Community (season 1)

Community season 1
Community Season 1 DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	25
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17) – May 20, 2010 (2010-05-20)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1	September 21, 2010 (2010-09-21)[1]
Season chronology
← Previous — Next → Season 2
List of Community episodes

The first season of the television comedy series Community originally aired from September 17, 2009 on NBC to May 20, 2010 in the United States. The first three episodes aired at 9:30 pm ET before being moved to 8:00 pm ET. The show was picked up for 22 episodes in October 2009, and an additional 3 episodes were ordered when The Jay Leno Show was cancelled.

The show focuses on disbarred lawyer Jeff Winger, and his attempt to get a bachelor's degree at community college.

Cast

Main article: List of Community characters

Starring

• Joel McHale as Jeff Winger
• Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry
• Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir
• Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett
• Alison Brie as Annie Edison
• Donald Glover as Troy Barnes
• Ken Jeong as Señor Ben Chang (not Pilot)
• Chevy Chase as Pierce Hawthorne

Recurring Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton (20 episodes) Dino Stamatopoulos as Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne (14 episodes) Richard Erdman as Leonard Briggs (10 episodes) Erik Charles Nielsen as Garrett Lambert (6 episodes) John Oliver as Professor Ian Duncan (5 episodes) Lauren Stamile as Professor Michelle Slater (5 episodes) Eric Christian Olsen as Vaughn Miller (4 episodes) John Michael Higgins as Professor Eustice Whitman (3 episodes) Iqbal Theba as Gobi Nadir (2 episodes)

Guest stars Jack Black as Buddy Austin ("Investigative Journalism") Blake Clark as Coach Herbert Bogner ("Physical Education") Tony Hale as Professor Marion Holly ("Beginner Pottery") Anthony Michael Hall as Mike Chilada ("Comparative Religion") Sharon Lawrence as Doreen ("The Politics of Human Sexuality") Lee Majors as Admiral Lee Slaughter ("Beginner Pottery") Katharine McPhee as Amber ("Basic Genealogy") Patton Oswalt as Nurse Jackie ("Home Economics") Owen Wilson as Other Study Group's Leader ("Investigative Journalism", uncredited cameo)

