History Recap / CommunityS1E12ComparativeReligion

* ChekhovsGag: Several people remind Shirley that for as seriously as she's taking her Christmas party, it's December 10th and technically not Christmas. Later on, when Shirley witnesses Jeff getting beaten up and realizes it's her fault, she tells Jeff to kick Mike's ass and joins the fight; when the flunky she fights begs for mercy by saying "It's Christmas!", she responds "It's December 10th!" and keeps beating him.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Jeff attempts this ("What would Shirley do?"), but it turns out that Shirley would rather Jeff "kick his ass!" Time to have AnAssKickingChristmas!

* VictoriasSecretCompartment: "I'm gonna put this in the pocket closest to my heart!"

* YaoiFangirl: Britta. She encourages Jeff to work out his issues with Mike without fighting. (Though it's less active encouragement than relentless mockery of both the incident and her perception of fighting itself as homoerotic.)

* ActorAllusion: Mike (played by Creator/AnthonyMichaelHall) is described by Pierce as "used to be a [[Film/TheBreakfastClub nerd]], now he's a [[Film/EdwardScissorhands meathead]]."
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: TheStinger has Jeff walking in on Abed decorating Troy like a Christmas tree and singing "Oh Christmas Troy," a variant on "O Christmas Tree." He asks why they do this, and Abed responds that it's fun. Jeff thinks about it, and realizes that's actually a good point. Cue him joining in on the decorating and singing.
* AnAssKickingChristmas: Specifically, Mike's group get their asses handed to them.
* BaitAndSwitchComment: Chang when revealing that everyone has passed the Spanish test ... except for Jeff. Quickly subverted when he clarifies Jeff will still be passing onto the next Spanish class with everyone else.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[SmallGirlBigGun Annie holding a flocking machine like a]] {{BFG}} in the climatic fight. That is ''all.''

-->'''Mike's Flunky:''' Please, it's Christmas!\\
'''Shirley:''' [[HypocriticalHumor It's December tenth!]]

-->'''Troy:''' This nose smells like "[[Recap/CommunityS1E08HomeEconomics special drink]]."

* ChekhovsGag: Everyone keeps reminding Shirley that it's December 10th and technically not Christmas. Later on, when Shirley witnesses Jeff getting beaten up and realizes it's her fault, she says it's not Christmas and tells Jeff to kick Mike's ass.
* ChristmasEpisode: Even though, as everyone notes, "It's December tenth."

* DramaticPause: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Señor Chang:
-->'''Chang:''' [Everybody passed] Except... pause for dramatic effect...

* EveryoneIsChristianAtChristmas: Very much averted.
* FightingBackIsWrong: In this episode, Shirley tries to stress the Christ aspect of the Christmas holiday by attempting to forbid Jeff from fighting a group of bullies who picked on Abed. She gives Jeff and the other study group members an ultimatum: anyone who fights the bullies or attends the fight as a spectator will be banned from the Christmas party. Ultimately inverted when Jeff finally gives into Shirley's demands, saying "What Would Shirley Do?" and gets punched several times; Shirley joins the rest of the study group in beating the bullies senseless.

** Shirley needling everyone as a way of bullying them into wearing the "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets she got them for Christmas is an early indicator of her increasingly unreasonable and obnoxious attitude towards the faiths of others over the course of the episode.
* TheFundamentalist: Shirley. It speaks volumes that there's someone who's an active bully in ''college'' (to the point of initiating a fight) yet is not the worst person in the episode.

** The LastSecondWordSwap example; Jeff's not impressed when Troy can't think of another word to replace 'fight' ("''Idiot.''") but then, when ''he'' tries, he can't think of a replacement word either.
** Britta spends the episode insisting that fighting is just a way for men to release their pent-up gayness, before gleefully going after the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only girl]] [[DesignatedGirlFight in the fight scene]].

