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.
“Pilotâ€â€”Because the show’s come so far since Jeff wore track pants to class.
“Spanish 101â€â€”Because of Troy and Abed’s rapping
“Introduction to Filmâ€â€”Because jokes about Chevy Chase’s age will never not be funny.
“Social Psychologyâ€â€”Because otherwise, Ken Jeong would just be the more-than-vaguely-racist Asian guy with a small dick from The Hangover.
“Advanced Criminal Lawâ€â€”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 Youâ€â€”Because of the Human Being.
“Introduction to Statisticsâ€â€”Because Britta dressing up as a squirrel is the most adorable thing ever.
“Home Economicsâ€â€”Because “Gettin’ Rid of Britta†and “Pierce, You’re a B†are great songs.
“Debate 109â€â€”Because of, well, yeah.
“Environmental Scienceâ€â€”Because Troy and Abed’s heartbreaking rendition of “Somewhere Out There†is better than the original.
“Politics of Human Sexualityâ€â€”Because of the Wheel of Remorse.
“Comparative Religionâ€â€”Because there was an episode that pitted Clark Griswold against Rusty Griswold.
“Investigative Journalismâ€â€”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 Danceâ€â€”Because Britta and Troy once danced and wore black leotards together.
“Romantic Expressionismâ€â€”Because of Kickpuncher
“Communication Studiesâ€â€”Because even out of context, this is funny.
“Physical Educationâ€â€”Because of Abed’s pick-up move.
“Basic Genealogyâ€â€”Because this is how Pierce draws a windmill.
“Beginning Poetryâ€â€”Because it’s fun remembering how excited we were for Buster to appear on Community.
“The Science of Illusionâ€â€”Because of Troy and Abed In the Morning.
“Contemporary American Poultryâ€â€”Because of the Goodfellas-spoofing scene set to the piano outro from “Layla.â€
“The Art of Discourseâ€â€”Because of SCHMITTY.
“Modern Warfareâ€â€”Because of how unexpected “Paintball,†as its now known, was when it first aired.
“English as a Second Languageâ€â€”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 Revisitedâ€â€”Because of Troy’s giant cookie.
“Anthropology 101â€â€”Because of how the second season started, with a glance into everyone’s bedrooms.
“Accounting for Lawyersâ€â€”Because of the Dean’s outfits.
“The Psychology of Letting Goâ€â€”Because of, well, yeah, Pt. II
“Basic Rocket Scienceâ€â€”Because of E Pluribus Anus, with the KFC Space Simulator in the background.
“Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoplesâ€â€”Because of Everyone Acting Like Jeff Day.
“Epidemiologyâ€â€”Because of, “Zombie Annie, what big fists you have—in your face!â€
“Aerodynamics of Genderâ€â€”Because of Greendale’s magical trampoline.
“Cooperative Calligraphyâ€â€”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 Designâ€â€”Because of how my grandfather thought this episode was the worst thing he’d ever seen, and how wrong he was.
“Mixology Certificationâ€â€”Because it was nice when Shirley became a real character.
“Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmasâ€â€”Because of just everything in this episode.
“Asian Population Studiesâ€â€”Because of the lengths Britta went to for Red Hot Chili Peppers MEZZANINE tickets.
“Celebrity Pharmacologyâ€â€”Because Troy and Abed occasionally dress up as bumblebees.
“Advanced Dungeons & Dragonsâ€â€”Because of the Story of Fat Neil.
“Early 21st Century Romanticismâ€â€”Because of, well, yeah, Pt. III (I’m done, I swear).
“Intermediate Documentary Filmmakingâ€â€”Because of Troy’s reaction to meeting LeVar Burton.
“Intro to Political Scienceâ€â€”Because of notches.
“Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacyâ€â€”Because of, “Hit me with your genie’s bottle, rub it all over me.â€
“Critical Film Studiesâ€â€”Because of the moment where we realized the so-called “Pulp Fiction Episode†was actually the “My Dinner with Andre Episode.â€
“Competitive Wine Tastingâ€â€”Because of the way Abed figured out it was Angela Bower, not Tony Micelli, who was the boss.
“Paradigms of Human Memoryâ€â€”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.â€)
“Applied Anthropology and Culinary Artsâ€â€”Because of Starburns’ excitement at the writer from Dean Magazine.
“A Fistful of Paintballsâ€â€”Because of Sawyer dressed up like a cowboy.
“For a Few Paintballs Moreâ€â€”Because of Leonard.
“Biology 101â€â€”Because of the musical opening to season three.
“Geography of Global Conflictâ€â€”Because of CRISIS ALERT.
“Competitive Ecologyâ€â€”Because of Todd.
“Remedial Chaos Theoryâ€â€”Because Troy’s troll still haunts me.
“Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Stepsâ€â€”Because of Abed’s reasonable horror story.
“Advanced Gayâ€â€”Because of John Goodman as Vice Dean of Air Conditioning, Robert Laybourne.
“Studies in Modern Movementâ€â€”Because of Jeff and the Dean’s karaoke version of “Kiss from a Rose.â€
“Documentary Filmmaking: Reduxâ€â€”Because of, “Go Greendale, Go Greendale, Go Greendale, GO!â€
“Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantismâ€â€”Because this is pretty much how we feel without a new episode of Community for a few months.
Josh Kurp enjoys Community very much.