of a bitch! After everything Scrubs did for him?!

I mean, it's fine. I think there's a limit on how good first-episodes can be, because they have to deal with a lot of exposition. It's a little bit all over the place and just never seems to settle, but it's still great, and - of course - great to have Dan Harmon back at the helm. The difference is evident from the first scene. The classically bleak juxtaposition of Jeff's super optimistic law ad combined with the sad scene of his possessions being repo'd is vintage Harmon, and the moment the glass is taken from Jeff and he says "that was it. That was all I had." you knew Community was back.

This is furthered when we meet the rest of the group. They are all in appropriately bleak situations - they would have to be to get them back to Greendale - and yet the issues are dealt with comedically to ensure things don't become too much of a downer. And then we see the Dean is incredibly corrupt, more than we thought, and Jeff's idealism, his fond-ish memories of Greendale, are shattered. But this is somehow played for laughs, and played for laughs well. Classic Harmon.

And that's a great comfort. And it makes what would be a poor episode if still under the guidance of S4 writers into a far more enjoyable one. Because yeah, this episode does strain under the weight of its own exposition - getting Jeff back to Greendale, getting the group sans Pierce back to Greendale, explaining Pierce's absence, dealing with Alan, dealing with the Dean, setting up a new reason for everyone to be there (the Save Greendale committee), etc etc.

And of course you have the absolutely amazing  Troy quote which is one of my favourite Community moments ever. It's that right balance of meta humour (because of Donald Glover's imminent departure) while standing on its own as being funny even if you weren't aware of the backstage gossip. But Community knows its audience, and knew the majority of people were fully aware Glover was on his way out. It was winking while not being too in-your-face; Community at its best, I think.

76. Basic Sandwich (Season 5, Episode 13)

With Subway about to take over the school, the group explore underneath Greendale in an attempt to find buried treasure and save the school.

Abed: We'll definitely be back next year. If not, it'll be because an asteroid has destroyed all human civilization. And that's canon.

Thanks, Yahoo, for saving the world.

This episode just got a little bit too silly, even for Community. There's a point where something can be so bizarre that it loses comedic value, and that weird Greendale founder in an underground vault with a supercomputer that runs on love is probably the line. I also wasn't a fan of Shirley not being part of that final moment where Jeff's love opens up the door - this is especially bad since it turned out to be her last (real) episode. It also wasn't a good farewell for Hickey or Duncan, who were both horrible losses  - the show was lucky to fill them with Frankie and Elroy. Chang-as-antagonist also feels a bit out of nowhere.

But it still has plenty of good points. The Abed/Annie "The Britta/Jeff pilot is going to fall apart" scene is pretty good, and I loved the utterly insane "school board director enters Hickey's mind" thing, with the punchline coming at the end of the episode where Hickey reveals he actually was thinking about a hang-glider. The tag is also such a huge "fuck you" to NBC (in fact it can be found on youtube as "fuck you NBC" >_>) that you're almost laughing at the audacity of it. I love how the shows are all stupid enough to be funny and yet oddly implausible. The tag brings this episode up a few spots, really. The ending generally is so light-hearted and fun and enjoyable, and the Jeff/Britta are going to get married subplot gave the whole thing some good emotional stakes, and the ending to it - with a typical Britta/Jeff petty argument to put the whole thing to bed.

Despite my criticisms, it's more than deserving of being this high because while I do think it's a little too silly at the end, some of the silliness does pay off and is good. It doesn't constantly overstep that line, it just does it far more often than most episodes of Community.

75. Contemporary Impressionists (Season 3, Episode 12)

''Abed gets into massive debt due to his hiring of celebrity impersonators and the group band together to help pay back the debt by impersonating various celebrities themselves. Jeff's ego begins to spin out of control due to medication.''

Dean Pelton: I don't know who told you pouting was an option for you, but all you're making me feel right now is hatred of Renee Zellweger.

It has to firstly be said that the part where Jeff is wearing Aviators and causes the Dean to collapse is one of the show's top 10 most hilarious moments. It's so fantastically over-the-top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbeOx6pwMo

The problem here is that there isn't a whole lot of comedy to be found in the celebrity impressions themselves. I wasn't laughing a whole lot at them, though YNB's Oprah was brilliantly over the top. They also needed someone better than "French Stewart" to guest star as Vinnie here because the "he's impersonating the guy he's playing!" joke fell flat with me due to the obvious "who the fuck is French Stewart" factor.

I did however like the arc of the episode where Troy jumps to Abed's defence twice in the first act but by the end of the episode, he's the one who does the necessary and tells Abed once and for all that he needs to stop hiring impersonators. Then you get the horrible gut-punch of Abed appearing to be OK with things, but then walking away from the special handshake and Donald Glover's phenomenal reaction to that.

There's an interesting idea here that Troy celebrates Abed's "elf-like" qualities and convinces the rest of the group that they should help him get out of the impersonators thing rather than bringing him sharply into reality with an "intervention". Combine that speech Troy gives in the cafeteria with the ending to the episode and you have Troy kind of realising that eventually you have to embrace reality, which is sad - especially for two characters that you hope never embrace reality - but also necessary. So that part is great - it develops Troy, Abed, and the Troy/Abed relationship itself, as well as being the start of a three-episode arc that culminates in the phenomenal "Pillows and Blankets".

But this episode also sees more lazy visual gags - I've mentioned the "two minutes later" joke in the Shirley wedding episode and the Jeff-heart-slot-machine thing but here we have the poorly-conceived "expanding apple" gag. It's funny to use that rather than a balloon, as Jeff mentions earlier in the episode, but it's just so...easy. Not amusing. A little bit too crazy, perhaps.

Additionally, there's the whole Chang/Dean thing which was kind of just there to keep the "Chang takes over the school" plot ticking over, and also led to another lazy visual joke (Chang's thought bubbles).

Finally, the opening had some great jokes such as "Abed was the volleyball?" and the whole bit based on The Fugitive. I love that movie.

74. Environmental Science (Season 1, Episode 10)

Chang sets a horrible essay for the Spanish class, prompting them to ask Jeff  to talk him down; Pierce helps Shirley with public speaking; Troy and Abed lose their biology lab rat.

Britta: He's using fake outrage to justify leaving!

Jeff: FAKE</I> OUTRAGE?! JUSTIFY MY-THAT'S IT! I'M OUT OF HERE!

The show was really starting to find its feet here, and the banter between the characters began to settle in. This episode also cemented Troy and Abed as one of the show's key relationships, with Troy again making a concession  (after declaring that "friends don't mess with each other" in Advanced Criminal Law) from his more self-centred lifestyle to help Abed with the rat. And Donald Glover's completely over-acted response to the rat crawling up his leg was again one of the highlights of the episode (why isn't Glover in more shit, XIII asks again, despondently).

Being scared of rats isn't cool, though, Troy. Rats are like the best animal >=(

This episode doesn't have anything in it that screams "classic Community" but it still zips along pleasantly. The central plot of Jeff manipulating Chang for his own good is played well, if a little predictably. It keeps Jeff somewhat sympathetic, since his intentions were certainly noble before his darker, self-interested side took over. Chang is also good in this episode though, predictably, a little annoying at times. Britta and Annie aren't given anything to do in this episode in terms of specific plots, but they serve as the leaders of the "what the hell, Jeff?!" brigade - and Britta is the one most suspicious of Jeff when he's helped himself and not everyone else.

The ending montage is a little too corny for my tastes. It's saved by my love for "somewhere out there" and the American Tail references in the episode in general. It mixes that with the irish music from "Green Dae" and is actually cleverly done, but man the "Kiss from a rose/Jesus loves Marijuana" montage in that S3 episode where Annie moves into Troy and Abed's place is works so much better, mostly because it's played for laughs more than the sentimentality on show here. That said, Chang being legit at salsa was pretty great.

There's also the Dean, which isn't even really a story, just necessary filler to enable the "Green Dae" joke, but of course Jim Rash slays it ("Then print 500 more, I'm trying to save a planet here!").

The thing that bumps this up a few places is the fact that it's one of Pierce's few absolute victories and a great moment that showed his compassion. I'm a sucker for those because I ultimately want to like Pierce, and so his occasional, genuinely great moments of humanity are to be celebrated and cherished.

It seems like his sessions with Shirley about public speaking represent typical Pierce - bumbling, incompetent, badly-delivered advice - but when Shirley's in a pinch she uses Pierce's lessons and gets an A. Clean victory for Pierce. Not a technicality, like how he accidentally gets Britta to stop smoking. I almost wish Pierce hadn't just played the whole thing off with "and I had a great sandwich", because it undercuts his win, but then I suppose Pierce thinks wins like that are to be expected, so it wasn't as big a deal for him as it was for everyone else.

73. Geography of Global Conflict (Season 3, Episode 2)

''Annie finds a new rival in Annie Kim, and ropes everyone else in the group except Britta into a model-UN-off against her. One of Britta's anarchist friends gets arrested, and Britta is inspired to once again rage against the machine - which leads her into conflict with new security guard Chang.''

Abed: It’s simple really, First we…*mumbling*

Jeff: Abed, what did I tell you? You can’t just mumble nonsense, no one’s cutting away.

This episode is fine, and Professor Cligoris makes me laugh in particular. But it does something I don't like where it introduces a particular dynamic and acts like it's been there the whole time. Like that weird Jeff/Annie Big Brother/Little Sister almost Dad/Daughter dynamic is sort of there beforehand, but this episode makes it so obvious to prove its own point and that kind of miffs me. I prefer it when an episode explores a dynamic like that in a sort of...subtler way, and in a way with stronger evidence before the episode focussing on it. But this really goes over-the-top with it with Jeff nuggying Annie, Annie Kim questioning the nature of their relationship, Jeff saying "you're the best, kiddo" to her, etc etc. It's a little jarring and feels self-serving.

Also it kind of just dumps 6 of the group into one storyline, which wastes particularly Pierce, Troy and Shirley (they all get great little moments: Troy's mixing up the state and the country, but still knowing facts about the country, YNB's delivery of "I farted", Pierce referring to Somalia as a paradise, etc). Abed, of course, gets a nice little moment in the conclusion and ultimately helps to bring down Annie Kim.

Troy getting hyped over Butrous Butrous Ghali is one of my favourite jokes. It's clever and packs in a ton of social commentary into a gag that takes all of 5 seconds. The audience laughs because of the surprise that he's hyped over Ghali rather than Will I Am, and then once the laughter stops you question your own prejudices and stereotyping. It's clever.

I like the B-Story. The security chief did pretty well with his 3-episode run, I liked his kind of straight-man character. He was a necessary and effective foil for Chang in that sense. Britta's issue here is a problem which makes sense, too. In Episode 1 she said she didn't want to be a screwup this year, leading to her buying a bunch of stuff to be a better student, which in turn leads to her realising that she abandoned her roots as an anarchist. And then she Brittas her attempts to get back into that - those "hello" segments with Chang are good fun.

72. VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing

''Abed and Annie want a roommate to make up for the rent gap left by Troy; Abed wants his girlfriend Rachel, while Annie wants her brother. They compete using a VCR game called "pile of bullets". Meanwhile, everyone else encounters some premium-grade textbooks worth a lot of money.''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSW3vmRpV0

I'm going to try and pick up the pace on these. It's going slow and in a few weeks there's a chance I won't be online that much.

I like Rachel, but Annie's brother - completely unmentioned until this point - is kind of a buzzkill. The VCR game becomes funny by the end when Abed and Annie are completely into it while everyone else - including the audience - is mystified. It reminded me of when Chandler and Ross played "Bamboozled", and I love that plot, so it was a good thing to be reminded of. The episode also goes some way to addressing the departure of Troy, which was due - I didn't want the characters moping around about his departure, but it did feel like a bit of a void that nobody was willing to talk about. Except for the Abed/Hickey plot a couple of episodes earlier, which hints at Abed's loneliness.

I also think Pudi struggles in the final scene. He completely nails "usual" Abed and I love the way he sets up the third-act apology, complete with Pavel's watering can and props but he isn't up to his normal standard when giving the actual speech. Brie Larson, however, is a delight and sells it completely, so that's fine.

Britta completely Brittas the "EVERRYBODDDYYY" running joke which I actually think is hilarious, and Shirley going full badass is one of my favourite Community tropes, but otherwise I found the "educational publishing" plot a little forgettable. The spoof of some sort of drug deal and the group betraying each other was very funny and the sudden cut to loads of people tied up was fantastic, but otherwise...meh. I almost think there were too many characters involved here, as though it spread itself too thinly. It's pretty much everyone except Abed and Annie, and they don't all have a chance to shine - much like the last episode I ranked.

As with a bunch of other stuff recently, this episode was catapulted up a few spots by the Dean's rap, which is absolutely incredible.

71. Digital Exploration of Interior Design

Troy and Abed build a blanket fort, leading to conflict between them; Pierce and Shirley recruit Britta to take down "Subway", a new student at Greendale who represents the school's new sandwich store; Jeff discovers he has a locker and finds a hate letter inside it.

Kim: You are really mean!

Annie: Put it in a letter, Jane Austen! *storms out

So much of this is a setup episode, which does damage to it. Like a good third of it is setup, because honestly the Troy/Abed plot here falls short of their usual standard. The scene where Troy storms off is well-acted and that excellent final scene is strong. Pillows and Blankets is one of my favourite episodes, so I give this episode credit for facilitating it, and John Goodman pretty much steals every scene he's in (throughout the whole season, in fact).