Episodes

See also: List of Community episodes

Series #	Season #	Title	Directed by	Written by	U.S. viewers (million)	Original air date	Production code
1	1	"Pilot"	Anthony Russo & Joe Russo	Dan Harmon	7.89[2]	September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17)	100
Recently disbarred lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is forced to attend a community college to redeem his illegitimate law degree, planning on exploiting his friendship with former client Dr. Ian Duncan (John Oliver) for test answers. He starts up a Spanish study group in order to score with attractive classmate Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), who invites her friend Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), who in turn invites fellow classmates Troy Barnes (Donald Glover), Annie Edison (Alison Brie), Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), and Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase). After believing he has secured a date with Britta, Jeff stirs up conflict within the group in order to leave with her, only to be confronted by her about his ulterior motive. When he gives an inspirational speech to calm them down and finally go out with Britta, she reveals his true intentions and asks him to leave. Jeff storms out, only to find out the answers obtained from Dr. Duncan are actually blank. As he is leaving campus, Jeff runs into Pierce and Troy who are encouraged by his advice. Jeff resigns himself to flunking the test, but Britta, speaking for the group, reluctantly invites him back, saying the group didn't make much progress after his departure.
2	2	"Spanish 101"	Joe Russo	Dan Harmon	5.39[3]	September 24, 2009 (2009-09-24)	101
The Spanish students are paired to create simple dialogues; Jeff is stuck with Pierce after an attempt to be paired with Britta backfires. Attempting to bond with Jeff, Pierce instead drives him away. Shirley and Annie mount a student protest after Britta tells them of anti-journalist violence in Guatemala, though Britta eventually admits she usually does nothing more than be outraged by such causes. Joining the protest in order to impress Britta, Jeff is exposed by a drunken Pierce, then makes it up to him the next day by performing the ridiculously elaborate dialogue his partner had written, an act of sacrifice that ends up impressing Britta more than his fake protest.
3	3	"Introduction to Film"	Anthony Russo	Tim Hobert & Jon Pollack	5.86[4]	October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01)	102
Jeff signs up for a class after hearing it was an easy A. Professor Whitman (John Michael Higgins), tells him all they have to do is "seize the day" to receive an A. Jeff encourages the rest of the study group to join. When they ask Abed if he would like to join, he mentions his dad will only pay for classes that will facilitate Abed running the family falafel business. Britta, appalled, writes a check for Abed to take his dream class: filming. The next day Abed highly enjoys his new class and begins to film a documentary about his father. His father, Gobi, arrives and scolds Britta for undermining his authority. After arguing awhile, he tells them that it is now her responsibility to raise Abed. Abed recasts the role of his father to Jeff. Jeff tries to impress Professor Whitman by "seizing the day" by wearing a goofy outfit in the cafeteria and later flying a kite, but the Professor sees through his attempt to take advantage of the system and tells him he's truly not living in the moment. Britta comfortably provides an allowance for Abed, now as his guardian. She is pleased with the arrangement until Abed begins skipping classes and spending his allowance recklessly, all the while filming everyone around him. When Jeff tries to reunite Abed with his father, the film student shows them the finished product, which communicates that he feels he is to blame for his mother's abandoning the family. Gobi is moved to tears by this film, makes atonement with his son, and agrees to pay for the classes, realizing his son needs an outlet, and this is the only way he can be understood. Jeff and Britta walk outside, with Britta admitting she owes Jeff for not adhering when he was right, and pulls him in for a long kiss in the courtyard. Whitman sees this and grants Jeff an A+. Britta tells Jeff they are now even.
4	4	"Social Psychology"	Anthony Russo	Liz Cackowski	4.87[5]	October 8, 2009 (2009-10-08)	104
Originally avoiding walking with Shirley due to their lack of chemistry, Jeff soon bonds with her over their mutual distaste for Vaughn, the phony laid back hippie that has been flirting with Britta recently. Jeff notices that Britta is becoming close friends with Vaughn too, and therefore further appreciates scoffing at Vaughn with Shirley. Meanwhile Annie, hoping to improve her unfavorable transcript, asks for permission to be involved with Professor Duncan's students as they perform an experiment bent on proving "The Duncan Principle". He allows her and mentions that she needs to bring two test subjects. Annie turns to Troy and Abed, playing up the importance of their friendship to her, and so they agree to sign on. Later, in Duncan's lab, the professor specifies that their experiment is based on his theory that the more power lost by the ego, the more drastic the outburst of the subject when it has reached its breaking point. They will prove this by provoking the test subjects to frustration by constantly pretending that the test will have to be postponed by merely 5 more minutes. Duncan, Annie, and the rest of the students will be watching in from the next room via a video camera. As the next few hours pass, everyone eventually breaks down violently and storms out, something that Duncan mocks and makes light of to the amusement of his students. Finally, as only Abed and Troy are left, Troy breaks and exclaims out to Annie wondering why she would treat him this way, causing Annie to feel a deep tinge of guilt. Seeing that Abed is the only one left, Duncan instructs the class to pull in close, as Abed's tantrum will prove to be the most heated than the rest. Meanwhile, Jeff comes across Britta and Vaughn, so she later apologizes to Jeff for surprising him into knowing that they are dating. Jeff tries his best to act okay with it, and promises to try and befriend Vaughn. He tells Shirley about the situation, and she later tries to tempt Jeff into joking about him, as he tries his hardest to overlook Vaughn's characteristics, such as taking his shirt off all the time. Back at the experiment, Duncan and his pupils wearily study Abed as he sits nonchalantly in the other room for 26 hours. Realizing his entire thesis has been obliterated, Professor Duncan lashes out at his students and blames Annie for having "sabotaged" the project. Annie in turn yells at Abed to go home, angered by her loss of extra credit. All the while Britta has turned to Jeff as a confidante, stating that she fears Vaughn may be putting more stock into their relationship than she's prepared for, and shows him a poem he had written for her. Jeff secretly shares this with Shirley, who shares it with the rest of the group. The rest of the group all starts making fun of Vaughn, and passing around a copy of the poem. Vaughn sees this and breaks up with Britta, assuming that she was a part of it too. Shirley apologizes to Jeff, stating that she's had a reputation before for "stirring the pot", and that it is something she struggles to control. Annie asks Abed why he stayed behind for her experiment, instead of just storming off like the rest. He tells her that she said they were friends, and he didn't want to let her down. The next day Annie apologizes for scolding Abed by buying him the first three Indiana Jones movies.
