The Ten Best Episodes of Community

Community is a special sitcom in the same vein as The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn 99. It thrives off its amazing cast, clever writing, and willingness to go beyond the norm of a typical TV show. This combination resulted in a show that produced countless episodes that I would consider to be some of the best TV ever made.

Some of these episodes stand out because of their hilarity, others because of how out of the box the concepts are but the main thing I love about Community is the heart and wholesomeness at its center. Now I'm gonna try to do my best to list my ten favourites of these.

Before I get into it, let me preface this by saying that 80% of Communities episodes are ones that I would gladly rewatch countless times and it's extremely hard to pigeonhole just ten. But without further ado...

10. Paradigms of Human Memory

When a sitcom does a clip show, the goal is to save money by utilizing pre-existing footage. When Community does a clip show, they make it the most intensive and expensive episode produced in the series.

We see the Greendale Seven in entirely new adventures as they recall forgotten memories over the past year. The sheer quantity of locations and concepts used just for a one-off joke demands respect.

The laughs are also jam-packed throughout thanks to the episodes fast-paced style. Some of the best one-liners, including the origin of #sixseasonsandamovie, come from this. My favourite part is when Annie gives examples of her connection with Jeff and it's immediately followed by the same gimmick but with Pierce and Abed.

9. Epidemiology

Epidemiology is an episode where the writers thought to themselves "how batshit insane can we make this?"

I appreciate that it starts with the party already underway which cuts a lot of the fat from the exposition. Not much time passes until Pierce becomes patient zero and suddenly the stakes are higher than any episode in the series.

The mini-arc of Troy embracing his nerdiness and friendship with Abed adds a heartfelt moment amidst the chaos and the return of Rich is very appropriate.

The episode wouldn't be nearly as good without the ABBA playlist in the background. Watching Jeff punch zombies to Dancing Queen, Troy save the day to Mama Mia, and everyone being cured to Fernando never gets old. The sound of ABBA perfectly subverts what we have come to expect from zombie movies, it was a streets ahead move by production.

8. Regional Holiday Music

I thoroughly enjoy every Christmas special but this one stands out for how much pure fun it is. I'm a sucker for goofy songs and I love the concept of each one of them slowly getting indoctrinated into the glee cult.

The songs are so good that I genuinely want to make a tier list just ranking these songs. Troy and Abeds rap is absolutely iconic and I find myself humming Baby Boomer Santa at least once a day.

The craziness culminates with a very heartfelt moment in the apartment where the whole gang gets together to enjoy Christmas. Moments like these turn a goofy glee parody special into a really sentimental piece.

7. Contemporary American Poultry

Community owes a lot of its success to this first attempt to break the mould with a Goodfellas homage. These homage episodes became main stays in the series and helped the show find its identity.

It amazes me how Community can switch genres so quickly and authentically without compromising the heart of the show or the core of their characters. The rise to power of Abed and the fall of Jeff makes perfect sense in the context, and the following egotistical spoildness of the rest of the group is a hilarious exploration of their characters.

Since Contemporary American Poultry is Abed focused, this is a good time to talk about how well Community portrays someone who is clearly somewhere on the spectrum. They make him so incredibly compelling and complex. A lesser sitcom would turn his character into a walking nerd machine that disregards empathy. Instead, episode after episode we see that even though he has a hard time with emotions, he is very talented, has no problem making friends and is perfectly comfortable with who he is.

6. Studies in Modern Movement

One of the most rewarding experiences when watching Community from start to finish is learning the idiosyncrasies of each member in the Greendale Seven. After several watch throughs of the show, I am very confident that the #AnniesMove episode has the best overall representation of the Greendale Seven in the series.

We see Troy and Abeds nerdy and quirky friendship collide with Annies uptight and self-conscious need to fit in. Britta the inactive activist quarrels with Shirley the judgemental Christian. And of course Pierce is Pierce.

Most importantly, we are given insight into what makes Jeff tick. At first glance, he is avoiding #AnniesMove because he's lazy. On rewatches, it is apparent he more so wants to spend time alone because he's struggling with depression.

