In "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy", Andre talks Shirley and Jeff out of getting Chang put in jail for 20 to life for human trafficking. This comes back to haunt not just the study group, but all of Greendale in season 3 when Ch
If Alan hadn't gotten Jeff disbarred, Jeff would've missed the tons of Character Development he went through during his time at Greendale. He manages to top it in "Repilot" by convincing Jeff to go back to his Amoral Attorney ways, which al
The Study Group's treatment of Chang during season two can be seen as the reasons behind his descent into madness and outright villainy during season three. As lampshaded several times throughout the season, Pierce becoming more and more an
A bizarre variation, the Big Bad has a fake psychologist attempt to convince the study group that they are insane, in order to prevent them from discovering his plots. It's because of the therapy that they even realize that Genre Savvy Abed
Pierce lies and claims he bribed Professor Kane to kick Jeff out of Biology. This directs the group's anger back at him so that they will accept Jeff back into the group.
In one episode, Annie and Shirley get jobs as campus security officers, although they are kinda mediocre at it, such as constantly arguing who is the bad cop of the duo. When Annie tries chasing Jeff, she starts spraying pepper spray, only
Abed has one in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" after he finds out his mom started a new family. He has a second one in "Biology 101" after all the characters in "Cougarton Abbey" kill themselves after only six episodes. He recovers when
In Timeline 5 during the episode "Remedial Chaos Theory", a nasty case of Disaster Dominoes strikes everyone in the apartment while Troy is away to get some pizza. Sometime later, Troy cheerfully steps in with a stack of pizza boxes in his
Happens Once a Season. The first season's "Modern Warfare" had an emphasis on Heroic Bloodshed type action. Season two had a two part finale, the first "A Fistful of Paintballs" leaned towards Spaghetti Western while the second was full on
In the episode "Basic Rocket Science" has the gang discover the space simulator being towed with them in it is the result of City College's latest scheme against Greendale Community College.Jeff: Our school may be a toilet, but it's our toi…
"Anthropology 101" opens the second season scrolling right through a long constructed set of the group's individual bedrooms as the characters go about their morning routine.note The montage was actually cheated, though as seven consecutive…
"App Development and Condiments" ends with one of these for an 80's sex comedy starring the character Koogler. (The character wasn't seen outside of the episode.)
Cornelius Hawthorne is this for Pierce, and his half-brother Gilbert. As revealed in ''Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking'', apparently Troy fears LeVar Burton becoming this for him. Troy: [after meeting LeVar] I told Pierce a thousand tim…
The group sets up a D&D game to make Fat Neil feel better in "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons." Garrett's wedding, in which he actually gets some dramatic lines, and the actor gets to play two roles. "Economics of Marin Biology" is the closes…
A recurring theme is the in-fighting when they were supposed to be reaching a common goal.
Chang's Sanity Slippage at the beginning of season two was supposed to feed into a subplot where Chang would be haunted by the twin sister he ate in utero. The idea was quietly dropped, though it was briefly referenced in "The First Chang D…
Also an example of Brains Evil, Brawn Good, if seen in the context of Troy being the academically challenged, but ultimately Lovable Jock who shed his Jerkass reputation from high school. Season 1 features two examples of smart people actin…
Between paintball wars, pillow-fort civilizations and vocational secret societies, Greendale campus has definitely grown into this over time.
In-universe, the American remake of Inspector Spacetime shown in "Conventions of Space And Time'' is considered an example of this by Abed, mostly due to the drastic changes suggested by Pierce at the focus group meeting (including making t…
Jeff, Annie, Troy... Magnitude, Paradox, Subway. Even within the main group, Britta's unusual name is often poked fun at, and Pierce's already uncommon name gets weirder when it's revealed to be short for "Piercinald."
In one episode, Annie and Shirley get jobs as campus security officers, although they are kinda mediocre at it, such as constantly arguing who is the bad cop of the duo. When Annie tries chasing Jeff, she starts spraying pepper spray, only …
Moments of tension between Annie and Jeff end with him awkwardly patting her on the head. Discussed. Jeff and Annie's relationship is characterized by him being an older brother to her, except that the increasing sexual tension is making th…
Jeff and Annie have addressed one another as "Milady" and "Milord," (respectively) on more than one occasion.
Numerous episodes are explicit parodies of existing genres or shows.
In the season 4 finale, Evil-Annie gives Jeff a hug in order to steal his phone from his back pocket.
Subverted with Jeff and Annie. There are some feelings and series-long Ship Tease between Annie (in her late teens at the beginning of the series) and Jeff (a thirty-something guy). They occasionally act on their feelings and kiss or act li…
"Room-temperature" refers to an actual room, which is the world's most comfortable room. It is found in the Air Conditioning Repair School Annex, which is found in Greendale Community College.
Britta: Throughout the show she displays a tendency towards questionable choices when it comes to dating. When Annie and Troy pose as one of her former boyfriends in a text message exchange, they became scandalized at the level of abuse she…
The first few episodes seemed to offer a fairly predictable version of this, with alpha-couple Jeff/Britta and beta-couple Annie/Troy. But it eventually averted this, in that after a while the characters decided to move on to other people i…
The study group passes all three criteria. The seven main characters all took the same Spanish class, and never added anybody else that they met at Greendale to the study group afterward (well, except for that one time). Invoked Trope after…
Starting in Season 3, Britta styles herself as a therapist, regularly attempting to analyze and diagnose her friends, with mixed results and generally against their will. At the end of Season 3, she is shown attempting to help Abed deal wit…
The Dean was regarded as this for the first two seasons before it was revealed in the third (as well as by Jim Rash in outside interviews) that he's actually pansexual. In season 6, Frankie's remark about not letting her sexuality be an asp…
Parodied by the Air Conditioning Repair School Annex, who act like one.Vice-Dean Laybourne: It all began in Ancient Egypt. Our ancestors were slaves, fanning pharaohs with palm fronds, making them feel comfortable. But they evolved. They le…
"With Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase".
The episode "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" is animated in stop motion, while the episode "G.I. Jeff" is animated in the style of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
A large number of the teachers, and to a lesser extent the dean, are shown to be questionably effective at their jobs. Señor Chang bullies his students, Professor Duncan throws a tantrum and blames a student when his experiment doesn't go l…
"Look at me now, Dad!" "Annie, you live in a terrible neighborhood." Annie moves in with Troy and Abed in season 3. "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux" had the question "Why do I go Greendale?"
Thanks to a budget increase with the move to Yahoo, the show was able to adopt a brighter, more naturalistic lighting scheme rather than the harsh florescent look it had in previous seasons.
For a community college, having alcohol on campus is a big no-no—even if everyone is the right age, regulations and by-laws prevent campus-sponsored activities from including it. This is especially important in S1E11; a lack of alcohol and …
In real life, a lawyer who is found out to have falsified their credentials would be permanently disbarred, not given a second chance to earn a degree as Jeff was.
Throughout the series, Abed is referred to — and refers to himself - as “Arabic.” There is no such thing as an “Arabic” person; “Arabic” refers exclusively to the Central Semitic language widely spoken across North Africa, the Levant, Mesop…
Features a cootie catcher! It changes for a few episodes—the Halloween episodes have spookier images, while the "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" credits had epic music and medieval-looking script. Then, of course, there's the one-shot animat…
Jeff gives Pierce's father such a great "The Reason You Suck" Speech that he has a heart attack and dies. Nobody minds much, though, since he was racist, homophobic, and an abusive parent.
Of the voting variety. Fans designed their own Greendale flags and then voted for one to become official, the winning one was introduced in "Basic Rocket Science" and the voting was written into the plot as having been done by Greendale stu…
Of the main study group, only Troy and Annie (and possibly Abed) are the standard college student age. At the start of the series, Britta is 28, Jeff and Shirley are in their mid-30s, and Pierce is in his 60s, having enrolled at Greendale a…
A very weird inversion. Before the fandom met Andre all they heard about him was nothing but bad things from Shirley. So when he turned out to be Mr. Perfect it clashed so much with the fandom's preconceptions of who he was. As a result man…
For a short time, Troy and Annie, before Troy started going out with Randy (it can be a girl's name too) and Annie generated some UST with Jeff. Annie clearly still carries a torch, though, based on the loud gasp when Britta says that she a…
One of the show's primary rules is: Never let a Trope go unlampshaded.
