Fandom Friday-Top 13 Community Episodes

I've already said that Doctor Who is my favorite television show of all time, and as much as I love Community, it isn't anywhere close to taking that title. Nonetheless, I'm between cycles on Fandom Friday so I thought I'd take a look at my favorite episodes of one of the best shows to come out in years.

Community follows a study group going to Greendale Community College, and the series's greatest strengths are the characters and the flexibility of the narrative. The cast is fantastic, to the point where I can't really choose a favorite, they're all wonderfully written characters. While many would classify Community as a sitcom, it's meta sensibilities allowed it to shift genres on a dime while never (or almost never, looking at you Season 4) breaking the realism at the series's core. Now, with six seasons (but no movie) of episodes to work with, there are going to be some episodes people love that aren't on this list. If you think I really missed a good one, tell me in the comments. So without further ado, my Top 13 Favorite Episodes of Community.

13. Modern Warfare (Season 1, Episode 23)

The first episode in the series that really broke sitcom genre boundaries, Modern Warfare is about an epic paintball tournament that breaks out at the school, with a prize so lucrative that it took something fun and turned it serious. The episode is a send-up to action films, and it has a number of incredibly memorable moments. The only thing that hurts it all for me is that, when it comes to genre-switching episodes, this one is a little more broad and less focused than the others. Still, this was a great hint of what was to come.

12. Intro to Recycled Cinema (Season 6, Episode 8)

I know some folks will be sad that this is the only Season 6 episode on the list, and that's understandable. It wasn't a bad season by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't as strong as the early stuff, at least for me. This episode revolves around the cast using stock footage as a basis to create a full sci-fi film. It's goofy, fun, and at times heartwarming, and gently pokes fun at the cheesy B-movie genre as much as it embraces it. It's a fun episode.

11. Geothermal Escapism (Season 5, Episode 5)

Losing a cast member is hard, especially in the case of Troy. Not only was he a great character, but his relationship with Abed was one of the best parts of the show. This doesn't just hurt us, either: Abed is the one who injects the most meta parts of the show, genuinely preferring to think of his life as a tv show (which it is). Unable to lose the person closest to him, he makes Troy's last day memorable by starting a game of The Floor is Lava with a prize: a comic worth $50,000.

Not only does this episode stay funny and exciting by making the childhood game disaster-movie level serious, but more than that Abed is taking the game deadly seriously, itself almost a comment on the show's habit of using games as metaphors for life. The episode has heart, lots of tears, and lava. What's not to love?

10. The First Change Dynasty (Season 3, Episode 21)

Senior Chang, while not exactly a member of the main cast, was definitely the breakout character of the show. His actor's sheer enthusiasm and Jim Carrey-levels of committal to the character paid off, but I think it's clear that the character was kept in the show for too long. He went from Spanish teacher to student to security guard, and after that it just got more and more ridiculous.

I know some people liked it when Chang was played more sympathetically, but honestly I always loved the character at his most theatrical, supervillainous moments. Nothing got that across like the end of his Season 3 arc, after taking over the school and becoming an inchang dictator. The episode becomes an Ocean's Eleven style heist and has so much fun with itself that I found myself drowning in joy.

9. Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps (Season 3, Episode 5)

In season 3, Britta became obsessed with psychology because they didn't know what to do with her character, and after giving the group psych assessments, the results show one was a psychopath. In order to discover who it is, she has everyone tell a scary story.

This episode is like playing Dread with friends: everyone has their one style of horror, and it's fun seeing exactly what everyone thinks up. Here, every character goes for a different genre of horror, and it's just hilarious. Rarely scary but almost always funny, this episode had insightful character writing and a clever premise.

8. Comparative Religion (Season 1, Episode 12)

This is the highest episode from Season 1, a season that had close to know high-concept episodes, instead focusing on fairly normal sitcom plots. This is the Christmas episode, where Shirley wants to throw a Christmas party only to find out that no one else in the study group is Christian, with the possible exception of Troy the Jehovah's Witness.

As a religious minority, I enjoy seeing religious diversity embraced in a show, and beyond that this episode is just really funny. Some of my all-time favorite jokes are from this episode, and I like that, despite a few jokes, even Pierce's Evangelion-inspired cult is treated equally. This was probably the episode that really got me into the series, and that's a big plus in my book.

