Community, created by Dan Harmon, is an NBC sitcom starring Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, a lazy student who starts up a study group at a community college. The show is known for its smart writing and high joke density. Fans of this show don’t just watch casually, they are always looking for the subtle background jokes that are packed into every episode. For example, in the Season 2 episode “The Psychology of Letting Go,” Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) has a subplot that is entirely in the background. Viewers who pay attention will notice that throughout the episode Abed can be seen in the background assisting a young couple and eventually helping to deliver a baby. This isn’t fully acknowledged until much later in the season, when Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown) goes into labor and Abed mentions his previous experience.
With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice now in theaters, it’s a good time to remember one of Community’s most elaborate background gags. The trickster demon Beetlejuice, played by Michael Keaton, is not only hilarious in his movies, he also inspired this incredible Community joke. Despite the joke being a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background gag, it took three seasons to execute.
In Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, the titular character is summoned when someone says his name three times. Community played on this brilliantly and subtly. The groundwork for the joke is laid in two separate episodes in the first two seasons. In the Community Season 1 episode “Communication Studies,” Jeff’s love interest Michelle Slater (Lauren Stamile) is talking to him about the study group. Slater has a strained relationship with Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) because of the romantic tension that she has with Jeff. So, she makes fun of Britta’s name by asking Jeff, “What’s the blonde’s name? Bitter? Butter? Beetlejuice?” Later, in the Season 2 episode “Cooperative Calligraphy,” Britta comments on Jeff’s underwear by calling them “stripey turquoise Beetlejuice numbers,” a reference to Beetlejuice’s iconic striped suit.
The punchline for the gag comes in the Community Season 3 Halloween episode titled “Horror Fiction in Spooky Steps.” Annie Edison (Alison Brie) complains that Britta’s Halloween party playlist is just the Beetlejuice soundtrack and NPR podcasts. Just as Annie makes this complaint, someone dressed as Beetlejuice walks by behind her. The moment makes perfect sense and doesn’t call attention to itself. It’s not surprising a Halloween party playlist might include the Beetlejuice soundtrack or that someone would be wearing a Beetlejuice costume on Halloween. So, the moment doesn’t feel odd to a casual viewer. But, viewers who’ve been paying a lot of attention to the show are rewarded with a big laugh when they realize that Beetlejuice appeared just when his name was said for the third time. The fact that the joke was set up in Season 1 then paid off in Season 3, with 38 episodes in between, shows real patience and attention to detail on the part of the writers.
The Beetlejuice joke on Community is much easier to catch on streaming. When someone is binge-watching the show, episodes from previous seasons are fresher in their mind. But, some particularly on-the-ball viewers did notice it even when new episodes were airing weekly and there were months long hiatuses in between seasons. One YouTube video that clips together the full joke is dated November 22, 2011, about a month after “Horror Fiction in Spooky Steps” aired. It’s incredible that not only were the writers putting so much effort into gags, but Community’s fans were taking notice.
Community is full of Easter eggs and elaborate jokes. There’s one Community joke that’s even more elaborate than the Beetlejuice gag. This joke requires viewers to watch a completely different show to see the punchline. In the Season 2 episode “Critical Film Studies,” Abed tells Jeff that he was once an extra on Cougar Town, but he pooped his pants during the filming. This pays off in the Cougar Town Season 2 episode “Something Good Coming.” There’s a scene with Danny Pudi in the background, in character as Abed. He does a poor job of being an extra, and he does eventually run off in a panic as though he’s pooped his pants.
Community is a show that rewards multiple viewings. The best scenes not only pack lots of jokes into the dialogue, but also have great background gags. The variety of clever jokes makes Community worth revising over and over.
Every season of Community is available to stream in the U.S. on Peacock.
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