Why Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is the Best Episode of Community
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- čas přidán 6. 02. 2020
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Yes I know we saw Neil before, what I meant was he never had any importance when it came to narrative until this episode
The best episode of the best show. Leave a like :)
music by savfk:
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My all time favorite NBC sitcom is Community.
Notorious for going over budget, so many episodes of community were shot like they were an entire movie. In fact, many episodes of community were directed by the russo brothers, you may know them for their work on movies like, oh i don’t know two of the top grossing movies of all time.
And while the constant genre flipping and creative, out of the box production of community certainly made it special, to this day it is the characters that keep me coming back to the show.
And that is why i can say with confidence that my favorite episode of community is not one in which there are constant special effects or cinematic angles. Actually, most of the episode is filmed in one room. The episode I’m talking about is advanced dungeons and dragons.
One day dan harmon, the creator of the show who you might also know as a co creator of rick and morty, brought a crate of his old dungeons and dragons books into is writers room plopped it on the table, and begged asked his staff to help him write a story involving the the famed tabletop game. And what they came up with was actually pretty brilliant.
See, for any story to be interesting, there has to be some sort of stakes. The writers’ solution?
They introduce a character with declining mental health, and imply that his dungeons and dragons game with the study group has the potential to influence whether he chooses to continue living or not.
And that is how they figured out how to make the outcome of a tabletop game compelling.
Now it was actually kind of risky to try to get the audience to care about a character they had never seen before and had no reason to care about. But, in my opinion, they do a great job making you care about fat neil from the beginning through the narration of his backstory as well as the cast of this man who just does such a great job of looking vulnerable that you can’t help but care for the dude.
Speaking of the beginning, this just happens to be the first episode I show to people when I’m trying to convince them to watch the show. That’s because I don’t necessarily think the pilot represents the show very well, but also because the narrator gives short descriptions of each character at the start of the episode, so even if you have no idea who anyone is, you’re given a great starting point for understanding the existing dynamic of the study group.
If I’m a new viewer I can watch this and in 15 seconds I already know that Annie is a recovering headcase, troy is dopey, shirley is overly nice, abed is weird, britta sucks, and pierce is a dick.
The show constantly satirizes different film and tv styles too, so the use of a narrator to set the stage is new, but not surprising to the returning viewer of the show. And, most importantly, it allows the writers to get the audience to care about fat neil as early on in the episode as they can, which works in their favor as it makes the conflict more compelling.
After the intro, the entire episode is filmed in one location, with the exception of a couple shots of pierce in a closet.
But, the writing, cinematography, and sound design all give the episode a much more expansive feel.
The writing is well paced and helps to further flesh out the dynamic of the group as each group member delivers lines that further their characterization.
This episode was directed by Joe Russo, who, as I mentioned before, had gone on to work on some pretty impressive projects. One might think the lack or visual effects in this episode would make it easier to direct, but I disagree. If anything, the static location and characters probably provided a greater challenge to Russo as he had to figure out a way to film the episode in a way that was still visually appealing.
When the game starts the shots very simple and stationary, but as the game goes on and the stakes elevate, Russo makes the shots more dynamic as he incorporates more and more camera movement.
The first time the camera really moves is when pierce shows up and the camera ominously dollies toward him. This is significant because pierces introduction to the scene further threatens neil, as well as the success of the game.
The last and, in my opinion, most important piece of this episode that makes it seem larger than it is is the sound design. With every action in the game, there is a corresponding sound effect. It really helps the viewer imagine the scenarios the characters describe, and obviously the score does a great job of impacting the tone each scene is going for. - Komedie
A lot of people think I made this video because I was mad that it got taken down, but if you check the dates you'll see this video was actually published 4 months before that happened. This essay came straight from a love of this episode, and not from any place of frustration or contempt. I hope it comes off that way, and thanks for watching
didnt even know this episode existed thank uu
This and remedial chaos theory are top 2 for me as well
Thank you for posting. You made a good video
Fans: This is the best Community episode
Netflix: You didn't see anything...
GerudoKing absolute disgrace they removed it
Both Netflix and Hulu removed it so it seems like a Sony decision
@@batmankissingbatcow Not necessarily. Sony didn't share any comment about the case. Episode is still on Prime.
Right??
So messed up, hes an elf not a black person.
"I attack them using my... additional notes."
"It has no effect."
Genius writing.
