Self-referential humor in Community

Community was an American sitcom that ran on NBC from 2009 to 2014 and Yahoo! Screen in 2015. The show became known for its frequent use of meta or inside jokes and pop culture references. These gags have strengthened the cult following of the series, resulting in various online posts and articles identifying and explaining the jokes.

Metahumor

Usually by way of the pop culture-obsessed Abed Nadir, Community frequently comes close to breaking the fourth wall or otherwise referencing itself as a television series.

Season 2

In "The Psychology of Letting Go", Abed

In "Cooperative Calligraphy", Abed and Jeff make various references to the episode being a "bottle episode", a common sitcom trope where the main cast is kept on a single set for the entire episode, resulting in a dialogue heavy

In the season finale, Abed says "We've left the western motif and are now in more of a Star Wars scenario", referencing the previous episode, which paid homage to western films and the episode itself, with did the same for Star Wars. Later in the episode, while the group discusses the next class they will take together, Abed vetoes the idea of taking Anthropology 201 (the next level of the class they currently were enrolled in together) saying "Too risky. Sequels are almost always disappointing"

Season 3

In the season premiere, the main cast (with the exception of Pierce) sing a song, "We're Gonna Finally Be Fine", which makes various jabs and references to criticisms of the show.

Inside Jokes, Running Gags, and Easter Eggs

There has been debate within the Community fan base in which running jokes are often referred to as meta, even if they don't fit the typical definition of meta humor. One potential cause of this confusion is the recursion in which jokes that are originally meta become running gags. Regardless, here is a list of recurring jokes throughout the series.

Background Gags

Community often used (often blurry) elements of the background of various shots to make jokes or other references.

Examples

In "The Psychology of Letting Go", Abed can be seen throughout the episode in the background befriending a pregnant woman, running from her aggravated boyfriend, and then, eventually, assisting in the delivery of the couples' child in the back of a van. This episode first aired on October 7, 2010, ten months after the first airing of "The Politics of Human Sexuality", in which Abed tells all the students of Greendale not to use a condom, as the free ones given out at the school were faulty.

In "Cooperative Calligraphy", Troy's monkey is seen stealing one of Annie's pens, which later becomes the focus of the episode.

In the first season episode "Communication Studies" and a season later, in "Cooperative Calligraphy", a character is show saying "Beetlejuice" (Michelle Slater in the former, Britta in the latter). In season 3, the famous summoning ritual was completed when, in "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps", Annie says the name once again. Immediately, a person in a Beetlejuice costume is seen walking behind her.

References

This article "Self-referential humor in Community" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Self-referential humor in Community. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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