Aside from Chang, several seasons had other major antagonists. In Season 2, Pierce fulfills the role of Big Bad in the final third of the season, until the paintball finale where City College Dean Spreck’s agenda is revealed, and Pierce hel…
The label on the bottle of wine Pierce gives Jeff in "Competitive Wine Tasting" says 'La tua diventa più bello con ogni bottiglia', which translates as 'You become more beautiful with each bottle'
During the season 3 hiatus, the 3-part cartoon, "Abed's Master Key" took a shot at NBC's failure to consider online viewers, which had been determined during the second season comprised the majority of the show's demographic. The cast has a…
Troy is the first to be eliminated in "Modern Warfare". Discussed and subverted in "Epidemiology." Abed lampshades this trope as he sacrifices himself so Troy can escape the zombies. Troy is the last of the study group to be bitten, and eve…
On the one hand, we have: Pierce (Depending on the Writer and how uncharitable you're feeling towards him), a racist, sexist sociopathic bully dedicated to making everyone's lives a living hell Chang, a murderous psychopath Cornelius Hawtho…
Instead of Olde English 500, people occasionally drink Old British 600.
One example occurs in the episode "The Politics Of Human Sexuality" after Troy 'wins' his race with Abed:Troy: [Breathless and exhausted] How'd you like... those apples?Abed: [Clearly not breathless and exhausted] I don't like those apples.…
The first and last episodes of Anthropology class under Duncan are, fittingly, about death and birth, respectively. Chang begins and ends season 3 hiding in the air vents but with the latter, he's in City College. The Tag of the season 3 fi…
The most notable is the episode "Cooperative Calligraphy", which takes place entirely in the study room as the group go on a search for Annie's missing pen. Abed and Jeff even refer to the "Bottle Episode" concept by name. (It's also the on…
Britta's parents were hippies in the 1960s and too free-spirited to raise their daughter correctly, but they've settled down into normal, upper-middle-class people. It's a twist when we find out that Britta is rebelling against them because…
Characters sometimes sip on "Old British 600" and an ill-sized oval changed Jeff's laptop's brand from a Sony Vaio to, apparently, a teapot. When the security staff is directed to gas the ventilation system with "monkey tranquilizer", the l…
Abed has a whole subplot entirely in the background in "The Psychology of Letting Go" - he refers back to this in "Applied Anthropology" when Shirley goes into labor, to widespread confusion among the rest of the study group. This running g…
Greendale seems to be one among institutes of higher learning, especially where local powerhouse City College is concerned. Britta is the Butt Monkey of the study group. Her constant attempts to be capital-G "Good" (in the most politically …
The show thrives on these, and there seems to be two or three per episode. Individual Call Backs and Continuity Nods are listed in the episodes in which they took place.
THE. DEAN. Even though his character is supposed to be pansexual, everything about Dean Pelton, from catchphrases to being there for light entertainment, to showy effeminate costumes and banter is this trope in spades. An interesting evolut…
In "Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts", when Shirley's water breaks and she goes into labor: Dean Pelton: Okay, give me your attention. This student is having a baby. What am I talking about? You already know.
Clue co-stars Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren as Britta's parents in the final season. Mull was cast first and suggested Warren for the part of his wife. In-universe, the American adaptation of Inspector Spacetime casts Luke Perry as The …
Played relatively straight with Abed's "Cool... coolcoolcool.," Parodied with Magnitude's "POP POP!" "You don't have a patent on (insert thing)" which started as something Britta said to Slater in the season 1 finale. Leonard's repeated use…
Several instances given the show's habit of making pop-culture references.
As noted by both Abed and Jeff, Britta looks like Elisabeth Shue. Troy notes that the Dean looks like Moby. The Fake Dean says he is sick of being a Moby impersonator. The actor who played the Fake Dean played a character on How I Met Your …
Pierce's increasing villainy and peeks at other characters' issues made the second season significantly more serious than the first, and the third is building up to be even heavier. After "Community S 3 E 17 Basic Lupine Urology", there fol…
In the pilot, the study room is not on the ground floor, but it is for the rest of the series. It is revealed in "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" that every Greendale student has a locker. Lockers haven't been seen in the series at …
Most of the main characters grow over the course of the show. Troy goes from a popularity-obsessed, immature Jerk Jock to a kind-hearted, responsible geek. A lot of this is apparently due to his friendship with Abed. Jeff learns to care for…
Some characters don't so much grow as simply change from their original persona. Britta gets hit especially hard. In the early first season, Britta has "douche-ray vision", is a worldly, well-traveled (if somewhat insufferable) Soapbox Sadi…
Most notably with Jeff, but throughout the series if a character tries to solve their problem through underhanded means or through cheating it usually backfires on them.
True to form, Community pulls this off with an actual gun in "Remedial Chaos Theory." Troy discovers Annie's gun in the very first timeline we see. Later on, in another timeline, where no one knows about the gun, it accidentally goes off. T…
Jeff's go-to strategy as a lawyer. He particularly seems to like invoking 9/11. Subverted in at least one instance: when he uses it in "Debate 109", Greendale loses, 50-8 (and the 8 points went to Annie).
"Comparative Religion" (Season 1), "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" (Season 2), "Regional Holiday Music" (Season 3), "Intro to Knots" (Season 4). Lampshaded several times in "Comparative Religion", when Shirley's efforts to force everyone …
Dean Pelton in "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" admits that he can't keep track of the lies any more and just teams up with anyone who suggests it. Chang betrays his teammates at every turn during the second paintball war.
Professor Slater after season 1, Duncan after season 2. Lampshaded with Slater in the season 2 episode "Political Science": [ticker at bottom of the screen] PROFESSOR SLATER STILL MISSING Duncan finally returned in season 5, explaining he w…
Apparently Pierce is in a variation of this, called Reformed Neo-Buddhism (which appears to be a combo of this and Buddhism.)
Lampshaded in S2, E22: Shirley gives birth in the middle of class. While the trope appears to be averted via Britta's vomiting at the sight of the birth, in the end it's played straight as the birth turns out looking clean and tidy.
Subverted in the episode "Paradigms of Human Memory," since many of the flashbacks were to scenes that weren't in any episode; such as the infamous St. Patrick's Day rafting trip.
Every time Shirley mentions her Finnish friend Gary.Troy: I hope he transfers to Hell! Whenever Britta starts acting self-righteous.Troy: You're like the AT&T of people! Whenever Annie tries to stand up for real academics at Greendale. Jeff…
On top of Season 3 revealing that Greendale students each have a locker, Greendale holds annual dances, a lock-in Halloween party, and the food court is laid out more like a high school cafeteria. Jeff: Oh my God! My life is Degrassi High!
Despite being primarily a comedy, the show isn't afraid to get serious when it has to, and episodes like Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas often tackle serious subjects in a semi-unique way.
The core of Pierce's character."That makes no sense! Why would I [sexually] harass someone who turns me on?""Don't use that word [tardiness] around Abed!"Jeff: Can you help me block out people's voices I find extremely annoying?Pierce: [dis…
Inverted in "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps". Abed's story is an inversion: sure, the heroic characters are (by slasher victim standards) hyper-competent, but the (In-Universe) audience (other than Troy) hates this.
Dean Pelton explains to the class that Señor Chang has a crippling fear of frogs. Chang whispers in horror "I told you that in confidence!"
Usually, when one study group/committee member leaves, their spot at the table does not remain empty for long. By the time Season 5 premieres, Pierce is banned from the campus (and later dies). Buzz Hickey takes his place two episodes later…
Abed enjoys examining both TV and real life in terms of tropes.