I take my throwing knife and throw it....
knife-style.
Reminds me of Chris Prat's improvised line in Parks and Rec: "Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here and it says you could have... Network connectivity problems."
I’m I’m gonna o
Fortunately for everyone they solved racism by taking this episode off Netflix.
theolay All they accomplished is calling more attention to this episode and making more people seek it out on other streaming services.
Especially because the leave in the episode where pierce does blackface and yelowface with his hand puppets. Then proceeds to put on the most offensive puppet show. Netflix done fucked up.
Bullshit, now I’m on the episode where they play it the second time, and I’m like wtf when did they play it THE FIRST TIME 🤨, than I come to find they removed it, this sucks.
@@Raizle777 That sucks man, its genuinely one of their best episodes. All about helping people who are struggling and stopping bullying. But we can't have that positive message because someone looked inappropriate.
Racism is NO MORE
When Pierce dies in Season 5, Fat Neal gives an eulogy on the Radio and calls him "the best DnD player"
Which is just amazing.. it also shows that the Fat Neal continued to be friends with Pierce..
Apparently they did play through the entire show
And without the episode existing anymore new viewers lose some context
"Its time to level up."
@@seanakinskywalker2619 Also, the second D&D game when they reference this one.
It also feeds into the character arc that leads to the documentary episode... I just realised that a ton of episodes from Season 2,3,5 and 6 have been called the best ones (especially season 2). I think that just means that Community is a significantly better show than most ever have the chance to be.
Also Annie's proficiency at the seduction makes her apartment being above a sex shop not just a joke but an actual contribution to the plot.
Everyone tried not to sexualize her and she did it herself
I didn't think about Dildopolis' effect on her psyche! Also I saw Alison Brie talking about that scene and apparently it was like a 10 minute improv of increasingly filthy sex acts. Didn't even need the sound to give me that weird tingly feeling.
@@jackcoogan310 Alison and her hubby Dave Franco have nude pool parties - she is very well versed in the erotic
2 fingers? 3?
...4 fingers?! OK..
*spanking motions*
I never thought about it that way!
My favorite joke in the series was when Abed wouldn't let Jeff talk to the gnome because he didn't speak gnome so Britta has to do all the talking until it goes off the rails and somebody says "will you just ask him about the Pegesus" and the gnome says "Did you say Pegasus? A word I understand in any language" The look Jeff gives Abed after that has me rolling every time.
Steve McElroy That’s what I love about this show. All of their looks when the camera isn’t focused on them is gold
My favorite part is annie seducing the gnome maiden on the pegasi stable, it always crack me up
lia renee wait wasn’t it a half elven maiden or am I misremembering. Just being pedantic
Why don't I remember this?
@@liarenee8132 Allison Brie is basically famous for pretending to be innocent and naive while everyone around her reacts in shock and horror.
So Netflix didn’t realize that Shirley recognizes the blackface and then it is explained that’s its a dark elf...like really it’s a joke on Chang and not racial.
Well it's funny *because* it's racial, that's kind of the joke, I'm not saying I agree with Netflix decision, I don't, I think it's dumb, or even that I think it's racist or offensive, but the joke *is* racial.
At least in my opinion, you might disagree though :/
It was a racial joke though, that was the whole point of the joke
Yeah if Netflix always had a problem with fictional characters in community being accidentally racist the whole show would be censored
@@addamazeing yes, It Is a racial joke. But the joke is not "hey, Chang Is Black", the joke is that he has Zero sensitivity and he does not realize that he's being racist.
@@gaussiano3388
yep
This episode has such an important messages. And instead of just editing around the 1 racist joke they pulled the entire episode. This was the best suicide awareness PSA I’ve ever seen
Racist?? He's a dark elf...
@@GerBarne it’s still black face
@@rebeccalan4831 but black face is putting on makeup to intentionally make fun of the race. In this instance it isn't blackface
@@rebeccalan4831 No it isn't. Are coal miners or chimney sweeps doing black face at work? No.
Context matters.
The context of Chang having his face painted black was to role play as a dark elf, not a black person.
@@rebeccalan4831 It is not blackface, it was Drow face. Was Chang performing a Minstrel act? No, he was playing D&D.
I’ll never forget when Shirley says “so we just gonna ignore that hate crime” and Chang responds with “I’m a dark elf”
"I'm an elf, not a nerd."
