Alright! Serving as a sequel to my Top 10 The Office Episodes ranking a fortnight ago, I thought it would be pertinent to do the same thing with another great half-hour comedy, Community. Community produced some of the finest episodes of comedy the small screen has ever seen when the show was in it's prime (Seasons 1-3), so it was actually kind of hard to come up with only ten episodes for such a great show.
Community was about a group of seven people at Greendale community college, all brought together by an intense Spanish class. The show differentiated itself from other programming by having some of the best and most sharply witty dialogue combined with a format that adopted every other format. You see, Community wasn't just regular programming, or a mockumentary, or a sitcom. Community was all of them, built on jumping the shark in every episode.
But, without further ado, let's take a headfirst dive into the world of Community.
10. Digital Estate Planning - Season 3, Episode 20
The gimmick: 8-bit Retro
The first episode on the list is season three's Digital Estate Planning, a surprisingly touching and hilarious episode with a really well done and entertaining gimmick. This one's gimmick is that the episode, which revolves around Pierce Hawthorne inheriting his estate from his deceased father by playing a video game, which leads to the entire episode being in an 8-bit retro format, complete with its own synthesizer soundtrack.
The episode has some of the best lines of the show, some surprising ex machinas by way of Abed babbies, and the scene-stealing performance of Giancarlo Esposito, who's in, like, every TV show.
9. Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking
The gimmick: Mockumentary filming
Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking was Community's (First) attempt at the mockumentary filmmaking style of television shows, and it does so extremely efficiently and effectively. Directed by Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame), Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking is so well done that it could easily fit in with actual mockumentary shows like The Office.
And the episode delivers on laughs. The premise of the episode is that Chevy Chase's character, Pierce Hawthorne, is faking his death and giving all of the study group this bequeathal - Chances to see their father, to meet LeVar Burton, or to inherit a tiara, some of which are faux and some of which are very much real. It leads to some hilarious moments, mostly from Troy.
8. Cooperative Calligraphy - Season 2, Episode 8
The gimmick: Bottle episode
Cooperative Calligraphy is an entire episode devoted to a parody of the "Bottle episode," in which a TV show focuses only on the main cast in one location, with lots of personal conflicts and almost no background extras. This bottle episode is about Annie Edison believing someone stole her pen, which then turns into a giant argument within the group about personal boundaries.
Cooperative Calligraphy, once again directed by Joe Russo, is also hilarious. Actually, what am I talking about? All these episodes are hilarious. Cooperative Calligraphy shines in moments when the conflict climaxes - namely the destruction of a rug.
7. Pillows and Blankets - Season 3, Episode 14
The gimmick: Civil War documentary
Pillows and Blankets is the finale to a previous episode in which Troy and Abed's iconic friendship is falling apart because each one wants to build a huge fort in a limited supply of space. Abed wants pillows, and Troy wants blankets. This divides Greendale campus into two opposing sides, each one trying to tear down the other's fort.
This episode doesn't really have a lot of laughs going on. Most of the humor involved comes from a surprisingly well done Civil War documentary parody, complete with gifs, voiceovers, sad violins, and still images with battle sounds. This episode could be played in a history class, and any person walking past the doorway wouldn't think twice about what they were watching.
6. Advanced Gay - Season 3, Episode 6
The gimmick: No gimmick
Advanced Gay is probably the least clever episode on this list, but it's one of my favorites. The plot has an A-plot of Pierce's moist towelette company becoming popular within the gay community after a promotional video starring a drag queen goes viral. Pierce, however, is a 60 something boomer whose views on LGBTQ+ people may be a bit... outdated. To make matters worse, Pierce's father, Cornelius Hawthorne, an even older and extremely prejudiced man, arrives to make sure nothing becomes of it.
But the episode really, really shines in the B-plot revolving around Troy's introduction into the mysterious world of air conditioning, hosted by John Goodman. The air conditioning world is mysterious and trippy, with an audition process reminiscent of Men in Black. This episode may very well feature my single favorite moment of the entire show, Black Hitler.
5. Aerodynamics of Gender - Season 2, Episode 7
Gimmick: Terminator?
This episode is another episode where they slice the plot in half. The first plot is about Britta, Shirley, and Annie as they decide to take a women's studies class, but are joined by Abed. This leads them to discover that Abed has a natural gift for finding flaws in others, which they use to get revenge at the girls who have wronged them, telling Abed that he is a Terminator designed to hunt down all of the mean girls.
The B-plot once again steals the show. Jeff Winger and Troy both discover an illegal trampoline on the school campus, where they learn of an enlightened way of looking at the world, free from the judgment and self-awareness all humans have, only to have it all taken away by Pierce, who in this episode acts as the villain. This B-plot is one of the show's bests.
4. Modern Warfare - Season 1, Episode 23
Gimmick: Action movie
Modern Warfare was the season one finale, whose plot is about a campus-wide paintball game that escalated because of a surprise prize: Priority registration, or the ability to register for class first and arrange your schedule to your liking. This leads to an all-out war for the last man standing, involving gangs such as the glee club and the chess club, and several betrayals.
This was where Community really changed. Not only was it shot and written like an action movie, but it was also able to combine an over-the-top premise with that said action movie. Fun Fact! This episode was directed by Justin Lin, who has directed several Fast & Furious movies.
3. Contemporary American Poultry - Season 1, Episode 21
Gimmick: Mafia movies
Modern Warfare may have been the first example of high concept+directing+jumping the shark, but Contemporary America Poultry was the first example of Community adapting a different genre. Before this episode, it was more or less an above-average comedy. This was where Community really became Community.
This episode was hilariously fresh - an approximation of a genre that nailed it better than some movies in the genre do. The actual plot is about a coup in which the Greendale 7 infiltrate and take over the school's cafeteria in order to get access to the chicken tenders. Something as simple as that turned into a full-blown business.
2. Paradigms of Human Memory - Season 2, Episode 21
Gimmick: Clip shows
Let me just say that I absolutely hate clip shows. These are the episodes when a TV show needs to stretch the season by an extra episode, so they film five minutes of new footage to frame the best clips of previous episodes. They're awful. Examples are Shades of Grey (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and The Banker (The Office).
So imagine my delight when I, expecting a boring clip show, instead was treated to a clip show... full of flashbacks to things that had never happened! They completely flipped the clip show format on its head by actually planning a clip show, but with jokes from stories we had never seen! This episode is even hilarious to boot! It's like an entire episode comprised of funny climaxes to gags, done without the setup to make it awkward!
1. Remedial Chaos Theory - Season 3, Episode 3
Gimmick: Chaos Theory
This is practically a gimme. On nearly every single "Best Community episodes" listing, this one ranks in first. And that's because it's literally one of the best episodes of television to ever air. This was Community at its most concept-y concept of concepts.
The basic gist of the episode is that the entire gang is over at Troy and Abed's place for a housewarming dinner and that they decide who picks the pizza up by rolling a dice. The episode then shows what happens with each member of the group gone, and how each scenario differs and is similar. This leads to some truly impressive editing, as well as the show's infamous "Darkest Timeline" scenario. Remedial Chaos Theory is often seen as one of if not the best episode of Community, and I can't help but agree with the latter.
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