Every character has their moment and it all comes together for a montage backdropped with Kiss from a Rose, a top-five scene in the show for me.

5. A Fistful of Paintballs/For a Few Paintballs More

The paintball episodes are the most well known for a reason.

Similar to Epidemiology, it starts with the paintball game already underway. Each scene is meaningful and doesn't feel like an unnecessary rehashing of the first paintball, Modern Warfare.

The aesthetic of the Spaghetti Western from the cinematography, to the fight choreography, to the costumes is nailed so perfectly that you can't help but sit back and take it all in. When it turns into Star Wars, it doesn't skip a beat. Abed as Han Solo is hilarious and I love that Pierce was the one to save the day.

Kevin Feige enjoyed it so much that he hired the directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, for Captain America: Winter Soldier, which is probably the biggest testament to how good these episodes are.

4. Cooperative Calligraphy

Annie loses a pen and the entire episode is a conversation about the whereabouts of the pen. The idea that the entire story relies solely on character interactions is fantastic.

The writing team and the actors really shine through with this episode. There is no paintball game or zombie invasion to move the plot, instead airtight back and forth conversation provides constant laughs.

The slow descent into insanity is done extremely well. The different characters motivations and reasonings for putting up with the pen search end up being weirdly believable. It isn't until the credits roll when you realize that 22 minutes flew by and you just witnessed the purest Community there is.

3. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design

This episode perfectly epitomizes peak Community. Professor Professorson AKA Professor Wooley AKA Professor Garrity is one of my favourite infrequent characters and the entire night school plot line is a stroke of genius. I love how it teeters the line between a well thought out conspiracy and a sloppy mess that only the Dean could come up with.

The prop gunfight is in the top tier of funniest scenes in the show and is a great example of how the writers aren't afraid to commit to a joke. Jim Rash gives an Emmy worthy performance as the Dean and it never fails to make me laugh.

Now it may sound like I just described the entire episode but it turns out there's a whole fucking blanket fort storyline as well. And these stories interweave at some point resulting in a high stakes chase in the blanket fort??? It is paced so well that it can take two equally beloved standalone concepts and fits them in the same episode.

The only negative thing I have to say is that Britta, Shirley and Pierce all take a backseat to allow room for the storylines to flourish.

2. Environmental Science

The first time I watched Community it didn't click right away how special the show was. The writing was obviously hilarious and the plot lines were creative but something was missing.

This was my eureka moment. It spends the entire episode building up three separate plot lines: Pierce helping Shirley, Jeff helping Chang, and Troy and Abed learning to help each other. We see the struggles that come with these different scenarios and before the climax, all three of these groupings have a falling out.

Then in my favourite scene of the entire show, we get a fantastical montage of everyone overcoming their different adversities and rejoining together to celebrate their success.

No other show has made me emotionally invested in the characters as much as Community has. It puts relatable, flawed characters through the wringer and then challenges them to recognize their flaws and make compromises for the group.

1. Remedial Chaos Theory

My favourite episode of any television show ever is a treasure trove of blink and you'll miss it moments.

There are elements of many of my other favourite episodes in this one episode. Its a bottle episode (Cooperative Calligraphy), it utilizes an ingenious concept (Epidemiology, Contemporary American Poultry, Paintball), and there is important character development and heartfelt moments (Studies in Modern Movement, Environmental Science).

The most amazing part is how much it rewards viewers who are paying attention. Every timeline serves a purpose to provide context on how the disaster in the darkest timeline happens. Pierce brings the Serbian rum and the Norweigan troll, Annie has a gun, Abed doesn't catch the boulder, Troy isn't around to stop Britta from smoking, the list goes on. Annie talks about applying a tourniquet in one timeline and then later on when Pierce gets shot she is shown to be completely useless. All of the foreshadowing pays off in a glorious scene of pure chaos.

But the episode doesn't stop there. We get the Abed timeline where he leaves and everyone starts arguing with each other, providing more support to the series long idea that Abed is the glue of the group.

Finally, the prime timeline, Jeff leaves and isn't there to put the "red light" on Britta's singing. It's very wholesome that allowing Britta to sing was enough to loosen everyone up and cause a classic group bonding moment.