7. Epidemiology (Season 2, Episode 6)

Zombies are definitely overused, but their understated presence in this episode is part of why it works. Halloween college party, zombie outbreak, that's it. Don't worry, no one actually dies because status quo.

This episode works well because of the subplot: Troy the high-school football player has become friends with Abed and become more nerdy, only to find that lame people don't like nerds. This causes him to reject the nerd inside him, causing a rift in his friendship. It's a really good subplot, and it's a great lesson: everyone should embrace their inner nerd. Oh, and this episode has my favorite joke in the entire series. "Is someone throwing it?!"

6. Paradigms of Human Memory (Season 2, Episode 21)

I don't know if I've ever seen an episode of television with as good a premise as this one: it's a clip show made from clips of episodes the audience never saw. Apparently we've missed a lot of crazy events over the season, and through sharing them the group tries to figure out their relationship together.

There is definitely some interesting ideas in this episode, as it relates to the main cast and how a main cast of a sitcom can stay together through years of ridiculousness and their friendships never seem to end, but that's not why I love this episode. I just love the jokes. Seriously, this episode is made of pure hilarity.

5. Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking (Season 2, Episode 16)

Pierce spent most of season 2 being a pharmaceutical addict, which considering the genuine epidemic of that in the US should probably be taken more seriously, and after it lands him in the hospital he uses this opportunity to screw with the group. He pretends to be dying, and has Abed make a documentary about it, which is what the episode is.

Beyond the commentary on documentaries, some of which is quite funny, this episode dives deeply into the characters, especially Pierce and Jeff. Neither are functional adults, and this episode takes that both in jest and seriously. Sometimes this episode is funny, but other scenes are darkly poetic, and strike closer to home than may have been done by any other series. No matter what it's aiming for, this episode definitely belongs in the Top 5.

4. Cooperative Calligraphy (Season 2, Episode 8)

Bottle episodes are a TV staple: an episode set in one room, therefore saving money by the buckets. The best bottle episodes have become TV classics, and this episode is no exception. Annie has lost too many pens, so she refuses to let anyone leave the room until it is found.

This lost pen turns into The Monsters are Due on Maple Street levels of paranoia and skepticism, which further leads to very personal revelations from everyone. Perhaps the most engaging and intense episode of the show, it ratchets up the mystery of the pen as it continues, ending with what some people saw as an anti-climax, but was just funny to me.

3. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (Season 2, Episode 14)

Perhaps the most critically acclaimed episode of the show, at least in geek circles, this game of Advanced D&D over the fate of someone they barely know is perhaps the best episode of the series, though not quite my favorite.

I'm very happy that, unlike nearly every other show or film's version of people playing D&D, there is no recreation. It's just people around a table, playing D&D, with only some sound effects added. Everything else is in the imagination, just like in a real game. The episode is, of course, also very funny, and shows the dangers of bullying and the reality of depression. It's just really good, and I know quite a few folks who wanted to get into the game thanks to this episode.

2. Remedial Chaos Theory (Season 3, Episode 4)

This is the highest episode on the list that has a big twist, in this case there's a housewarming party and they roll a dice to see who gets the pizza, and we see every resulting timeline created from that die roll.

It's hard to describe why exactly I like this episode so much, except that I often think about "what if"s and this episode is all about that, and I love that no one timeline has all the best moments, and instead most timelines have one or two great moments amid other points where people just don't click. It's like a study of human interaction, and how little things can change everything.

1. Mixology Certification (Season 2, Episode 10)

I'm sure a lot of Community fans are scratching their heads right now. The episode where Troy goes to a bar with the group? That's your favorite? Yeah. It really is. My favorite part of media is the characters, and this episode is all about character.

Several really interesting and often sad storylines go on at the same time, but the most interesting is Troy's. His story is about maturity, and how you can attain it without even noticing, and that the people who seem to have everything figured out probably don't know anything. The lesson in this episode always hits me hard, in the best way possible, and this subtle anti-alcoholism story is definitely top of the list, at least for me. I hope to see you all again next week, when I'll look at a story all about how a fundamentalist Christian's life gets flip-turned upside down.

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