Coupled with The Tag. Most episodes end with Abed and Troy doing/saying something funny, often on the couch in the library (making it a literal Couch Gag). Couch Gag Vanity Plate: "A Dan Harmon/Russo Bros. (word or phrase that changes every…
"Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" features a Gambit Pileup of Counter Zanies. Since all of them involve people being apparently shot dead only to get back up and reveal they faked the whole thing, the poor Dean ends up a nervous wre…
Evil Troy does this, badly: Evil Troy: I'm counting bullets. And one of us is out.Troy: Is it you?Evil Troy: ...yes.Troy: Why would you tell me that?Evil Troy: To sound intimidating.
In the episode "G.I. Jeff", Jeff dreams that he and the rest of the study group are members of G.I. Joe. He gets court-martialed for killing Destro, which is against the Joe team's rules for some reason (though it should be noted that in re…
In-Universe. "Romantic Expressionism" parodies this with a long sequence of Ship Tease suggestive glances between all of the characters. In order, it goes: Pierce / Shirley / Jeff / Britta / Abed / Britta / Annie / Britta (gasp!) / Annie (g…
"Intro To Political Science": Some of these appear during Troy and Abed's coverage of the class election. Examples: "Professor Slater Still Missing", "Basketball Team Loses Ball", "Professor Duncan Quits Drinking Again" and (pictured) "Tick…
The staff at Greendale Community College are as eccentric as their students, if not more so: Dean Pelton is an eccentric “pansexual imp” with a love for wearing extravagant costumes for any reason, and who is generally somewhat competent at…
The Study Group's treatment of Chang during season two can be seen as the reasons behind his descent into madness and outright villainy during season three. As lampshaded several times throughout the season, Pierce becoming more and more an…
invokedCreator Breakdown: Parodied when Vaughn breaks up with Britta, he cowrites a song called "Getting Rid of Britta" that consists of the refrain "She's a GDB" sung multiple times. In Documentary Filmmaking Redux Dean Pelton completely b…
The season 1 finale has Dean Pelton mention a nominee for Queen of the Transfer Dance called Danielle Harmon. Dan Harmon can be seen on the far right of the "old-timey" photograph at the end of "Introduction to Bondage and Beta Male Sexuali…
All the '80s references from Abed. He doesn't seem to make many from either earlier or later than the '80s.
The show used a number of them from time to time, increasing through the third season before backing off. The Tag (typically with Troy and Abed) tended to be an interchangeable joke that could be paired with any episode. An episode in the t…
The first season has a variation: A conscious effort was made in the first seven episodes to focus on each character of the study group in turn for an episode. In the order they aired: Jeff is introduced in the the first episode of which he…
Pierce is pretty much a walking deconstruction of the "wacky old person" character. His attempts at humor end up being offensive, his insensitivity makes him seem like a Jerkass, any slapstick involving him ends in injury due to his old age…
Both "Documentary" episodes deconstruct documentaries (and 'Mockumentaries' based on the documentary format), suggesting that for all that documentary makers try to remain objective and present the 'real' events as they occur without interf…
Many classic sitcom plots and conventions are deconstructed throughout the show. "Regional Holiday Music" acts as one, as well as an Affectionate Parody and Take That!, to Glee. "Repilot" acts as this to Community itself.
Pierce gradually had less and less to do in any given episode, or would have a subplot by himself, due to Chevy Chase's noted difficulties with the show and the grueling schedule. By the fourth season he was outright missing from several ep…
Progressively throughout the first three seasons, before reaching a new level in Season 4 (which becomes so outlandish that characters in-universe refer to it as the "gas leak year"). Dialed back to Season 2-level goofiness in Season 5, and…
Pierce. He's been portrayed as an unapologetically sexist and racist borderline sociopath, a insensitive but ultimately well-meaning lonely old man, and everywhere in between.
When Abed and Troy attempt a "Freaky Friday" Flip (appropriately while holding a copy of the film), the lights begin flickering crazily. A maintenance guy flips them back on and apologizes for the routine light switch check.
When Abed and Troy dine in a fancy restaurant in The Tag of "Critical Film Studies", they discover that the price is ridiculously high and make a run for it.Troy: It said market price. What market are you shopping at?
The Show Within a Show Inspector Spacetime is basically just a bizarro universe copy of Doctor Who. Apparently within the Community universe, Doctor Who does still exist, but only as the less-popular ripoff of Inspector Spacetime.
Abed tries his hand at making a documentary of Pierce's supposed dying days in "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking". He returns to the format for a Hearts of Darkness-style look at filming a new commercial for Greendale in "Documentary Fil…
If a guy in the show wants casual sex, he's shamed for it when a relationship gets serious. This happened with Jeff and Troy in two different seasons, with Britta in all cases of irony. In contrast, when a woman wants casual sex, she's not …
Parodied and played straight in "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics." The episode is a sorta funny episode trying to discover the identity of the Ass Crack Bandit. Then we find out Pierce is dead. The episode concludes on the characters decidin…
Annie had an Adderall addiction and Pierce was on painkillers; both spent time in rehab for it. Also the message of the play the group puts on in "Celebrity Pharmacology 212."
In-universe, a few times. Troy, to Chang, when he calls Troy and Shirley dirty. Chang, to Pierce, when he says, "Hm, Asian, can't drive, can't direct."
The season one finale has Jeff torn between Britta and Professor Slater as they try to compete for his affections at the Transfer Dance. He essentially chooses this option when he decides to leave as opposed to making any decisions, then ma…
Early episodes came across like high quality short films. The first two episodes of the show include pop songs on the soundtrack to give it more of a college movie vibe. They also featured more outdoor sequences and the main courtyard is th…
In the B-plot of the first season episode "Environmental Science", Dean Pelton announces they are becoming more environmentally conscious and changing their name to Enviro-Dale. Star-Burns immediately points out they're already named Greend…
The Study Group, with help of Slater, summons Beetlejuice. In a way. You can actually see Annie's Boobs steal the pen when Dean Pelton is telling the study group about the Puppy Parade.
When Jeff and Coach Bogner strip nude during their showdown at the pool table in "Physical Education", everyone averts their eyes, except Annie who sneaks a few dozen peeks, the Dean, and Abed. In "Origins of Vampire Mythology", Jeff asks A…
Almost every episode ends with a final scene. Sometimes these scenes have some connection to an aspect of the episode. Usually, they will involve Troy and Abed.
The fictional superhero Kickpuncher uses cybernetics to give his punches the strength of kicks. It makes exactly as much sense as it sounds.
While originally intended to be Jeff-centric, the show regularly gives A-stories to other characters in the study group.
Several instances, which is only natural for a sitcom. The Dean is the main perpetrator of this. The STD fair and Greendale commercial are only a few of several examples.
In the episode “Contemporary American Poultry,” we learn that everyone has a function, and everyone has a price. The function varies, but the price is always chicken fingers! A high-octane spree of graft ensues.
Notably averted in "Comparative Religion." Fed up with the Dean's pushing an inclusive, nondenominational holiday, Shirley organizes an overtly religious Christmas party - then is surprised to find she's the only Christian in the group. Ann…
Chang, when he's acting as an antagonist, has a penchant for chewing the scenary, such as in "Modern Warfare" when he enters the paintball game, first shooting up the study room with a bright orange rifle before dramatically drawing his gol…
Outside of the original Study Group, the only other people who were eventually added to the opening credits as the show progressed were Ken Jeong and Jim Rash. As a result, several cases of this resulted. Jim Rash was actually one of these …
Jeff is an aloof cool guy who is frequently seen texting throughout the first three seasons. When he finally encounters his father in the fourth, he reveals that there was no one on the other end and has been texting nobody.
The study group evolves into a close-knit, if occasionally dysfunctional, family unit over the course of the series. They frequently spend birthdays, holidays, vacations, and weekends together and turn to each other in moments of crisis. It…
"Physical Education" has a fully naked and highly homoerotic pool competition betweeen Jeff the muscular Pretty Boy and...a wrinkled, overweight old man.
Jeff completely bare-assed naked at the pool table. Dayum. Granted, it was combined with total Fan Disservice, but it was easy to bypass that for Jeff's abs. "Cooperative Calligraphy" has everyone strip down to their underwear. No matter wh…
Buddy's Self-Serving Memory of Britta and Annie in cheerleader outfits fighting over a bra that neither one has in a kiddie pool filled with whipped cream, which he states afterwards "may have been a dream."