Netflix did
Right? And it wasn't technically black face because he painted his entire body the colour of a dark elf. I can't believe this episode was removed from many streaming services because people confused it for black face. The show even knew this by having Shirley say that line. Chang is the most oblivious character. Of COURSE he'd paint his entire body black to fit into the game and the study group.
its neither hate nor a crime. that was such a stupid line by shirley and unfortunately also a lie many garbage humans use
@@dervakommtvonhinten517 ok.....
Big bang theory:
Penny: "What are you guys doing tonight? It's friday"
Leonard: "Playing D&D"
*INSERT INSANE LAUGH TRACK*
Leonard: "Want to join"
*LAUGH TRACK CONTINUES ON FOR 30 SECONDS! THE JOKE IS THEY'RE PLAYING D&D !!! ON A FRIDAY!!!!!! WHAT NERDS!!!!*
Community:
Let's tackle a very realistic situation regarding self esteem and suicide from depression and exclusion... what should we do?
Tackle it head on with D&D to try and find a equalizer to connect to somebody and make them feel important.
This is why Community is the ultimately superior show
Amen
One review for BBT took the words right out of my mouth by calling it, "Nerd Blackface". It wasn't a show for nerds, it was a show for people who knew nothing about nerds. Community did nerds right, as did Chuck.
Bazinga
Community calls attention to the absurdity of things, but doesn't just rub it in our faces. It just...passively turns them into the main focus of the episode while, through Jeff's character, making it 100% natural, occasionally calling what they're doing "stupid" and unnatural...before diving right back into it.
This is true, but also jabs at Big Bang Theory have gotten pretty old
Community is so great you can literally make a video with the title “Why [insert any episode from Community] is the best Community episode ever.
Well except for: 'Why Intro to Felt Surrogacy is the best Community episode ever'
@@tell-talehearts4462 I'd take "Intro to Felt Surrogacy" over "The Art of Discourse" any day. It's the "Scott's Tots" of Community.
@@Anarchristian_Beanz I hope you've come to realize how wrong all of what you said is.
That scene of Chang walking slowly, and disappearing with that Eagle sound in the background was fantastic, I always look forward to that scene
I laughed so much at that I took 6d8 psychic damage. I thought I was gonna slowly fade away to fake Enya too.
"I cast shape change on Duquesne"
"What shape?"
"Faaaaaaaaat"
"How fat?"
"Make him as fat as Fat Neil? "
It gets me every time
I think Neil’s sad looks of despair is the saddest i’ve felt watching Community. It was heartbreaking. It made their triumph that much more impactful
This made me nearly spit out my cornflakes, I forgot about that joke entirely thank you so much
Get out of my chair! You're stretching it! I still say this to people, even skinny people
@@saiyanroyalty229 That line was straight up ruthless. He said it to an obese kid who had been bullied his whole life and severely depressed. His only escape was D&D where he can be a better version of himself and escape reality. Then Pierce completely shattered it.
Chevy had such a chilling presence in that episode. Downright evil. Such a shame he dislike the show's writing.
Welp, not anymore. Since according to Netflix, this episode doesn't exist.
Luckily I watched the episode for the first time before it got taken down. It was one of my favourites. What's wrong with the episode?? PC gone crazy
Wow I lucked out, I’ve been watching for Community for the first time and saw this episode a couple weeks before it was pulled
I hate that Netflix did this, because my friend had just started watching and he was only a few episodes behind this one when it got removed.
@@richardgurney1844 It was due to the blackface (Chang's drow makeup). I understand why they removed it, but I think that they should really just release a new edit of the episode without that. It would be difficult, but not impossible. And honestly, that joke wasn't that funny, so removing it doesn't fundamentally change the episode.
Although I should point out that Hulu did this as well, since most people seem to just be pinning it on Netflix.
@@xxxdumbwordstupidnumberxxx4844 but he was a dark elf.....
After watching this episode recently, you can actually edit out Chang pretty easily. I'm surprised Netflix didn't just do that. I'd rather have a Changless episode than none at all.
maybe is part of the contract like they cant have the episode if they edit it
Netflix didn't/doesn't care about racism, they just heard people talking about this episode, so they silently removed it.
They didn't wanna waste time Chang-ing it
I for one do not want to have Changnesia imposed on me by misguided political correctness.
Where did you watch the episode?
Its a shame that this episode was removed from Netflix for using elfface
Dark Elves Matter... or something. Nobody knows the rules anymore.