5	5	"Advanced Criminal Law"	Joe Russo	Andrew Guest	5.01[6]	October 15, 2009 (2009-10-15)	105
As Señor Chang is about to hand back everyone's Spanish tests, he reveals that he found a small piece of paper on the floor containing all the answers to the test. He then gives the cheater 24 hours to come forward, or the entire class will receive a zero. Annie tells the group she has joined the school song committee, and has hired a songwriter to pen a school song. Pierce offers his song writing services, telling Annie he even wrote the jingle for his moist towelette company. Britta reveals that she is the one who cheated on the Spanish test, and leaves class. Dean Pelton informs Britta that she is facing expulsion for cheating, and Jeff offers to represent her in her expulsion trial. Pierce has difficulty writing a song, and Annie begins to lose hope in Pierce's song writing ability. In her expulsion trial, Britta initially denies cheating, but then admits to it. Jeff is granted a recess. Britta tells Jeff she has a problem with dishonesty, and Jeff reveals that he is indeed Britta's friend, even though she doesn't seem to think so. Britta reveals that she cheated with hopes of getting caught because she is used to screwing things up. Jeff then pleads that Britta is insane, and that her punishment should be continuing her education, and to succeed. Pierce ends up being heavily influenced by "The Way It Is". Troy begins to mess with Abed, telling him fake information about himself. Abed doesn't fully understand how jokes work, and makes several attempts to get Troy back.
6	6	"Football, Feminism and You"	Joe Russo	Hilary Winston	5.18[7]	October 22, 2009 (2009-10-22)	103
The dean blackmails Jeff into convincing Troy to join Greendale's football team, over the objections of Annie. Shirley teaches Britta proper ladies room etiquette. Pierce and the dean devise a new school mascot, the Human Being.
7	7	"Introduction to Statistics"	Justin Lin	Tim Hobert & Jon Pollack	5.32[8]	October 29, 2009 (2009-10-29)	106
Annie hosts a Day of the Dead party for Halloween. Jeff hits on his statistics professor, which upsets Shirley but not Britta. At the party, Pierce goes on a bad trip and has to have Jeff and Abed help him.
8	8	"Home Economics"	Anthony Russo	Lauren Pomerantz	5.45[9]	November 5, 2009 (2009-11-05)	107
Jeff is kicked out of his condo and moves in with Abed temporarily, until Britta helps him move on and look for apartments. Annie helps Troy prepare for his date with a different girl. Pierce briefly joins Vaughn's band.
9	9	"Debate 109"	Joe Russo	Tim Hobert	5.09[10]	November 12, 2009 (2009-11-12)	109
The dean solicits Jeff to join Annie in a debate competition, where they will compete against star debater Jeremy Simmons to debate whether Man is intrinsically evil or good. Abed's latest student films show a prescient tendency that frightens Shirley, whose predicted behavior includes being chased by a werewolf. Pierce offers his services as a hypnotherapist to Britta in her attempts to stop smoking.
10	10	"Environmental Science"	Seth Gordon	Zach Paez	4.86[11]	November 19, 2009 (2009-11-19)	108
Jeff becomes friends with Senor Chang and helps him get back with his wife. Pierce helps Shirley with her public speaking class. Abed and Troy work on a biology experiment.
11	11	"The Politics of Human Sexuality"	Anthony Russo	Hilary Winston	5.42[12]	December 3, 2009 (2009-12-03)	110
Annie and the Dean sponsor an STD-awareness fair. Britta and Shirley help Annie prepare for her big condom usage demonstration. Troy and Abed compete to see who is the better athlete. Jeff and Pierce go on a double date to the fair.
12	12	"Comparative Religion"	Adam Davidson	Liz Cackowski	5.51[13]	December 10, 2009 (2009-12-10)	111
On December 10th, the last day before winter break, Jeff stands up to a bully named Mike (Anthony Michael Hall) that harasses Abed in the cafeteria. The bully begins to threaten Jeff, but backs down when the dean arrives in a "Mr. Winter" costume. Later in the study room, Shirley invites the group to her Christmas party, stating it is the only one she'll be able to have since her family life is in shambles. The group reveals their conflicting religions: Annie is Jewish, Abed is Muslim, Troy is a Jehovah's Witness, Britta is an Atheist, Pierce is in an odd cult but believes that it is a Buddhist community, while Jeff is Agnostic. Shirley, though obviously disturbed at their beliefs, invites them to come to her party anyway and to bring something from their religions to celebrate. Later, as Jeff and Abed finish their Spanish tests, a bored Señor Chang allows Mike to come in and antagonize Jeff, provoking him to schedule a fight after school. Pierce and Troy begin training Jeff to fight, as he has never really fought anyone before. Shirley finds them and forbids Jeff to fight on her Christmas day, stating that he is banned from her party if he does. He states that it is not actually Christmas, that it is something he has to do, and goes to meet Mike. Later, the group uncomfortably attends her party, awkwardly sitting through her "kind" criticisms of their beliefs. When they learn of Jeff's fight for Abed's honor, they all go outside to spectate and to be there for their friend. Shirley and the gang arrive just at the beginning. Jeff throws his fist up and sees a bracelet Shirley had given him, and realizes that, although he may not believe in her religion, he does believe in friendship, and attempts to be peaceable with Mike. Mike instead punches Jeff in the stomach and mocks him. Shirley tells Jeff to "kick his ass", and pretty soon Mike's posse is involved in a brawl with the study group on the fake snowy winter display that the dean had set up. All in all, the victorious study group sings carols together that evening and learn that they have all passed Spanish 101.
13	13	"Investigative Journalism"	Joe Russo	Jon Pollack & Tim Hobert	5.42[14]	January 14, 2010 (2010-01-14)	113
