Discussion Recap / CommunityS5E11GIJeff

As more examples of "Shown Their Work", much of the opening pays homage to previous three openings that the 1985 series had (four if you count the film). </br> -The opening sequence has jets fly toward the viewer as Wingman, riding a jeep flanked by tanks; the original miniseries, season 1, and season 2 would open with jets followed by ground forces — because it was the same audio track with different animation and it included jet noises, though Duke's battlecry would now come from Flint (the footage from season 1 even used the same "toward the viewer" perspective). </br> -The perspective shifts to a 3rd person view of G.I.Joe colliding head-on with Cobra forces supporting a giant Cobra mechanoid (more resembling of the Robot Cobra androids in the mini-series, episode 5: "A Stake in the Serpent's Heart", than a giant-sized version of the S.N.A.K.E. toy; the Robot Cobra had a claw for one hand and a gun for another, compared to the giant mech who has snake-heads for both hands). This mimics Season 1 which had the Joes assault a Cobra contingent supporting a giant Cobra-shaped airship. (Season 2 used a Terror-dome base embedded in a giant cliff with a Cobra-shaped outcropping.) </br> -The sequence then shows the Community cast running ahead of the Joe battalion (using a mish-mash of season 1 & 2 equipment), and then Snake-eyes popping up on a RAM motorbike. This mirrors the mini-series opening: after the title card (and seeing Cobra and Destro), a group of Joes (Snake-eyes, Stalker, Scarlet, Gung-ho) jump out of a foxhole and move past the screen, with Flash then popping into the foreground also atop a RAM motorcycle. </br> -Then Buzzkill and Fourth Wall do sweeping attacks that end with them facing the viewer is similar to a sequence in the Movie opening (2:27). </br> -The titlecard "Community: A show set in a community college (tm)" shows up before shifting to a flipped perspective on the Cobra forces (Hiss II tanks, Rattlers, red Firebats, Trouble Bubbles, foot-soldiers, and the giant mecha). This was relatively unique; no G.I.Joe introduction highlighted Cobra's size like that. The closest was season 2, as the Joes assault Serpentor's coastal defenses you can see a brief glimpses of the vast numbers of foot-soldiers and air force the villains had. (When the enemy army was shown in the mini-series opener, they were about to retreat.) </br> -X-30 Conquest jets taking off of the USS Flagg carrier was directly aped from the first seconds of the season 2 opening (sans the oddly placed Lady Liberty in the background)... </br> -...because the next scene is a behind-the-back few of a trio of XP-14F Skystrikers (with the variable wings and not the fixed reversed wings) taking on a Cobra-shaped airship, then it shifts to an in-cockpit up-the-nose shot of Ace that zooms in on his goggles to show the reflection of the attacking airship; exactly how season 1's opening went (though the close-up of Ace was much tighter, and the reflection showed legions of Trouble Bubbles emerging from the airship and not fire). </br> -The next sequence has Tight Ship and Three Kids jump from a Sky Fire to assault Mix-Max and Major Dick. In the season 1 opening, immediately after the Ace sequence, a Sky Fire delivers Quick Kick and Snake-eyes to dropkick Tomax and Xamot. </br> -The following sequence highlighting Three Kids punching a foot soldier and then OVERHEAD-SUPLEX another feels familiar (perhaps in an advert for the toys), but was not in any 1985 G.I.Joe opening sequence. Ditto with Tight Ship's highlight uppercutting Xim-Xam out of the screen. </br> -The use of the bald eagle flying into the camera for a cut was also unique to Government Issue Jeff; the closest the cartoon did was have Freedom (miscolored as a brown hawk) in the movie fly from off-screen to distract Blowtorch, allowing Scarlet to drop in from the background. (2:16) </br> -The next sequence showing Cobra Assistant Commander and Destro commanding a cadre of foot soldiers is taken from mini-series' opening, as is showing the Wolverine Armored Missile Tank rolling forward firing away (though without a clear view of the driver in G.I.Jeff's case). </br> -Overkill leaping onto the screen, throwing shuriken, and then gently placing dynamite in front of the oncoming wave of green-shirt generics is... odd. It's also unique as no opening highlighted Storm Shadow. (The Live action film had an homage to the animated movie where G.I.Joe was fighting the Cobra ninja in a tourist-filled mall with balloons everywhere, but that was it.) </br> -Wingman swooping in on a jetpack to retrieve the bomb, lob it into the sky, and blast it with a pistol is an homage to the sequence Stalker does from the opening to the mini-series. </br> -Showing Cobra's air-force retreating to the sunset being chased by Wingman (on foot) was a new perspective; the cartoon ended the sequence with the heroes emerging from the smoldering remains of Cobra, running toward the viewer. </br> -Last trivia: the ending of the title sequence has the Joes stand, fists in the air, atop the logo. The entire roster is Dusty, Flint, Doc, Stalker, Cover Girl (mini-series model), Iceberg (season 2 character), Snake-eyes, Duke, Three Kids, Buzzkill, Wingman, Tight Ship, Fourth Wall, Scarlet, Spirit, Gung-ho, Lady Jaye, Beach Head (season 2), Roadblock, Wild Bill (double-fisting). </br> </br> Sources: </br> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKzdPBzPTzY </br> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcJqfbov8pI </br> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ah2I166f_U </br> </br> Also props to writer Harmon, director Schrab, and lyricist Jonathan Kimmel to get the theme song just like Spencer Michlin (lyricist) and Kinder (composer) did it. I'm curious if Kimmel did the narration as well (the original narrator, Jackson Beck, passed away a decade before the episode was recorded). </br> https://community-sitcom.fandom.com/wiki/G.I._Joe_(theme_song) </br> https://community-sitcom.fandom.com/wiki/G.I._Jeff </br> RIP composer Johnny Douglas, kudos to composer Robert J. Walsh for finally persuading SONY BMG to release the soundtracks (at least his compositions).