Not sure what this youtube video is talking about. I just watched all of the seasons of Community on Netflix and never saw an episode like that.
@@FrederickTheGrt they actually did make it! netflix just removed it for being racist despite them discussing it in the episode.
@@jaspertheirmajesty9771 that' the joke
@@FrederickTheGrt I actually watched Community for the first time on Netflix this year, and I'm glad I did so before they scrubbed this episode
The genuine look of surprise on Jeff's face when Britta answers with 'Sex' to his 'What am i not good at?' always gets me.
everytime
It’s so perfect
Y e s !!!!!!
Jeff's look was the funniest response I have ever seen. This episode was definitely the funniest.
„Beg your pardon?“ lol
Why Advanced Dungeons and Dragons WAS the Best Episode of Community
Its finally time to pirate!
@@ohBoyahandle yeah
Its still on amazon prime
It is still online on Prime Video. Glad it wasn't removed from there too
Muffl Sand hell yeah
I just watched community for the first time, and had to find out about this episode after binging the whole series. I feel like I missed out by not seeing it in order. I was also confused in the second dungeons and dragons episode when they talked about playing dungeons and dragons again
True but there were times the show referenced (and even had "clips" from) events that never actually took place in the storyline, like the time they all went to the wild west town in S2E21 Paradigms of Human Memory
The greatest compliment is what Neal says to Pierce at the end. "That was the best game of my life" A friend who's able to play a good bad guy is priceless. I've played some epic games of D&D and the best ones are always when you have someone new come into the game and they try and mess with everyone cuz they don't really know what's going on.
It has Disco and Dragons vibes throughout.
“And as they described themselves walking, so did Abed confirm they walked “. This is such a simple sentence but it has always made me laugh so hard
With Neil intently whispering "I walk with them" being the cherry on top
“I walk with them.”
I play d&d and this is so accurate
That's not even an exaggeration, we've had entire DnD sessions describing walking before. We call them road trip sessions and the DM made a custom board of different activities we could do while walking for us to put our minifigures on, like foraging or sitting in the cart reading.
Milla Saunders your dm sounds awesome
Chang, without a trace of irony, saying "I'm an elf, not a nerd", always cracks me up.
My favorite was the 7 different timeline episode. You really get insight into each character, their role in the group, and their relationships with each other.
I used to think fondly of that episode but on second watch it made me uncomfortable. I did enjoy how they laid it out and made every single detail in it cause a pretty convincing chain reaction, but something about the devastatingly different results made it seem like the group has nothing in common and like they hated each other and were held together by luck. It felt to me like the show shot itself in the foot by implying that, since we knew the characters so well at this point that we as fans could contradict that.
Remedial Chaos Theory is a fantastic episode, with some of the best memes to boot, but this one hits a little harder, emotionally
My favorite is the dystopian one, its so absurd
@@elplaceholder i don't remember. which one was that?
it annoys me because besides abed they'd all have to be unable to count past 6 for it to make sense
“I attack them with my…additional notes” Kills me every time
aaaand now one of the best episodes of the show has been removed from netflix bc of chang’s “blackface.” he was cosplaying as an ELF and they all acknowledge how problematic it is right away
"acknowledge how problematic" lmao okay schizo
Jack the fact you called this completely normal comment a schizo comment points towards you being the schizo here actually
Jack did you not watch the part where shirley asked “are gonna acknowledge the hate crime that just occurred?”
I’m black and was 0% offended this cancel culture is some bullshit and in its self is problematic
King Cozy offensive doesn’t necessarily mean it has to hurt you personally, you can still notice that other people affected WERE offended. “Drow’s” origins offended a lot of people and that’s what Harmon was portraying with Chang’s part and the scene in questions. That the racism in the cosplay and LARPing community has affected real people but people defend with “it’s just cosplay”.. so how far is too far?
I started caring about Neil when the teacher called on him as Fat Neil. It broke my heart
It's his expression, right?
My “overweight” friend was going through a hard time. I showed him this episode to try to cheer him up and he shed a tear during the intro when the students were singing “Hey fatty fatty” to Neil. I felt bad but I wanted him to watch it because it was a great episode.