The group returns from their winter break, delighted to see each other. After the rest of the group has joyfully reunited, Jeff arrives and promises the group he has left behind his elitist attitude and has adopted a laid back attitude all about "having fun and cracking wise". When they finally sit back at their table, they see that a new person is sitting with them. Buddy (Jack Black) has been admiring their growth as friends from afar, and invites himself to join their group as well. Later, Dean Pelton offers Jeff the position of editor for the school newspaper. Jeff turns it down at first until he learns that it is an automatic English credit, and the job doesn't require that much actual work from him. He also catches on quickly on how to play the system by sending his reporters out to "investigate" the sale of pizza and beer, and promoting Annie to ace reporter in order to deflect her attention from reporting him for abusing his title. Abed takes note of this, and compares Jeff's "character reboot" to Hawkeye Pierce for these antics, and begins building him a still like Hawkeye had. Later, after Spanish 102, Annie approaches Jeff with a hot news story. It seems that after a recent Toni Braxton concert was rescheduled, only black students were notified via anonymous text. Jeff commissions Annie to find out who sent it, who agrees since she knows it will help her overcome her unfavorable transcript. Meanwhile, Buddy poses a problem as he impulsively tries to dominate the attention of the group, and in an effort to prove his worth, accidentally kicks Jeff in the face. Jeff, who had originally chosen to leave the matter alone, now decides to have a secret group meeting with out Buddy, and manipulates the group into voting Buddy out. Annie soon finds out that it was the dean who had sent the text alert to all the African-American students, and vows to expose him for racial profiling. Pelton, realizing that such an accusation would cost him his job, then turns to Jeff, pleading with him to persuade Annie not to run the story, claiming that his text rates were beginning to increase and had to budget who received the message from him. Jeff casually, yet unsuccessfully, tries to persuade Annie to drop the story. They then see that Buddy is still at the table with the group, since no one has told him the bad news yet. Jeff, tries casually to ask Buddy to leave, but is fruitless in this endeavor as well, as Buddy stays in the room to antagonize them. Jeff, realizing that his mellow mentality is not effective, takes action and drags Buddy out of the room, then returns and strictly forbids Annie from running the dean Pelton story. Back in his office, Jeff claims that his attempt to reinvent himself was a failure, and is not suitable for Abed's comparing him to Hawkeye. Abed, realizing Jeff has never seen an episode of M*A*S*H, reassured him that the real Hawkeye Pierce had to make strict decisions too, having moments of gravity as well as levity. Annie comes in and actually thanks Jeff for his reaction, stating she never thought of how it would affect anyone aside from her, until she saw him get mad. Jeff realizes that Buddy simply loves the group as much as he does, allows him back into the group. Just as everyone else begins to accept him, the "cool study group" (Owen Wilson in an uncredited role, Star-Burns, and unnamed Japanese pop enthusiast) comes up and states that they thought it over and they accept Buddy too. Buddy explains that Jeff's group was his fallback, and runs gleefully off to the cool study group.
14	14	"Interpretive Dance"	Justin Lin	Lauren Pomerantz	4.73[15]	January 21, 2010 (2010-01-21)	112
The group finds out that, in contrast to his usual method of operation, Jeff has abandoned one night stands and is having a low key relationship with one woman. With their interest piqued, Jeff refuses to tell them that it is Professor Slater, his statistics teacher from last semester. They must keep their relationship a secret since students and teachers are not allowed to date, and they could both be expelled and fired, respectively. Also keeping a secret is Troy who, in contrast to his status as manly football player, has been taking and exceeding in very graceful dance lessons. While there, he runs into Britta, also attending in secrecy. They decide that they are tired of living double lives, and agree to come clean and invite people to their dance recital that Friday. Jeff and Slater soon get caught making out by the group, so the group swears to keep silent about it. After Slater leaves, Britta comes forth with her news that she is a dancer, and invites the group to the recital. Troy, however, chickens out of telling the truth, and tells Britta he is dropping out of the recital, not wanting to be considered feminine. Dean Pelton immediately gets wind of Jeff and Professor Slater's relationship and asks to see them both in his office. He states that there is paperwork they must fill out, and as they do, find that they have conflicting views on their affair. Jeff views it as simply a friendship with intercourse, while Slater felt offended that Jeff thought of their trysts as "friendly". They both agree that they will start and official relationship with each other, complete with filling out the paperwork required by the college. That night, Britta learns of their development as a couple, and swears that she does not care one way or the other. However, near the end of her performance, she catches sight of them holding hands in the audience and suddenly becomes traumatized; dancing in a trance but stuck in one place. Troy sees this and, understanding that it is the most masculine choice for him to help her out, helps her finish a more contemporary dance routine, to the delight of the entire audience. Afterward, Britta congratulates Jeff on taking a serious step in romance, while Troy is finally happy that he no longer has to keep this branch of his life a secret.
15	15	"Romantic Expressionism"	Joe Russo	Andrew Guest	5.23[16]	February 4, 2010 (2010-02-04)	115
Britta and Jeff conspire to break up Vaughn and Annie by attempting to reignite her feelings for Troy. While, Pierce tries to get some genuine laughs during Troy and Abed's bad movie night.
16	16	"Communication Studies"	Adam Davidson	Chris McKenna	5.15[17]	February 11, 2010 (2010-02-11)	116
On Valentines Day, Britta gets drunk and leaves an embarrassing message for Jeff which causes Abed to point out that Britta has lost her power and that Jeff needs to leave her an equally embarrassing message so she can get it back. Annie and Shirley try to pull a prank on Señor Chang after he embarrasses Troy and Pierce during class.
17	17	"Physical Education"	Anthony Russo	Jessie Miller	5.06[18]	March 4, 2010 (2010-03-04)	118
Jeff eagerly anticipates his cool new billiards class, only to find the instructor insists players must wear the decidedly uncool gym uniform, which Jeff refuses. Intrigued by a Spanish textbook that has romantic drawings of Abed, the women spur him to a personality makeover that will make him more likely to attract a girlfriend.
18	18	"Basic Genealogy"	Ken Whittingham	Karey Dornetto	4.70[19]	March 11, 2010 (2010-03-11)	117
During Family Day at Greendale, Pierce tries to re-connect with his step-daughter Amber (guest star Katharine McPhee) who becomes attracted to Jeff. Britta gets slapped by Troy's nana and Shirley's sons cause havoc for Abed's father.
19	19	"Beginner Pottery"	Anthony Russo	Hilary Winston	5.21[20]	March 18, 2010 (2010-03-18)	114
Jeff signs up for an easy pottery credit taught by a man (Tony Hale) with only one rule: no re-enactments of the pottery love scene from Ghost; however, the class becomes complicated by Jeff's obsession with proving one talented classmate is a ringer. Shirley and others sign up for a boating class taught by Admiral Slaughter (Lee Majors) in the school parking lot, but find land-boating harder than it sounds.
