Line #69 Trivia/Community


1	* AbilityOverAppearance:
2	** Creator/DanHarmon originally had a "Creator/MarySteenburgen type" in mind for Shirley and a "young Creator/WoodyHarrelson" for Troy, but instead cast Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown and Creator/DonaldGlover on the strength of their respective actors' auditions.
3	** Annie was written as an Asian character, but Creator/AlisonBrie was cast based on the strength of her audition. Annie Kim was created starting Season 3 as a DevelopmentGag.
4	* AccidentallyCorrectWriting:
5	** In "G.I. Jeff", Wingman gets court-martialed for shooting and killing Destro while he's parachuting from his downed aircraft. While this is PlayedForLaughs to poke fun at the G.I. Joe cartoon's [[ThouShaltNotKill total lack of death in its depiction of war]], it's actually legitimate grounds for a court martial in real life -- shooting a pilot who's bailed out of their downed aircraft is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
6	** In "Introduction to Finality", Evil Abed says that Britta's favorite superhero is X-Man, with the joke being that it's a fumbled attempt to guess a superhero name as she knows nothing about comic books. However, there really ''is'' a relatively obscure member of the X-Men called [[Characters/MarvelComicsXMan X-Man]].
7	* AcclaimedFlop: The series got rave reviews during its run on Creator/{{NBC}} but suffered from middling ratings and a lack of award success. It still managed to air five seasons before being cancelled and ultimately picked up for a sixth season on Yahoo, with the fabled movie finally in production for Creator/{{Peacock}}.
8	* ActorInspiredElement: Though Magnitude's "Pop Pop!" catchphrase wasn't created by Luke Youngblood, he did come up with the character's way of saying it throughout the show.
9	* ActorLeavesCharacterDies:
10	** When Creator/ChevyChase left the show, he returned for a single scene in the Season 5 premiere, where it was explained why Pierce Hawthorne was PutOnABus. A few episodes later, MoodWhiplash ensues when Shirley informs the group that [[spoiler:Pierce has died]]. The following episode at least proves to be an oddly touching sendoff, rather than a spiteful one which also set up Troy's LongBusTrip during [[spoiler:the reading of Pierce's will]].
11	** Although often presumed to be for revenge based on Chase's vocal dissatisfaction with the show and his public feud with Creator/DanHarmon, who stated [[http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/mega-community-interview-with-dan-harmon-part-1/3 in an interview]] that he and Chase had buried the hatchet before Chase had quit the show. However, the terms of Chase being released from his contract apparently forbid him from ever returning to the ''Community'' set under any circumstances.
12	* ActorSharedBackground: A number of incidental details about actors transfer to their characters.
13	** Both Abed and Creator/DannyPudi are half-Polish on their mother's side.
14	** Troy, like Creator/DonaldGlover, was raised a Jehovah's Witness.
15	** Annie's parents are divorced and she has a Jewish mother, like Alison Brie. Annie also mentions her birthday as being in late December (specifically the 19th, as shown in "Basic Crisis Room Decorum"), not far off from Creator/AlisonBrie's birthday (December 29th).
16	** Pierce Hawthorne is supposed to have made his fortune with a moist-towelette company called "Hawthorne Wipes." Creator/ChevyChase, in real-life, also has a family fortune derived from a personal sanitation product. His real name is Cornelius Crane Chase, and he is the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, who was heir to the Crane Plumbing company, which manufactures and distributes plumbing fixtures and products (most notably, toilets for home and commercial markets) in North America.
17	** According to Abed, Britta was born on October 19, 1980. In real-life, Creator/GillianJacobs was born on October 19, 1982.
18	* AscendedFanon:
19	** A common AlternateCharacterInterpretation for Leonard was that he's always acting so coarse and wild because he's living the young teen college experience he never got to have. "[[Recap/CommunityS2E24ForAFewPaintballsMore For A Few Paintballs More]]" featured Leonard confiding in Britta he has been in several wars, implying that he spent his early adulthood in the military.
20	** The overwhelming fan response to the semi-accidental Jeff/Annie pairing influenced writers to make them into the primary WillTheyOrWontThey couple of the series. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsBvqDwVqwc This video]] inspired a montage in the same vein, though in the show played for laughs, in Season 2. The creator says that Dan Harmon himself shouted out to them on Twitter before the episode aired, letting them know he had a surprise for them.
21	* BannedEpisode: Season 2's "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" was pulled from Netflix and Hulu streaming on June 2020. The episode had Chang cosplay as a dark elf, in what the other characters disgustedly remark looks like {{blackface}}. However, this ban does not extend to the DVD sets, Amazon Prime or Peacock, so it is available there legally if you want it.
22	* BonusMaterial:
23	** The first season DVD set comes with a short ''Kickpuncher'' comic written by Troy and illustrated by fellow student Jim Mahfood, DVDCommentary, extended cuts of certain episodes, HilariousOuttakes, {{Deleted Scene}}s, the [[Recap/CommunityWebisodes "Study Break" shorts]], and a couple new sketches.