There's also the Jeff/Annie plot. I might even go as far as to say it's Annie's second-worst episode, right next to the terrible one where she gives Troy dating advice. She's just so...manipulative and so annoyingly besotted with Jeff. Jeff himself does well with it, since it showcases the softer side he developed over the series so far.

I'm a fan of the Britta/Pierce/Shirley one, which turns out to be a really great trio. Shirley is the good, or better, influence on Britta while Pierce is the negative one, driving her to do more and more sordid things to try and get information on Subway. Because Britta is kind of inbetween - she wants to be a good person (Shirley) but her morals and principles can be quite easily shaken and manipulated (Pierce) - she becomes a great foil for both characters. I like the hilarious melodrama of the two of them coupling and how "forbidden" it is, and the 1984 references are terrific. The scene where they're all in the Dean's office and the Subway boss listens to what Britta and Subway did together is the episode's highlight, I would say.

70. Intro to Teaching (Season 5, Episode 2)

''Jeff meets Professor Hickey, who guides him through some of the perks of his new job, while Annie bugs Jeff and tries to make him care more about it. Everyone else takes a class called "Nicholas Cage - Good or Bad?", a question which Abed obsesses over.''

Jeff: Shut up, Leonard. Nice earring--you look like the road manager of the California Raisins.

A nice fun episode that does a great job of introducing Hickey, who does a damn good job with it. His absolute abuse of Leonard - who had it coming - is fantastic, as well as the way he treats the Dean. It's an exceptionally strong debut and his role of guiding Jeff through the pitfalls of teaching is great. The role-reversal  with Annie as the teacher and Jeff as the kid being lectured is smart too and a strong scene.

Annie running outside and screaming "MINUSES ARE MADE UP" and this instigating a massive, school-wide riot is hilarious because it makes absolutely no sense. I love the crazy world they live in where a riot can be started with such immediacy and with such fury. And then Britta was out of data minutes so she couldn't broadcast the riot. Jeff's "Winger Speech" then completely fails, which subverts the norm well.

It's great to have Garritty back but I wasn't as taken with Abed's Cage impressions as others were - it starts good with his "ENOUGH!" and fantastic facial expression but as it goes full crazy it loses me comedically. But the part where a fully Cage-ified Abed walks in and Garrity says "Dear God" is hilarious. The conclusion to this story - Abed realises that some stuff just doesn't make sense and can't all be quantified, a conclusion he arrives at when he learns that Shirley, bizarrely, likes Hellraiser - is very sweet and develops Abed in a good way. I like that it's Shirley who talked Abed out of his funk, too, because that's a solid character pairing that I wish was explored just a couple more times.

It's low because while I did enjoy it, nothing really screams out at me as being in the show's upper echelon, a lot of it is setup, and Abed's OTT Cage thing really does make me shake my head a little more than find it funny.

<B>69. Advanced Gay</b> (Season 3, Episode 6)

Vice-Dean Laybourne tries to recruit Troy into his AC Repair School; Pierce learns his moist towellettes are a big deal in the gay community and tries to market his wipes towards them.

Abed: Are you Superman?

Troy: No.

Abed: Would you tell me if you were?

Troy: I'd tell everybody, I don't understand why he cared who knew.

There's a lot of interesting character stuff here, with Jeff and Pierce each dealing with respective father issues and Jeff kind of selfishly transposing his own father issues onto Pierce.

And then there's the brilliance of Britta completely misunderstanding the Oedipus complex, which was also funny.

Like a few S3 episodes this feels like it's setting up something to happen later - in this case it sets up both the arc of John Goodman (again, excellent) trying to recruit Troy into the AC repair school. It's at this point in the writeup I remember the hilarious "Black Hitler" segment, and changed the quote from Troy not understanding why Superman cared who knew to that scene because god that was funny.

Jeff saying "sorry I killed your dad" was great, as was Jeff thinking the heart attack was actually fake.

But all in all, I don't love this episode. It's fine, just unremarkable.

68. Ladders (Season 6, Episode 1)

After Frisbees break the ceiling of Greendale, the Dean hires administrator Frankie Dart, who joins the Save Greendale committee - causing friction with its existing members.

Jeff: [bursting into Frankie's interview] DON'T HIRE THIS WOMAN!

Abed: Fifth time's the charm! He just ran into 4 offices screaming "DON'T HIRE THIS WOMAN!"

A solid opener that does a great job of introducing Frankie. I like Abed's purity ensuring he is the only one who trusts Frankie, and the absurdity of them building a bar under the sandwich shop. Frankie busting it prohibition-style, and then saying "you built a bar! LABOUR was involved!" was hilarious - the coldly pragmatic Frankie meshing with the absurdity of the Community/Greendale Universe is one of my favourite dynamics in S6.

Montages great, the school descending into chaos and everyone happy that the "Ladders" class is back was great too. His insane drunkenness, good. Explanation of why Shirley is gone, good. Frisbees destroying the school, good. 1970s Leonard, great. Tag, fantastic. I really missed Shirley in S6, so her cameo here and in the finale are both highly appreciated.

But it runs into the problem all the E1 episodes run into - lots of set up, lots of catching up. But overall fine.

67. The Psychology of Letting Go (Season 2, Episode 3)

''Pierce's mother dies, causing friction within the group due to their differing interpretations of the afterlife, something further exacerbated when Jeff discovers he is high in cholestorol and has an existential crisis. Britta and Annie raise money to help animals affected by an oil spill, and argue over how they achieve their results.''

Duncan: I think you're being a little immatur-hold on, I have to use my force field to stop Chang from getting food.

The Abed-background thing is one of the most intelligently laid-out jokes I can remember in any TV show, and the way it gets referenced in the episode Shirley gives birth is an excellent payoff. I missed it first time around but I've developed a greater appreciation for it over time.

I'm not so much a fan of Jeff trying to destroy Pierce just because he has high cholestorol. It seems low even for Jeff, though the ending of the episode - where Jeff realises he should let Pierce believe what he wants - is a sweet moment and redeems him a little. I think it's also important that Troy is in the car with them when this happens.

Also, "yes, Troy, much like a videogame. You gain levels and after a certain point you can eat a ghost." [Excited] "I want to eat ghosts!" was just an amazingly acted and delivered exchange. Troy's enthusiasm for something to bizarre is perfectly played by Glover. But it's Chang and Duncan that provide the greatest laughs in this episode; the scene where Duncan causes Chang to fall over a couch is just top-notch physical comedy.

In that S2 walk-through I linked to earlier, Dan Harmon said he hated the Annie/Britta storyline because it's kind of sexist - two girls arguing over how the other dresses - but like the "Britta and Shirley in the bathroom" episode, this does a good job of ultimately subverting it. First Jeff looks like a pig when he says "I can't believe I made out with both of you. ugh." and then their fight draws the attention of countless men, and Duncan even poses for a picture. The ultimate message here isn't that Annie is the slut or sell-out for raising money in the way she did (though you could say it's pretty low), but that men are hypersexualised pigs for buying into it. I can get on board with that. Shirley's jealous asides and passive-aggressive annoyance that she's being excluded also adds a lot to a storyline even with minimal storytelling.

Episodes like this make me like Pierce as a character. In a lot of ways it softens the blow of later S2 episodes (D+D, Documentaries, the one where he bribes Annie), where he's almost unforgivably vile.

66. Biology 101 (Season 3, Episode 1)

''The group return for their third year, and address Pierce's departure from the group. Jeff is kicked out of Biology Class and thus the study group, and tries to get back in.''

Jeff: Sean Penn called. He said to dial it back.

...

Sean Penn's an actor who-

Professor Kane: I know who Sean Penn is! I saw "Milk"!

Like the S2 opener before it, this episode serves to blow off and reset the show, acting as a denouement to the long-running plot of the previous season. The S2 finale blows off the Jeff/Annie/Britta tension in one episode - in one scene, really - while the S3 finale blows off the "Pierce as absolute villain" plot. It also neatly highlights how Jeff and Pierce aren't that different, that Jeff could one day become Pierce if he doesn't strive to be a better person, that kind of thing. So when Jeff's insane jealousy and insecurity kicks in after he gets kicked out of the group, of course he becomes a pseudo-Pierce - a grumpy outsider, who even looks the part after getting stuck in a dusty vent.

This episode introduces Michael K Williams, who does a great job of almost parodying the intense characters he's played on other shows such as Boardwalk Empire and The Wire. His constantly-interrupted-by-Jeff speech is superbly intense, as was him questioning what had happened to Legos. I wish he'd been in more than 3(?) episodes.

The highlight of this episode for me, though, is the John Goodman/Dean Pelton scene. Goodman's incredible enunciation of his words and that deep voice of his makes for an amazing, comedically intimidating presence, and lends legitimacy to an absurd an over-the-top role. The size difference with Jim Rash also helps - it's very clever casting and writing of the character and Goodman predictably rocks it. That speech he gives I also loved the "Dean! New suit, Dean?" "New Dean, vice-Dean, new Dean" exchange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D50AIxB68R8

Seriously it's fucking outstanding. It ultimately serves to set up the "we now have no money" subplot, but it doesn't feel like setup, which is good. "You could have died a happy, pansexual imp", "you're going to feel my power as it surges downward from me straight through you from nostril to rectum now until the end of time" in that hilariously deep voice is amazingly delivered, and then the Dean tearfully squealing "I FORGOT EVERYTHING YOU SAID BEFORE RECTUM!" is a great punchline.

That scene is the thing that puts this episode up a few places.

Pretty sweet musical number too.

65. Beginner Pottery (Season 1, Episode 19)

''Jeff, Annie and Abed do Pottery and Jeff gets jealous of a fellow beginner who is far better than him. Everyone else takes a siling class, and Shirley is forced to make a tough decision when Pierce shows himself to be incompetent.''

Jeff: This class is like a redhead who drinks Scotch and loves Diehard. I suggest you all get her number.

I kept wondering why I had this so "low". I mean 65 isn't really low by Community standards - I think everything since the 90s has been, at minimum, good TV - but I feel like this is regarded as one of the "great" episodes or...something...? I don't know. It felt weird to have it low, but I can't justify putting it any higher, so...

The Veep guy is a terrific guest star here, and the central joke of the episode is the "Ghosting" thing which is pretty damn hilarious. The teacher losing his mind when Jeff starts singing the song was just excellently played.

I'm not necessarily a huge fan of Jeff's arc - it's more "Jeff is insecure" stuff. But I like that the episode takes things to such an extreme, with Jeff going full PI and pulling an all-nighter to try and "expose" Rich. But there's also a minor win moment for Pierce as the two thematically similar storylines predictably intersect, one of a few poignant moments he gets with Jeff in S1 (like at the STD fair, at the end of the Family Day episode, etc). The "failure is breakfast" speech is pretty good, especially when juxtaposed with the bizarre shot of him preparing a sailboat-on-wheels to get back to sailing class. Shirley performs well in the captain role, though the episode wasted Troy, Britta and to an extent Abed (though he does get the best asides - the voiceover and "it's the hilarious guy on guy" for example).

Oh, and the beginning scene is obviously pretty good. All-7-in-the-study-room scenes are the show's bread and butter.

64. Anthropology 101

<I>The gang return for their second year. Jeff, Britta and Annie have to deal with the fallout of the year before, while Troy tweets everything Pierce says.</i>

Troy: Tell me again why Jewish people wear Yamakas?

Pierce: Half a hat. Saves money.

The central scene of this episode is actually one of my favourites because it blows off all of S1's soapy relationship stuff in a great, entertaining way while not actually feeling like soapy relationship stuff ("she looked back", ugh). It's one of Community's great scenes with excellent comedic beats, like Abed hiring an irish singer, everyone recoiling in disgust at Jeff/Britta having sex on the table except for Troy who says "awwwwwwwww-esome!", Abed punching Jeff, "I'm on the clock for another hour if you want me to break out some Batman lines", and the general excellence of Old White Man says (which is also a nice commentary on the cruelty of social media and stuff and how it actually affects people).

Everything else that surrounds it is fine. In another predictably great guest starring role, Betty White does a nice job as the Anthro professor, and Troy/Abed's reaction to her (a no-look special handshake) is great. I particularly love her deliver of "that's why you fail", which was so wonderfully, joyfully malicious. Plus the sight of 80-something Betty White beating up Jeff with a bizarre weapon of some sort and then choking him out is just an amazing visual gag (literal gag >_>).

Abed's meta-commentary about the direction of the show ("we're moving away from the soapy relationship stuff and into smaller, self-contained escapades") is also much-needed and in hindsight kind of a relief. It's the start of what made S2 such a terrific season.

"Britta!"

"Britta!"

"Hey, Toy Story 3-uh, I mean, Britta!" Troy is so good

63. English as a Second Language (Season 1, Episode 24)

The gang prepare for their Spanish final, but Chang reveals a secret to Jeff that could damage everybody's chances.

Troy: I can't wake up Pierce. Is this going to take an unexpected turn?

Jeff: You have to know how to do it. ...Discrimination lawsuit!

Pierce: [waking up suddenly] Preposterous!

I've mentioned it before but this felt like the S1 finale in a lot of ways. That last scene with them all walking away from the study room and Jeff saying "Anthropology? Anthropology?" could have been the last in the season quite easily - it's a nice moment. And it also gives Chang something to do  next season.

I have no problem with the S1 finale itself, but this could have been it. The Jeff/Chang fight with the Keytar was fun, I like that Pierce actually succeeded where Jeff originally failed earlier in the season, in that Pierce is able to manipulate the professor into making the class easier, while Jeff at first ensured Chang only made it easier for himself in "Environmental Science".

