Recess was a fun little cartoon that aired for six seasons from 1997 to 2001. It followed the zany adventures of a ragtag group of misfits who became close friends at a fictional elementary school.
Community was a silly sitcom that aired for six seasons from 2009 to 2015. It followed the zany adventures of a ragtag group of misfits who became close friends at a fictional community college.
And the similarities between the two shows don’t end there. After reviewing the evidence, I have concluded that Community is basically Recess for grown-ups.
Characters
Both shows featured a tight-knit group of friends and a cast of quirky background characters who all have instantly-identifiable character traits (Swinger Girl, Star-Burns, King Bob, Magnitude, etc.). Most Community main characters have Recess counterparts:
The Fearless Leader: Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) and TJ Detweiler (Ross Malinger/Andrew Lawrence) - The leader of the group who usually comes up with all their cunning plans and crazy capers.
The Geek Girl: Annie Edison (Alison Brie) and Gretchen Grundler (Ashley Johnson) - The super smart, nerdy girl who expects to always get straight A’s and freaks out if she doesn’t.
The Badass Bitch: Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) and Ashley Spinelli (Pamela Adlon) - The tough girl who takes no shit and wears a leather jacket but is secretly vulnerable.
The Shy Guy: Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) and Gus Griswald (Courtland Mead) - The quiet, shy boy who may or may not be autistic and has an overbearing father.
The Jock: Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) and Vince LaSalle (Ricky D’Shon Collins) - The fun-loving, popular boy who’s really good at sports.
The Sweet Singer: Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Mikey Blumberg (Jason Davis) - The sweet, loveable, chubby friend who loves food and cooking and has an amazing singing voice.
The Frenemy: Ben Chang (Ken Jeong) and Randall Weems (Ryan O’Donohue) - The obnoxious loser who often schemes against the gang but secretly wants to be one of them.
The Headmaster: Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) and Principal Prickly (Dabney Coleman) - The longsuffering, weird school administrator who’s always coming up with wacky ideas in which the students are forced to participate.
Episodes
Both shows often parody famous movies and TV shows, and all episodes of both shows end with the main characters learning a lesson about life and friendship. Many episodes share similar plot lines. See examples below.
Examples
Two characters (Troy and Britta; Mikey and Spinelli) discover they’re taking the same dance class and are embarrassed to tell the rest of the gang, but they have to perform in an assembly in front of the whole school.
The whole school gets so obsessed with a new game (MeowMeowBeenz; Monstickers) that they use it to create an oppressive dystopian class system.
A character (Shirley; Gus) is secretly an expert in a sport (foosball; dodgeball) with a legendary nickname (“Big Cheddar;” “El Diablo”). They refused to ever play again after a mysterious tragic accident, but circumstances require them to come out of retirement.
A group of characters (Annie and Professor Hickey [Jonathan Banks]; everybody but TJ) have to complete an escalating series of favors for different people in order to accomplish one simple goal (getting a bulletin board put up in the cafetorium; busting TJ out of detention).