Community

2009 - 2015

Lawyer Jeff Winger is forced to go back to college when it's revealed that he never really completed his bachelor's degree, so he enrolls in a community college where a former client works, hoping to get a free ride, but instead he finds a quirky and diverse group of lifelong friends.

Stars: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jim Rash, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase
Created by: Dan Harmon
Tags: quirky, school
See: "Community is basically Recess for grown-ups. Prove me wrong." on the Rerun Rewind Blog.

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Episode Tropes

Season 1

Back to School: Episode 1, "Pilot" (2009). Jeff never really earned his bachelor's degree, so in order to keep practicing law, he has to go back to school.
Misspent Money: Episode 3, "Introduction to Film" (2009). When Abed's father refuses to pay for Abed take film classes, Britta gives him money for his tuition, but she becomes concerned when he comes to school with a fancy new video camera and flashes a wad of cash in the cafeteria, offers to buy Jeff lunch, and then springs for pizza and coffee for the whole gang.
Common Enemy: Episode 4, "Social Psychology" (2009). Shirley and Jeff walk the same way to class, and Jeff tries to avoid Shirley because she likes to talk, but when they start making fun of Britta's boyfriend, Vaughn, they both enjoy it so much that their daily walks turn into daily bitch fests.
Billy Elliot: Episode 14, "Interpretive Dance" (2010). Troy and Britta discover they're both taking dance classes after school and have been too embarrassed to tell the rest of the gang, but Britta is ready to come out as a dancer, and she tells the gang at their next study group meeting, but Troy still refuses to tell, and he quits the class. When the dance classes put on a recital for the school, Britta chokes on stage, so Troy runs out from the wings and does an incredible dance with Britta that impresses everyone.
The Old Snakes in a Can Gag: Episode 20, "The Science of Illusion" (2010). It's April Fool's Day, and Troy is prepared with a twist on the old snakes in a can gag. He offers Abed some peanuts from a can, and nothing jumps out at him. Then Troy reveals that he took out the snake.

Season 2

Dance Contest: Episode 2, "Accounting for Lawyers" (2010). The gang enters Greendale's "Pop and Lock" contest, and they decide to let Chang join them, but when the competition starts, the rest of the gang is involved in another caper, so Chang competes in the contest alone. He pops and locks for five hours when the gang shows up and gets them all disqualified.
Trapped: Episode 4, "Basic Rocket Science" (2010). Greendale gets ahold of an old space simulator from the county museum, and the dean tasks the gang with cleaning it, but of course, they have to check out the inside first. Pierce, who's "a little claustrophobic," accidentally closes the door and starts the simulation, trapping them all inside.
Dance Contest: Episode 2, "Accounting for Lawyers" (2010). The gang enters Greendale's "Pop and Lock" contest, and they decide to let Chang join them, but when the competition starts, the rest of the gang is involved in another caper, so Chang competes in the contest alone. He pops and locks for five hours when the gang shows up and gets them all disqualified.
Prank War: Episode 9, "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" (2010). A massive prank war ensues when Jeff makes up a fake class, and the Dean, Annie, the drama teacher, and a cop all get involved and prank each other.
Dungeons & Dragons: Episode 14, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" (2011). Jeff feels bad about calling a classmate, "Fat Neil," so to cheer him up, he organizes a game of Dungeons & Dragons. It starts out contentious, but when the rest of the gang works together to defeat Pierce, they start to have fun.
Election: Episode 17, "Intro to Political Science" (2011). Vice President Biden is visiting the school, and the leader of the student government is supposed to meet him, but Greendale doesn't have a student government, so the dean holds an election for class president, both Annie and Jeff run against each other.
Surprise Delivery: Episode 22, "Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts" (2011). Shirley goes into labor prematurely during Prof. Duncan's fake anthropology class, and a food festival in the parking lot has erupted into a riot, preventing Shirley from getting to the hospital, so the gang assists her in giving birth in the classroom.

Season 3

Drop Dead: Episode 6, "Advanced Gay" (2011). When a drag queen makes a music video about Hawthorne Wipes, the gays at Greendale become Pierce's biggest fans. At first, Pierce embraces newfound fame, but then his father shows up and puts a kibosh on the big gay bash. Jeff, who's still holding against his father, tells off Mr. Hawthorne, who immediately drops dead of a heart attack.
Not Since the Incident: Episode 9, "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" (2011). Jeff is annoyed by some Germans who keep noisily playing foosball in the lounge, and he challenges them to a game, but he's not good enough to beat them, so Shirley reveals her incredible foosball skills, which she's been keeping a secret because of an incident that happened when she was a kid, when she was known as "Big Cheddar," and she humiliated a boy so badly that he wet his pants. When Shirley tells him the story, Jeff realizes he was the boy and challenges her to a rematch.
Weird Wedding Venue: Episode 11, "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" (2012). Shirley and Andre are getting re-married, and they're having their wedding in the study room because of reasons.
World Record: Episode 13, "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" (2012). Troy and Abed start building a pillow fort in the school, and the dean tells them there's a world record for the largest pillow or blanket fort, so Troy suggests they build a blanket fort instead, but Abed doesn't agree, so they split up and build two separate forts.
Mock Trial: Episode 17, "Basic Lupine Urology" (2012). When the gang's biology project is found destroyed, it kicks off a Law & Order-themed episode that culminates in a mock trial in the biology classroom.
Video Will: Episode 18, "Course Listing Unavailable" (2012). Starburns dies when his mobile meth lab explodes in his trunk, and he leaves a video will in which he requests that Abed make movie about his life.

Season 4

Amnesia: Episode 4, "Alternative History of the German Invasion" (2012). After Change stages a coup and almost blows up the school, he returns with a doctor, who tells the dean he has "Changnesia" and doesn't remember who he is or what he did. The Dean is dubious, but when Chang checks himself into jail, he realizes he must be telling the truth.
We Said No Gifts: Episode 10, "Intro to Knots" (2012). The gang has a swanky Christmas party at Jeff's apartment, and they all agreed not to get each other gifts, but everyone arrives with their arms full of gifts, and Jeff is the only one who followed the rule.
Trading Places: Episode 11, "Basic Human Anatomy" (2012). It's the three-year anniversary of when Troy and Abed saw Freaky Friday together, so they decide to try to switch bodies by holding onto the DVD and spinning around. The next morning, they start acting like each other, and Abed (in Troy's body) tells Jeff they can't switch back without the Freaky Friday DVD, and they can't find it.

Character Tropes

Frenemy: Ben Chang - Played by Ken Jeong.
Hard-to-please Father: Gobi Nadir - Played by Iqbal Theba.