Community

Community is a comedy series that is broadcast on NBC. The series, created by Dan Harmon, focuses on the adventures of a group of students at a fictional community college in Colorado. The series premiered in 2009 and is currently in its second season.

In interviews, series creator Dan Harmon has compared the character of Abed to other sitcom "shamanic" characters, such as Reverend Jim on Taxi, Snoopy from "Peanuts", and Gonzo.

Muppet Mentions

 * In the first season episode, "Introduction to Statistics," Troy and Abed share the following exchange using a gruff, Batman voice:
 * Troy: I'm Batman.
 * Abed: You sound like Cookie Monster.


 * In the first season episode "Physical Education," Troy and Abed act out a scene as Ernie and Bert. Troy returns a book to Abed because he's got his own copy, which is really just the contents of Abed's book, which is now empty. The pair eat cookies together with crumbs falling out of their mouths, and Abed only uses the side of his hand to move objects just as Bert, an arm-and-rod style puppet, would.


 * In the first season episode "English as a Second Language" Señor Chang explains to Jeff that he faked his college degree to become a professor. "I did what anyone would do. I faked my way into a job as a Spanish teacher at a community college, relying on phrases from Sesame Street."


 * In the second season episode "Epidemiology 206," everyone mistakes Shirley's Glinda the Good Witch costume for Miss Piggy.


 * In the second season episode "Aerodynamics of Gender":
 * Meghan: Look at your face. It's like your mom was a lizard who got raped by a Muppet.
 * Chang: That there was brought you by the letter S, as in snap!


 * In the second season episode "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" Jeff Winger stands next to a campus poster that reads "It actually is easy being green!"


 * The second season episode "Mixology Certification" includes extensive referencing to Farscape throughout the episode. In the episode, Abed has an ongoing conversation with a man he meets at a bar (played by Paul F. Tompkins) about the Henson series Farscape. Abed and the man (who struck-up the conversation with Abed with the line "was Scorpius half Scaran, half Peacekeeper? Frell, yes!") discuss wormholes, time travel, and the differences between season 1 and season 3. Actor Danny Pudi said of the episode: "I think Abed is just very excited to discuss Farscape with someone because there’s not many people in Abed’s life that can actually speak about it and so it’s Abed yearning to communicate with someone."

Connections

 * LeVar Burton played himself in "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"
 * Chevy Chase plays Pierce Hawthorne
 * Jack Black played Buddy Austin in "Investigative Journalism"
 * Katharine McPhee played Amber in "Basic Genealogy"
 * George Takei narrated the opening and closing of "Epidemiology"
 * Betty White played June Bauer in "Anthropology 101" and "The Psychology of Letting Go"