The scene where Jeff tries to make sure everybody hates Annie is absolutely great as well. It's his cynical nature overriding and suppressing everyone else's compassion, and them going with it because they're actually "right to be pissed". And there's like three hilarious pop-culture references almost back to back. "I can only connect to people through...movies..."/"SHE'S THE ARK OF THE COVENANT!!!", "picture her as Paul Giamatti!" (and only Pierce doesn't mind him), and Jeff's "sisterhood of the travelling pants" joke. Fantastic.

("I can only graduate if I take a full load-DON'T!-a full load of classes, every semester")

62. Interpretive Dance (Season 1, Episode 14)

Jeff's relationship with Slater leaks around the school; Britta and Troy discover they are in a dance class together.

Dean: Would you ever consider involving a third person?

Jeff: That's not on there! [grabs sheet] ...Oh wow, it's on there.

I fucking love Recess.

And this episode is basically ripped straight from the episode of Recess where Spinelli and Mikey are dance partners and Spinelli refuses to dance in public because she'd lose her rep but eventually she decides to say fuck it and dances with her friend anyway because otherwise he'll be sad. In this episode, Troy is Spinelli and Britta is the Mikey (and if you were doing character analogues, Britta would have been the Spinelli), and Britta's breakdown is anchored in the discovery that Jeff is dating Slater, but seriously...

It's the same fucking storyline. But I love this show for that.

I did a Google Search about it and there's an article that explains it in depth:

https://misterbenjy.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/recess-dance-lessons-community-interpretive-dance/

That's almost the sole reason it's this high >_>

61. Physical Education  (Season 1, Episode 17)

''Jeff takes a billiards class, but balks when told he has to wear shorts. The rest of the group help Abed ask out a girl when they find a picture of Abed in a book she used to own.''

Troy: Oh! He wants us to Love Don’t Cost a Thing him. Can’t Buy Me Love was the remake for white audiences.

Shirley: That’s so uncomfortable when they do that, I can’t believe it doesn't insult them.

LET'S DO THIS SUPERQUICK WRITEUPS TO GET PAST THE HALFWAY POINT WOO

I feel the thematic link between the two storylines here was a little too on-the-nose. The "Abed, you're a god" from Jeff as he realises is just that little bit too blatant. I'm also not the biggest fan of the whole "Jeff does one thing while the ENTIRE REST OF THE GROUP" do another.

Rocking good fun apart from that though. The combination of fan service/fan disservice in the naked finale is terrific and I love how into it both actors get - full committment. And the part where Jeff raises his leg onto the table and the entire crowd gasps is just amazing comic timing. Also white Abed, Britta's mispronounciation of Bagel, Abed being Don Draper, Abed being a Vampire - all good stuff.

60. Pilot  (Season 1, Episode 1)

In an attempt to seduce Britta, Jeff accidentally recruits Abed to a new study group, who promptly invites everyone else, creating "The Greendale Seven".

Duncan: I thought you had a degree from Columbia.

Jeff: Yes, and now I need to get one from America.

I have great love for this episode, though it does fall short a lot. Structurally it's kind of off with Jeff going to and fro the study room too much and Britta's a little bit too "feisty chick" here - this was long before she became one of the show's best assets. Troy, too, is not great here. But the other 5 are all varying degrees of terrific, and it showcases Community's brand of humour excellently.

But Jeff's "shark week" speech is the thing that got me into watching the show and that's all you guys really need to hear. I've even used the "this pencil's name is Steve *breaks it*" thing in my classes. That's the episode's pinnacle, even though I'm a big fan of all the John Oliver/Jeff scenes that are sprinkled throughout the episode. This is possibly the episode that gives Oliver the most to do, except for that terrific S5 episode where he goes after Britta.

It wasn't until like my 6th watch that I realised the end music is a cover of "Don't You Forget About Me", which is both a terrific listen (I wish I could find it somewhere) and clever given all the BC references Abed makes.

59. Lawnmower Maintenance And Postnatal Care (Season 6, Episode 2)

''The Dean buys and falls in love with a Virtual Reality system, causing Jeff and Frankie to try and figure out a way to get him to give it up. Meanwhile, Britta moves in with Abed and Annie, and discovers her parents have been secretly financing her.''

Frankie: Did Greendale need a virtual system?

Dean: Like a hole in the head!

Frankie: ...Um, a hole in the head is something you don’t need.

Dean: She says, through a huge hole in her head.

I love that quote and want to find a way to use it IRL at some point.

Jim Rash should have won all the Emmys for this episode. I was in fits of laughter watching him in the VR machine, and then the amazing visual gag of Keith David and the Dean standing side by side, both with VR stuff on. Jeff's natural snark cuts through the ridiculousness of the situation so well, too. "What's so funny? I mean, besides everything."

Episode also does a great job of both showcasing Frankie's character and softening her, making her more amicable and giving her a strong place within the group. Elroy is also a welcome introduction.

I'm less enthused by the other storyline - I think Britta is a little too crazy and I can't quite get behind her being so rebellious, given her parents seem like perfectly decent people (and very well-played), so it's hard to watch her be so against them and also identify with or root for the character. However, there's a nice scene with Britta and Frankie in the car later on which redeems it somewhat. My one problem with it is that the great "Jimmy Fallon syndrome" line is used by Frankie, who later says she doesn't own a TV. I know that's not a really big deal but it's one of those things that suffers slightly in hindsight.

58. Basic Email Security (Season 6, Episode 6)

A hacker protests a racist comedian by threatening to release the emails of everyone on campus if he performs there.

Abed: Yeah, Chang was our teacher.

Frankie/Elroy: WHAT!?

Chang: That's right. And frankly, haven't been well-utilised since!

OK, so this is kind of the poor man's version of Cooperative Calligraphy and Cooperative Polygraphy (if we go with Abed's idea that this is the third chapter of the "Revelations" trilogy), but if you take those two out of the equation...the central scene with the entire group in the hall revealing each other's secrets and just going to TOWN on each other is absolute dynamite, one of my favourite S6 scenes. Everyone here gets a moment to both shine and to look absolutely terrible - everyone has a clear high and a clear low, and the emotional wham of Frankie saying her sister is dead provides from actual weight to what were until that point some funny-but-not-totally-substantial reveals.

It buils up brilliantly at the start, too, where everyone pretends not to have read the emails while also being absolutely livid with each other - Jeff throwing a chair across the room before saying "something was wrong with that one", and Elroy marching in and saying "how's everybody doing-I ASKED A DAMN QUESTION.", for example.

It also gives Britta the chance to deliver a Winger speech, which is then undercut when Annie interrupts her and tells her everyone gets the idea, and it actually has a lot to say about censorship, freedom of speech, and the fact that the episode openly fails to come to a conclusion about what the "lesson" is (reducing the whole thing to meaningless 5-or-6 word catchphrases, rather than an actual lessons), really highlights how complicated an issue like this is. Great tag, as well.

57. Comparative Religion - Season 1, Episode 12

Shirley's attempts to throw a peaceful Christmas party backfire when Jeff decides to fight a guy who bullied Abed.

Troy: First time I got punched in the face, I was like, oh no! But then I was like, "this is a story."

[Pause.]

Jeff: ...and a good one.

Troy: Yeah.

I love the scene where they're prepping Jeff for the fight. I think every character there gets a moment to shine, from Pierce distracting Troy and Jeff ("that foxy black girl thinks it is" "WHY'D SHE HAVE TO BE BLACK?!"), Jeff and Troy trying to lie to Shirley ("We were just getting Jeff ready for the fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...iiight. [turns to Jeff] I couldn't think of another word." "Idiot. He meant we were figh-...ting. It IS hard to think of another word!"), Abed pointing out that in boxing you fight for the purse and the belt, Shirley's "why do you hate me and Jesus?" and Britta's continued insistence that fighting is gay.

My problem with this episode, and what keeps it from breaking into the top half, is Shirley's relgious borderline-zealotry. It's not a likeable character trait, and I don't even find it a particularly endearing flaw. It was good to see her overcome it, but the trick with showcasing a character's flaws, especially in a comedy, is to do so while making the character still entertaining and watchable. Shirley's loneliness manifesting itself in such an ugly way was a shame, because you WANT to feel sad for her, but man, a lot of her scenes here are so hard to watch.

A pity, because I love a good Christmas episode, I love Jeff being softened by Shirley, I love a lot of Pierce's quotes here, Gary makes a pretty good villain and the fight scene is terrific in how over-the-top it is. And Jeff raising his fists only for his shirt to roll down and reveal the bracelet gave Shirley earlier was wonderful, a great symbolic moment - elegant, simple and clever. And then they subvert it with the said fight scene.

<B>56. Virtual Systems Analysis</B> (Season 3, Episode 15)

During a long lunch, Annie wants to show Abed how to use the Dreamatorium - however, Abed's anger at Annie for playing matchmaker with Britta and Troy boils over, leading to the two of them simulating various events involving the study group.

Pierce: Can I just interject to say I have no idea what's going on?

This episode actually would have been a lot lower had I done an episodes ranking straight after Season 3. For a while it was one of my least favourite episodes, with its inaccessability and overreliance on Inspector Spacetime, as well as Abed being a little bit too maudlin (especially for a character who once claimed to have "self-esteem flowing out of his butt"). It also confronted me with a truth I maybe wasn't quite ready to deal with at the time - that Abed, one of my favourite characters, can be a complete prick and really is one a lot of the time.

I've come around on it since, mostly because the way the episode plays with the simulation is so damn clever and so funny, and the way it's realised visually is expertly done. Abed running back and forth to simultate Troy and Britta kissing is hilarious, as is Troy breaking down, in-simulation, and revealing a bunch of secrets ("I DIDN'T GET INCEPTION!"). It also nicely turns the heat up on Annie, just when the episode looks like it's going to be all about Abed - the accusation that Annie is a control-freak and wants to manipulate affairs to ensure she ends up with Jeff are worth thinking about. Then it also manages to be an effective parody of shows like Grey's Anatomy. It's a smart episode in the end - but those flaws I mentioned earlier still exist, even if they are diminished now compared to when I first watched it.

<B>55. Messianic Myths and Ancient Principles</b> (Season 2, Episode 5)

Shirley commissions Abed to make a religious movie, but Abed turns it into a self-referential mess that quickly overtakes the entire school; Pierce becomes friends with other "more mature" students, to the annoyance of other members of the group.

Jeff: “Hi, I'm Pierce Hawthorne's emergency contact.”

Receptionist: “You're here to pick him up?"

Jeff: “No, I'm here to be removed as his emergency contact."

This episode is actually really smart in the way it makes Abed and Shirley both hero and villain - Abed goes from an oppressed underdog (when Shirley tells him there is no movie) to a blasphemous, selfish douchebag, to a sympathetic artist who has the self-awareness to know he's made a shit movie, and Shirley goes from prophet to pharisee, but the pharisee role is actually the heroic one. It plays with this duality and this murkiness, just as the reality of Abed's movie is.

However, this episode also has to tread a very difficult tightrope in its attempts to make both characters have a valid argument and both be sort of in the right and in the wrong, and it's a line they don't always stay on the right side of. It occasionally comes off as preachy.

The way this episode plays with the familial relationship of the group is some good stuff though, particularly Jeff/Pierce and Jeff finding his conscience. The scene where they fit neatly into family stereotype roles, with Pierce as the rebellious teenage boy, Britta/Jeff as parents, Annie as a little sister and Troy as a little brother being badly-influenced by Pierce is good and most importantly (though a little on the nose) doesn't feel unnatural. I enjoy that, and the scene is also balanced by moving on the Abed/Shirley plotline (in which Abed has gone full-on absurd with his wig and white robe). Pierce's whole plotline being a parody of any number of teen movies but wonderfully twisted (eg, the car going slowly into the lamp post - hilarious) is also a great way of exploring his dynamic and how his nature is very similar to that of a rebellious teenager.

"You humbled me." "You humbled me too." is such a sweet way to end it as well. A very short, simple exchange but so neat in terms of what it did for both characters.

Classic tag.

<B>54. Politics of Human Sexuality</b> (Season 1, Episode 11)

Annie helps the Dean organise an STD awareness fair, but her lack of sexual experience hurts her when she's asked to perform a demonstration; Jeff and Pierce double-date, against Jeff's will; Troy and Abed compete after Abed turns out to be a gifted athlete.

Jeff: You will get AIDS. [turns over sheet] Unless you come to the STD fair.

Annie: I wrote that myself.

Jeff: CONGRATU-horrible.

Annie: is that considered large?

[Simultaneous] Shirley: No.

Britta: Yes.

In many ways this is a prototypical "non-gimmick" Community episode, and that's both why it's this high and why it can't be any higher. There's a ridiculous dance/nighttime event involving the Dean and his incompetence, there's some ridiculous comedy situation (the girls breaking into the Dean's office), there's Troy and Abed hijinks, dozens of movie references, Pierce as a kind of bizarro mentor, and in the end Jeff possibly becomes a slightly better person. There's a lot here to like - my favourite part is "you're  a good friend, Troy." "No, Abed.

[long pause]

You are."

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RUN!"

Fun stuff all-round.

Britta was also on fire this episode, with two great bits of cutting sarcasm in the cold open and the scene with Jeff when talking about the numbers Jeff has in his board (Juror #6? That sounds above board), and then being a foil to Annie in her storyline.

Oh, and Troy's absolute delight with coming up with such a bad joke (don't eat the crab dip) is hilarious and endearing.

53. Basic Story (Season 5, Episode 12)

Insurance appraisers come to Greendale; the group prepares for the inspection.