Whenever a character grabs a microphone, there's a good chance it will give off feedback before working correctly.
Vaughn's band, which has the classic five-person rock band composition of lead singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboardist, has a female bassist as the only girl. She doesn't get any lines and is in the periphery of most shots.
In "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism", Troy, Abed, and Annie's unkempt manchild of a landlord is revealed to have a foot fetish in just about the creepiest way possible: the trio uncover a closet full of shoes stolen from the building's f…
The final episode ends with a commercial for a board game based on the show which remarks on the show's Better Than a Bare Bulb tendencies. The commercial shows a family of three playing the game and the son producing a special item, the sc…
While the first four seasons featured the entire Study Group, the show saw Pierce, Troy, and Shirley leave respectively before, during, and after season 5. The show made up for it by integrating into the group first Buzz Hickey and the retu…
In Timeline 5 during the episode "Remedial Chaos Theory", a nasty case of Disaster Dominoes strikes everyone in the apartment while Troy is away to get some pizza. Sometime later, Troy cheerfully steps in with a stack of pizza boxes in his …
To the extent that "Repilot" addressed it on-screen. Britta's Soapbox Sadie aspect was increased to the point of being a Straw Character, where she'll actively contradict herself within the same conversation just to be Anti-something; at th…
In "The Science of Illusion", Jeff runs from Annie and Shirley, who have been deputized as campus security during April Fools' Day. Annie gives chase on foot, leading to her pepper-spraying herself. Lampshaded in "Basic Lupine Urology", an …
Abed gets a drink thrown in his face during the group's outing to a bar. In "Anthropology 101", Britta dumps a bowl on Jeff's head in the cafeteria. Jeff gets two drinks thrown into his face in "Conventions of Space and Time."
After the revelation that Abed can see the show's Plot Twists coming, he demonstrates Jeff's character trait of actually being bothered by things he pretends not to by showing a clip where he gets distraught that Pierce is at the top of the…
When they were children, Shirley humiliated Jeff in a game of foosball and made him wet his pants. Jeff moved away soon after and they did not meet again until he formed the study group. The humiliation turned Jeff into the Jerk with a Hear…
The show has established a ratio of doing this once every three episodes (or so), a few examples include mafia movies, action movies, space movies, zombie movies, conspiracy movies, claymation, mockumentary, and Westerns.
In "Contemporary American Poultry", it's revealed that chicken fingers are the only good thing on the cafeteria menu. Such that there's a mad rush for the lunch line to get them before they run out. The study group tires of always being unl…
More than one of each type: Sanguine: Shirley, Pierce, and Pelton Choleric: Annie and Chang (when he has power, at least) Melancholic: Britta, Duncan, and Abed Phlegmatic: Jeff and Troy
- Troy, Abed and Annie since they started living together. Id: Annie — Passionate and emotional. Gets the guys in more shenanigans than even they can handle.Troy: You moving in was supposed to tone us down! Ego: Troy Superego: Abed — Logica…
Most of the study group: In "Pillows and Blankets", Troy sends a vicious text message to Abed saying that "we all know I was your first friend." Pierce has been attending Greendale for over ten years, but it would seem that the study group …
Discussed when Annie moves in with Troy and Abed in "Studies in Modern Movement". Shirley has Friends-related concerns that "cohabitation leads to sex, drugs and something a Parade magazine called Schwimmer-fatigue". However, the three are …
There is a very clear shift in tone and characterization after the first half of the first season that persisted for the rest of the show's run, making the first half come off as particularly rough.
In the pilot, this is combined with My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels when Jeff is trying to sell Britta on the idea that he's a Spanish tutor. When challenged to say precisely that in Spanish, he gives a supremely confident delivery that the a…
Usually provided by Abed. Including, in "The Psychology of Letting Go", an entire funny background storyline. While the main plot of the episode takes place, Abed can frequently be seen in the background meeting a pregnant woman, getting in…
Being autistic, Abed bases all of his understanding of social interactions on media, and he often states his belief that they're all in a sitcom. Because he actually is in a sitcom, almost all of his predictions and insights turn out to be …
While hypnotising Britta, Pierce tries to coerce her into a hot tub party with himself and her "friend... with lower self-esteem and slightly larger breasts," presumably Annie. In "Early 21st Century Romanticism," Britta kisses Paige (very …
A UST-filled moment wherein Jeff and Annie alternate trying to hug while the other goes for a handshake, until Jeff decides to pat her head.
The study groups does this every few episodes.Jeff: Bring it in here you knucklehead!
This is Shirley's go-to move for manipulation early in the series, such as in "Comparative Religion", when she attempts to guilt Jeff out of fighting Mike the Bully by invoking the spirit of Christmas, even though it's only December 10th.
When LeVar Burton appears, multiple characters claim to be big fans. Justified as the reason he was called was because Troy is such a huge fan that a signed picture of LeVar Burton is his most desired thing in the world.
In the episode "The First Chang Dynasty", Troy agrees to join the Air Conditioning Repair Annex in order for their help in rescuing his friends from Chang. As he says goodbye to his friends at the end of the episode, Britta (with whom there…
"Introduction to Statistics" (Season 1), "Epidemiology" (Season 2), "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" (Season 3), "Paranormal Parentage" (Season 4).
"Beginner Pottery" is about learning the uncomfortable lesson that you won't necessarily be the best at whatever you put your mind at in Real Life, but it does also note that with determination and perseverance, you can actually improve goi…
In the pilot, Shirley makes a light threat that involves grabbing someone's head and pushing it through a jukebox. In "Heroic Origins", it's revealed that she smashed a stripper's face, namely Misty, into a jukebox as retribution for sleepi…
After getting passive-aggressively scolded by Garrett's mother, the gang realize that they acted atrociously during his wedding ceremony and resolve to be the best wedding reception guests ever.
Between Jeff and Annie, frequently, as part of their UST. In the intro episode for Rachel, Abed's love interest. She notes that these usually happen (appropriately) before The Big Damn Kiss. In the series finale, Jeff and Abed hug as part o…
There's another, apparently cooler study group, which includes Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Star-Burns and a hot chick. The study group is this to the other students, since everything turns out to be about them. Abed experiences the entire C pl…
Abed has one in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" after he finds out his mom started a new family. He has a second one in "Biology 101" after all the characters in "Cougarton Abbey" kill themselves after only six episodes. He recovers when …
Abed and Troy. In "Physical Education", they even do The Tag in imitation of Bert and Ernie.Shirley: You don't see me saying anything crazy about Abed and Troy's weird little relationship.Both: They're just jealous.
There are moments when resident jackass Pierce gives Jeff some insight into a given episode's moral. Pierce also handed out useful advice to Shirley on how to give a class presentation.
The DVD Extras for every season include what are often lengthy behind the scenes bloopers. Recurring themes include Alison Brie's terrible freestyle rapping, constant Black Comedy Rape bits involving Brie, Donald Glover & Joel McHale in par…
In "Basic Genealogy", Pierce and co. play a game of Pictionary, with the cue being "windmill". Matching the sitcom's customary Black Comedy and in a justified case for it, Pierce's drawing resembles a swastika. This derails into a fistfight…
Although state laws vary, there really isn't a situation in which a practicing attorney would be forced to reacquire his bachelor's degree to continue practicing law. To stop him from practicing, he'd have to be disbarred.
Jeff spends part of season 1 dating Professor Slater, in a rare example of the student being older than the teacher. Professor Duncan assumes Annie is hitting on him before she even asks him anything, then immediately rates her an 8 (which …
"Social Psychology": After ranting — at length — about a student evaluation feedback card he received, how hurtful and racist it was, and the lengths he went to in order to discover who the evaluator was:Señor Chang: [To Annie, very very cr…
Pop culture-obsessed Abed is so messed up after a hangover in "Communication Studies" that he can't even make movie references properly.Abed: The last thing I remember is... you were dancing like that girl in the movie... The kids in detent…
Most episodes have a name like a community college course (Intro to ______, _______ 101, etc.), sometimes referring to the actual class that the study group is taking and other times referring to the life lessons they learn.