20	20	"The Science of Illusion"	Adam Davidson	Zach Paez	5.07[21]	March 25, 2010 (2010-03-25)	122
Britta pulls an April Fools prank that backfires on her. Annie and Shirley become on-campus security guards with both fighting to be the "bad cop."
21	21	"Contemporary American Poultry"	Tristram Shapeero	Emily Cutler & Karey Dornetto	3.67[22]	April 22, 2010 (2010-04-22)	123
Jeff's plan to get chicken fingers from the school cafeteria for the study group quickly evolves into a mafia movie-style endeavor with Abed calling all the shots. The episode features several cultural references from mobster films such as Goodfellas and The Godfather.
22	22	"The Art of Discourse"	Adam Davidson	Chris McKenna	4.36[23]	April 29, 2010 (2010-04-29)	124
Shirley gets Pierce kicked out the study group, Jeff and Britta plot revenge on a group of high schoolers who make fun of them for attending community college, and Troy helps Abed accomplish some of his movie-clichéd social goals.
23	23	"Modern Warfare"	Justin Lin	Emily Cutler	4.35[24]	May 6, 2010 (2010-05-06)	119
This episode is a parody of post-apocalyptic and combat/survival movies with frequent references to films such as The Terminator, The Warriors, Die Hard and others. When Jeff and Britta enter the library arguing with each other, the rest of the group complains and Abed remarks on the couple's lack of chemistry and high tension have become irritating. Jeff decides to take a nap in his car. A few hours later, he wakes up to Greendale resembling an apocalyptic wasteland covered in bright paint. As he enters the school, he is told that the prize of the Spring Fair paintball competition raised the stakes of the event. After evading Leonard and being saved by Abed, he is thrust into the competition and forms an alliance with Troy and Abed, who reveal the prize is priority registration. After eliminating the chess team, the three run into Pierce, who betrays Star-Burns and joins them. The four take a bathroom break only to find themselves in a trap set up by Shirley, Annie, and Britta. All seven decide to team up. The group approaches the Glee Club, ultimately finishing them off though Troy, Annie, and Pierce are eliminated in the process. The four remaining group members return inside and chat about what they'd do with priority registration. Britta and Abed decide to give the prize to Shirley if they win, when they encounter a group of students on roller skates who take out Abed and Shirley. Britta and Jeff enter the library where they discuss Abed's take on their relationship, before kissing and hooking up on the library table. Afterward, Britta unsuccessfully tries to betray Jeff before Señor Chang barges in the room as the final remaining competitor after he was admitted by the dean as a student. Britta and Chang finish each other off, leaving Jeff as the winner. Jeff goes to claim his prize from the dean, who reveals priority registration is illegal but gives it to Jeff anyway. The next day, Britta and Jeff decide to pretend they hadn't hooked up, and Jeff gives the priority registration to Shirley.
24	24	"English as a Second Language"	Gail Mancuso	Tim Hobert	4.49[25]	May 13, 2010 (2010-05-13)	120
During finals week, Annie worries that the study group will drift apart if they don't take Spanish 103 together next semester. In Spanish class, Señor Chang dismisses the rest of the class and asks Jeff where he got his fake degree, revealing that he does not have a degree, and if he is caught, then Jeff and the whole class will have to redo the class. Annie, leaving her recorder on, inadvertently records Señor Chang's confession to Jeff. The next day the Dean announces that Chang has been replaced. Rather than repeat the class, they will take the final. Meanwhile Troy discovers he has a natural talent for fixing plumbing, and must ward off a persistent maintenance worker, who wants him to use his talent to become a plumber. Chang destroys Jeff's car for revenge, thinking he turned him in, Jeff however questions why he would knowingly ruin his own grade. As everyone faces the fact that they will have to retake Spanish, Jeff realizes that Annie was the one who turned in Chang, remembering that she records every class, and Chang's confession. As everyone shuns her, she tries to redeem herself by making things better with Chang, who finds that his life is better for it, and she helps everyone study for, and pass the final. Cultural references to Good Will Hunting.
25	25	"Pascal's Triangle Revisited"	Joe Russo	Hilary Winston	4.41[26]	May 20, 2010 (2010-05-20)	121
After Britta is nominated for queen of the Transfer Dance, Professor Slater admits to Jeff that she misses him and wants to get back together. Troy is asked by his dad to move out of the house, so he begins dropping hints to Abed that he'd like to move in to Abed's dorm room. Abed, however, avoids the subject and does not offer a spot in the room to Troy. That evening, at Abed's party, Britta rebuffs Jeff's playful flirtation and Jeff criticizes Britta for being too guarded. Professor Slater shows up at the party and begins bickering with Britta over Jeff's attention. The next day, at the Transfer Dance, Troy finds a giant cookie to eat and is offered a place to live by Pierce though he still wants to live with Abed. Abed later explains to him that their personalities would clash if they roomed together and they would "jump the shark". Annie reveals to the group that Vaughn has been selected for a competitive Hacky Sack team in Delaware and will be leaving for the summer, but she secretly tells Jeff that the move is permanent and she won't be coming back to Greendale. Britta and Slater again confront each other about who should be with Jeff before Britta embarrasses herself by assuming she's been named queen. Britta steals the microphone and publicly admits her love to Jeff. Professor Slater also announces the same statement. The crowd in the dance begin egging Jeff on to choose one of the two. Jeff, unsure how to respond, leaves the dance only to bump into Annie who changed her mind about leaving. After the two each share their respective conflicted emotions, Annie gives Jeff a small kiss, and Jeff responds with a bigger one as the two embrace. A stomachache from the cookie makes Troy realize that his friendship with Abed is a good thing he shouldn't have too much of in one sitting and takes up Pierce on his offer, only to realize that Pierce's invitation was for Troy to move in as a live-in butler or servant. In a separate storyline, Chang plans to beat up Duncan, after having been mocked by him for being fired, after turning to him to ask for help cheating his way through to re-obtaining his degree. Chang however cannot, since he would be expelled for hitting a member of the Greendale staff. At the dance, however, Duncan becomes drunk and broadcasts Dean Pelton's "dalmatian fetish", causing him to be suspended. Chang seizes the opportunity and punches him in the face with a roll of quarters.