Jeff: This inspection's going to be the most boring thing to happen since Britta dated Troy.

Is it possible for Abed to be a bit too Abed? I feel like he toed that line with his antics in this episode, but otherwise fine because it just went so hilariously over-the-top, right down to a weird floating Abed head in the middle of one of the corridors. Abed is apparently a weird, unknowing god of the Community universe >_>

<B>52. App Development and Condiments</b> (Season 5, Episode 8)

A social media app that allows you to rate people from 1-5 takes over the school.

Britta: All fives were reduced to oneness in the great purge of about two minutes ago!

This is a terrific episode in concept but slightly less so in execution. The drama between Britta and Shirley feels a little manufactured but the end of the episode, where they make up, is very sweet - a genuinely nice moment between two characters that had been there from the start but not had as many storylines together as you might expect - that moment with Britta or Annie or even Abed wouldn't have felt as nice, given Jeff has had so many storylines with all 3.

The visuals of this episode are also wonderful, very imaginative and wonderfully executed. Gillian Jacobs does a great job with the "mustard on the face" gag which had me in stitches - both when she finally accepted its power and when she started smearing it all over her face to try and get the power back. It also provided a microcosm of the hypocrisy of the Britta character - what would she do if she achieved the anarchy and government overthrow she has long professed to want? We've always known she doesn't really known what she wants beyond a compulsive desire to be anti-stuff, but this actually showed what would happen if she got her way. It's good. Also has some good social commentary on our obsession with apps, social media, acceptance, the facades we present, etc - nothing new but so quirkily presented it's well worth a watch.

KOOGLER!

51. Spanish 101 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Jeff continues to pursue Britta, leading to him accidentally being partnered with Pierce for a Spanish project; Shirley and Annie protest the murder of journalists in Guatemala.

Chang: F. F-.

Pierce: What? Did he say "S"?

The Jeff/Pierce presentation, the beginnings of the Troy/Abed friendship, the first ever Troy/Abed tag, the pointlessness of Britta's various pursuits, the first appearance of Chang, the  first look at the group's dynamics in that opening scene - all so great.

Bogged down by soapy relationship stuff ("she looked back" is maybe my least favourite Community quote), like many S1 episodes, but subverted well enough by Pierce's ridiculous behaviour for it to be good. Also it's kind of amusing how Annie and Shirley in this episode end up acting a lot more like how Britta would act in later episodes, with their ignorance and incompetence (I love the sheer offensiveness of the use of pinata for someone who was beaten to death).

50. Romantic Expressionism (Season 1, Episode 15)

Jeff and Britta team up to try and prevent Annie dating Vaughn, fixing her up with Troy instead; Abed, Troy, Pierce, Shirley and Chang watch and make fun of bad movies together, with Pierce getting more and more frustrated when his jokes miss.

Shirley: Does anyone get specific about me?

Pierce: Check your email.

Shirley: I mark you as spam.

Pierce: Who the hell is Pam?

This scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJwSLN2dDRs

Is absolute dynamite. Everyone around the study table ripping each other is great, and the 60-second-or so segment at the start of that video features dialogue where pretty much every line is in some way a joke, but also drives the scene

A pity the rest of the episode couldn't quite match that otherwise superb level - bogged down in soapy relationship stuff once more and man is that ending with Annie going back to Vaughn that little bit too sickeningly sweet and sentimental.

Troy's attempt to be "cool jock guy" to the point he becomes a parody of it, is great but I kind of also hate it because he does such a good job of being a completely idiotic slimeball. There's also one of the first examples of "SHUT UP LEONARD!" which is one of my favourite things, and "I did eat all the macaroni. It's messed up that he knows." made me laugh hard.

The Troy/Abed/Pierce/Chang/Shirley story is well-executed because it doesn't actually feel like it's just dumping everyone else into one thing, with the possible exception of Chang randomly being there (but that was fine imo, they address how bizarre it is that he showed up). It's Troy and Abed hanging out, Shirley joining them to fit in, and "I'm younger than the three of you put together!" Pierce attempting to prove his worth by going too. It's pretty great stuff.

Fun fact: Community secretly permeates culture without people actually knowing what they're referencing. Chang's, "hah, GAAAAY!" was common in the schools I've been at, and I once had to kick a kid out because he said  "I have the weirdest boner" when everyone else was silent (well, silent-ish) and doing work.

Oh, and the tag. "Let's go film the sex scene" and the slash fiction writers went crazy.

49. Basic Crisis Room Decorum (Season 6, Episode 3)

When it's discovered that Greendale may have given a degree to a dog, and City College are going to unveil an attack ad about it, the group turn the study room into a crisis room to solve the problem.

"Frankie: Oh God no, I never hope. Hope is pouting in advance. Hope is faith's richer, bitchier sister. Hope is the deformed addict bound incest monster offspring of entitlement and fear."

This is the episode that told me S6 could be every bit as good as old Community. It's a really strong half-hour and uses almost everyone well. Jeff's moral ambiguitiy clashes with the idealism of Annie, which is an old dynamic, but that plays well with the addition of Frankie, who straddles the line between the two almost and, in the end, falls to Annie's side. I don't buy Annie transferring at this point but whatever.

Abed doing the attack ad is pretty terrific and the Dean's incompetence is taken to a new, and more hilarious, level here. And then you have the ridiculously off-kilter tag and the entire Dean-texting-with-Japanese-boy subplot in general, which is probably the highlight. It's good stuff.

I feel like the ep needed Garrett screaming "CRISIS ALERT" though.

48. Heroic Origins (Season 4, Episode 12)

Abed's "crazy quilt of destiny" reveals that the study group have deep-rooted links.

"Abed: You bought us together. Like the cosmic cube brought together the Avengers. Well, that and the multi-million dollar deal with Disney."

I really like the aesthetics in this episode - the comic book style used to facilitate the flashbacks.

Anyway, this episode does a ton of that weird, bizarre fanservicey quality of 4 but it's almost so OTT in that sense that it's OK. It's a little gross to have an episode so heavily rooted in mythology without Harmon but none of the reveals here are massively important - in fact, many of them help, or accentuate, the individual characters. Though the linking of their stories is a little bit too coincidental I guess.

47. Competitive Ecology

The group are split into lab partners for Biology, but struggle.

Jeff: You're pathological.

Annie: It's too late for flattery.

Everything is a struggle to rank now. I had this episode in a bank of 4 and I lowered it to the bottom purely because the 3 above it have very, very specific things that are memorable and keep them higher. That's not to say the group's abuse of Todd isn't memorable, but I feel like the episode labours ever so slightly in getting to that climactic scene where everyone has to assign themselves a new partner and they rank each other. That's all, because the scene is absolutely hilarious and great.

<B>46. Analysis of Cork-Based Networking</b> (Season 5, Episode 6)

Fuck, Alison Brie absolutely nails the "EVERRRYOOONEE!!!!" in this episode.

Also Chang is decently-used here, John Oliver is a welcome return, it's one of Hickey's first great storylines, and I like the Britta/Abed storyline, even though I think Britta goes way too far and it's actually kinda sad. It does, however, facilitate the return of Rachel which is great - a real shame they couldn't get her back in S6 to at least give closure to what is a very sweet relationship. Great visual gags too when Abed is trying to avoid Britta's spoilers.

Oh, and NATHAN GODDAMN FILLION, the T-1000 and, bizarrely, Frankie were in this episode. That alone probably boosts it up a notch.

<B> 45. Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality</b>

Duncan enlists Jeff to try and seduce Britta; Abed and Hickey fall out; Chang sees ghosts.

Duncan: “Isn't she great? She's everything I love about America. Bold, opinionated, just past her peak and has started to realize that she has to settle for less. And the moment she needs a shoulder to cry on [pulls out handkerchief] BAM!"

This is a great episode for John Oliver, maybe his best. It probably single-handedly justifies bringing him back for S5, not that it needed justification in the first place. He gets to use his unique brand of creepy, self-deprecating humour while also having good, serious and emotionally satisfying scenes with both Jeff and Britta. We also see Britta as the object in this episode, seeing her from more of an outsider perspective and that really helps get a clearer picture of where the character is right now.

You also have the terrific Abed/Hickey storyline which demonstrates and explores the flaws of both characters, making both of them seem kind of douchey at once, but also showing their good points and even humanizing Abed slightly more. Those scenes are really solid, possibly Banks' best work on the show.

It's a pity Hickey was only around for this season because there was quite a bit of potential in that relationship that was never quite realised, similar to Abed/Elroy in S6. To be fair, they never quite filled Troy's void, so maybe trying to manufacture a new BFF for Abed would have been a little contrived.

Everything else is just kind of OK. The Chang story is bizarre but has some funny moments.

44. Introduction to Statistics (Season 1, Episode 7)

''Annie invites everyone to a Dia De Los Muertos party she is running for extra credit. Meanwhile, Jeff attempts to court his Statistics Professor.''

Jeff: Batman, are you staying for the party?

Abed: [in Batman costume] If I stay, there can be no party. I must be out there in the night, staying vigilant.

Wherever a party needs to be saved, I'm there. Wherever there are masks, wherever there's tomfoolery and joy, I'm there.

But sometimes I'm not cause I'm out in the night, staying vigilant. Watching. Lurking. Running. Jumping. Hurtling. Sleeping. No, I can't sleep. You sleep. I'm awake. I don't sleep. I don't blink. Am I bird? No. I'm a bat. I am Batman. Or am I? Yes, I am Batman. Happy Halloween.

Pierce's bad trip and, let's be honest, ABED BATMAN.

Tempted to leave it there because that really says it all, but I also feel I should point out how this episode plays with more Jeff/Britta soapy relationship stuff but actually makes Britta's issue with Jeff not jealousy of Slater but annoyance at how Jeff is treating Annie ("last time you did this I saved a vial of your tears and have been slowly building an immunity"). But then it shows Britta does have a hint of jealousy with a nice, understated snapping of one of Slater's awards.

43. The First Chang Dynasty (Season 3, Episode 21)

The group plans an elaborate heist at Greendale to rescue the Dean and clear their names.

Chang: Fire can't go through walls, stupid! It's not a ghost!

It's a heist episode, which is always going to be great for me, so all they needed to do was execute it. I think they largely succeeded, though it perhaps could have been a tiny bit better (I'm a big heist fan). This is similar to the Law and Order episode where it both sends up the conventions of the thing it is parodying/homaging while following them - in this case it's the "at a point it'll look like the heist has failed, but that's actually part of the plan".

The emotional stakes here are twofold - 0one, whether Troy will give up his freedom to get everyone out, and the Dean's incarceration. Both of them work, including the hilarity of the Dean being kept behind. I'm not a fan of the kid-henchmen, though Jeff finally lampshading the ridiculousness of kid-henchmen by easily dispatching them ("YOU WEIGH NOTHING!") was good.

Also some great character stuff when Troy gives that little nod - a nicely-directed scene - and the downer ending that completely kills their moment of triumph. It's really the inverse of the episode in which they get expelled. In that episode, something horrible happens to them but they all see the good in it at the end to leave a note of optimism. Meanwhile, here they accomplish something great, through their own sordid ingenuity, but it's tempered and left on a big note of pessimism. Life is a lot like that, which is something Community has always been keen on showing.

42.  Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing (Season 6, Episode 4)

The Dean is offered a place on the school board at the cost of being its token gay; Abed and Elroy try and fix the Wi-Fi only to find a bird's nest by the router; Annie and Chang audition for The Karate Kid.

Frankie: "All right. I'm trying to find the IT lady. My emails to her get bounced back to me in Aramaic, and when I call, I hear an undulating high-pitched whistle that makes my nose bleed."

Elroy: "I'm assuming it's still the same, smaller holes, more bytes. What are we up to now, mega?"

Abed: "Tera."

Elroy: "Tera. They did it, those bastards. They finally did it."

Dean: Now the real reason I came by, I'm dying.

[Collective Gasp]

Not really, but imagine how bad you feel for complaining about the Wi-Fi. Here's the real reason. *points to tie*

Too short?

I used three quotes because that opening scene was great (and references Paget's role as the IT lady in S5). It was the first study-room-table scene featuring the entire S6 cast  and it totally delivered. I even left off Elroy's sudden fit of rage about Donkey Kong ("WHY WOULD A PLUMBER BE FIGHTING A MONKEY!?!?") Also, great episode title here.

This episode has so  much to say for itself but it's done very well. Frankie's quotes in the early scene ("when a person becomes symbolic, they gain symbolic power at the price of independent power" and "are you prepared to make your sexuality - which is nobody's business - an aspect of your role in society. I know I'm not, so I don't.")  where they're deciding what to do are so good, well-delivered by Paget Brewster, tell us a lot about Frankie as a character in this early-season ep,  and undercut comedically (and thus saved from being too preachy) by Jeff and the Dean speculating about Frankie's sexuality silently, my favourite running gag in Season 6. That interaction also furthered one of my favourite character developments in S6: Jeff and the Dean actually becoming legitimate friends.

The Dean plot is among my favourites in S6, and I think it actually stands up with any A-plot the show has ever done untilt he conclusion which I found a little bit weak. It kind of makes sense as satire - that being openly political is worse these days than being gay - but I dunno, it just didn't click for me somehow. But it's still so much fun until that point, and Jim Rash does a good job with material that is atypical for the usually  OTT Dean character. I especially loved the scene where the gay guy comes up to him and thanks him, and the Dean softens a little.