24	** The interiors of the DVD cases are designed as yearbooks, Greendale brochures and even Abed's notebook from "Cooperative Calligraphy".
25	** Among the many tidbits included are (presumably canon) hometowns for the main characters. Strangely, everyone is kinda paired off in this respect: Jeff and Shirley are from Denver, Abed and Britta from Riverside, Annie and Troy from Greendale itself, and Pierce and Chang are from out-of-state (Wyoming and California respectively).
26	*** Season 3 episode "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" shows [[spoiler:shared flashbacks of Shirley and Jeff as children, and while they don't specify that it's Denver it does confirm that they grew up in the same place.]]
27	* BreakupBreakout:
28	** Creator/DonaldGlover has done the best in his post-''Community'' career, with a critically-acclaimed [[Series/{{Atlanta}} TV show]] (resulting in multiple UsefulNotes/{{Emmy\|Award}} wins), a successful music career (leading to 5 Grammy wins), as well as roles in ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019''.
29	** Creator/AlisonBrie is not far behind, eventually leading [[Series/GLOW2017 her own acclaimed Netflix show]] (and netting a pair of UsefulNotes/{{Golden Globe\|Award}} nominations in the process) as well as providing voiceovers for ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' series.
30	** A major success story comes from the directors and executive producers of the series, Creator/TheRussoBrothers, who would go on to direct [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier four]] [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar critically]] [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar acclaimed]] [[Film/AvengersEndgame films]] within the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. In fact, it was the Season 2 two-part paintball episode that first got Creator/KevinFeige to take notice and tell them they should be directing action movies, which led to the duo being hired for ''Winter Soldier''.
31	* CaliforniaDoubling: The college is supposed to be located in suburban Denver, but was shot in Los Angeles; the Greendale interior is on a stage set while external shots of the campus are represented by various community colleges around the area. In addition, palm trees and cars with California plates are often visible in exterior shots. According to Creator/DanHarmon on the DVD Commentary, the reason it doesn't snow during the show is because global warming hit Greendale pretty hard.
32	* TheCastShowOff:
33	** In "Interpretive Dance", Britta and Troy discover they're taking two different dance classes, tap and modern interpretation respectively. During the climax, Creator/GillianJacobs and Creator/DonaldGlover get to show their struts in modern dance when Troy steps in to save Britta's tap performance after she sees Jeff's new flame and freezes in place. Both the in-universe and real-life audience are impressed, even [[{{Jerkass}} Pierce]].
34	** In the same episode, Abed shows off his surprisingly good dance moves after everyone leaves the theater. This lets Creator/DannyPudi put years of Polish folk dancing in his youth to good use.
35	** Likewise, in "Regional Holiday Music," Creator/DonaldGlover shows off that he is a rapid-fire singer that can switch genres at the drop of a hat.
36	** The very first tag of the series shows off Creator/DonaldGlover and Creator/DannyPudi's rapping and beatboxing skills with the Spanish rap.
37	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/KumailNanjiani was the runner-up for the role of Abed; he was later cast in the final two seasons of the show as Custodian Lapari.
38	* CreativeDifferences: Creator/ChevyChase was frequently dismissive of the quality of the show, with numerous reports of backstage arguments about the direction of the show and his character and a notable feud with creator Creator/DanHarmon. His decision to quit the show in November 2012 came from Chase's displeasure and Pierce's increased bigotry. [[spoiler:He was willing to film a brief cameo appearance in the Season 5 premiere]], however, suggesting that the rift between himself and Harmon has been exaggerated to a degree.
39	* CreatorBacklash:
40	** Outside of praising the other members of the cast, Creator/ChevyChase rarely seemed to have much in the way of praise to say about the show. Seems to have lightened up as of 2020 - while he hasn't joined any of their reunions, he or his social media team frequently repost content from the show involving Pierce.
41	** Creator/DinoStamatopoulos [[http://www.ew.com/article/2012/04/27/community-law-order-death expressed discomfort]] with playing Star-Burns, citing the amount of hours required to wait on set, his dislike of having to be touched so often so that the make-up for his character could be applied, difficulty with learning his (limited) lines, annoyance with Creator/JoelMcHale (specifically regarding a conversation about Stamatopoulos' teeth), and feeling like there wasn't really much to the character. He also expressed anger when Creator/DanHarmon was fired from the show following Season 3, and refused to reprise the role until Harmon was eventually brought back on for Season 5.
42	** Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown took issue with [[spoiler:Shirley having sex with Chang]] in Season 2, deeming it to be something her character never would have done.
43	** Creator/DanHarmon had a major backlash to Season 4 when he finally watched it after being rehired to the show for the fifth season. Specifically, he complained that the season felt like an "unflattering impression" of himself, and compared watching someone else write his characters without his involvement to someone liking a photo of his ex-girlfriend with a new partner. He did apologize for saying this later on however.