Dean Pelton regularly lavishes attention on Jeff, even going so far as to move into the apartment next to him, despite the fact that Jeff not only shows no interest in him specifically, even expressing discomfort with the Dean's focus on hi…
Abed is so good at predicting his friends' responses that he can mimic them while they're talking and his videos foretell the future. Season 3 shows his predictions aren't as accurate as they seem.
Despite Greendale's atrocious reputation and numerous alleged problems, their campus is large and well-maintained, and they have lots of money to use on various plot-relevant events (including redoing 5,000 posters, a paintball match, and a…
In "Studies in Modern Movement," the show points out that Troy and Abed are the funniest guys to be around...in small doses. Living with them while they act out a usual side plot from an episode is very not fun. The third season does a bit …
Parodied. "Wedding Videography" opens with Abed and Annie (who are not in a relationship) filming an overly-sentimental morning encounter where they express their love for each other. When Britta interrupts them, they mention that they are …
Rich is supposed to be better than Jeff at everything. Greg Cromer, who plays Rich, was the runner-up for the role of Jeff.
The weather is almost always sunny and mild at Greendale, even during times of the year when Colorado would be a lot colder than, say, Southern California.
Although Jeff and Pierce are probably the most obvious examples, pretty much all of the main characters have both their jerk sides and their hearts of gold (albeit to varying degrees).
Lampshaded. Many fans consider "Modern Warfare" to be the best episode yet. In the second season Abed has shirts and hoodies made up to give as souvenirs to the people who took part in the paintball game; on the back is printed "It's all do…
Something that Greendale seems unusually prone to, despite being a community college. In "A Few Paintballs More" the still-alive Greendale students form this against City College, with Star Wars homage to match. In "App Development and Cond…
Everywhere. In "Cooperative Calligraphy", Jeff explicitly says:Jeff: Gwenifer! Hi, yeah, it's me, I can't make it. Well, tell your disappointment to suck it; I'm doing a Bottle Episode! Examples of tropes not yet covered by this website, bu…
Season 4 episode 9 "Intro To Felt Surrogacy":Annie: So nobody else heard my terrible secret about how I... trail off from time to time? Season 2 episode 18 "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy":Britta: What? He asked me out.Troy: You…
The season two DVD packaging reveals the (admittedly minor) spoiler that for much of the season, Shirley is pregnant.
The two final seasons have it in spades: The original study group progressively dwindles from seven members to four (notably, the geek duo of Troy and Abed is broken up with only Abed remaining). The group also becomes the "Save Greendale C…
Chang attempts to reveal he is wearing a latex mask during the Season 5 finale, but he actually isn't.
Chang after losing the Pop 'N Lock contest, which the study group doesn't care about.Dean: Okay, he's bringing us down. Get him out of here.
Abed mentions that talking about people like they're in a TV show is his gimmick and that they "leaned pretty hard on that last week." He then says that he "can lay low for an episode." Abed is not featured in the episode after that, except…
Dean Pelton bought the bio-hazard material that caused the Zombie Apocalypse in "Epidemiology", thinking they were taco meat containers with goofy labels. Chang almost burnt down Greendale and everyone in it with fireworks in "The First Cha…
Annie was always friendly with Troy and Abed (and was previously in love with the former and briefly attracted to the latter), but the three of them develop a strong siblinglike relationship after Annie moves in with them in the third seaso…
In "Community S3 E03: Competitive Ecology", Annie asks Jeff, "Who the hell are you always texting?! Everyone you know is here!" In episode 405, it's revealed he's texting no one.
The first, third and fourth logos at the end are the same on each show (Krasnoff-Foster Entertainment, Universal Media Studios/Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television), but the second states this to be "A Dan Harmon/Russo Brothers…
Overlapping with Feng Schwing, Jeff's apartment is a classic rich man's tasteful bachelor pad, to the point that it looks like it came straight out of a magazine. That means it's rather dull and boring, with almost everything colored some s…
While Jeff seems to be competent at seducing women when he wants to, Britta (the only one of the group who has actually had sex with him) often claims that he's actually incredibly bad in bed. It's implied that it's due to him being self-ce…
Just about every possible pairing has been explored with the cast, and when you throw in the supporting cast, it gets complicated. Jeff starts the study group to be closer to Britta, who at one point dated Vaughn, then goes out with his (fo…
Abed has an easy time putting the moves on Annie when he roleplays as aloof guys like Han Solo, Batman, or Don Draper.
The lyrics to the theme song are surprisingly dark, (e.g. "We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year!" Even the jaunty chorus "I can't count the reasons I should stay / one by one they all just fade away" seems pretty gloomy in the cont…
The "MacGuffin Neurological Institute" in the Season 4 episode "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking." Annie's pen in "Cooperative Calligraphy." The pen itself plays no role in the story, and it doesn't even matter that it's a pen. But the need …
When one of Britta's cats bites Chang through his hand in "Lawnmower Maintenance & Postnatal Care", Chang calmly describes how it's happening and how it was a big mistake.
When Annie starts dating Vaughn, both Jeff and Britta are disgusted. They plan to break the two up by encouraging Troy, who Annie had a crush on, to pursue her. The thing is, Annie had gotten over her feelings for Troy and his attempts to p…
In the Bottle Episode, the reveal that it was the monkey who stole the pen seemingly came out of nowhere. Early in the episode, during the shot where Troy says he wants to lick the puppy Dean Pelton is holding, in the background a tiny monk…
Abed is teased at being aware that he's in a sitcom, but this is explained as a quirk of his autism. However, because he actually is in a sitcom, he is extremely Genre Savvy.
The Greendale AC Repair School. Turns out, Vice Dean Laybourne holds more power than Dean Pelton himself (his office is bigger and fancier and has an entire legal team), and to them the Air Conditioning Repair trade is Serious Business. The…
Pierce thinks both Jeff and Britta are gay. Britta and her "lesbian" friend from "Early 21st Century Romanticism" are both straight, both think that the other is a lesbian, and both only befriended the other so they could feel hip and progr…
Britta is in huge debt during the second season, which is lampshaded when she meets Troy's childhood hero. She tries to convince him to stay to spend time with Troy by paying him all she has in her bank account, less than 300 dollars. He re…
Inevitable in a series which insists on playing out typical comedy scenarios - but with genuine consequences and character development. For example, the story arc where Pierce gets injured in a wacky accident on a trampoline... which leads …
Jeff points this out to Duncan in the pilot episode.Jeff: Duncan, you did seem less into integrity the day I convinced twelve of your peers that when you made that U-turn on the freeway and tried to order chalupas from the emergency call bo…
Jeff panics that he is going to die after learning he has high cholesterol.
Jeff initially forms the study group with the sole intention of seducing Britta. This premise stops being mentioned about half way through the first season, and towards the end of the third even the study group was temporarily dropped as an…
Jeff. Particularly in that episode when he played pool.Jeff: I discovered a new back muscle to work out. Ladies, you'll thank me come tank top season. Troy's Dracula costume (shirtless with a toilet seat cover as a collar and toilet paper c…
As of the season two finale, Britta and Annie have wrestled in whipped cream while wearing cheerleader uniforms (and no bras) and in oil while wearing tight t-shirts. Annie's also been covered in paint - which Alison Brie has referred to as…
In one episode, Dean Pelton (whose exact sexuality and gender were never fully clarified, but who definitely isn't straight) wears an outfit literally split by gender down the middle◊.
Jeff and Pierce's multi-costumed, multi-propped Spanish presentation, which gets horrified looks from the students and F/F- grades. "Debate 109" gives this treatment to debating club. "Somewhere Out There"/Shirley's Public Speaking Speech/C…
Several season 2 episodes have Pierce overdosing on pain meds and conjuring up a "friend" who's a tiny little airplane pilot (played by Andy Dick). Before that, he had a bad reaction to some ecstasy from Star-Burns.