Elsewhere the Chang thing is fine but as I've said earlier, I struggle a little with Chang being anything other than ridiculous. That said, I do I buy him somehow being a terrific actor, even though it's a little bit contrived. The joke towards the end, with Annie being replaced by Annie Kim, was hilarious on multiple levels though. And I loved how absolutely into the show everyone was. The collective gasp when Chang-as-Miyagi rubs his hands together is great.

Abed and Elroy made a fun pairing, though they didn't exactly have a huge amount of stuff to do together after that. It linked in with the Gay Dean storyline in a very neat, organic way as well.

Also lmao the gay Dean song was fantastic

<B>41. GI Jeff</b> (Season 5, Episode 9)

Jeff imagines himself and the group in the GI Joe cartoon, but why?

Jeff: I'm Neo in the third act of The Matrix! I'm also Neo in the first act of the second Matrix!

I appreciate Community absolutely committing to a gimmick (right down to the preachy, 80s-kid-show-tag, which was of course done by Britta, which was of course subverted by Abed) and even though I wasn't familiar with GI Joe that much, they actually made it accessible by basing the plot on a very obvious kids TV show rule - that is, nobody ever gets killed.

This episode is funny and deals nicely with a very real problem Jeff is having to go through, that all of us will likely go through, and that became a theme in S6 as well - his fear of aging. Yes, it's Jeff in the spoitlight again, but that's fine, because this is Jeff's "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas". It falls short of that high level because of the very fundamental issue of it being based on something not everyone is completely familiar with (whereas AUC used a known medium to express an original story, GIJ is based on a specific show). Jeff is also slightly less of a sympathetic character than Abed, even though his turmoil and insecurity does allow for many sympathetic moments throughout the series.

But this is full of great comedy moments - the bizarre creation of "Jobra", Jeff punching through layers of reality to escape his coma, which is amazingly bizarre, the deliberately repeated animation of hitting people with a rock,not knowing about scotch whiskey, etc. They play around wonderfully with the limitations and advantages of the medium, the various GI Joe-ified versions of themselves are all great, particularly Britta being "Buzzkill"...it's good stuff.

It's a really fun episode. And it almost makes up for the topic being kind of niche.

Mikey goes through a similar issue in one episode of Recess, where he reverts to a very early childhood version of himself to escape having to turn 10 (except without the hallucinogenic episode). I do love how similar these shows are.

40. The Science of Illusion (Season 1, Episode 19)

Britta tries to prove she isn't a buzzkill by playing a prank on Chang; Annie and Shirley join campus security, which is a "buddy cop show" Abed wants to watch; Jeff and Troy prank Pierce into wearing crazy robes.

Troy: Yeah, you're more of a fun vampire. Because you don't suck blood...you just suck.

Basically this high only because of the final scene and the Abed/Shirley buddy cop show. They both absolutely nail that and I love it. The Jeff/Britta thing is fine but nothing more than that. Pierce trying to cast a spell on the Dean with a cookie wand in ridiculous robes ("OK, is he having a stroke?") is also terrific.

But Abed/Shirley/Annie is solid gold and earns the placement on its own. The chase scene is incredible by all parties involved, and the cut to Annie turning around with streaked eyes after pepper-spraying herself is absolutely fantastic, and "that African American police chief character Abed was playing was right" is great, and delivered with such deadpan normality by Alison Brie that it becomes even more hilarious. Like, yeah, of course Abed is playing an African American police chief character in the Dean's office.

"I just got off the phone with the-what, the mayor? Stop doing that!"

39.  Basic Rocket Science (Season 2, Episode 4)

''The group get stuck in a KFC-themed space simulator. ''

Dean Pelton: "I know that this isn't a symbol for the crossroads of ideas. I now know it's a butt."

Maybe this is a really loved episode. I don't quite love it as much as some do. Maybe it's simply that the Apollo 13 parody doesn't work as well as their other parody efforts.

But it's still hilarious, because putting those 6 characters inside a KFC-themed space simulator just has so many opportunities for comedy.

I think what made other homage/parody episodes so good is the fact that it was so closely tied to the group, like the paintball episodes. This tries to do that with Annie transferring but it never quite works, maybe because it's trying to do so much other stuff.

Also yay butt flag.

38. Origins of Vampire Mythology  (Season 3, Episode 15)

''Blade's ex-boyfriend, who travels with a carnival, is in town, and to prevent herself from going to him she enlists Annie's help. Meanwhile, Jeff and Shirley try to figure out the power Blade has over Britta, Pierce and Chang become best friends, the Dean is ordered by Laybourne to convince Troy to join the AC school, and Troy and Abed watch Blade.''

Troy: She was born in the 80s! She still uses her phone as a phone!

That's a lot of stuff in that synopsis.

OK, I thought the Chang/Pierce montages kind of missed the mark, but everything else here worked. I love episodes like this one in S3 where a lot of it is just the gang hanging out at the apartment - this is the lowest of three that I think do this really well.

Everything in the apartment here is terrific, but sometimes ridiculous, funny noises are all you need and Annie doing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca72OF0MiAE got the biggest laugh from me in the episode. Also I enjoy everyone in the apartment saying "Dean, why are you here!?" and his response being some variation of "ouch" every time.

I think Jeff's speech at the end is a little bit forced but I don't mind it. This is like the denouement to that Jeff/Shirley trilogy I mentioned earlier, though, with them being able to hang out together as a result of their plot in the foosball episode.

37. Laws of Robotics and Party Rights (Season 6, Episode 5)

''The school introduces telepresence robots - local prison inmates that take classes at the school - and Jeff runs into conflict with one of the prisoners. Meanwhile, Britta attempts to defy Annie by throwing a party at the new apartment.''

Annie: [reading Britta's party script] Fade in before a party. People start coming over, way more than eight. It becomes a rager. Everyone has a great time and parties like there’s no tomorrow, then they leave. Sophia cleans up. The end.

Britta: We’re very interested in you for the role of Sophia.

Chang: They’ll rape us. They’ll rape us all.

Frankie: They can’t rape you, because their genitals will be hundreds of miles away.

Chang: From each other?

Dean: Now, if I see any race gangs forming, I will have no choice but to adjust the contrast on your screens until you all look the same

Because it's iPads on sticks.

I love this episode, and I really like the Britta/Annie/Abed dynamic - a rare oasis of S1/2/3-esque Community in a later season. Not that the later seasons are bad or anything, it was just nice to see the episode use three originals in one plot.

I'm also a fan of the Dean/Jeff becoming legit friends, as I mentioned in one of my other recent writeups. The part towards the end where Jeff realises the difference between himself and Willie, where he says "I wouldn't manipulate him...I wouldn't...hurt him." is terrific, and really nicely acted by McHale to show that realisation - it's the moment he realises he is legit friends with the Dean now, rather than just being some annoying pansexual imp.

The highlight of the episode is Willie literally trying to kill Jeff in the parking lot. "Did you just try to murder me?" "You are trying as hard as you can to murder me right now, aren't you?" "See you tomorrow, guy who tried to murder me."

And then it culminates in iPads on sticks having a fight. I mean, seriously, I love this show so much.

36. Aerodynamics of Gender (Season 2, Episode )

''Britta, Shirley and Annie make Abed into one of the girls. which backfires; Jeff and Troy discover a relaxation secret that confuses and frustrates Pierce.''

Abed: Like robocop.

Britta: Exactly like rowboat cop! Cherise is a bad rowboat. Sink her.

The sheer absurdity of the Jeff/Troy/Pierce plot and the Joshua character, played by the Veep guy (please tell me I'm OK to call him "the Veep guy" this time), catapults this episode to number 36 on the list. It's terrific in every way, does great character stuff with Pierce, and the revelation that Joshua was racist is just hilarious ("It's going to be a maze" was great, but Glover's delivery of "oh my god. Joshua was racist." was phenomenal.).

The A-Plot also works, it's fun to see Abed be so viciously brutal and not even care because of his lack of conscience or whatever. It also makes sense for the Abed character to have that ability due to his long-referenced keen observational skill, so it's not that much of a stretch. Hilary Duff is in this and does a decent job as a total bitch.

It's worth watching the commentary for some of this episode. They can't watch "I NOW DECLARE THIS A BITCH FREE ZONE" without bursting out laughing.

Oh, and I loved Abed's robocop-vision. Laced with injokes.

35. Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism (Season 3, Episode 9)

Jeff and Shirley team up to try and take down some obnoxious German foosball players, while Annie breaks Abed's priceless Batman DVD and tries to hide it.

Leonard: The stakes have never been higher.

Shirley: Shut up, Leonard! I found your youtube page! What's the point of reviewing frozen pizza?!

Leonard: You're talking about it.

Shirley: Well, that is true.

Britta: I'm volunteering at the animal hospital!

Troy: ANIMAL HOSPITAL?!

Abed: The animals are the patients.

Troy: [depressed] ...That makes sense.

The last in that Shirley/Jeff trilogy I've mentioned in the past, this episode really delivers great A-and-B stories, while not being at all afraid of giving Pierce and Britta nothing at all to do (though of course Britta's phones come in a six-pack).

This is another example of Jeff and Shirley getting together and bringing out the absolute worst in each other, but here they actually go back to their childhoods and kind of explore their roots as human beings, and doing that and having a massive argument about it (which then becomes a weird parody of anime which I enjoyed) is almost the thing they needed to blow off all their steam. This leads to them being way closer than they've ever been by the end of the episode. And so, rather than ending the same as the two previous episodes - where they both realise they're bad for each other - they actually fix the relationship. It's so great, and though the bit at the end where their kid-selves walk off is a little bit too syrupy, the episodes earns it.

So I really like the Jeff/Shirley A-story... but it's almost totally overshadowed by the Troy/Abed/Annie story, which is another one where it's the three younger people in the group hanging out at their place. Being in my early 20s when this episode was produced it was fun to see an episode of TV about people in their early 20s doing crazy stuff. There's a big difference between early and mid-late 20s (as the people are in Friends for example), and few big-network shows actually seem to highlight people in that early-20s, univerisity-or-just-out-of-university-age. Here they do a typical sitcom plot, but Troy lampshades it and it goes in a completely different direction. And that leads to us getting ABED AS BATMAN back, which will always help an episode's placement.

Glover's best line reading: "Aww is that the grappling hook I got you for Christmas?" hahaha amazing. But there's really a dozen quotes in that storyline I can use. Annie trying to do a Christian Bale voice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyJqS1nLGs),  "Abed is Batman now. Christian Bale.", "Abed knows everything" (which seemed to suggest Troy has a bizarre fear of Abed, which was interesting), Troy locking his blanket fort, "there's something else above the law: Bats. <I>And me.</i>", "-There can be no peace, while crime spits and dances on the grave of justice to the hot beat and infectious rhythms of all that is wrong.” "You moving in here was supposed to tone us DOWN!"

God it's so quotable. So qoutable. So goddamn funny. And Community is about more than the laughs, but those three performers absolutely killing their roles and getting every ounce of comedic juice from the situation...sometimes humour is all you need.

There was a point where just the Annie/Troy/Abed storyline was on youtube and I watched it so often. Also, it's another example of a third person approaching the Troy/Abed dynamic from the outside, and that's always enjoyable to me.

34. Basic Interglutal Numismatics (Season 5, Episode 3)

When the ass-crack bandit returns to Greendale, chaos erupts and it's up to the committee to take him down.

Dean: Your two cents count as change, and it's banned!

This episode completely commits to its tone, as you'd expect, and it's a very enjoyable watch. It gives people like Hickey and the returning Duncan great stuff to do, and Troy of course is hilarious (in what is almost his final chance to completely nail his part - he left two episodes later) in the role of a traumatized victim.

Annie and Jeff work really well together too. It's just another one of Community's "special" episodes that they completely nail, though it falls a little short of the truly fantastic concept episodes they had done in S1-3 (and one they would later do in S6).

"He should be called the run-on sentence bandit."

33. Mixology Certification (Season 2, Episode 10)

The group go to a bar for Troy's 21st Birthday.

Troy: "I wanna bathe in manhood."

Look, I'm sorry. Don't get me wrong, I love this episode. I love it. It's so great. The character stuff is stellar. But I do ultimately watch it for a combination of great characters and great laughs and this is maybe just a little too dark to truly deliver the latter as much as some other episodes do. But the character stuff really is fantastic - it shows Troy's heart, Shirley's past and her insecurities, the actual stupidity of Jeff and Britta and what poor role models they are, te

It's a vital episode in a lot of ways in that it lets you know so much about these people, and that knowledge is useful when discussing what they do in future episodes. As a character showcase it's stellar, and though it does have a huge amount of funny moments, it just doesn't have the bounce that Community episodes usually do. And that was a deliberate choice, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't mean I have to adore it. I appreciate it, I like it. Troy showing the heart of the hero is great and it made me love the character even more.

tl;dr: don't get me wrong, I really, really like this episode. But I feel like it's a favourite among the fanbase, while for me it's not even in the top quarter of Community episodes. It just isn't funny enough to rub shoulders, and I think other episodes combined greater laughs and great joy with great character stuff too.

I dunno. This is a hard writeup because I'm both trying to explain why I love it but also why I don't love it as much as I "should", that is to say as much as large swathes of the fanbase do. I love its importance and its heart and its desire to be so different and the way it showcases each character. I love the laughs that are available and the sweet, sentimental ending. Troy leaving his last drink, which the whole episode built towards, was terrific. It absolutely deserves this placement. But it doesn't deserve to be any higher.

32. Accounting for Lawyers (Season 2, Episode 2)

''Jeff's old lawyer buddy returns, leading him astray. Meanwhile, Chang tries to find a way to get into the group.''

