Tonight’s Community is the long-awaited “Lupine Urology” episode — a.k.a. the Law & Order salute/parody of our dreams. But why stop there? Should the show return for another season, there are plenty of worthy candidates for the Dan Harmon homage-a-tron:
Pee-wee’s Playhouse
Abed is Pee-wee. Troy is Cowboy Curtis. Pierce is Jambi. Shirley is Reba. Britta is Penny. Annie is Chairry. Dean Pelton is Miss Yvonne. Jeff is Captain Carl. Today’s secret word is … Greendale.
A Soap Opera
Let’s see, a series of overlapping affections and attractions, a vaguely evil old man, a scruffy romantic lead who’s Too Damaged to Love, and a secret air-conditioning syndicate — Community’s already just one case of amnesia and an evil twin away from full-on soap.
A Rom-Com
Community has embraced plenty of lines or moments or clichés from romantic comedies, but we want a soup-to-nuts entire episode that might as well be a Nora Ephron movie: kissing in the rain, split screen where two characters are displaying identical behaviors, lots of feeling bad while walking, something that overstates the importance of food, and then two people who realize they’re perfect for each other. We don’t even care who the couple is.
America’s Test Kitchen
Pierce would explain simple devices in his gadget corner, Shirley could tick off the steps of her laboriously perfected shrimp risotto, Annie would give OCD explanations of how soft “softened butter” is supposed to be (when you bend the stick, it doesn’t break!), all while Jeff taps into his inner Chris Kimball, smug but lovable bow tie and all.
A Sundance Movie
Cue the plunky xylophone soundtrack, find an arbitrary excuse for a road trip, and let everyone learn a little something about themselves — and each other. The study group’s quirky habits are played for jokes on the show usually, but there’s some real pathos to these people that just screams “indie darling” from the top of its artisanal, damaged but real lungs.
Okay, your turn: What do you want Community to parody/satirize/write a love letter to?