In "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy", Andre talks Shirley and Jeff out of getting Chang put in jail for 20 to life for human trafficking. This comes back to haunt not just the study group, but all of Greendale in season 3 when Ch…
If Alan hadn't gotten Jeff disbarred, Jeff would've missed the tons of Character Development he went through during his time at Greendale. He manages to top it in "Repilot" by convincing Jeff to go back to his Amoral Attorney ways, which al…
Shirley's Unseen Finnish friend Gary is hated by the group in part because he's a humourless buzzkill.Shirley: He grew up in a land without sun!
In the episode "Intro to Documentary Filmmaking", Jeff threatens to and does attack Pierce, resulting in visible injuries.Jeff: Oh, I should probably tell you; if you're lying to me, if my father isn't coming, if a car pulls up, and anyone …
An inverted example. Thanks to Laser-Guided Amnesia, none of the cast can remember the Zombie Apocalypse of "Epidemiology", and refer to it as "the Halloween we can't remember."
Abed and Troy's Kickpuncher costumes. Also, Abed and Troy's Alien Queen and Power Loader costumes from "Epidemiology." This comes back to bite Troy when he attempts to fight off zombies in the power loader, despite it being made of PVC Troy…
In "Pascal's Triangle Revisited", the very British Prof. Duncan drunkenly bursts on stage to rap "My name is Ian Duncan and I'm here to say, I'm here to rhyme in a rapping way, I have a really big penis and I drink lots of tea...." before g…
A Paintball Episode, after the wild success of the first season episode "Modern Warfare" the second season ended with a two parter. Recognizing diminishing returns, the third and fourth seasons relegated it to minor references and the fifth…
Jeff is a head taller than both Britta and Annie.
Star-Burns, so named because he shaves his sideburns in the shape of stars. He actually prefers his given name Alex, but nobody calls him that.Chang: Silencio, por favor. Star-Burns! That means you.Star-Burns: My name's Alex, dude.Chang: We…
Britta came off this way early in Season 1, but Characterization Marches On. Jeff likes to think he is this. However, according to the Britta's psych evaluations in Season 3, Abed is the only one of the group who isn't psychologically insan…
Jeff does this to hide/fight a hangover:Britta: Well? did you talk to Chang?Jeff: Yeah, but... it didn't do any good. My head still hurts from all the yelling... and my pupils are more sensitive to light because he yelled at me so much. Bri…
Aside from her brief turn as a sci-fi dictator, Shirley had basically nothing to do for all of season 5. Lampshaded by her.
Sort of. After Pierce's death his lawyer came with a series of gifts to each of the members of the study group, some were given something a little more specific to the individual (an iPod for Britta, a bottle of scotch for Jeff) but everyon…
Abed (as Batman) dragging Jeff and Pierce out of the library to Out Run The Collapsing Fort Made Out Of Desks in the Halloween Episode. In the end of "Modern Warfare" when Jeff leaps out of the study room to escape the blast from Chang's pa…
In "Modern Warfare", Britta, sporting a shit-eating grin, is shown pointing her paintball gun Gangsta Style as viewed from the back of the character she's about to shoot.
During a spirited defense of the Barenaked Ladies, Britta describes them as "the most celebrated Canadian alt-rock band of the mid-nineties".
By season 3, paintball episodes. "Curriculum Unavailable" first sets lampshades that paintball's overdone, and then the next paintball episode where they say they "finally figure out how to make paintball cool again" (though opinions are mi…
Happens Once a Season. The first season's "Modern Warfare" had an emphasis on Heroic Bloodshed type action. Season two had a two part finale, the first "A Fistful of Paintballs" leaned towards Spaghetti Western while the second was full on …
A focal point of the show's humor, starting with the second half of the first season, various episodes devote themselves to being parodies of various genres: "The Science of Illusion": Annie and Shirley try to be a crime drama-esque buddy c…
In Season 3 the series got sponsortship from Subway but they made a joke of it, showing the corporation is evil manipulative, going so far as to pay a man to change his name to Subway.
Jeff's diploma-mill undergraduate degree.
Whenever Pierce says something strange (because he's off his meds), someone always responds with "What? Uh, oh".
Although they do feature some Ship Tease moments in episodes like "For a Few Paintballs More", Abed and Annie become this as the show goes. After Troy leaves in the fifth season, this dynamic really ramps up between them, and by the sixth s…
A Show Within a Show example with the finale of Cougarton Abbey. The series ends with the characters committing suicide by drinking hemlock. One of the characters drops her drink glass afterwards.
Magnitude, while capable of a full vocabulary, goes to great lengths to limit the majority of his on-camera speech to just repeating "Pop! Pop!"
The Greendale Human Being is carefully designed by the Dean and Pierce so as not to resemble any specific race or culture; it ends up looking more like a blind and mute alien. The religiously neutral Mr. Winter costume the Dean comes up wit…
Occasionally pops up due to the age gaps within the study group (from Pierce to Jeff and Shirley to Annie and Troy) and to a lesser extent due to the race differences: A conversation about the UST between Jeff and Britta:Shirley: You remind…
an in-universe (platonic) example in "Trobed."
Troy leans close to Abed to whisper something, while the rest of the study group is gathered around them. Annie subsequently prompts Abed to reveal what Troy said to him. Turns out, it was, "I know you hate when people do this in movies."
The show repeatedly takes dialogue, scenes, shots, premises, and songs directly from other works (about higher education or otherwise) and notes it.
A source of contention for fans is the fact that the sources of income for almost all the characters are unclear. This ends in the fifth season, when the group is all hired by Greendale. Jeff deals with his lack of income and savings in sev…
It doesn't take much for Greendale's student body to start rioting or otherwise trashing the campus, as multiple episodes have shown. By Season 5, all it takes is Annie shouting that "Minuses are made up!" for the students to go nuts.Neil: …
In the episode where the group is visiting Pierce in the hospital, and he is using it as an opportunity to screw with them, he tells Jeff that he located Jeff's real dad. Jeff knows that Pierce is almost certainly messing with him, so after…
The supposedly 1980-vintage RV based space simulator included flatscreen displays and the glimpse we got of the actual RV dashboard was considerably more modern than it "should" have been.
E Pluribus Anus. "Out of many, an old woman"?
In "Advanced Gay", Pierce talks about looking something up on "the Wackapah-DIE-ah."
Chang and Dean Pelton both start as supporting characters before receiving more focus in later seasons and ultimately making it into the opening credits.
The accounting teacher who insists that he will fail Jeff if he doesn't seize the day. Ironically, despite being a psychology teacher Duncan doesn't solve all of Jeff's problems and makes him actually work while he's at Greendale. Which may…
Oh, Christmas Troy! Oh Christmas Troy! "Asian Population Studies" has Chang constantly doing this with his own name (to Jeff's increasing frustration).Jeff: Let's change the subject...Chang: You mean CHANG the subject. "Most of you have res…
Annie's not-so-secret weapon, also referred to as her "Disney face". Jeff: You're getting dangerous, Annie. It's those doe eyes. Disappointing you is like choking the Little Mermaid with a bike chain.
In the season 1 episode "English as a Second Language", Jeff points out that Annie's lip will quiver when she's attempting to influence others.
Professor Duncan disappears after Season 2 due to John Oliver's work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (filmed on the opposite side of the country in New York). He returns in Season 5, only to leave again afterwards when Oliver began hosti…
Troy during dance class in "Interpretive Dance." Troy and Pierce in "Communication Studies." They wear vibrant blue and pink (respectively) pantsuits, as punishment for the fallout of Shirley and Annie's prank on Señor Chang. In "Home Econo…
Troy and Abed. Troy, a highly expressive Lovable Jock, is the Red Oni to Abed, a stoic, undiagnosable nerd.
The whole series, especially where Abed is concerned. "Modern Warfare" deserves special mention, though.
This has become something of a Jeff Winger trademark. It's lampshaded in "Paradigms of Human Memory", where we see a whole montage of Jeff's rousing speeches during events from episodes that never were. Apparently this is something that hap…
Surprisingly. Any character who may seem like a jerk does have a reason or backstory as to how they became who they are.
Done twice. Both times notably avert Deep-Immersion Gaming, instead just depicting the characters actually playing Dungeons & Dragons. "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" has most of the study group playing a game with Fat Neil to try to cheer …
The show got wackier and wackier as it went on. The most recurring example would be the names of the courses the school offers each semester, such as "Baby Talk", "Ladders", or "Grift".