Pierce: Jeff's bush league. I gave seminars on manipulation. I can reach into a man's soul and unravel it with one tug.

Alan: Cool! Hit me.

Pierce: ......You're bald.

Alan: *shrug* So are you.

Pierce: I'LL KILL YOU YOU SON OF A-*gets restrained by Troy*

The hilarious tag ("you have to believe Troy! ...Wait you don't have to believe!" "I didn't! ...I didn't." "I may have done some damage there." SO GOOD), Rob Corddry's excellent sleasiness, Drew Carey with a hole in his hand, Britta's depressing John Stewart impression, Troy, Abed and Jeff doing a hilarious pop-and-lock-athon thing ("and now, the puppet"), the emotional beat of Jeff "catching something" at Greendale (maybe a little on the cheesy side, but y'know), Britta discovering "the world's newest profession", the general absurdity of the pop-and-lockathon contrasting with Jeff's emotional breakthrough and return/pseudo-apology to the group, Chang's bizarre study group fantasy, Troy DESTROYING Chang ("that wasn't the deal...we lost, so..."), Abed and Troy being distracted by Annie's boobs (and I mean her actual boobs) ("all I heard was suck"), the lawyer party being like an army of Jeffs...this is an episode full of slick, electric moments, great and clever humour and all that stuff Community is known for.

But really that's all window-dressing around what I might say is my favourite scene ever in Community - the Chloroform scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZcDShqCl0

The fucking Chloroform scene.

"I CAN EXPLAIN.

...

LET ME EXPLAIN."

Annie chloroforming a guy twice her size, Abed's ridiculous plan, Troy's graceful leap over the janitor's body, "MY WHOLE BRAIN IS CRYING!", Annie sniffing the chloroform in the background, Troy tripping over the body...it's so good. Like two minutes of the episode is devoted to it and it's time well-deserved. I giggle just thinking about it, even like 4 years after watching it for the first time.

I mean it's not a great, great episode, but it is a very good one even without the Chloroform scene. But the Chloroform scene.

31. Communication Studies (Season 1, Episode 16)

''When Britta drunk-dials Jeff and feels bad about it, Abed convinces Jeff that he must hand the power back to Britta by drunk-dialling them in return, which might lead to consequences with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Chang’s bullying of Troy and Pierce sparks Annie and Shirley into action.''

Jeff: “Ouch, that hurts.

…

Not the words. The clouds of bourbon vapour forming them.”

Because Jeff and Abed getting drunk is pretty much the kind of thing I watch this show for. This is the pinnacle of the soapy relationship stuff in a way, mostly because it wraps the whole thing in completely ridiculous sitcom shit. The return-drunk-dial concept is so inherently ridiculous, but in the best way, and its dumbness is highlighted by Jeff (“here’s why. Dumbest idea ever.”).

Elsewhere the Troy/Pierce thing is some proper sitcom caper fun and that’s all great too. This is a quintessential “normal” Community episode; not a bottle episode, not a gimmick episode, all set in the college buildings – great stuff.

30. Epidemiology (Season 2, Episode 6)

A zombie breakout causes a Halloween party at Greendale to descend into chaos.

Abed: Make me proud, Troy. Be the first black man to make it all the way to the end.

Yes, the zombie episode. I don’t think I need to explain why it’s so high, because it’s the Community zombie episode. I think the thing that holds me back is it’s that little bit too much of a huge event and the amnesia thing is just too convenient. Not a big problem but at this point those are the fine margins we’re dealing with. I think it’s one of those things that is just too ridiculous to really get on board with and that slightly, slightly, takes me out of it.

Still superb though. And Troy being the legit hero but being too stupid to pull it off like he wants to is excellent. The camera panning up while the opening chords of Mamma Mia play and Troy wearing the battle suit from Alien…just excellent direction/writing.

29. Critical Film Studies

''The rest of the gang are waiting to celebrate Abed’s birthday with a Pulp Fiction-style party at the diner Britta works at, but Abed has invited Jeff to an intimate dinner. Why?''

Troy: They said “market price”. WHAT MARKET ARE YOU SHOPPING AT?

Incredibly intense, interesting episode with a ton of subtext. Danny Pudi absolutely nails the Cougar Town monologue, and the way he slowly breaks Jeff down and coaxes a real conversation out of Jeff is really well-played by both actors.

I’m less fond of what the other characters have to do, but they’re necessary as a goal point/aspiration for Jeff, and it’s interesting to see him completely abandon them over time. Also Pierce wearing a gimp suit is always going to be appreciated and hilarious.

It’s just a great, great episode. But it’s also one I’m not always so keen to rewatch – so many episodes of Community balance being clever with being incredibly easy viewing. That’s the beauty of the show, that it can work at so many different levels. This one is superbly well-written, acted and directed (they got Ayoade to direct it which is pretty legit) but maybe operates at a level that doesn’t make it one I’m always super-keen to rewatch. I do however respect that this episode works even if you’ve never seen My Dinner With Andre (which I hadn’t when I watched the episode).

28. Introduction to Felt Surrogacy (Season 4, Episode 9)

''The group have lapsed into an awkward, uncomfortable silence. The Dean decides to use “puppet therapy” to try and find out why.''

Troy: We're stranded here forever...and I've never seen Blue Man Group!

...I did see Blue Man Group! I just didn't get it! Why can't they talk? They have so much in common!

I fucking love this episode so much. It’s completely joyful, I think the songs are all great. I think it’s maybe a little bit more contrived than Harmon’s themed episodes, because it’s very “let’s do a puppet episode!” if you know what I mean. But once you get past that, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Funny, reflects on the history of the group and their individual quirks, allows the Dean to be weird, Chang is used in a minimal but somewhat effective way, some of S4’s best writing, and lots of Community’s trademark sentimentality. Also, they made a wise decision to sell Shirley’s guilt-tripping as actually reasonable and justified – when she is about to walk off in shame after having made her confession, it doesn’t feel like Shirley “using her guilt as a weapon”. I mean, she absolutely is, but it’s earned and played for sympathy. So in a way, she uses her guilt as a weapon more effectively than ever before. There’s something to be said for that.

I think the only real weak point is Annie’s confession. Some people see Annie allowing Cornwallis to rub her feet for a grade is a character-ruiner, and I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s really bad. Like to the point I like to pretend it’s non-canon. The others I can sort of abide, and what I like about them is not necessarily the confessions themselves but the importance they lend that confession. So Troy starting a fire when he was, like, 12 is absolutely forgivable, but of course the pure-hearted and somewhat naïve Troy is still guilty about it. And everyone knows Britta is a terrible activist, so of course the revelation that she’s never voted is a big reveal to her, but to nobody else.

I also really like the tag, which is a brief look at the making of the episode. Seeing YNB’s joy at the puppets is just nice to see, and the outtake of McHale ripping off Jim Rash’s nose, only to have Rash scream “SO MUCH SKIN CAME OFF!!” was hilarious and an outtake I find myself coming back to on random youtube trawls. That tag is the kind of thing that Harmon’s Community would never have done, but that I actually really appreciated as a one-off.

Also dayum YNB’s voice.

27. Studies in Modern Movement (Season 3, Episode 7)

''The gang help Annie move in with Troy and Abed, but is their childlike lifestyle too much for her? Jeff avoids helping by pretending to be sick, but when he runs into the Dean he gets blackmailed.''

Dean: Please, call me Craig! Outside of school I’m just a Cragular Joe.

This episode isn’t without flaws – I’m certainly not a fan of the Shirley/Britta storyline, which seems skippable  - but similar to how I bumped up “Accounting for Lawyers” on the back of one scene, this episode gets elevated because the central “Kiss From a Rose/Jesus Loves Marijuana” montage is just unbelievable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUYGRxRCCoc

Like, the stuff that’s happening all makes sense in context, but show that to anyone out of context and it’s the most insane series of random, wacky shit. Britta and Shirley are driving a hitchhiker who thinks he’s Jesus and wants to drink human blood, Abed and Troy are playing with shadow puppets, Jeff and the Dean are in a music video booth singing “Kiss From a Rose”, and Pierce is having a lead-based paint hallucination featuring Hula Girls and a Piano and apparently a senator. Just…what?

And then the denouement is Jeff attacking the Dean while another music video plays in the background, while the Dean is screaming things like “DON’T LET THE TERRORISTS WIN!!”

It also reveals the Dreamatorium, and it’s kind of nice to show the downsides to Troy and Abed’s manchild lifestyle. Annie moving in there was a really shrewd move, she’s the perfect balance to those two – she can be both a big and little sister to them, someone they comfort/protect because she’s kind of vulnerable really, but she can obviously help them in a million ways (eg, cooking). It’s a nice relationship. And the Dean/Jeff storyline is great fun. The Dean is terrific here. Hell, the entire opening of the Jeff storyline with Jeff totally outsmarting Britta and then having the gall to be sarcastic about it is excellent, almost a double subversion but one that isn’t up its own ass and is actually very funny.

Oh and last but not least, I love the tag so much. Sobbing Jeff saying “I liked Horsebot 3000” is a laugh out loud moment, especially when contrasted with Britta/Jeff’s deadpan expressions a few seconds prior.

26. Introduction to Political Science (Season 2, Episode 17)

Joe Biden is going to visit Greendale, so the school needs to elect a student council president – which leads to friction between Annie and Jeff.

Jeff: Face it, Annie. Politics are all about ego, popularity, and parlour tricks. Don’t kid a lawyer.

Annie: …Well if I see one, I won’t.

The moment on Community that elicited my single biggest laugh in the show’s entire run is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qQFjcBNNnM

Just fucking brilliant. So brutal. So completely brutal. And everything before that was great, too. His entire anti-Vicky tirade is solid, quotable gold. I still tell people I’ll eat their brains and slurp them out of that melon they call a head to this day. But nothing beats “my platform will be one high enough to push Vicky off to her death”. Honest to god I was laughing for 5 minutes straight.

The rest of the episode is also great. It’s another episode that shows bravery in not really giving Britta or Shirley anything to do (though Shirley works well as a supporter for Annie and Britta failing to get any crowd reaction was maybe the episode’s second-best moment).

The quote I used is one I’m particularly fond of because it almost looks like Jeff is proud of her, as well as being mortally offended, after she says it. It’s such a vicious burn and it’s enough to inspire Jeff into action, but I also think he weirdly gained more respect for Annie when she did it. The conclusion is also terrific because it acknowledges the flaws of both characters – yes, Jeff is being a douchebag and rightly gets his comeuppance, but Annie stooping to that also exposed her own flaws and her dropping out was an acceptance that she was drunk with power.

And then of course you get Troy and Abed hosting the debates in a gloriously bizarre way, and then Troy getting jealous of Abed’s little side-adventures, and Abed’s weird pseudo-romance, and the Jeff Real World tape, and South Park winning the election, the turning of Magnitude and POP POP into a meme, “that dude’s a mess. It’s like God spilled a person,”

And of course, this is the episode with the freaking notches gag, which I shouldn’t need to point out is one of the best opening scenes the show has done.

25. Herstory of Dance (Season 4, Episode 8)

''The Dean plans a Sadie Hawkins Dance, and Britta throws a Sophie B. Hawkins dance in protest. Meanwhile, Abed goes on two dates, planned by Britta and Shirley.''

Pierce: I need the computer.

Britta: Pierce, there are, like, dozens of computers.

Pierce: Yeah, but my email’s on this one.

OK, so here’s why I love this episode – it’s the only one in S4 that I feel benefited from the lack of Harmon.

Harmon is realistic, coldly realistic, almost to the point of cruelty. Not in the way he conceives plots, obviously, but in the way he conceives people. He can be introspective, moody, downright venomous. And it’s great. The way he presents it is clever, amusing, bizarre, and almost always compelling.

But look at this episode. It’s a pretty standard Community setup, right up to the inclusion of some night-time event, which is usually a dance and is here. But standard Community is fine. Britta’s being Britta. She’s taking a stand about something but she’s too stubborn to back down when she realises she’s gotten it wrong. Abed, meanwhile, is attempting to play out a classic TV trope, which sadly means he’s reverting back to being a strictly TV guy, with no real regard for other people’s feelings (when at the start he said he wanted to expand his interests a bit - and have a girlfriend, for instance).

Jeff meanwhile spends almost the whole episode being mean to Britta like always, and Pierce can’t quite escape being a doddery old man (even when he gives Britta good advice he does the email/Post Office thing). But in the end, bang:

Abed realises his antics hurt people – in this case, the coat-check girl, Rachel (who is excellent – sympathetic, played perfectly for Abed, funny, quirky) – and “expands his interests”. Jeff realises he shouldn’t be such a prick to Britta, and, of all people, Pierce is the one who tells him he needs to stop treating her that way, especially after Britta helped him reconnect with Jeff’s Dad. Really well-delivered, sage advice and I think Chevy Chase enjoyed playing Pierce in this less antagonistic way. And Pierce is the one who saves the day by summoning the real Sophie B Hawkins. Even Troy succeeds in creating misadventure out of a mundane activity. Annie and Shirley stop being petty. Everyone wins. No downsides, no checks, no downer note, no “yeah but you’re still at Greendale and that sucks lol” moment.

The Dean is used in an antagonistic way and he is fine in that role - it’s necessary because he gives Britta something to overcome. This episode also has a scene where Troy and Abed kind of intersect, rather than being in a storyline together.

But man, Pierce getting such a win just wouldn’t have happened with Harmon. Not at this point in the series. In S1 maybe. But not here. Same with Britta.