* IronicEcho: Shirley is frequently rebuked for taking her Christmas party too seriously, with everyone reminding her that it's only December 10th. When she finally joins in the fight, one of Mike's buddies tries to escape an ass-whooping from her by pleading that it's Christmas. Her response? "It's December tenth!"
* IveHeardOfThatWhatIsIt: Troy goes along with Pierce's joke about Music/BillyJoel but then turns around to the others mouthing "Who is that?". [[PopculturalOsmosisFailure Annie signals that she doesn't know either.]]

'''Troy:''' We're trying to get Jeff ready for the fi-iiiiiii.... iiiighhhh... t. ''(whispers)'' I couldn't think of another word.\\

* LookBehindYou: Pierce uses this trick on Jeff and Troy in the TeachMeHowToFight scene. He kicks them in the leg while they are looking away.

* MotionlessMakeover: Oh Christmas Troy! Oh Christmas Troy!
* NotSoAboveItAll: Jeff joins in with "Christmas Troy" after Troy and Abed casually point out that they do silly things like that because it's fun.
* PassThePopcorn: Chang when Mike walks into the Spanish final to menace Jeff.

** This can be the only explanation behind the creation of "nondenominational Mr. Winter," who spouts seasonal greetings such as "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Merry Happy!]]".

** Shirley, when presented with a menorah, refers to it as a "Hanukkah Holder." When Abed brings a Muslim dish to the party, Shirley asks if she's allowed to eat it, since she's a woman and all, though she may have just been fishing for an excuse not to eat it. Given her notable reluctance to embrace the faiths of the other members of the group in the episode, she's also using this as an excuse not to have to engage with it.
** Annie when handed the baby Jesus and asked to complete the setup of a Nativity Scene, instead places it in a nearby Christmas tree. Although considering that the first thing Shirley did when handed Annie's menorah was to insensitively stuff it into the Christmas tree where no one could see it, Annie's possibly doing this deliberately out of spite.

* RunningGag: "It's December tenth."

* SeriousBusiness: The Christmas party for Shirley, which she treats as if it were actually Christmas day when, as she is frequently reminded by everyone, "It's December tenth."

* ShoutOut: The Dean saying "Merry Happy" is a satirical example of PoliticalOvercorrectness, but it might also be a reference to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf4Ea59Uods Kate Nash]], whose song "Merry Happy" was used in near the end of [[Recap/CommunityS1E14InterpretiveDance "Interpretive Dance"]] later in the season.

* SignificantReferenceDate: The episode was aired on December 10.
* SleevesAreForWimps: Mike.

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Troy and Pierce get the 'PC-ness' DoubleEntendre at the exact same time.

** Being agnostic, as opposed to actually having religious beliefs.
--> '''Pierce''': That's the lazy man's atheist.\\
** Downplayed when Jeff compares religion to Creator/PaulRudd. He can see the appeal and would never take it away from anyone, but nor would he ever stand in line for it.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Mike has one girl on his gang, just because.

* AcceptableReligiousTargets: InUniverse. Jeff gets more flak for being an agnostic than Britta does for being atheist.
-->'''Pierce:''' Agnostic! The lazy man's atheist.

* DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime[=/=]YouMeanXmas: Subverted, averted, and played straight all throughout.
** Dean Pelton's announcement managed to avoid using any 'denominational' terms to describe the holidays.
--->'''Dean:''' Ha ha ha! Merry Happy!
** They do refer to Christmas several times.
--->'''Shirley:''' The true meaning of the holidays is Christmas.\\
'''Shirley:''' Joy to the world / The Lord is come / The Lord, the Lord, the Lord!
** After Shirley discovers everyone is of a different religion, she tries to incorporate something from every religion into her planned Christmas party, though (very) reluctantly.
** In the end, Shirley keeps Jeff from saying "Merry Christmas" to say "Merry Holiday" instead. But it turns out Jeff was actually going to say:
--->Merry Semester and a Happy New One.

* DoubleEntendre[=/=]HehHehYouSaidX: Jeff commends Pierce on not reacting to Shirley commenting on the Dean "shoving his [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad PC-ness]] down my throat." Turns out the only reason was that Pierce didn't get it until [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Jeff pointed it out]].