44	** On that note, while they haven't come right out and said they dislike it, the cast acknowledge that Season 4 wasn't very up to par due to Harmon's lack of involvement.
45	** Creator/KenJeong started to dislike how Chang was being written in the mid-seasons and was candid in an email he wrote to Creator/DanHarmon about it. The scene in "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" where Chang complains about his treatment from the rest of the group was taken almost word-for-word from the email Jeong sent. Jeong thanked Harmon for doing a better job humanizing his character in the last two seasons and has since described Chang's breakdown as one of the proudest moments of his acting career.
46	** In a very mild example, Creator/JoelMcHale has complained (notably on the commentary track for "Advanced Introduction to Finality") that the [=DVDs=] only feature the episodes as they originally aired, rather than including extended cuts due to the number of scenes that have to be cut to meet an ever shrinking running time.
47	** Creator/DanHarmon admitted that he really doesn't like how Britta was portrayed in the pilot episode. On top her seeming very different from her later characterization, Harmon didn't like how she basically existed to motivate Jeff to do things, comparing her to a mannequin.
48	** While he didn't speak ill of the show itself, Creator/JohnOliver admitted that his experience working on ''Community'' made him realize that he really wasn't cut out to be an actor, and had a difficult time playing off his costars. It's telling that he began hosting [[Series/LastWeekTonight his own show]] shortly after the fifth season ended.
49	* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode:
50	** [[https://www.reddit.com/r/community/comments/1olq4m/ama_request_dan_harmon/cctdxru/ According to a 2014 Reddit AMA,]] [[Recap/CommunityS2E14AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons"]] is Creator/DanHarmon's favorite episode.
51	** Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown has called [[Recap/CommunityS2E21ParadigmsOfHumanMemory "Paradigms of Human Memory"]] her favorite episode of the series. She also praised "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" and Charley Koontz's performance in particular, calling the decision to pull the episode from streaming services an overcorrection.
52	** Creator/{{Gillian Jacobs}}' top three favorite episodes are "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons," [[Recap/CommunityS2E08CooperativeCalligraphy "Cooperative Calligraphy,"]] and [[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare "Modern Warfare."]]
53	** Creator/DonaldGlover's top two favorite episodes are [[Recap/CommunityS2E11AbedsUncontrollableChristmas "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas]] and [[Recap/CommunityS2E10MixologyCertification "Mixology Certification."]]
54	* TheDanza: Pierce's father is named Cornelius, which is the actual first name of Creator/ChevyChase.
55	* DarkhorseCasting: With the exception of Creator/ChevyChase (whose popularity had faded in recent years) and Creator/KenJeong (whose popularity had gone up due to the success of ''Film/TheHangover''), the majority of the ensemble was made up of relatively unknown actors. Creator/JoelMcHale was known as the host of ''Series/TheSoup'', Creator/AlisonBrie was known for her recurring role on ''Series/MadMen'', Creator/DonaldGlover was an up-and-coming rapper and writer for ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Creator/GillianJacobs had mostly worked in independent films, and Creator/DannyPudi, Creator/JimRash, and Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown had done small roles or guest parts on various shows and films (the latter was mainly known as Helen on ''Series/DrakeAndJosh''). The show was a StarMakingRole for all of them.
56	* DawsonCasting:
57	** As of Season 1, Troy and Annie were (respectively) 19 and 18, being played by a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old. Jeff even comments that Annie is still a little too young to be "sexualized," in spite of the actress's age. It's especially weird in light of the fact that Creator/GillianJacobs is the same age as Creator/AlisonBrie, but playing a character her own age.
58	** Creator/DannyPudi was 31 at the start of the show while Abed falls under a VagueAge with the implication he isn't too far removed from Annie and Troy. He was living in the dorms with his father paying for tuition, implying he was also a recent high school grad, but in "Mixology Certification" Troy turned 21 (after mentioning he was held back one year in elementary school) and the group goes to a bar, a deal was made to get Annie a fake ID so she could join them while Abed had no issue and seemed familiar with being in a bar.
59	* {{Defictionalization}}:
60	** Screener [=DVDs=] were packaged with cootie catchers based on the opening credits sequence.
61	** The video game played in “Digital Estate Planning” was turned into a [[http://projecthawkthorne.com/ real video game]].
62	* DevelopmentGag:
63	** Season 3 introduces the character Annie Kim, a nod to how Annie was originally envisioned as an Asian character.
64	** Doubling as CastingGag, Creator/FredWillard appears as Pierce in Abed's ImagineSpot during the Season 4 premiere. Willard was one of the actors considered for the role.
65	* DirectedByCastMember: Two Season 6 episodes -- "Lawnmower Maintenance & Postnatal Care" and "Queer Studies & Advanced Waxing" -- were both co-directed by Creator/JimRash.