This would seriously be top 20 if it were slightly funnier – and if the tag wasn’t a preview of the puppet episode >_> (the DVD tag is great though). If you introduced the sharpness of Harmon’s humour but asked him to leave his reflectiveness and penchant for downer notes at the door, it would be top 20. But this episode taken over by Harmon completely would be in the top 40 or something maybe.

I’m always likely to lean towards humour and the remaining S4 episode is riotously funny. But I think in terms of the new showrunners reinterpreting the show on their own terms, rather than necessarily trying to be pseudo-Harmons, this is their greatest win. I mean some of their pseudo-Harmon stuff (“Colin Farrell of people”) is still there in the writing, but not in the general plot and feel of the episode.

<B>24. Contemporary American Poultry (Season 1, Episode 21)</B>

Annoyed by their inability to get chicken fingers, the group becomes a “family” (in italics) and hoardes them all, leading to Abed taking over the school.

Troy: I think I’m failing psychopharmacology.

Britta: Why are you taking that?

Troy: I thought it was a class about crazy farm animals, alright?!

This is an episode I’ve seen so often I almost feel like I take it for granted, but it’s absolutely terrific TV. It effortlessly pays homage to Goodfellas while also keeping a great emotional, character-driven throughline. In this case it works twofold – it’s about Jeff’s need for control and how his ego can’t allow someone else to be the leader of the group, and also about Abed’s struggles to connect with people. At some point, Jeff becomes almost the Abed of the group (another clue pointing to how similar they actually are), the outcast, which ends up driving them closer together. I love their relationship in S1.

Almost effortlessly merging a ridiculous concept (seriously, Chicken Fingers) with a very believable and sympathetic pair of character stories. I suppose the problem is that it leaves the other 5 as just comedy machines – designed to represent Abed gaining/losing power and such rather than having arcs of their own.

But Abed feeding dreadlocks guy chicken fingers by hand is too hilarious to ignore, so there’s that.

Holy crap this episode is quotable. I’m sat here trying to find a quote for the top part. I’ve settled with the one you can see but I’m going to throw in a bunch of others:

"For your information, I don't have an ego. My Facebook photo is a landscape."

"Can we make this quick? I have to give a banana to Annie's Boobs." (Annie’s boobs in general = terrific. Double meaning deliberate)

"At that moment, we stopped being a family and started being a family ... in italics."

“You’re so not streets ahead. If you have to ask, you’re streets behind.”

<B>23. Debate 109</b> (Season 1, Episode 9)

Jeff and Annie face City College in a debate; Britta enlists Pierce to help her stop smoking through hypnosis; Shirley fears that Abed can see the future because his films predict what will happen.

Dean: Greendale needs a win. The best compliment our sports program gets is that our basketball team is really gay.

Just a fucking brilliant episode of television. This is one of Community's best "normal" episodes. By normal, I mean "not clearly a gimmick", with the opening titles remaining the same, camera work and score largely normal by Community standards, etc etc. The next episode in the ranking, for me, is not a "normal" episode, for instance.

But yes, in terms of both humour and what it has to say this is absolutely terrific. The scene where Annie's boobs are brushing against Jeff's arm and she brings out that Hobbes quote ("Man is a collection of base animal urges. To act on them and experience sinful pleasure would be morally no different then taking breath.") is just so perfectly judged. Not at all a contrivance, it meshes perfectly with the story and effortlessly ties together the plot of the show with something more thematic and overarching.

6 of the 7 characters get good stuff to do here, though Troy finds himself kind of flighting between them all. The tag - where he and Abed direct the movie-versions of themselves to do the Bibliotheca rap - is one of my favourites, though, so there's that. (Do you hate this?! Do you hate doing this?!)  Oh, and he introduced me to the phrase "you can't unring that bell" here, which I now use in my everyday vernacular.

This is almost as good as it gets in terms of a standard Community episode. For me episodes like this are almost the bread and butter of the series. The amazing concept episodes are what make it one of my favourite shows ever, but those are useless without the more grounded episodes like this one. And this is the best at that.

22. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design (Season 2, Episode 9)

Troy: It's the Latvian Independence Parade.

[Jeff and Annie stare at Troy]

Troy: Don't look at me, they had the proper permits!

This isn't the main reason it's high but I love the music in this episode. It's so melodramatic and over the top, and it's used at the perfect times - like right before the opening titles for example.

And that first scene is one of my favourites as it is. It combines comedy with this bizarre, twisting conspiracy theory. Like, to me the fact that Jeff just goes with it - his delighted "I don't know!" when he says he's never seen Professorson before is great - and the fact that  Annie tries to pursue it makes them perfectly matched, almost making this episode a better version of Interglutal Numismatics.

I also like that this episode focusses almost entirely on that plotline. Troy and Abed building a blanket fort is something to cut away to, and it's hilarious and great (and the shot of Britta in that one, particularly bizarre, pillow room is amazingly well-timed) and it's adorable how deep they get into it. Their own language that Troy can barely understand and kind of just bluffs, their own self-destruct SOCKS, it's fucking amazingly creative. But the main focus here is Jeff and Annie, and the blanket fort plot facilitates the chase sequence in that typically zany way that only Community can.

So after a great opening sequence and a fun middle with an underwhelming car explosion from multiple angles, we get to that climax - the thirty Xanatos pileup where conspiracies collide, very quickly becoming farcical if it wasn't already. It's worth watching because even though you know all of them are faked, the reactions of the characters involved is what makes it so good. And in the end, it's Professor Garritty - one of my favourite semi-recurring characters - that outconspiracies them all.

We're at a  point now where every episode is amazing. There are very few specific flaws here for me - maybe the fact that Shirley/Pierce/Britta get precious little to do, but that's the cost of a story so focussed on Jeff/Annie so I can't even really count that. The only problem is there are 21 episodes I like a smidgen more. Many of the episodes at this point are almost tied. Oh, I suppose I'm not hugely enamoured with Annie's "you're just doing random crap" quote. I feel like the Dean could have taken a more brutal verbal beatdown there that could be played for comedy.

"Maybe I'm a god. I've been denying the signs for too long" is a great quote and one I use when something incredibly fortunate happens that benefits me.

21. Basic Human Anatomy (Season 4, Episode 11)

''Abed and Troy have switched bodies. But why? Meanwhile, Shirley and Annie try to figure out why Leonard is ahead of them in the Valedictorian race.''

Annie: "Is now a good time?"

Dean [as Jeff]: "Uh, I'm at Greendale, stuck in the body of a guy who might as well be Gollum's shadow. So yeah, I'd say it's half past suck."

S4 dies out just before the top 20.

Pretty much the only episode of S4 I will rewatch over and over (Puppets now and then I suppose. Heroic Origins rarely), this episode is absolutely perfect. Jim Rash penned the script to this and you can tell because every scene is funnier and more well-executed than anything else in S4.

It does what all the best Community episodes do - something completely ridiculous and zany is happening, but there's a great emotional throughline there - that is, Troy and Britta breaking up. My only problem here is that S4 didn't do a whole lot with that relationship and it received very little real focus, but then I suppose Community has never been about that and I've always appreciated its determination to not become a soap opera - like, Friends is phenomenal but it became so focussed on relationships, in its later seasons especially, that it did occasionally get into that territory. Community avoids that.

But god, the Dean pretending to be Jeff and Annie falling for the Dean while Shirley looks at Annie like "wtf?" is just comedy gold. Absolutely fucking perfect from all four characters involved. Like seriously, they all get great quotes out of that. "There's no justification to be made! Because it can't happen, weirdo." "SHUT UP LEONARD! I FOUND A PICTURE OF YOUR OLD NOSE. IT WAS A LATERAL MOVE!" "Hah! Half past suck. *blushes*" "OK. That's creepy." (YNB's delivery pitch-perfect once again). I suppose  a minor problem here is that the Valedictorian thing is never mentioned again after S4, but that's the fault of the S5 writing staff for - IMO bitterly - ignoring almost everything from that season.

And then Pierce finishing all the banners is an oddly poignant moment given his imminent departure from the show.

Also, this doesn't become a Jeff episode by any means. It uses him in a way I like, where Troy sees him as a big brother figure who he takes advice from. And though Jeff finds the concept ridiculous and time-consuming, especially when he wants to finish his project, the final "random light switch check" is a great way to show his acceptance of the whole thing and that he ultimately puts the study group before anyone else, even if they're doing something he thinks is dumb - the way he highlights that "doing a bit" is dumb, but "committing to them isn't". Jeff has a huge role in the episode but it never becomes about him, and yet he still has that one excellent moment of clarity. Really cleverly done.

But yeah doing a body swap episode where the question isn't "why have they switched bodies" but "why have they pretended to switch bodies" is absolutely perfect, because the way it unravels through the episode and the way they use that device because they're both incapable of really addressing their feelings - until the end, anyway - is heartfelt and true and feels right. It's a hugely intelligent idea that deserves more credit than it perhaps gets.

20. Introduction to Finality (Season 3, Episode 22)

Troy seeks to escape AC school, and unravels a conspiracy there; a dispute over Shirley's Sandwiches leads to a Greendale-Court case between Pierce and Shirley, with Jeff and Alan the lawyers; Britta attempts to therapise Abed, who is struggling after Troy's departure.

Britta: What's the worst that could happen?

Leonard: Classic tee-up.

Britta: Shut up, Leonard. I know about your crooked wang.

Leonard: No such thing as bad press!

For me, Community ended twice. This is the inferior of the two proper "finale" episodes, but still an excellent conclusion to a wonderful season.

I mean, if nothing else the ending montage is pitch-perfect. And hearing more of the theme was like the opening of the first Pokemon movie where you discover that there's a second verse, so that was cool. But yeah the amount of funny, relevant, interesting, satisfying character stuff they squeeze into that ~90 second montage is terrific.

But the episode before that isn't too shabby either. Annie isn't very well-used but apart from that everyone else gets something great to do and yet it doesn't feel overstuffed. Abed breaking down because of Troy leaving and being revived by Jeff's speech is perfect - it's a ridiculous breakdown but it makes perfect sense that Abed would implode in that way.

The episode completely wastes John Goodman in his final episode and that's a damn shame. But man, everything is just wrapped up so well here. Even the would-be lazy "3 jokes later" joke works well.

Oh, and it took me a couple of views to specifically understand why Jeff talked about Cellular Mitsosis so much. There's meaning there but I can't be bothered explaining. Look it up. I think it's maybe mentioned in the AV Club review.

19. Paradigms of Human Memory (Season 2, Episode 21)

The group discover a pile of their old stuff in the vents, leading to them remiscing about the events of the year so far.

Troy: Didn't we agree at the beginning of the year that we wouldn't have any intimacy between each other OR ourselves?

Jeff: Troy, we never said ourselves.

Troy: [Pause] OK, now I'm really mad!

An absolutely genius riff on the clip show concept. There's a mention here of the purple pens, for instance, but no flashback to Cooperative Calligraphy - but then it'll flashback to a random haunted house instead. It also gently poking fun at the internet's shipping culture with that Jeff/Annie and Pierce/Abed montage (those were both so good, though I think the third one with Chang and the monkey was pushing it a little).

The episode just does so much, so quickly, and so intelligently. Every clip hints at a larger story but has absolutely no interest in expanding on these stories, and that's actually fine. It tells us that these people have lives beyond what is shown on TV, and that no, we don't need to know everything about them.

It also serves to nicely recap the year while also paying off the Britta/Jeff relationship. It's especially amusing to me that they stop doing their friends with benefits gig after the group finds out, indicating that it was the "thrill of the secrecy" that was keeping the relationship going. Speaking of Jeff, the composite speech is amazing; not only a terrifically composed scene but it also shows how Jeff will say/do whatever he needs to get the right result.

Oh, and the camera sliding over to a nearly-naked Chang oiling himself up as he says "I got this." is the funniest part of the whole of S2 save for "my platform will be one high enough to push Vicki off to her death".

18. Documentary Filmmaking: Redux (Season 3, Episode 8)

''The Dean is given a $2,000 budget to make a new commercial for the school, and Abed documents its creation. ''

Dean: I am trying to pull a 200-year-old dagger out of this nation's heart, and you two are hugging.

There have been deeper Community episodes, there have been more heartfelt Community episodes, but there aren't many funnier than this one.

Because jesus christ the Dean completely losing his mind over a commercial and blacking up is just absolutely hilarious. And there's a possum in his office. And there's Luis Guzman. And there's the hysterical Troy/Britta hugging sequence ("STOP SAYING I'M DIFFERENT!") and then there's Jeff "making bald friends".

I just...

I can list so many hilarious things here. It's just an outstanding work of comedy television. The fact that Abed's final cut had Chang taking off the Jeff wig was perfection, for instance. And then there's Garrett inexplicably in a mocap suit.

Of course it has a lot to say about the Dean's character, the group's developing affection for him and even shows a bit of Abed's human side. It works on that level too but I was laughing at so many different parts of this episode.

17. Geothermal Escapism (Season 5, Episode 5)

Troy prepares to leave Greendale, but Abed instigates a school-wide game of The Floor Is Lava to delay things.

Troy: [Whispers] I'm better at sex than Jeff, right?

Britta: I've yet to have anyone worse.

So they did another school-wide, apocalyptic event and wisely avoided doing paintball for a third time, instead doing The Floor Is Lava. I really think that was the right thing to do, because even though they found a way to make paintball good again in S6, it would have come off as very forced to do another one for Troy's farewell.

But this comes down to the simple thing of the best Community gimmick episodes working well because of the emotional stakes. Here, the emotional stakes are about as high as Community could really get - it deals with the breakup of the Troy/Abed bromance because of Troy's imminent departure.

