Community

From "Physical Education"

From "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design"

The cast of Community with their puppet likenesses and performers.

Community is a comedy series broadcast on NBC from 2009 to 2014, and on Yahoo! Screen from 2015 onward. The series, created by Dan Harmon, focuses on the adventures of a group of students at a fictional community college in Colorado.

In interviews, series creator Dan Harmon has compared the character of Abed to other sitcom "shamanic" characters, such as Reverend Jim on Taxi, Snoopy from "Peanuts", and Gonzo.

References

• During their 2012 appearance on The Soup, Statler and Waldorf stated that they were there to fulfill their community service obligations; they then quipped that it was the longest anyone has gone on the show without mentioning "community."

  At the end of the show, the two congratulated McHale for being able to get through an entire show without an appearance from a "Community" castmember. McHale said he thought they were made from parts of Chevy Chase.

Muppet Mentions

• In the first season episode, "Introduction to Statistics," Troy and Abed share the following exchange using a gruff, Batman voice:

Troy: I'm Batman.

Abed: You sound like Cookie Monster.

• In the first season episode "Comparative Religion," a thug refers to Abed as "Bert-face."

• In the first season episode "Physical Education," Troy and Abed act out a scene as Ernie and Bert. Troy returns a book to Abed because he's got his own copy, which is really just the contents of Abed's book, which is now empty. The pair eat cookies together with crumbs falling out of their mouths, and Abed only uses the side of his hand to move objects just as Bert, an arm-and-rod style puppet, would.

• In a deleted scene for the episode "Modern Warfare", Troy leaves a voice mail message for Abed in the voice of Kermit the Frog.

• In the first season episode "English as a Second Language" Señor Chang explains to Jeff that he faked his college degree to become a professor. "I did what anyone would do. I faked my way into a job as a Spanish teacher at a community college, relying on phrases from Sesame Street."

• In the second season episode "Epidemiology 206," everyone mistakes Shirley's Glinda the Good Witch costume for Miss Piggy.

• In the second season episode "Aerodynamics of Gender":

Meghan: Look at your face. It's like your mom was a lizard who got raped by a Muppet.

Chang: That there was brought you by the letter S, as in snap!

• In the second season episode "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" Jeff Winger stands next to a campus poster that reads "It actually is easy being green!"

• The second season episode "Mixology Certification" includes extensive referencing to Farscape throughout the episode. In the episode, Abed has an ongoing conversation with a man he meets at a bar (played by Paul F. Tompkins) about the Henson series Farscape. Abed and the man (who struck-up the conversation with Abed with the line "was Scorpius half Scaran, half Peacekeeper? Frell, yes!") discuss wormholes, time travel, and the differences between season 1 and season 3. Actor Danny Pudi said of the episode: "I think Abed is just very excited to discuss Farscape with someone because there’s not many people in Abed’s life that can actually speak about it and so it’s Abed yearning to communicate with someone."

• In the season four premiere episode "History 101," Abed creates a show-within-a-show-within-a-show, the animated "Greendale Babies," a spoof of Muppet Babies. The show features baby versions of the cast in a nursery where they have adventures with their imaginations; the theme song of the segment is also spoofs the Muppet Babies Theme.

• In the fourth season episode "Intro to Felt Surrogacy," the group decides to try puppet therapy. The show features the cast as puppets that break into song like The Muppets. The episiode also guest stars Jason Alexander. Muppet performers Julianne Buescher, Alice Dinnean-Vernon, Drew Massey, Victor Yerrid, and Tim Blaney, and Henson performers Scott Johnson, Donna Kimball, and Russ Walko were among the puppeteers.

• In the fifth season opener, "Repilot", Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) exclaims "It's Not Easy Being Dean!" during an argument with Jeff Winger (Joel McHale).

• In the fifth season episode "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" the show references the film Labyrinth. Upon learning of the campus' chain of political favors, Professor Hickey tells Annie: "Welcome to the labyrinth, kid, only there ain't no puppets or bisexual rock stars down here." Later, Dean Pelton echos the comment after Annie spins her own web of favors stating: "My God, Annie! What kind of labyrinth have you created? Certainly not the magic kind with puppets and macho rock stars."

Connections

• Jason Alexander played the mountain man in "Intro to Felt Surrogacy"
• Jack Black played Buddy Austin in "Investigative Journalism"
• LeVar Burton played himself in "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"
• Chevy Chase plays Pierce Hawthorne
• Rob Corddry played Alan Connor in "Accounting for Lawyers," "Introduction to Finality," and "Repilot"
• Giancarlo Esposito played Gilbert Lawson in "Digital Estate Planning" and "Paranormal Parentage"
• Ben Folds played Professor Bublitz in "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics"
• Jennie Garth played the American Inspector Spacetime's companion in "Conventions of Space and Time"
• Donald Glover plays Troy Barnes
• John Goodman played Vice Dean Laybourne in a recurring role
• Malcolm-Jamal Warner played Andre in a recurring role
• Ken Jeong plays Ben Chang
• Taran Killam played Cory "Mr. Rad" Radison in "Regional Holiday Music"
• Justin Marco played Marco in "Celebrity Pharmacology 212"
• Joel McHale plays Jeff Winger
• Katharine McPhee played Amber in "Basic Genealogy"
• John Oliver plays Professor Ian Duncan in a recurring role
• Eddie Pepitone played Crazy Schmidt in "Competitive Ecology," "Basic Lupine Urology," "Basic Human Anatomy," and "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking"
• Lisa Rinna played Mark's mother in "The Art of Discourse"
• French Stewart played Vinnie in "Contemporary Impressionists"
• George Takei narrated the opening and closing of "Epidemiology"
• Betty White played June Bauer in "Anthropology 101" and "The Psychology of Letting Go"
• Fred Willard played Alter-Pierce in "History 101"

External links

• Community Wiki