66	* DuelingShows:
67	** Originally ran against another PostModern primetime sitcom about a ragtag FiveTokenBand of misfits in school, ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
68	** Season 2 changes some of the focus to ''Series/ShitMyDadSays'', with a sub plot about Troy's twitter account, [[http://www.twitter.com/oldwhitemansays Old White Man Says]], collecting the insane rantings of Pierce with Pierce wanting to cash in on it with a sitcom. The series premiere of that show was even the same night as the Season 2 premiere (which had a related Troy subplot).
69	** In part due to the focus on nerdom in general, and later being put up against each other in the same time slot, there is a certain rivalry with ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. It's probably more apparently between [[FandomRivalry the fandoms]] rather than anything else.
70	* DyeingForYourArt: To prep for the naked pool scene, Creator/JoelMcHale went on a diet and worked out more intensely.
71	* EnforcedMethodActing: [[invoked]] A completely unintentional case in Season 5's "Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality"; during the scene where Professor Duncan is driving a distraught Britta home and [[PetTheDog gives her some good advice and helps her out of her existential crisis]], Duncan is visibly uncomfortable and awkward when talking to her. Years later, when Creator/JohnOliver appeared on ''WebVideo/ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee'', Oliver indirectly alluded to this scene and basically said that he wasn't acting there: his disturbed reaction was because he was incredibly intimidated by [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct how excellently]] Creator/GillianJacobs was selling an emotional breakdown, and he was internally freaking out over not being able to play off of her well or match her skill in the scene (with him even going on to admit that the scene helped him realize that he actually doesn't enjoy acting much himself [[SelfDeprecation since he feels that he's terrible at it]]).
72	* ExecutiveMeddling:
73	** On the DVD commentaries for Season 1, the producers discuss some of the various ways in which executives got involved in the process. In particular, the scenes between Annie and Pierce in "Advanced Criminal Law" were gradually supposed to get a lot nastier in tone between the two, but the executives balked and requested that they be watered down somewhat.
74	** Originally, NBC execs demanded half of Harmon's writing staff be women. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This ended up working out for the better]], though, as Harmon ended up appreciating their skill and kept hiring a large number of female writers even after the corporate rule was dropped.
75	** After the show was renewed for a shortened fourth season (but moved to a FridayNightDeathSlot), [[http://www.vulture.com/2012/05/dan-harmon-community-future-nbc-sony.html Dan Harmon was fired as showrunner.]]
76	*** Regarding implications by network brass that he'd stay on as a contractually obligated "executive consulting something or other", Harmon wrote on [[http://danharmon.tumblr.com/post/23339272200/hey-did-i-miss-anything his blog]], "I’m not saying you can’t make a good version of ''Community'' without me, but I am definitely saying that you can’t make my version of it unless I have the option of saying 'it has to be like this or I quit' roughly 8 times a day."
77	** During the show's run on Creator/{{NBC}}, the budget was reduced each subsequent season. Hence why the show stopped shooting at outside locations after the first and second seasons.
78	* FakeAmerican: Luke Youngblood plays Magnitude ("Pop pop!") as an American for most of the series, though he briefly lapses into his natural accent when the character is revealed to actually be British in Season 5.
79	* FakeNationality:
80	** Ben Chang is Chinese, while his actor Creator/KenJeong is Korean. It's even subtly lampshaded in one episode when Chang reads something in Korean and has to be reminded he's Chinese.
81	** Similarly, Abed is ethnically Arabic because his father is from Palestine, while Creator/DannyPudi is ethnically Indian.
82	* FranchiseKiller: ''Community'''s sixth season received the same underwhelming reception the rest of Yahoo Screen's premiere slate did, along with the poorly designed video player saw Yahoo Screen being shut down after less than a year of running. That contributed to the ongoing decline of Yahoo that ended with most of Yahoo being bought by Verizon in 2017.
83	* FridayNightDeathSlot: It was announced that ''Community'' would in fact return for a fourth season... at 8:30 PM on Fridays. Cue fandom terror. And then the show aired in its original Thursday time slot after Creator/{{NBC}} cancelled a number of their new shows before mid-season.
84	* FriendshipOnTheSet: Most of the cast got along very well and remain good friends with each other to this day, with one exception (see RealitySubtext below). Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/KenJeong in particular have often collaborated on stand-up comedy and television work together, usually playing up a snarky VitriolicBestBuds dynamic.
85	* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: By Creator/DanHarmon's own admission, Creator/DonaldGlover was basically left to his own devices in several scenes to fill in spaces the writers couldn't fill.
86	* HostilityOnTheSet:
87	** The feud between Creator/ChevyChase and Creator/DanHarmon has been well documented. Due to the show's grueling filming schedule and Harmon's inability to nail down scripts leaving the cast & crew standing around until late at night doing nothing while he rewrote the episode, Chase would often storm off set before the end of shoots, which finally came to a head when it made the crew unable to film the planned end tag of "Digital Estate Planning". When Harmon then tried to get the cast & crew to chant "Fuck you Chevy" at the Season 3 wrap party where Chevy's wife and daughter were present, it led to a hate-filled voice mail from Chase to Harmon that Harmon then released publicly on his ''Harmontown'' podcast.