Production

Casting

Dan Harmon emphasized the importance of the cast to making the premise of the comedy work. "Casting was 95 percent of putting the show together," he said in an interview.^[27] He had worked with several of the cast members earlier; Joel McHale, John Oliver, and Chevy Chase all had cameo roles in episode 9 of Water and Power, the short film series produced by Harmon for Channel 101.^[28] Actor Chevy Chase had long been a favorite of Harmon. Though principally not very partial to sitcoms, Chase was persuaded to take the job by the quality of the show's writing.^[27] Harmon saw similarities between Chase and the character he plays on the show. Though Chase has often been ridiculed for his career choices, Harmon believed this role could be redeeming: "What makes Chevy and Pierce heroic is this refusal to stop."^[29] Harmon had to warn Chase against playing a "wise-ass" the way he often does in his roles, since the character of Pierce is a rather pathetic figure who is normally the butt of the joke himself.^[29]

McHale, known from the E! comedy talk show The Soup, was also (like Chase) impressed by Harmon's writing. He commented that "Dan's script...was so head and shoulders above everything else that I was reading."^[30] McHale appealed to Harmon because of his likeable quality, which allowed the character to possess certain unsympathetic traits without turning the viewer against him.^[29] For the role of Annie, Harmon wanted someone who would resemble Tracy Flick, Reese Witherspoon's character from the 1999 movie Election. Originally the producers were looking for a Latina or Asian Tracy Flick, but could not find any. Instead they ended up casting Alison Brie, known from her role as Trudy Campbell on Mad Men.^[29]

Dan Harmon

Development

The premise of Community was based on Harmon's real-life experiences. In an attempt to save his relationship with his then-girlfriend, he enrolled in Glendale Community College northeast of Los Angeles, where they would take Spanish together.^[27] Harmon got involved in a study group and, somewhat against his own instincts, became closely connected to the group of people with whom he had very little in common. "...I was in this group with these knuckleheads and I started really liking them," he explains, "even though they had nothing to do with the film industry and I had nothing to gain from them and nothing to offer them."^[29] With this as the background, Harmon wrote the show with a main character largely based on himself. He had, like Jeff, been self-centered and independent to the extreme before he realized the value of connecting with other people.^[29]

About the creative process behind the writing, Harmon says that he had to write the show as if it were a movie, not a sitcom. Essentially, he says, the process was no different from the earlier work he had done, except for the length and the target demographic.^[29]

Reception

Critical reception

The show's general reviews have been mostly positive, scoring a 69 out of 100 with critics on Metacritic.^[31] Notably, David Bushman (Curator, Television) of the Paley Center for Media called Community the best new show of the fall season.^[32] Jonah Krakow of IGN gave the first season a 8.5 saying "Given the way Community eventually ramped up and delivered some amazing stories in the second half of the season, I'm extremely excited about what's to come for Season 2."^[33]

Awards and nominations

• The show received a nomination for "Favorite New TV Comedy" at the 36th People's Choice Awards.^[34]
• Justin Lin received a nomination for "Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series" at the Images Awards for "Introduction to Statistics".