** Following the Dean's "Mr. Winter" announcement, Shirley expresses irritation at the Dean "[[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad jamming his]] [[DoubleEntendre PC-ness]] [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad down my throat]]." Shirley proceeds to spend pretty much the rest of the episode forcing her beliefs on everyone.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad:
** This can be the only explanation behind the creation of "nondenominational Mr. Winter", who spouts seasonal greetings such as "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Merry Happy!]]".

* ShoutOut: The Dean saying "Merry Happy" is a satirical example of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad, but it might also be a reference to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf4Ea59Uods Kate Nash]], whose song "Merry Happy" was used in near the end of [[Recap/CommunityS1E14InterpretiveDance "Interpretive Dance"]] later in the season.

* ActorSharedBackground: Although many thought they were just assigning Annie a religion arbitrarily, Alison Brie actually ''is'' Jewish. And Donald Glover was raised as a Jehovah's Witness.

* TheCastShowoff: Yvette Nicole Brown gets to show off her singing voice. Also, Donald Glover displays some pretty nice harmonizing skills in the skit running over the end credits.

* TheDanza: Anthony ''Michael'' Hall as ''Mike''.

* FoeYay[=/=]HoYay: Parodied; Britta is utterly ''obsessed'' with the homoerotic tensions in the fight between Jeff and Mike... which only she can see.

** The excerpt we see of the Spanish 101 final [[spoiler:clearly makes no sense. Of course, [[Recap/CommunityS1E24EnglishAsASecondLanguage considering we will later learn]] that Chang speaks only a few phrases of Spanish and feigned his teaching qualifications, this makes sense.]]

* YaoiFangirl: Britta. She encourages Jeff to work out his issues with Mike without fighting. (Though it's less active encouragement than relentless mockery of both the incident and her perception of [[FoeYay fighting itself as homoerotic.]])

* ActorAllusion: Mike (played by Anthony Michael Hall) is described by Pierce as "used to be a [[Film/TheBreakfastClub nerd]], now he's a [[Film/EdwardScissorhands meathead]]."

'''Shirley:''' [[HypocriticalHumor It's December tenth!]]\\

** Shirley, when presented with a menorah, refers to it as a "Hanukkah Holder." When Abed brings a Muslim dish to the party, Shirley asks if she's allowed to eat it, since she's a woman and all. Given her notable reluctance to embrace the faiths of the other members of the group in the episode, she's also using this as an excuse not to have to engage with it.

* HollywoodJehovahsWitness: Averted. Troy is revealed to be a Jehovah's Witness and as such doesn't celebrate Christmas. However, you couldn't really tell that he was a Jehovah's Witness if he didn't say so.
-->'''Troy:''' Yeah, but we don't celebrate birthdays or Christmas and we can't drink. But it helps.

* CombatPragmatist: Parodied; Pierce claims to be using this to try and help teach Jeff fighting, but ''actually'' he just wanted an excuse to kick Jeff (and Troy) in the shin without them hitting back.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Shirley demands that everyone bend over backwards to accommodate her religious beliefs and lifestyle while simultaneously demonstrating dismissive and intolerant attitudes towards everyone else's religious beliefs and lifestyles.

** Shirley when presented with a menorah refers to it as a "Hanukkah Holder." When Abed brings a Muslim dish to the party, Shirley asks if she's allowed to eat it, since she's a woman and all. Given her notable reluctance to embrace the faiths of the other members of the group in the episode, she's also using this as an excuse not to have to engage with it.
** Annie when handed the baby Jesus and asked to complete the setup of a Nativity Scene, instead places it in a nearby Christmas tree. Although considering that the first thing Shirley did when handed Annie's menorah was insensitively stuff it into the Christmas tree where no one could see it, Annie's possibly doing this deliberately out of spite.

-->'''Shirley:''' ''Sensible night, appropriate night / Snow on ground, left and right...''\\

* BaitAndSwitchComment: Chang when revealing that everyone has passed the Spanish test ... except for Jeff. Quickly subverted when who will still be passing onto the next Spanish class with everyone else.

