With the recent buzz about the upcoming “Community” movie, many fans have started rewatching the beloved television series.
First airing on September 17 of 2009, “Community” stole the hearts of its viewers through the relatable characters, witty remarks, and nonsensical storylines that took place at the fictional school, Greendale Community College.
The show quickly adopted the running joke, “six seasons and a movie” in season two as a result of Abed’s fascination with the ill-fated television show “The Cape”.
While a majority of the television references made on the show came from made-up series such as “Inspector Spacetime”, “The Cape” was a real show.
Canceled after just one season, “The Cape” suffered the fate that “Community” was always on the verge of as they would lose investments.
That episode, “Paradigms of Human Memory”, is one of the most memorable episodes in the series, alongside “Remedial Chaos Theory” and “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux”.
“Paradigms of Human Memory”; 2×21
“Paradigms of Human Memory” has the study group recalling the events of the past school year. In true study group nature, these memories lead to arguments between the characters, but in the end, they recognize their faults.
After the monkey that was loose in the school’s air vent system steals Troy’s paint brushes as the study group is working on a diorama, Chang follows the monkey into the air vents only to discover a trove of items it had stolen.
This treasure trove includes the purple pens that Annie had accused the group of stealing in a prior episode.
The recovery of these once-lost items leads the group to look back on some of their misadventures, such as filling in for the school’s glee club.
This episode depicts the natural dynamics of the study group, such as Jeff’s player attitude and the Dean’s extravagant personality.
“Remedial Chaos Theory”; 3×4
This episode follows the study group’s housewarming party for Troy and Abed.
In order to decide who will go downstairs to get their pizza, Jeff rolls a die. This prompts Abed to claim that because he has rolled the die, Jeff has created six different timelines.
The timelines all start similarly, each character that was left at the table resorted to the same initial activity while waiting. For example, Jeff hits his head on the ceiling fan in many of the timelines.
This episode is where Abed’s references to the “Darkest Timeline” originate.
In the episode, that timeline showed Shirley suffering from alcoholism, Annie is sent to a mental health ward, Troy losing his larynx after trying to eat the troll that Pierce had gifted him and Abed, Pierce passing away, Britta dying a streak of her hair blue, Jeff losing an arm, and Abed making felt goatees for the remaining members while trying to convince them to “become evil”.
This episode further depicts the study group’s dynamics, but specifically how they interact when a member is missing. The group members all even out each other’s antics, and the study group is incomplete without all of its members no matter how unconventional they are.
“Documentary Filmmaking: Redux”; 3×8
This episode follows Dean Pelton’s attempt to film a commercial for Greendale after receiving a $2,000 grant from the Greendale College Board.
The Dean requests the study group’s help, and all except Abed agree. Instead, Abed shoots a documentary on the process of commercial filming.
As the episode progresses, Dean Pelton falls further and further into hysteria, at one point completely overhauling the entire script and production.
As the Dean becomes more erratic, and Abed refuses to intervene, the process of shooting the commercial becomes unbearable for the cast and crew despite Annie’s attempts to justify the dean’s actions.
Luis Guzman, who was supposed to be in the commercial, appears on campus and sees the state of the commercial, he decides to back out of the commercial.
In the end, Abed’s documentary is shown to the board instead of the dean’s commercial, with which they were impressed.
This episode depicts life at Greendale, specifically how important the study group is to the college.
While it is undeniable that all episodes of the beloved television show have their funny moments, these episodes truly stick in the minds of the audience.