Nielsen ratings

The first season averaged 5 million viewers with a 2.4 rating in the 18–49 demographic and ranked #97 for the season.^[35]

DVD release

The first season of Community was released on DVD on September 21, 2010. The DVD contains all 25 episodes on four discs plus special features. Special features on the DVD include:^[36]

• Commentary on every episode. Participants include creator Dan Harmon; cast members Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase; directors Anthony Russo, Joe Russo and Adam Davidson; and writers Andrew Guest, Lauren Pomerantz, Hilary Winston, Karey Dornetto, Chris McKenna and Emily Cutler.
• Outtakes
• Season one cast evaluations
• Season one highlight reel
• "Creative Compromises" featurette
• "Advanced Criminal Law" alternative scenes
• Three mini episodes
• "Kickpuncher" comic book

References

1. ^ "Community - Season 1 Press Release: Date, Packing, Bonus 'Kickpuncher' Comic!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. July 22, 2010. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Community-Season-1-Press-Release/14126. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
2. ^ Seidman, Robert (September 18, 2009). "Thursday night broadcast original final numbers". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/09/18/thursday-night-broadcast-original-final-numbers/27689. Retrieved September 18, 2009. 
3. ^ Seidman, Robert (September 25, 2009). "Thursday broadcast finals, plus quarter hour detail for FlashForward". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/09/25/thursday-broadcast-finals-plus-quarter-hour-detail-for-flashforward/28439. Retrieved September 25, 2009. 
4. ^ Seidman, Robert (October 2, 2009). ""Greys", "Practice", "CSI", "Mentalist" all a tick up in broadcast final, "Leno Show" down a tick". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/10/02/greys-practice-csi-mentalist-all-a-tick-up-in-broadcast-final-leno-show-down-a-tick/29326. Retrieved October 2, 2009. 
5. ^ Seidman, Robert (October 9, 2009). "Thursday broadcast finals: The Office, Bones, Grey's, Supernatural up; Community, Private Practice down a tick". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/10/09/thursday-broadcast-finals-the-office-bones-greys-supernatural-up-a-bit-community-private-practice-down-a-tick/30079. Retrieved October 9, 2009. 
6. ^ Seidman, Robert (October 16, 2009). "Broadcast Finals: Bones, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist up, Private Practice down a tick". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/10/16/broadcast-finals-bones-the-office-greys-anatomy-the-mentalist-up-private-practice-down-a-tick/30682. Retrieved October 16, 2009. 
7. ^ Gorman, Bill (October 23, 2009). "TV Ratings Thursday: Community, FlashForward, Leno Down; Survivor, Grey's Up". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/10/23/tv-ratings-thursday-abc-wins-community-flashforward-leno-down-survivor-greys-up/31278. Retrieved October 23, 2009. 
8. ^ Seidman, Robert (October 30, 2009). "Thursday finals: Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist, 30 Rock tick up, Parks & Recreation, The Jay Leno Show down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/10/30/thursday-finals-greys-anatomy-the-mentalist-30-rock-tick-up-parks-recreation-the-jay-leno-show-down/32134. Retrieved October 30, 2009. 
9. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 6, 2009). "Broadcast Finals: Grey's, CSI, The Office, 30 Rock, The Mentalist, Bones up in finals". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/11/06/broadcast-finals-greys-csi-the-office-30-rock-the-mentalist-bones-up-in-finals/32859. Retrieved November 6, 2009. 
10. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 13, 2009). "Broadcast Finals: Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, The Office, CSI, The Mentalist up; The Vampire Diaries down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/11/13/30-rock-the-office-csi-the-mentalist-up-up-the-vampire-diaries-down/33625. Retrieved November 13, 2009. 
11. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 20, 2009). "Thursday broadcast finals: Grey's Anatomy up; The Vampire Diaries, 30 Rock down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/11/20/thursday-broadcast-finals-greys-anatomy-up-the-vampire-diaries-30-rock-down/34232. Retrieved November 20, 2009. 
12. ^ Gorman, Bill (December 4, 2009). "Thursday broadcast & cable finals: Flash Forward Down; Other Broadcast shows unchanged". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/12/04/thursday-broadcast-other-broadcast-shows-unchanged/35341. Retrieved December 4, 2009. 
13. ^ Gorman, Bill (December 11, 2009). "Broadcast Finals: Survivor, CSI, Mentalist, Community, Parks, Office, 30 Rock, Leno All Down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/12/11/broadcast-finals-survivor-csi-mentalist-community-parks-office-30-rock-leno-all-down/36012. Retrieved December 11, 2009. 
14. ^ Gorman, Bill (January 15, 2010). "TV Ratings: Private Practice Crossover Boost; Bones High; Grey's, CSI, 30 Rock, Leno Hit Lows". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/01/15/tv-ratings-practice-crossover-boost-bones-season-high-greys-record-low-leno-thursday-low/39011. Retrieved January 15, 2010. 
15. ^ Gorman, Bill (January 22, 2010). "TV Ratings Thursday: Deep End Underwater; Bones High; CSI, Mentalist, Grey's Series Lows". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/01/22/tv-ratings-thursday-deep-end-underwater-bones-annual-high-csi-mentalist-greys-series-lows/39739. Retrieved January 22, 2010. 
