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10 of the Best Genre-Bending Episodes in Community
From action flicks to documentaries, Community doesn’t just stick to sitcom.
Community, on its surface, is a sitcom about a group of misfits enrolled in their local community college, who despite their different backgrounds, manage to turn their study group into a community. (Oh so that’s why they call it that.)
But Community is no ordinary sitcom, and as the show evolved, this premise became more of a template onto which the show mapped lots of different genres. These genre parody episodes are perhaps what the show is best known for, but what Community did best was use the genre shake-ups not as a gimmick, but rather as a fun way to further explore the relationships of the characters we’ve come to love.
Here are our picks for some of our favorite genre-bending episodes in Community.
1. Contemporary American Poultry (S1E21)
The study group gets Abed a job at the cafeteria so that they can get first dibs on the coveted chicken fingers, which always seem to run out before they get out of class. When they start to exchange their supply of chicken fingers for favors around campus, the episode morphs into a send-up of classic mafia movies like Goodfellas and The Godfather.
Stream Community Season 1 Episode 21.
2. Modern Warfare (S1E23)
When the Dean offers too enticing of a prize for an all-school paintball game, no one is safe (from getting paint on their clothes). Season 1’s paintball episode is maybe the most well-known episode of the entire series, and for good reason. Often cited as one of the best of the show (and one of the best sitcom episodes ever) the episode completely transforms into a pitch-perfect send-up of action movies — unsurprising, given that it was directed by Justin Lin, who directed five films in the Fast and Furious franchise.
The episode proved so popular that it spawned several paintball sequels throughout the show’s run, like Season 2’s two-parter “A Fistful of Paintballs” and “For a Few Paintballs More” which spoofs the Western genre in its first part and Star Wars in part two, and Season 6’s “Modern Espionage” which takes on the mantle of a spy thriller.
Stream Community Season 1 Episode 23.
3. Epidemiology (S2E6)
When the Dean feeds students at the Greendale Halloween party a mysterious substance from an army surplus store that he mistakes as taco meat, a zombie-like infection spreads rapidly throughout the campus. As the night progresses, the study group must fend off their undead classmates while the campus is locked down by the US Army. If that sounds too scary, don’t worry — the episode also features ABBA’s greatest hits.
Stream Community Season 2 Episode 6.
4. Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas (S2E11)
It’s Christmas, and a claymation version of the study group goes on a jolly adventure to find the true meaning of the holiday! At least that’s what Abed thinks is happening. In actuality, he’s having a pretty serious psychological episode. A perfect parody of Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this episode nabbed an Emmy nomination in the animation category. For another Community cartoon, check out Season 5’s “GI Jeff,” which sees the characters in the world of a Saturday morning cartoon.
Stream Community Season 2 Episode 11.
5. Regional Holiday Music (S3E10)
When the Greendale Glee Club suffers a “collective nervous breakdown” after Jeff gets them shut down for copyright violations, the study group is recruited to form a new glee club and perform at the holiday pageant. Though they object, they each get drawn into the cultlike allure of glee through a series of original songs designed to exploit their weaknesses. Suddenly, nothing seems to matter more than going to regionals.
Stream Community Season 3 Episode 10.
6. Pillows and Blankets (S3E14)
After "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" left Greendale divided into two factions, a blanket fort led by Troy, who wants to expand the fort quickly to go for a world record, and a Pillow fort, led by Abed, who doesn't want to cheapen the accomplishment of only using pillows, an all-out war breaks out on campus. A parody of Ken Burns’ The Civil War, the episode isn’t Community’s only episode that’s shot like a documentary. There’s also Season 2’s “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking,” Season 3’s “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux,” and Season 4’s “Advanced Documentary Filmmaking.”
Stream Community Season 3 episode 14.
7. Basic Lupine Urology (S3E17)
An homage to Dick Wolf shows like Law & Order (get the episode title?), the episode follows the study group as they investigate who murdered the yam that they had been growing for their biology project. Not only does the episode perfectly mimic the style and classic plot turns we love from Law & Order down to the smallest detail (and feature a cameo from Leslie Hendrix, aka medical examiner Elizabeth Rodgers) It's also one of the funniest of the series.
Stream Community Season 3 Episode 17.
8. Digital Estate Planning (S3E20)
In order to help Pierce secure his inheritance, the study group must play a hilariously elaborate 1980s video game designed by Pierce’s late father Cornelius, the robber baron CEO of a moist-towelette empire. While it's incredibly fun to see the show’s characters and music rendered in a retro, 8-bit style, it’s the heartwarming story that ultimately makes this episode such a classic.
Stream Community Season 3 Episode 20.
9. Basic Intergluteal Numismatics (S5E3)
Greendale is rocked by a serial prankster known only as the “Ass Crack Bandit.” The culprit's terrifying M.O.: putting a coin down the back of someone’s pants when they bend over. A parody of dark detective thrillers like David Fincher’s Zodiac and Se7en, complete with greenish color grading and children singing Radiohead, this insanely quotable episode does what Community does best: treating something silly with the utmost importance.
Stream Community Season 5 Episode 3.
10. App Development and Condiments (S5E8)
The dean lets two tech entrepreneurs beta test their new social networking app, "MeowMeowBeenz," on Greendale, which allows you to rate every interaction with a person on a scale of 1-5. Almost immediately, a social hierarchy begins to develop, favoring those with higher average numerical scores. Soon Greendale descends into a futuristic tech dystopia with a rigid class system based on your number. Fives are emperors dressed in togas, fanned with palm fronds by twos while ones are banished to “the outlands.” One of the highest-concept episodes of the entire series, the episode is a send-up of heavy-handed sci-fi dystopias and shows Community isn’t afraid to have fun with its premise and swing for the fences.
Stream Community Season 5 Episode 8.
Stream all six seasons of Community on Peacock and keep an eye out for the upcoming movie!