88	** Not to say Chase isn't above acting this way to just the creator/writers. Chase frequently bullied and made fun of Creator/DonaldGlover during their tenure on the show, with Glover admitting in 2018 that Chase had made racist jokes to him, among which he said that, "People think you're funnier because you're black." Harmon being fired from the show in Season 4 did little to ease tensions, as Chase was also uncomfortable with his character's increasing bigotry. This culminated in him blowing up on the set of "Intro to Felt Surrogacy" dropping a racial slur in the context of exclaiming he thought that's what the writers were going to start having Pierce say. This resulted in Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown threatening to leave the show unless Chase was let go, which resulted in Chase's agents negotiating to have him exit the series immediately. At the end of the day, Pierce ended up being absent for a number of episodes in Season 4 and officially being killed off in Season 5 as a way of permanently retiring the character (outside of Chase recording his puppet dialogue for "Intro to Felt Surrogacy" and shooting a holographic cameo in "Repilot"). Joel [=McHale=] backed up this behavior [[https://bleedingcool.com/tv/community-joel-mchale-talks-working-with-chevy-chase-chase-leaving/ on a podcast]], saying that Chase had "good days and tough days" while on set, and admitted that both he and the rest of the cast haven't spoken to Chase in years. Tellingly, when the cast reunited to do a table read during the early part of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was for an episode in which Pierce is not present in. Chase meanwhile has little to no regrets about his behavior on the show, stating that "he was who he was" when asked about his behavior years later.
89	** Harmon wasn't the greatest guy either. His lack of leadership as the show runner often saw filming come to a complete halt as he was unable to finish scripts before shooting, he spent a lot of time abusing Chevy Chase seemingly in an attempt to impress the main cast and in 2018 it was revealed he had sexually harassed writer Megan Ganz, which was one of the factors that led to him being fired at the end of Season 3. Harmon later issued an [[https://time.com/5100019/dan-harmon-megan-ganz-sexual-harassment-apology/ apology]] for his behavior, which Ganz accepted.
90	** Downplayed, but Creator/DinoStamatopoulos has stated his annoyance with Creator/JoelMcHale, specifically when the latter expressed concern about Stamatopoulos' teeth.
91	* HypotheticalCasting: Creator/DanHarmon wanted to cast Creator/BillMurray as Jeff's father. Creator/JamesBrolin got the role instead.
92	* IronyAsSheIsCast:
93	** Britta, a [[TheStoner stoner]] who's also been seen drunk or hung over at least three times, is played by [[TheTeeTotaler teetotaler]] Creator/GillianJacobs.
94	** Troy, who's often depicted as aimless and lazy, and struggles to figure out what he wants to do with his life after Greendale, is played by Creator/DonaldGlover--who ended up having the single biggest and most successful career of ''anyone'' in the main cast. After ''Community'', he became one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world.
95	** Annie, prim, rather innocent and bordering on uptight, played by the very body-positive casual nudist Creator/AlisonBrie.
96	** Abed is shown to be a huge nerd for TV, movies and comic books in this show. His actor, Creator/DannyPudi, isn't super knowledgable about film or television, being more of an ObsessiveSportsFan in real life.
97	** In the SeriesFinale, Jeff and Annie both show disdain for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Creator/AlisonBrie (and Creator/GillianJacobs) actually ended up directing an episode of ''Series/Marvels616'', and has expressed interest in working for them again sometime in the future. Not to mention that both Brie and Jacobs were considered for the role of ''[[Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw She-Hulk]]''. Meanwhile, Creator/JoelMcHale had a small role as a banker in ''Film/SpiderMan2'', which retroactively became part of the MCU after ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', which caused [=McHale=] to joke that he should've appeared in the aforementioned film.
98	* MagnumOpusDissonance: Season 3's "Digital Estate Planning" was liked by many fans upon its release. By contrast, Creator/DanHarmon wasn't a big fan of it, as he was upset that TheTag had to be changed amongst other things due to his feud with Creator/ChevyChase overshadowing the episode's production.
99	* MoneyDearBoy: Despite the critical acclaim and passionate fanbase, Creator/ChevyChase has been very outspoken in his disdain for the show, from calling his decision to join a "mistake", to his run-ins with Creator/DanHarmon, to criticizing sitcoms as "the lowest form of television." He cited the paycheck and his castmates as the only things keeping him showing up, though considering his HostilityOnTheSet towards everyone involved, it's clear it wasn't entirely reciprocated.
100	* MissingTrailerScene: The preview for the season 2 finale "A Fistful of Paintballs" features Starburns doing a CrucifiedHeroShot.
101	* MutuallyFictional: With ''Series/CougarTown''. Creator/DannyPudi cameoed in the second-season finale of ''Series/CougarTown'' and it's pretty clear that he's playing Abed. That means [[spoiler:Abed lied about lying about being an extra on ''Cougar Town'', although the details are a little different than he described in "Critical Film Studies"]]. In ''Series/CougarTown'', one character referenced buying the Community box set.