Shirley's (never-seen) friend Gary, whom nobody likes. The Dean's Dalmatian-furry fetish is followed from its very beginning ("I hope this doesn't awaken something in me"), to its escalation (Dalmatian mugs, posters, and rugs), to its inevi…
Annie makes a point of pointing this out when she sarcastically thanks Jeff and Britta for ruining her love life. Abed has to go into this:Abed: Oh, that's sarcasm, but I forgot to inflect. This sounds way more like sarcasm. Inflection is s…
The main characters come together to form a study group in order to get through Spanish. Due to their differing personalities, it's unlikely they would have become friends otherwise. For instance, while Annie and Troy went to the same high …
Most characters worry more about campus life than their actual classes. In fact, the series featured more and more episodes taking place off-campus in season two and beyond.
Parodied. Troy and Abed's secret handshake is not particularly secret, it's just their usual handshake followed by both of them whispering "secret."
Troy starts singing the theme song of Reading Rainbow in a washroom stall and breaking down crying trying to calm himself down after meeting LeVar Burton when he only just wanted an autographed photo of him and to never meet him in person.
Professor Duncan peppers his speech with British-exclusive slang. Sometimes it's incorrectly used. It's eventually revealed that Duncan actually spent most of his life in America. Duncan refers to leaving his wallet "in the back of my lorry…
"Introduction to Finality", which according to Dan Harmon was written as one in case NBC cancelled the series afterwards.
To the point of a Running Gag; it seems that there is nothing on Earth that either the study group or the wider Greendale community as a whole cannot take and find some way to completely blow out of proportion. Such as: Chicken fingers are …
Troy and Abed: Troy and Abed in the Morning! Annie and Shirley: Awwwwwwwwwww! The study group as a whole appear to have adopted Britta's "Duh-doy!" when they want to suggest something or someone is stupid.
Annie/Abed was sunk in Season 5, with the revelation that Abed was catfishing Annie so she'd make better breakfasts, followed by Annie invoking Like Brother and Sister with Abed in "VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing". Britta/Troy w…
Annie and Jeff are teased starting early in season 1, with both characters showing attraction to each other, and even sharing a kiss. The tease continues throughout the course of the show, with the two regularly going on "cutesy capers" tog…
Shirley, during around half of the first season, really wanted Britta and Jeff to get together, encouraging both of them to pursue the other and consoling Britta when Jeff and Slater began dating.
Jeff frequently ends up shirtless, be it playing a game of pool that escalates to the point that he's not just shirtless, but completely nude, or ruining a bar mitzvah due to his anti-anxiety meds causing him to get jealous of the awards th…
Mocked mercilessly with Jack Black's appearance as "Buddy", a student who has allegedly been in the gang's Spanish 101 class this entire time. The entire main cast are either weirded out by his sudden, unexplained appearance in their lives …
The show does this a lot. Examples from individual episodes are listed on the Recap pages.
Super-meta Abed writes and directs a campus TV show called The Community College Chronicles, with characters based on his study group. Abed's so well-versed in that he can use the show to predict what's going to happen to the study group ne…
December 10th, 2009: "Comparative Religion" December 3rd, 2010: "Mixology Certification" - the day before Troy's birthday. December 9th, 2010: "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"
Troy does this to Abed when he leaves for air-conditioning repair school. When the rest of the group asks what he said, Abed tells them that Troy said, "I know you hate when people do this in movies".
A pair of security guards freak Troy and Abed out with this at the end of "Football, Feminism, and You." The cast of Abed's films is an invoked example.
Annie and Britta are the Squares, Jeff is the Wisecracker, Pierce is the Bully (though he can also occasionally be the Sage), Abed is the Dork, and Troy and Chang are the Goofballs, and Shirley is the Stick. Shirley doesn't really fall into…
Played with. On the one hand, the show completely toys with as many sitcom, genre, and storytelling conventions as possible and creates a series that has a fair amount of crazies and sociopaths. On the other hand, the characters prove to be…
Jeff is a shallow manwhore and the ladies love to call him on it. Annie inverts it, though, in that she's an uptight prude and rather proud of it, thank you very much!
Greendale is a sucky school and the students tend to get more volatile and over-the-top as finals approach. The major breakdowns occur once a year in-universe; which corresponds to one per season. In the past this has twice resulted in pain…
The Halloween episodes replace the normal cootie catcher drawings bearing the cast members' names with different, monster-themed ones. "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" has Abed, in his stop-motion animated form, singing the title theme wit…
Parodied with Jack Black wanting to join the study group after coming back from the mid-season break. LeVar Burton appears as himself in "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking." French Stewart appears in "Contemporary Impressionists" as a guy…
The series can be viewed as one to Parks and Recreation. Both are sitcoms that pay incredible attention to detail and canon, and both (like The Office) are centered around the friendship group of a motley crew of lovable misfits. However, t…
In "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking", Abed deliberately spoils a major event of a Game of Thrones-esque TV series for Britta due to an argument they were having over it. Fueled by vengeance, Britta buys and reads every novel that the seri…
In "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking," Jeff does his damnedest to sabotage the attempt to get a grant from the MacGuffin Neurological Institute for research into Changnesia, part of which includes having Pierce put on an incredibly racist pu…
Exaggerated for laughs when Pierce surprises Troy with his idol, LeVar Burton. Troy spends the entire meeting in wide-eyed, silent catatonia, then has a Freak Out, runs away, and huddles in a corner to sing the Reading Rainbow theme song an…
Most of the show's episode titles relate to the A- and B-plots of the episode. So at first glance, "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" doesn't make any sense. Until you remember that Britta and Subway did something in the pillow fort..…
Annie's parents, who would've covered up her drug addiction rather than support her in her decision to go to rehab. Annie (covers up her insecurities), Shirley (has a Dark and Troubled Past) and Dean Pelton (afraid that Greendale isn't good…
Señor Chang the Spanish teacher goes on at great length about this. He does embrace the Asian love of gambling displayed in the pool episode when he takes bets from the surrounding crowd, though. In "Basic Genealogy," it is revealed that Se…
The producers love using the Wilhelm Scream whenever possible. It shows up about 5 times a season if you listen for it.
In "Documentary Filmmaking Redux", the Dean wants to film a new commercial for Greendale. The plan is to simply show Greendale's student body engaging in their normal activities.
And frequently, too.Jeff and Abed: [to Britta] You look like Elizabeth Shue.Britta and Pierce: If Señor Chang gets any crazier, he'll win a Grammy.Jeff and Britta: Oh good, now it has arrows, that's safe.
In a very weird example, Joel McHale and Ken Jeong hosted a running commentary for a Community marathon between seasons 1 and 2 that had a studio audience. At one point, for no reason at all, the entire audience walked out.
While Pierce Hawthorne's bigoted views are mostly due to his ignorance and have no real malice behind them, his father Cornelius is a virulent white supremacist/misogynist who constantly spouts about his natural superiority; he's also a fra…
"Spanish 101", "Debate 109", "Anthropology 101", "Biology 101", and "History 101" thus far have been episode titles.
Greendale is filled to the brim with incompetent teachers and suffers from financial problems.
Played more or less straight in Season 5 when Pierce left the group and died, with Professor Buzz Hickey taking his place at the study room table and his spot in the group as the resident "old guy", even fooling Ian Duncan into congratulati…
The second season opener quickly flashes through all the rooms of the various study group members as they get up. Their decor and morning routines tells us a lot about them (e.g. Jeff is exercising in an almost bare room, Shirley is cuddlin…
In "Pascal's Triangle Revisited", Jeff has to choose between Britta and Slater after both admit they love him. He chooses Annie.
Repeatedly. "If I wanted to learn something, I wouldn't have come to community college." Combined with Self-Deprecation:Pierce: [sincerely] You remind me of myself at your age.Jeff: I deserve that. "Basic Genealogy": During Jeff's breakdown…
In the second season Chang had a Gollum moment. The 'evil' Chang camera angle even had wild hair, whereas the 'good' Chang camera angle had neat, combed hair.