16. ^ Gorman, Bill (February 5, 2010). "Thursday Broadcast Final Ratings; Vampire Diaries, Community Tick Up". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/02/05/thursday-broadcast-final-ratings-vampire-diaries-community-tick-up/41218. Retrieved February 5, 2010. 
17. ^ Seidman, Robert (February 12, 2010). "Thursday Broadcast Finals: Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist Tick Up, Private Practice, 30 Rock Tick Down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/02/12/thursday-broadcast-finals-greys-anatomy-the-mentalist-tick-up-private-practice-30-rock-tick-down/41890. Retrieved February 12, 2010. 
18. ^ Gorman, Bill (March 5, 2010). "TV Ratings: Fox Wins The Night; But Office, Marriage Ref Win Their Hours In Adults 18-49". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/03/05/tv-ratings-fox-wins-the-night-but-office-marriage-ref-win-their-hours-in-adults-18-49/43897. Retrieved March 5, 2010. 
19. ^ Gorman, Bill (March 12, 2010). "TV Ratings: American Idol Leads Fox Win; Marriage Ref Loses Yardage". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/03/12/tv-ratings-american-idolmarriage-ref-loses-yardage/44704. Retrieved March 12, 2010. 
20. ^ Gorman, Bill (March 19, 2010). "TV Ratings: March Madness Upsets Thursday; FlashForward Return Fizzles". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/03/19/tv-ratings-march-madness-upsets-thursday-flashforward-return-fizzles/45367. Retrieved March 19, 2010. 
21. ^ Seidman, Robert (March 25, 2010). "Broadcast Finals: The Middle, Modern Family, Idol, Survivor, ANTM Rise". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/03/25/broadcast-finals-the-middle-modern-family-idol-survivor-antm-rise/46117. Retrieved March 25, 2010. 
22. ^ Gorman, Bill (April 23, 2010). "Thursday Broadcast Finals: Vampire Diaries, Supernatural Adjusted Up; Community, Office Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/04/23/thursday-broadcast-finals-vampire-diaries-supernatural-adjusted-up-community-office-adjusted-down/49562. Retrieved April 23, 2010. 
23. ^ Seidman, Robert (April 30, 2010). "Thursday Finals FlashForward, Survivor, Bones Adjusted Up; Community, Parks & Rec, Private Practice Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/04/30/thursday-finals-flashforward-survivor-bones-adjusted-up-community-parks-rec-private-practice-adjusted-down/50200. Retrieved April 30, 2010. 
24. ^ Seidman, Robert (May 7, 2010). "Thursday Finals: Survivor, Bones, Adjusted Up; 30 Rock Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/05/07/thursday-finals-survivor-bones-adjusted-up-30-rock-adjusted-down/50840. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
25. ^ Gorman, Bill (May 14, 2010). "Thursday Finals: Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, CSI, Mentalist, Community Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/05/14/thursday-finals-survivor-greys-anatomy-csi-mentalist-community-adjusted-up/51466. Retrieved May 14, 2010. 
26. ^ Gorman, Bill (May 21, 2010). "TV Ratings: Grey's Anatomy Rules Finale Thursday; Bones, FlashForward, CSI, Parks, 30 Rock, Ref Rise". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/05/21/tv-ratings-greys-anatomy-rules-finale-thursday-bones-flashforward-csi-parks-30-rock-ref-all-rise/52027. Retrieved May 21, 2010. 
27. ^ ^{a b c} "Fine writing spurs Chevy to move to ‘Community'". Omaha World-Herald. 2009-09-22. http://www.omaha.com/article/20091022/ENTERTAINMENT/710229873. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
28. ^ "Water and Power Episode Nine at Channel101.com". http://www.channel101.com/shows/view.php?media_id=2621. Retrieved 2009-09-12. 
29. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Hyden, Steven (2009-09-19). "How Dan Harmon went from doing ComedySportz in Milwaukee to creating NBC's Community". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/how-dan-harmon-went-from-doing-comedysportz-in-mil,34126/. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
30. ^ Loggins, Emma (2009-10-19). "Joel McHale & Dan Harmon of Community". Fanbolt. http://www.fanbolt.com/headline/7258/Interview:_Joel_McHale___Dan_Harmon_from_Community. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
31. ^ "Community: Season 1". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/community/season-1. Retrieved February 16, 2010. 
32. ^ Bushman, David (2009-10-13). "And the Best New Show of the Season Is...". Paley Center. http://www.paleycenter.org/bushman-and-the-best-new-show-of-the-season-is. Retrieved February 16, 2010. 
33. ^ Krakow, Jonah (May 27, 2010). "Community: Season 1 Review". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/109/1093280p1.html. Retrieved June 6, 2010. 
34. ^ Dawidziak, Mark (2009-11-10). "Patricia Heaton's 'The Middle' and Russo brothers' 'Community' nab nominations". Cleveland.com. http://www.cleveland.com/tv/index.ssf/2009/11/patricia_heatons_the_middle_an.html. Retrieved December 4, 2009. 
35. ^ Gorman, Bill (June 16, 2010). "Final 2009-10 Broadcast Primetime Show Average Viewership". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/06/16/final-2009-10-broadcast-primetime-show-average-viewership/54336. Retrieved June 19, 2010. 
36. ^ Lacey, Gord (October 14, 2010). "Community - The Complete 1st Season Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/reviews/Community-Complete-1st-Season/9849. Retrieved December 16, 2010. 

External links

• Episode recaps at NBC.com
• List of Community episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Community season 1 episodes at TV.com