* DesignatedGirlFight: Britta and [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the one girl in Mike's gang]] fight with each other in the climax. It's a pretty savage example, though, with [[NoHoldsBaredBeatdown Britta furiously banging the other girl's head against the snow.]]

* ActorSharedBackground: Although many thought they were just assigning Annie a religion arbitrarily, Alison Brie actually is Jewish. And Donald Glover was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

* BaitAndSwitchComment: Chang when revealing that everyone has passed the Spanish test ... except for Jeff.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[SmallGirlBigGun Annie holding a flocking machine like a]] {{BFG}}. That is all.
* BigNo: Annie, when she thinks ''Jeff'' has flunked Spanish 101.

** Chang wears [[Film/HarryPotter Quidditch goggles]] again just like in [[Recap/CommunityS1E07IntroductionToStatistics the Halloween episode]]. The Snitch icon on the side is the giveaway.

'''Jeff:''' ... Who's there?

** In the end, Shirley keeps Jeff from saying "Merry Christmas" to say "Merry Holiday" instead. But it turns out Jeff was going to say:

** The excerpt we see of the Spanish 101 final [[spoiler:clearly makes no sense. Of course, [[Recap/CommunityS1E24EnglishAsASecondLanguage considering we later learn]] that Chang speaks only a few phrases of Spanish and feigned his teaching qualifications, this makes sense.]]

* HollywoodJehovahsWitness: Averted. Troy is revealed to be a Jehovah's Witness and as such doesn't celebrate Christmas. However, you couldn't tell that he was a Jehovah's Witness if he didn't say so.

** The LastSecondWordSwap example; Jeff's not impressed when Troy can't think of another word to replace 'fight' ("''Idiot.''") but then, when ''he'' tries, can't think of a replacement word either.

** Another example is "Sensitive Night", which is, as its own lyrics state, is a "tolerant rewrite" of "Silent Night".

** Annie when handed the baby Jesus and asked to complete the setup of a Nativity Scene, instead places it in a nearby Christmas tree. Although considering that the first thing Shirley did when handed Annie's menorah was insensitively stuff it into the Christmas tree where no one could see it, Annie's possibly doing this deliberately in spite.

* SentimentalMusicCue: Starts playing near the end of the episode when Britta delivers a speech to Shirley about her heavy-handed use of her religious guilt on the group. Lampshaded by Yvette Nicole Brown, Shirley's actor, in the episode's commentary. "Doesn't it make you feel?"

'''Britta:''' I'm being Punk'd, right?
* ShoutOut: The dean saying "Merry Happy" is a satirical example of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad, but it might also be a reference to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf4Ea59Uods Kate Nash]], whose song "Merry Happy" was used in near the end of [[Recap/CommunityS1E14InterpretiveDance "Interpretive Dance"]] later in the season.

* TeachMeHowToFight: Troy and Pierce have to teach Jeff how to fight a bully.

* ToTheTuneOf: "Comparative Religion" ends with the group performing an inclusive, secularized rewrite of "Silent Night". (''Sensible night, appropriate night / Snow on ground, left and right...'')
* TurnTheOtherCheek: Jeff attempts this ("what would Shirley do?"), but it turns out that Shirley would rather Jeff "kick his ass!" Time to have AnAssKickingChristmas!

* LookBehindYou: Pierce uses this trick on Jeff and Troy in the TeachMeHowToFight scene. [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty He kicks them in the leg while they are looking away]].

* CombatPragmatist[=/=]TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty: Parodied; Pierce claims to be using this to try and help teach Jeff fighting, but ''actually'' he just wanted an excuse to kick Jeff (and Troy) in the shin without them hitting back.

* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: The ending.

* LastSecondWordSwap: Subverted and lampshaded:

* SignificantReferenceDate: December 10.

* TeachMeHowToFight

* IronicEcho: Shirley is frequently rebuked for taking her Christmas party too seriously, with everyone reminding her that it's only December 10th. When she finally joins in the fight, one of Mike's buddies tries to escape an ass-whopping from her by pleading that it's Christmas. Her response? "It's December tenth!"