Deconstructed. Initially, Jeff and Britta were portrayed as the Team Dad and Team Mom of the study group, often involving themselves in the lives of Abed, Troy, and Annie (the youngest members of the group). At the same time, Jeff has roman…
Parodied in one episode with Jeff as the Team Dad, Britta as the Team Mom and Pierce as their kid.[Jeff is at a water fountain; the rest of the group gathers around him expectantly]Jeff: Look, if you guys just let me get to the can opener, …
It's shown over the series that while Abed has an encyclopedic knowledge of film and television tropes he struggles with making his own material, often resorting to placeholders of trope ideas rather than developing it properly. Most of the…
"Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations" features Jeff seeing his father for the first time in years and Britta crashing that reunion while the rest of the study group attends—and feels trapped at—Thanksgiving at Shirley's.
The show blends this with Grand Romantic Gesture in the first season finale. Both Britta and Slater admit that they are interested in Jeff and end up openly competing for his attention, turning it more into a game of chicken with how far th…
The teachers at Greendale use A-minuses (and minuses in general) as a way to purposely invoke this trope in students they don't like so that they will drop the class out of frustration. One teacher even says they were explicitly invented fo…
Britta calls her friend Annie out for getting with Britta's ex-boyfriend Vaughn, then for kissing Jeff after Britta had told him she loved him.
In "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking," Jeff is convinced that Chang is faking his Changnesia. Then it turns out that Chang genuinely doesn't remember his ex-wife, and now Jeff knows how Chang used to feel all the time - hated and ostracized.…
After breaking up with Britta, Vaughn makes an insulting song about their relationship and performs it in front of the entire school. Later, he does the same with Pierce, who had joined his band only for the two to have a falling out. In Th…
Shirley and Troy didn't have a B-Plot together until the fourth season. Yvette-Nicole Brown (Shirley's actress) noted this in the DVD commentary for a season three episode where Troy gave a heartfelt goodbye to Shirley, although the two nev…
For a study group, they don't do that much studying onscreen - which makes sense, since that would most likely be boring and slow. Typical of this show, they lampshade this from time to time, as whenever they are reminded that they have to …
The title refers to Greendale Community College.
The Community universe seems to be fueled by this. The Ragtag Bunch of Misfits work together to bring home a space simulator, make a bullied kid feel better with Dungeons & Dragons, help Pierce get his rightful inheritance in a video game, …
A rare example of a show that literally takes place as much in the present day as possible; it is implied episodes are taking place on the very same timeline as they're airing. On two occasions, characters have referenced the events of the …
"As the only female member of the Greendale Gooffaws, I have played many memorable comedic characters on stage. My favorites include the roles of "Girlfriend," "Mom" and "Nurse 2" in the Greendale Goofaws' "A Tale of Too Witty" musical revu…
Every episode has one. In the first four seasons, this usually involves the whimsical hijinks of Troy and Abed.
A bizarre variation, the Big Bad has a fake psychologist attempt to convince the study group that they are insane, in order to prevent them from discovering his plots. It's because of the therapy that they even realize that Genre Savvy Abed…
Jeff's Bond One-Liner to the chess club in "Modern Warfare": "Checkmate, bitches!" Señor Chang, from the same episode: "Critical Media Literacy and Politics of Gender, bee-otch!"
Not often but now and then, the show gets its laughs showcasing just how nuts these events are in real life. Jeff manages to get the school's show choir shut down because in real life, a small school show choir could never afford the rights…
Troy and Abed whenever they're not the primary focus of an episode. We also get two members of the school board in later seasons. They're wildly inappropriate drunks.
The "Creative Compromises" featurette on the season 1 DVD is presented as a way for Harmon to show us what his cut of some scenes from "Football, Feminism and You" would've been. It changes the "Britta deals with her lack of female companio…
Pierce uses this to Schmuck Bait Troy:Troy: Dude! That is not cool!Pierce: Well, that foxy black girl thinks it is![Troy looks away, Pierce kicks him in the shins]Jeff: What are you doing?!Troy: Why does she have to be BLACK?!
Abed and buttered noodles. Jeff and hard-boiled eggs.
This show has literally gone down a list of tropes to invoke over the course of an episode.
Explicitly described in "Basic Genealogy", and awesomely shown in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas."Pierce: You, me, Jeff, Rainman, Big Boobs, Medium Boobs, and Black Boobs - we're a family.Troy: ...am I Black Boobs?
In "Herstory of Dance," Abed ends up going to both dances with two different dates, simply because he always wanted to do that trope.
All the teachers never get fired, despite how sadistic, lazy, or incompetent they can get. Lampshaded in at least one episode; after complaining to the Dean about Chang's latest insane assignment, Annie mentions that the school has been try…
The movies that Abed and co. watch, such as Kickpuncher. They watch them to riff on how bad they are.
A couple of times or three, Pierce's money will help save the day or drive/solve a plot for the group.
Many of the courses offered by Greendale Community College fall under this category. Some unique courses offered at Greendale include Ladders, Can You Fry That?, When Is It Okay to Shake a Baby?, Nicolas Cage: Good or Bad?, A Deep Analysis …
"Basic Intergluteal Numismatics." The episode has a decidedly darker tone than your usual episode and shortly after it begins, someone sticks a quarter in Garrett's butt crack. The rest of the episode focuses on finding the "Ass Crack Bandi…
Invoked in the episode "Pillows and Blankets", Abed and Troy are building a Blanket Fort called New Fluffytown. After Troy leaves and creates one called Blanketsburg, Abed renames his Pillowtown, for the sake of conceptual symmetry.
Jeff and Britta. Lampshaded in "Modern Warfare", and resolved by the end of Season 2. Jeff and Annie. Annie seems to spread this wherever she goes, and she has some clear UST with Britta, Abed and Troy. Increasingly up through season 4, Bri…
Jeff's not a complete jerk, but he definitively leans towards the Jerkass side of Deadpan Snarker, and for sure most of his problems are his own fault. Pierce, to the extent that he's a protagonist. Chang, when he starts getting more focus.
Pierce is basically an trust fund kid with no real talents and nothing to do with his time or money except enrolling at college courses to give himself something to do.
Of all the main characters, Abed is the only one whose age is completely unknown. Danny Pudi was 31 when the show began and 36 when it ended, but his youthful appearance and Abed's social awkwardness and Manchild behavior make it difficult …
"Communication Studies" (Season 1), "Early 21st Century Romanticism" (Season 2)
About every other episode has Jeff remove his shirt, if not he is often in revealing outfits in some way. Rather notably the first half of the first season doesn't do this, as "Home Economics" makes a deal of Britta and Shirley seeing Jeff …
In "Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy", when Abed wants Britta out of his room, he announces "Britta was just leaving."
While playing the in-universe video game "Journey to the Center of Hawkthorne" Abed reprograms his NPC wife to birth babies (which look like tiny versions of Abed) and uses them to fight the final boss.
Professor Slater vanished into the ether after season one. Although in the episode "Intro to Political Science", it is noted by Troy and Abed's Campaign Followup that Prof. Slater is missing. Word of God is that Harmon was simply tired of t…
The full-episode affectionate parodies: "Contemporary American Poultry" is GoodFellas, including the narration and even using "Layla" when showing Abed's control measures. Troy's subplot in "English As A Second Language" is Good Will Huntin…
Subverted. While at first glance it may appear as if Britta, Annie, and Shirley are the more normal ones in the group as opposed to Troy and Abed's wackiness and Jeff and Pierce's meanness, a closer look reveals that the girls can be just a…
Lampshaded when Jeff mentions they should learn the others' names, too and when the other characters mention it's irritatingly all about them. Almost everything happens in the study room, even Jeff's graduation and Shirley's wedding is orga…
Pierce's dad dies of a heart attack (after being yelled at by Jeff). Having written in his will that whoever kills him will inherit his ridiculous looking ivory toupee, it goes to Jeff, who really doesn't want it. The ivory headpiece is lat…
Pierce lies and claims he bribed Professor Kane to kick Jeff out of Biology. This directs the group's anger back at him so that they will accept Jeff back into the group.