102	* NewbieBoom: The series was added to Creator/{{Netflix}} in April 2020. This added tons of new fans virtually over night and it was in Netflix's Top 10 watched shows for awhile. This has generated renewed interest in a movie.
103	* NoExportForYou: The Season 5 DVD set launched a week early in Europe, but without any of the bonus features featured on the release. Even more shockingly, is that the extras were not only advertised, but it took complaints from confused customers for websites like Amazon to alter the product listing on their websites.
104	* TheOtherDarrin:
105	** Creator/PedroPascal replaces Creator/WaltonGoggins as Mr. Stone in the 2020 table read for "Cooperative Polygraphy" during the mini-reunion for a benefit for the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic frontliners. Creator/JimRash also replaces Lesley Tsina as Mara (the lie detector lady) there, though it's not quite ActingForTwo as Dean Pelton doesn't appear in the episode.
106	** Because of the passing of Chris Latta and the retirement of Arthur Burghardt, the episode [[Recap/CommunityS5E11GIJeff "G.I. Jeff"]] sees the respective roles of [[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero Cobra Commander and Destro]] voiced by director Rob Schrab and Creator/IsaacCSingletonJr.
107	* OutOfHolidayEpisode: When the fourth Season was delayed, that year's Thanksgiving ("[[Recap/CommunityS4E05CooperativeEscapismInFamilialRelations Cooperative Escapism In Familial Relations]]") and Christmas ("[[Recap/CommunityS4E10IntroToKnots Intro To Knots]]") episodes aired in March and April respectively.
108	* OutOfOrder:
109	** Unconfirmed, but in Season 1 episode 17 has Jeff say to Leonard "I talked to your son on family day" but family day isn't until the next episode
110	** "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" and "Contemporary Impressionists" were aired in that order, but swapped on the DVD because this is the order in which they are meant to be watched, which explains why in "Contemporary Impressionists" the study group welcome each other back from their break.
111	** "Digital Estate Planning" was aired [[spoiler:after the study group's expulsion from Greendale]], but the end tag [[spoiler:had Troy and Abed talking in the study room, and no one acted oddly to their presence]]. The reason for this discrepancy is that an end tag was written for the episode [[spoiler:that did not take place in the study room]], but Chevy Chase did not want to film it, therefore a new one was written. However, the episode itself also does not make much sense in the timeline of the show as in the previous episode [[spoiler:they learned that Chang had replaced the Dean with the DoppelDeaner, and yet the Study Group decided to have this side adventure instead]]. Possibly justified as [[spoiler:it involved the contents of Cornelius Hawthorne's will, and therefore Pierce's inheritance, which probably could not be delayed]].
112	** During "Competitive Ecology", Pierce offhandedly mentions how all of his study group friends know that he had sex with Creator/EarthaKitt in an airplane bathroom, despite not ever bringing it up beforehand. This episode airs ''before'' Remedial Chaos Theory, which has this particular story used as a RunningGag.
113	* PlayingAgainstType: Most of Creator/ChevyChase's most well-known characters are generally smooth, suave and the smartest person in the room. Pierce Hawthorne... not so much.
114	* PostScriptSeason: The fifth season saw the cast end up failing their goals and back in Greendale.
115	* ProductionPosse: With Website/{{Channel101}}:
116	** Abed is based on Website/{{Channel101}} star Abed Gheith, who Creator/DanHarmon pushed for to get the role.
117	** Fellow Channel 101 alumni Sona Panos, Dave Seger and David B. Lyons worked on the series under Harmon.
118	** Creator/ChevyChase, Creator/JohnOliver and Creator/JoelMcHale all had cameo roles in Episode 9 of Harmon's Channel 101 series ''Water and Power''.
119	** The Dean Craig Pelton and Professor Ian Duncan are named after Channel 101 stars Dean Pelton and Ian Duncan.
120	** Abed's Britta, Abed's Annie and Abed's Abed are all played by 101ers (Jenny Flack, Kelsy Abbott and [[WebVideo/TheGuild Sandeep Parikh]], respectively.)
121	** The Cast attended the Channel 101 "Channy" awards: Footage [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tOitMr8a2M here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQl5dpoKDfQ here.]]
122	** Additionally, the other members and acquaintances of Creator/DonaldGlover's sketch comedy group Derrick Comedy have a cameo helping Pierce write jokes in "Romantic Expressionism". (D.C. Pierson had previously appeared in "Investigative Journalism".)
123	* QueerCharacterQueerActor: The pansexual Dean Pelton is played by the openly queer Creator/JimRash.
124	* RealSongThemeTune: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEGbjR1Y9Qo "At Least It Was Here" by The 88]].
125	* RealitySubtext: The entire main cast got along extremely well and became very close friends with one another... except for Creator/ChevyChase, who frequently alienated those he was working with on the show. This meant the Study Group's general animosity towards Pierce and his behavior came from a very real place.
