Before Community aired its first episode in 2009, Joel McHale was the guy from The Soup, known to most only as “The Guy from The Soup“; Gillian Jacobs was the girl who had a topless scene in Choke; Alison Brie was the rarely-seen Trudy on Mad Men; Donald Glover was part of a comedy troupe that made the “bro rape” video; Yvette Nicole Brown was a movie theater manager on Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh; Danny Pudi was the Token Indian in movies like Road Trip: Beer Pong; and Chevy Chase was a has-been.
Now, on the morning/afternoon of their 59th episode together — their last until March? April? May? — they’re the seven stars of Dan Harmon’s Community, one of the greatest sitcoms of all-time. I’ll have a full recap of tonight’s episode, “Regional Holiday Music,” tomorrow morning, but until then, let’s celebrate. Below are 58 reasons why I love Community, one from each episode and all with photographic evidence. Sometimes it’s a theme, other times it’s just an amusing screenshot, and it’s not nearly everything (I’m as disappointed as you that there’s not a picture of Annie’s Boobs, the monkey); but these 58 reasons equal to: I’m going to miss the shit out of this show.
“Pilot”—Because the show’s come so far since Jeff wore track pants to class.
“Spanish 101”—Because of Troy and Abed’s rapping
“Introduction to Film”—Because jokes about Chevy Chase’s age will never not be funny.
“Social Psychology”—Because otherwise, Ken Jeong would just be the more-than-vaguely-racist Asian guy with a small dick from The Hangover.
“Advanced Criminal Law”—Because they set up a joke about Luis Guzmán attending Greendale in the fifth episode of the show, and didn’t come back to it until the middle of the third season.
“Football, Feminism, and You”—Because of the Human Being.
“Introduction to Statistics”—Because Britta dressing up as a squirrel is the most adorable thing ever.
“Home Economics”—Because “Gettin’ Rid of Britta” and “Pierce, You’re a B” are great songs.
“Debate 109”—Because of, well, yeah.
“Environmental Science”—Because Troy and Abed’s heartbreaking rendition of “Somewhere Out There” is better than the original.
“Politics of Human Sexuality”—Because of the Wheel of Remorse.
“Comparative Religion”—Because there was an episode that pitted Clark Griswold against Rusty Griswold.
“Investigative Journalism”—Because when Jack Black guest starred as Buddy, instead of playing Kung Fu Panda-style Jack Black to increase ratings, he played understated High Fidelity-style Jack Black instead.
“Interpretive Dance”—Because Britta and Troy once danced and wore black leotards together.
“Romantic Expressionism”—Because of Kickpuncher
“Communication Studies”—Because even out of context, this is funny.
“Physical Education”—Because of Abed’s pick-up move.
“Basic Genealogy”—Because this is how Pierce draws a windmill.
“Beginning Poetry”—Because it’s fun remembering how excited we were for Buster to appear on Community.
“The Science of Illusion”—Because of Troy and Abed In the Morning.
“Contemporary American Poultry”—Because of the Goodfellas-spoofing scene set to the piano outro from “Layla.”
“The Art of Discourse”—Because of SCHMITTY.
“Modern Warfare”—Because of how unexpected “Paintball,” as its now known, was when it first aired.
“English as a Second Language”—Because of how Troy’s natural plumbing abilities would show up again in the third season, and bring John Goodman to the show.
“Pascal’s Triangle Revisited”—Because of Troy’s giant cookie.
“Anthropology 101”—Because of how the second season started, with a glance into everyone’s bedrooms.
“Accounting for Lawyers”—Because of the Dean’s outfits.
“The Psychology of Letting Go”—Because of, well, yeah, Pt. II
“Basic Rocket Science”—Because of E Pluribus Anus, with the KFC Space Simulator in the background.
“Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples”—Because of Everyone Acting Like Jeff Day.
“Epidemiology”—Because of, “Zombie Annie, what big fists you have—in your face!”
“Aerodynamics of Gender”—Because of Greendale’s magical trampoline.
“Cooperative Calligraphy”—Because of how tough it was to choose a single screenshot for this episode, so I instead went with the Dean holding a soon-to-be-parading puppy.
“Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design”—Because of how my grandfather thought this episode was the worst thing he’d ever seen, and how wrong he was.
“Mixology Certification”—Because it was nice when Shirley became a real character.
“Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”—Because of just everything in this episode.
“Asian Population Studies”—Because of the lengths Britta went to for Red Hot Chili Peppers MEZZANINE tickets.
“Celebrity Pharmacology”—Because Troy and Abed occasionally dress up as bumblebees.
“Advanced Dungeons & Dragons”—Because of the Story of Fat Neil.
“Early 21st Century Romanticism”—Because of, well, yeah, Pt. III (I’m done, I swear).
“Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking”—Because of Troy’s reaction to meeting LeVar Burton.
“Intro to Political Science”—Because of notches.
“Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy”—Because of, “Hit me with your genie’s bottle, rub it all over me.”
“Critical Film Studies”—Because of the moment where we realized the so-called “Pulp Fiction Episode” was actually the “My Dinner with Andre Episode.”
“Competitive Wine Tasting”—Because of the way Abed figured out it was Angela Bower, not Tony Micelli, who was the boss.
“Paradigms of Human Memory”—Because THIS is the best episode of the show. (“I’ve seen enough movies to know that popping the back of the raft makes it go faster.”)
“Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts”—Because of Starburns’ excitement at the writer from Dean Magazine.
“A Fistful of Paintballs”—Because of Sawyer dressed up like a cowboy.
“For a Few Paintballs More”—Because of Leonard.
“Biology 101”—Because of the musical opening to season three.
“Geography of Global Conflict”—Because of CRISIS ALERT.
“Competitive Ecology”—Because of Todd.
“Remedial Chaos Theory”—Because Troy’s troll still haunts me.
“Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps”—Because of Abed’s reasonable horror story.
“Advanced Gay”—Because of John Goodman as Vice Dean of Air Conditioning, Robert Laybourne.
“Studies in Modern Movement”—Because of Jeff and the Dean’s karaoke version of “Kiss from a Rose.”
“Documentary Filmmaking: Redux”—Because of, “Go Greendale, Go Greendale, Go Greendale, GO!”
“Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism”—Because this is pretty much how we feel without a new episode of Community for a few months.
Josh Kurp enjoys Community very much.