And it's a strong episode for both, as well as Britta, who combines her irritating "PSYCHOLOGY EVERYWHERE" thing with her being typical Britta - the confrontation with Jeff being the best part of  that. Shirley builds a fort, but the episode brutally marginalises a lot of the  other cast - though they mostly all get some moments to shine. Nathan Fillion is Chang's crush, Shirley shows her badass side again by building the fort, Jeff has that hilarious exchange with Jeff, Hickey drives that thingy, John Oliver is in it for a couple of minutes. Annie is pretty much nowhere, surprising given her previous "infatuation" with Troy. I liked her farewell with Troy - in fact, I liked all of Troy's farewells. They all hit the right notes. The quote especially is very good.

But the central conflict here is Troy and Abed, where Abed seems to want the game to last forever to prevent Troy leaving. Reminds me of AI (the movie) in a way. There's always an innocence to Abed and in things like this it's as obvious as anything. It is devastating to see Troy and Abed part ways, but it's handled in such a wonderful, sensitive fashion.

The show could have survived the loss of Pierce, but losing Troy as well was a brutal blow from which the show was never really able to recover. This was the moment Community would never be at its highest level again, even though there are a few episodes after this that reach back up into that quality level.

LeVar Burton at the end was such a nice touch, and did a great job of highlighting the "clone" thing. And Community's famous continuity nods come to the fore with the song as Troy leaves being "don't sail away". Excellent.

I suppose my main problem here is that the prize is never really elaborated on and they never really declare a winner but I can deal with that. It's a necessary sacrifice to keep the emotional core of the episode in tact.

Troy and Abed in a bubble

16. Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking (Season 2, Episode 16)

''Pierce goes to the hospital after ODing on pills. He pretends to be dying to exact complex psychological tortures on the group.''

Jeff: I think I'm ready to see him.

Pierce: Good. Good for you.

Jeff: I should probably tell you. If you're lying to me, if my father isn't coming, if a car pulls up and anyone other than my father steps out, say, an actor or you in a wig, if you try to pull any Ferris Bueller, Parent Trap, Three's Company, FX, FX2 The Deadly Art of Illusion bullshit, I will beat you. And there will be nothing madcap or wacky about it. Understood?

Pierce: Crystal.

One of the first episodes I go to for a rewatch, this is excellent television in the way it deals with each member of the group individually and really goes after their flaws and virtues, while all being done through the lens of Pierce in that antagonistic role that dominated S2.

It's just excellent TV, being both hilarious and in a way insidious. Pierce believing he's some sort of mastermind while actually being completely incompetent is just typical of him, but it weirdly actually works for a while before the rest of the group kind of rise above it. It backfires because the group accept these problems with themselves but also accentuate the positives of them, and deal with them.

Also I mean come on Troy's face when he sees LeVar Burton and the breakdowns that ensue ("YOU CAN'T DISAPPOINT A PICTURE!!!!") are just top notch over-the-top acting.

Everyone is on point here. A great episode for all 7 lead characters. And when the lead 7 are this good, no more needs to be said.

15. Curriculum Unavailable (Season 3, Episode 19)

''After nearly being arrested for stalking around the Greendale campus from which the group is currently banned, Abed is made to go and see a therapist. The group joins him, and they reminisce about various events at Greendale.''

Dr. Heidi: I don't deal in crazy, I deal in help.

So how long has Abed needed a crazy amount of help?

Kind of rare for the sequel to be better than the original, but in terms of "Community does a clip show", this was slightly funnier than Paradigms of Human Memory. I think being more grounded in Greendale maybe made the comedy slightly more identifiable, plus it used more injokes like Annie trying to do "Troy and Abed and Annie in the morning". Plus, there's a great, weird sort of pseudo-continuity within the clips. Like Pierce gets that party for the 1000th flush or whatever, and then in a later clip he's still wearing the hat. Clever stuff.

But yeah there's a terrific set of clips here - highlighting the craziness of Abed, the craziness of the group, the craziness of Greendale, the helpfulness of Greendale, and the craziness of Chang. And then the hilarious "it's a mental asylum" twist which was packed with injokes and I love how the group totally bought it for like...30 seconds.

Also I fucking love the bit where Troy karate chops the table and then Britta grabs and squeezes the hand, then there's a miss-adventures gag, then there's Troy putting an arm around Abed's shoulder but then it's a handshake but then he pulls out of the handshake because of his hand...Community's joke ratio is very high and this is just another example of it.

And Jeff slaps Troy. "STOP LETTING HIM MAKE YOU REALISE STUFF."

14. Horror Fiction in 7 Spooky Steps (Season 3, Episode 5)

Britta fears one of the group has homicidal tendencies, so asks them to ask scary stories in order to ascertain which one it is.

Devil-Dean: Pilates is the demon that eats your genitals.

[Waving a chainsaw] GAY MARRIAAAAGEEE!!!!!

Troy: That wasn't a story, that was a sermon. You ruined a Britta party. That's like letting poop spoil.

I know the Halloween conceit kind of demanded it, but it was a bit weird to do this episode immediately after Remedial Chaos Theory. It's slightly - slightly - inferior that episode, probably just as funny but the character stuff is slightly less on point (I'm not a big fan of Abed being the only sane one in the group - felt a little too convenient somehow).

However, this is kind of the progenitor of the phenomenal S6 finale but with less emotional punch. The way it completely nails each character's voice in the stories and the way the actors completely get that voice in the respective stories is terrific. I love the outtakes for this episode as well.

I dunno, the central drama - that one of them might be a psychopath, but we all know that's bullshit because of course it is and because it's a Britta suggestion - just didn't quite do enough to put it into the top 10. But god this is just so funny.

Oh and it paid off the three-year beetlejuice gag, which is fun.

Pretty rough ranking:

Troy's > Britta's > Shirley's > Annie's  > Pierce's > Abed's > Jeff's

13. Modern Espionage (Season 6, Episode 11)

When Frankie threatens expulsion to anybody with a paintball gun, the latest game goes underground.

Koogler: And these are green meanies. They explode on contact and they mark your target with paint. ‎

Abed: That's a description of every paintball. ‎

One of the highlights of a solid Season 6, Modern Espionage does nothing but strengthen the legacy of Paintball in Community.

It's actually clever because they found a way to do one that was in no way forced and that used the character of Frankie to work well. It's an interesting dynamic because Frankie is both a feared antagonist but also a friend they don't want to betray. It leads to interesting character stuff, especially since Jeff seems to be the closest to Frankie of the group (owing to the fact that he is a teacher, I guess).

The addition of Elroy also contributes massively to the episode. His insistence that he doesn't know what paintball is, even while holding a paintball gun, is terrific, his dismissal of Britta ("why did they pair us together?") is one of the best put-downs of the episode, and the scene in the kitchen with the big shoot-out is great. "No. You can't come in. Ever."

"Britta, you CAN come in NOOOOW!"

Every character shines a little bit and what I love here is the continuation of the Jeff/Dean relationship. Little things, like the closing scene, and where the Dean gets to make Jeff laugh with that one-liner about the janitor's closet.

And finally, major props to the choreography of the elevator scene. It manages to evoke The Winter Soldier while keeping the Dean completely in character. Jim Rash's physical comedy in this episode was absolutely great and he got to be a total badass when he said "you'd better have brought a small army." [raises gun].

Britta is Clooney. Nice.

12. Cooperative Polygraphy (Season 5, Episode 4)

After Pierce's funeral, a lawyer interviews the group to decide if they would get his bequeathings.

Troy: By the time Pierce was my age, he'd already been fired from 15 jobs. I've only seen two Police Academies! ...The last two!

S5 comes close to having an episode in the top 10, but falls just short. This episode's name suggests it is a sequel to Calligraphy and it comes agonisingly close to exceeding its predecessor. Before posting this I really had to look to see if there was anything left I could justify putting this over and while I did consider a swap in placement, I just couldn't do it. I feel like episodes that don't have all 7 original cast members have a slightly slower ceiling on them, even though Pierce was "there in spirit" thanks to Boyd Crowder being in this episode and doing a superb job (especially in the tag, that was fantastic). The whole "did you know you're gay" exchange with Jeff was hilarious and totally Pierce.

But the interplay between the characters here is absolutely great. For some reason little things like Troy saying "SILENCE WENCH!" didn't quite jive with me, either because it was somehow out of character or because it just missed, I don't know. But that's an incredibly minor thing to pick up. The revelations are all terrific and all totally on point for the characters.

Troy and Abed: Troy and Abed are in mouuuurning.

Annie: I can't believe you did that during your eulogy. So uncomfortable.

Abed: I don't think the audience got we were singing mourning with a u.

Troy: We were singing mourning with a u? ...

Oh no...

I feel like this episode gave us way more revelations than Calligraphy did, because Calligraphy really delved into the consequences of each one. This one gets a 30-second explanation at best before the person who is outraged gets an ironic comeuppance. That's probably the key difference and why the episode packs marginally less of a punch. But more revelations means more laughs, like Abed tracking the group, the Trobed handshake being found on the internet, Jeff keeping trophies (Troy: Awesome), Shirley giving Britta "meat-fu" sandwiches. There's a lot there and pretty much all of it is both funny and totally makes sense for the characters.

And of course, while CC ends on a note of real optimism and happiness, CP has a total downer ending. It's the Empire Strikes Back of the revelations trilogy, and not just because it's the middle one. This will always be the episode that facilitated the loss of Troy and I have this weird, childish grudge against it for that. Not enough to keep it down on the ranking, just enough for it to carry a kind of...stigma whenever I want to rewatch. But the first 18 minutes are some of the best TV Community has ever done. Slick, slick, slick.

Nice reference to Britta's iPad Nano too, and Troy eating the ghost.

Man finding the quote for this episode is hard. "They have to be worn in battle." Women in unison: "EUGH GROSS" Troy: "Awesome."

"Why do you keep bread in the freezer?"

"I like Liam Neeson!" "Then send him a message about the roles he chooses."

11. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (Season 2, Episode 14)

When Fat Neil slides into a depression, the group agree to play Dungeons and Dragons with him.

Troy: I ATTACK THEM! Using my...

assuredly ...additional notes!

Such a wrench to leave this one out of the top 10 but it had to be done. There are 10 episodes of world-class television above it, and this is one too.

I can't honestly give you a reason why it's outside the top 10, except for one: it kind of killed the Pierce character almost to the point of no return for me. Like when he's literally saying "yes, cry, fatso," and turning Fat Neil's beloved D+D character "as fat as Fat Neil" and that kind of thing...I mean the show explains why Pierce acts out in that kind of way and he's far more complex than a simple villain - he hates being excluded and left out and he responds by further alienating everyone around him.

The show occasionally redeems Pierce but man, the character nearly lost me here. He was exceptionally close to literally driving Neil to suicide and while all his previous pettiness was funny and helped the show, here it went a bit over the line.

But despite being so unbelievably horrible, Chevy Chase deals out the lines with such cartoonishly evil, malicious relish you almost can't help but laugh. Especially at "faaaat". It helps that earlier in the episode he was equally cartoonishly surrounded by traffic cones and sitting on a throne of boxes. He went proper fantasy villain, which was hilariously conceived and executed fantastically - the problem is the show is grounded in reality, so when he then attacks Neil, that's not a throne cone, that's a kid killing himself. To be completely fair, though, the ending - though a little sappy and Spartacus-y - almost makes up for it, with Neil ultimately deciding life isn't so bad because at least he's not Pierce.

It's a slight shame really because until the point he went full "yes, cry" on Neil he had by far the best lines in the episode. "I attack him! I attack Black Face!", as well as "that sword is one of a kind, it was forged by my ancestors." "I hump it," him raping the Duquesne family (hilariously mentioned by Abed in the season finale), rubbing his balls on the sword ("you have...successfully rubbed your balls  on the sword.") But right when he comes back into the study room, yeah, that's when he slightly loses me.

I dunno. It's one of those things you see at the time and laugh at but that also makes you a little bit uncomfortable, and not in an interesting way, in a "I can't really get behind this character ever again" kind of way. It was the Moral Event Horizon. I'm not sure if he crossed it or not but it was in the air.

So that's my justification for leaving it out of the top 10. It's not as major as I'm making it sound, I'm just fully explaining it. The episode is full to bursting of unbelievable moments, hilarious moments, of which Chevy Chase sitting on a throne made of cones and books is just one. There's Abed's character names, Hector the Well Endowed with the elf maiden while Troy writes down Annie's technique and you being able to lipread things like "I pull out my huge member" and showing the three fingers and stuff (though honestly the whole sequence before that is hilarious - Jeff flirting with Abed, Annie convincing Abed with the "sshh"ing, etc), Britta getting sentimental about the gnome waiter and self-righteous about the goblins, the realisation that Abed named all the characters with a specific member of the group in mind (not just Hector the Well-Endowed for Troy, but Lavernica for Shirley, for instance).

And the amazing VO, with the punchline that it's the cleaning lady, "if that's sarcasm, I can't tell, because everything in this game is silly," plus there's just the general conception and execution of the episode and the stuff Harmon went through to get it made, with the network hating the idea of it from the start. In a weird way it's kind of like Modern Warfare in the "yep, we're actually doing this" sense. Good tag, too.

Great, great episode that showed off a bunch of great character dynamics. Pierce just went a touch too far though and like I said it almost irrevocably ruined the character for me.

Although I love his delivery of the line "I WON DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, <I>AND IT WAS ADVANCED</i>!"