126	* RecastAsARegular: Two of its FinalSeasonCasting.
127	** Creator/KeithDavid narrated the Season 3 episode "Pillows And Blankets" before taking the role of Season 6 cast regular Elroy Patashnik.
128	** Creator/PagetBrewster appears as IT administrator Debra Chambers in Season 5 episode "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" before appearing as Season 6 regular Frankie Dart. This is subtly lampshaded when Frankie notes that she attempted to contact the IT Administrator in one episode, but that her calls constantly keep going to voicemail.
129	* ReferencedBy: ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': NP: [[https://www.reddit.com/r/elgoonishshive/comments/zhi9ip/an_npc_by_any_other_name/ "An NPC by any other name"]], the naming of the Cleric has tons of shout-outs [[https://www.egscomics.com/uploads/1670624792-np-2212-10-a-70HD-bonus.png running through Ellen's head]], with the end of the fourth-from-last to the beginning of the third-from-last being:
130	--> Troy Abed J(???)\
131	Britta
132	* ScrewedByTheNetwork:
133	** The firing of Creator/DanHarmon after season 3, the explanation of which didn't become public knowledge until 2018.
134	** Cutting Seasons 4 & 5 down to 13 episodes, so the seasons never managed to build any momentum
135	** The show's cancellation at the end of Season 5 in the face of the long standing fan campaign for 6 seasons.
136	** Creator/{{NBC}} repeatedly cutting the show's budget - with the move to Yahoo Screen with Season 6, it was noted that they were able to shoot outside for the first time[[note]]Whilst the library exterior ''is'' an outdoors set, it's also the entrance to the soundstage the first 5 seasons were shot at[[/note]] since the show's second season.
137	** Then Yahoo ended up deeming the series a financial failure and canceled it after the sixth season, [[http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/yahoo-misses-q3-earnings-marissa-mayer-narrower-product-focus-1201622483/ writing it along with two other shows off their assets in a total loss of $42 million]].
138	* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Jeff and Shirley's respective [[TimeShiftedActor time-shifted actors]], Creator/JacobBertrand and Taylar Hollomon, both have passing resemblance to Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown.
139	* StarMakingRole: For Creator/JoelMcHale, Creator/DonaldGlover, Creator/AlisonBrie, Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown, Creator/GillianJacobs, Creator/DannyPudi, and Creator/JimRash. Their acting resume started to snowball after appearing in this show.
140	* TroubledProduction: As the show continued on there came a lot of reports of behind-the-scenes trouble.
141	** Creator/ChevyChase was rather up front and vocal about his distaste for the show and had a rocky relationship with Creator/DanHarmon. He admitted he didn't have much interest in being on a sitcom, as those tended to have the most grueling schedules. Filming in the study room, covering each cast member around the table, would lead to ''sixteen to twenty hour days''. While Chase was the most vocal, numerous other cast and crew were stressed out by Harmon's behavior, including one female staff writer who felt sexually harassed by him (Harmon later apologized, which she accepted).
142	** The show had a passionate fanbase but the ratings gradually diminished and the show was frequently over budget, which exacerbated NBC's relationship with the show. Episodes started filming with unfinished scripts and was rewritten on a day-to-day basis. This resulted in mismanaged production scheduling (one claim was that several sets were lit, staffed and staged to facilitate ''one joke'' featuring multiple {{Cutaway Gag}}s). Harmon's insistence on having big, expensive episodes with a cinematic look while also mocking the network in the show itself took BitingTheHandHumor a little too literally.
143	** In season four Harmon was fired as a culmination of all these issues, and the continued under new show runners & writers for a half-season worth of episodes to premiere mid season. Harmon was rehired for season five for another half season of episodes, scrambling to accommodate the events of season four into his plans while also {{retool}}ing the show beyond the study group. The show was eventually [[ChannelHop picked up to be a Yahoo exclusive]] for a sixth season, but by then half the cast had left for various personal reasons.
144	* UncreditedRole: Creator/OwenWilson had an uncredited appearance in the episode "Investigative Journalism".
145	* UnderageCasting: A minor example. Britta Perry (born 1980) is played by Creator/GillianJacobs (born 1982).
146	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
147	** Creator/PatrickStewart, Creator/JohnCleese and Creator/FredWillard were in the running for the part of Pierce Hawthorne before the casting of Creator/ChevyChase. Willard would eventually guest star as Pierce in Abed's mind during the Season 4 premiere.
148	** Jeff's last name was originally going to be "Crocker", before being changed.
149	** As written in AbilityOverAppearance above, Annie was originally envisioned as an Asian character. Annie Kim was created in Season 3 as a DevelopmentGag. Likewise, Shirley and Troy were originally written as Caucasians.
150	** Troy and Pierce were originally going to be frequently paired together for various adventures, but after Creator/DonaldGlover and Creator/DannyPudi's real-life friendship began to translate into comedic chemistry (as well as Creator/ChevyChase's HostilityOnTheSet behavior towards Glover), the show settled into the signature Troy/Abed dynamic instead.
151	** It was intended for there to be a supporting character named Coach Bartel, played by Creator/GaryAnthonyWilliams, who was the head of both the Sports and Theatre departments at Greendale. This was scrapped, a character named Coach Bogner being the head of the Sports deparment and another named Sean Garrity becoming the Theatre professor.
152	** The statue in the Greendale courtyard was originally supposed to be Creator/MarkHamill, but he declined (and apparently very graciously, according to Harmon).
153	** The show was originally supposed to tell a self-contained story spanning four seasons with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Harmon's firing for the fourth season destroyed that, so he ended up having to spend most of the fifth season resetting the status quo in order to resume the story where he left off.
154	** In "[[Recap/CommunityS5E01Repilot Repilot]]" it is ultimately [[spoiler:a hologram of Pierce that gets Jeff to abandon the law suit against Greendale]]. However, the script used at the table read instead featured [[spoiler:the in-universe reveal that Star-Burns was alive, and he would serve the same purpose as the hologram]]; this was likely the plan if [[spoiler:Creator/ChevyChase hadn't agreed to shoot the cameo]].
155	** Creator/RayLiotta was Creator/DanHarmon and Chris [=McKenna=]'s first choice for Buzz Hickey in the fifth season. Harmon revealed at 2014 [=PaleyFest=] that he was in several phone calls with Liotta, but ended up eventually casting Creator/JonathanBanks.
156	** Creator/DanHarmon had wanted to do more with Rachel in the show, [[TheOneThingIDontHateAboutYou as he found that she was one of the few parts of Season 4 that he genuinely liked]]. Outside of two appearances in Season 5 though, Rachel never appeared on the show again, due to Creator/BrieLarson's schedule getting too busy for her to commit to the show.
157	** Shirley was supposed to reappear as a regular cast member for Season 6, but Creator/YvetteNicoleBrown had to drop out to take care of her father as his health was beginning to fail. She does make guest appearances in the season's premiere and finale episodes however.
158	** Creator/AlisonBrie had expressed interested in [[https://www.slashfilm.com/1286420/communitys-alison-brie-john-oliver-annie-love-interest/ seeing Annie hook up with Professor Duncan in Season 1]], due to their similar personalities. This never came to fruition due to Creator/JohnOliver's disinterest in being a series regular, as well as how uncomfortable a TeacherStudentRomance with such a big age gap would've been.
159	* WordOfGod: Abed's "quirks" were, according to [[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/09/mf_harmon/all/1 this link]] intended to be some form of autism based on [[SelfInsert Harmon's own Self-Diagnosis]] on internet tests, although [[Recap/CommunityS3E03CompetitiveEcology "Competitive Ecology"]] has him imply that he is also [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Prosopagnosia face-blind.]]
160	** The girl Abed dances The Lindbergh Lean with in "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" is [[http://www.reddit.com/r/community/comments/r258a/theory_girl_dancing_with_abed_was_danielle_harmon/c42bxx7 Danielle Harmon from "Pascal's Triangle Revisited"]]
161	** [[http://www.reddit.com/r/community/comments/gvcaj/iama_creator_of_the_tv_show_community_ama/ Harmon's "Ask Me Anything" thread on Reddit]]. [[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/yne9x/i_am_dan_harmon_creator_of_community_writer_of/ And another one 1 year later after he was fired]].
162	** The episode commentaries, nearly all of which feature Harmon, are rife with these sort of statements.
163	** Creator/DanHarmon's [[http://danharmon.tumblr.com/ tumblr]] and [[http://twitter.com/danharmon twitter]], where he occasionally talks about the show.
164	** On the 2020 Zoom reunion, Harmon claimed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMhlqtC9hRQ Annie was the Ass Crack Bandit]].
165	* WriterRevolt:
166	** The Creator/{{NBC}} mandated "Green Week" was lambasted by having the Dean & Enviromental Club waste materials in an attempt to promote Greendale's own Green Week.
167	** In an example of the ''actors'' revolting, Creator/JoelMcHale led the cast in getting Creator/DanHarmon rehired for the fifth season.
168	* WriteWhatYouKnow: According to Website/TheOtherWiki, ''Community'' is based on Dan Harmon's own community college days, and Jeff is [[AuthorAvatar based on his younger, more self-centered self]].
169	* WriteWhoYouKnow: Creator/DanHarmon modeled Jeff Winger and Britta Perry after himself and an ex-girlfriend, respectively.
170	* WrittenByCastMember: Creator/JimRash wrote the Season 4 episode "Basic Human Anatomy".
171	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Apparently numerous episodes would start filming with just an outline and the cast and crew would only get the actual script for the day several hours in. While the cast was game for whatever twist was thrown their way this did lead to [[ActingInTheDark a deal of uncertainty with what exactly was going to happen within the episode]], let alone the show in general.

Context Trivia / Community