Even without any audio, every time that guy was onscreen my heart broke. Like Tyler said, Charley Koontz is SO good at being vulnerable (and the Russos are particularly good at directing vulnerability)
Honestly, this show's ability to be funny but also well written and evoke proper emotion amazes me. So many comedies and especially sitcoms just try to be funny with no regard for story or character. It's so refreshing
@@pairot01 it comes out during this episode that Jeff's the guy who originated the nickname which is why he feels so guilty and responsible for Neil's well-being.
Worst part of it is that they explain the black face joke with Shirley but Netflix is still stupid enought to cancel it :/
exactly. the joke wasn't at black people's expense, but at chang's stupidity for not realizing it was blackface. a joke about racism isn't necessarily a racist joke, but i guess netflix doesn't care about an entire episode because of ONE joke that wouldn't work so well today.
I'm not gonna comment on whether I think it's a good joke or not, but just because a joke is explained, doesn't mean it's ok. If someone makes a joke which includes a million different slurs and someone else says "Oh, you're so stupid, this is an example of someone stupid, dear viewer, and someone whom you should not be like, and who is in the wrong regarding this joke that was said a couple moments ago", it doesn't excuse the slurs. Impact > intent.
Again, I'm not talking about a specific joke, just generally.
@@m_milos agreed. Imo, if a group feels offended, listen to them. Now idk much about the discourse regarding this specific incident, how it played out, what was said and by whom etc but if they're offended then that's that and it should be respected. I love this episode, sucks for me that it's not on netflix anymore. But my feelings about that are not exactly above what the offended group might feel. It shouldn't be that hard to recognise and put others' feelings over your own right? It's just a show..
Bit late, but I'm pretty sure the point of the joke was basically: Group is uncomfortable with Chang's blackface, Chang explains himself (with the "nerd" rebuttal as to why he's still wearing normal clothes over it), Group realizes Chang isn't being a racist, he's being an idiot, and they all move on because the stupidity isn't worth commenting on further.
@@yasmimsilvarodrigues2154 It is NOT blackface. Black people could literally not fucking exist and Chang would still paint himself PITCH FUCKIN BLACK, a color not a single fucking human being actually has on their skin, because the fictional species is "dark elf".
The joke is that Shirley, a black woman, makes EVERYTHING about race, and thus thinks Chang is doing "blackface", just as you are. Chang is just cosplaying, and painting your skin a non-normal color is literally key in cospalying, just like any fucking She-Hulk cosplayer has to paint herself green, or Starfire cosplayers orange.
Painting your skin =/= racist.
Is "Dan Harmon's Story Circle" just the Greendale school flag?
Hahahahahaha holy shit
oh my god how I not see it! he's been trolling us the whole time!
A A A A A A H
A Casual on Survival That’s exactly what I thought when I saw it! Haha
There's a time and a place for subtlety
Troy taking notes and saying “how long?” is one of my favorite jokes in the entire show
What joke? I'm still waiting for the answer...
@@ClassifiedRanTom when Annie is describing how she is wooing the elf maiden, Troy is taking notes and asking questions.
No Sanctuary they were telling a joke
@@nicerock5506 aah, my bad.
"Asking for an Abed..."
My favorite thing about the community "community" is how everyone has a full essay of why "x" or "y" episode is their favorite. Mostly because it reflects how well made this series was made (with the exception of the 4th season)
The 4th season isn't that bad either, just not as aggressively awesome
The second AD&D episode in season 5 is also great. Professor Hickey interrogating the trolls absolutely floored me.
Joel has talked about how amazing Chevy’s performance was in this episode. I completely agree.
Kornobi Starcatcher I 100% agree too, Dan even admits Chevy was great as pierce, it’s just who he was behind the scenes lol
Agree. Too bad it started the trend of his character becoming a straight up evil in the group. Season 1 Pierce was the best, oblivious and impolite while still dropping wisdom from time to time, sometimes unaware
tylermsc what happened behind the scenes?
Daniel Kinney He was notoriously difficult to work with during the time of the show
Joaquin Pirotto Kinda makes sense though. He kept being kicked off to the side by his friends so he slowly becomes angered. That’s what makes his characterization so relatable because people in a friend group could be affected.
Let all accept though that the episodes best moment is the death of senior Chang’s character. The fact that he immediately dies after FINALLY getting accepted into one of the groups activities is funny in itself but when you add the black face, the sudden kick in of the Chinese ballad, the scream of noooooooo, everyone’s reaction in the group, and the walk away... it’s perfection.
Joseph Chappell also how he just fades from existence at the end
Bro facts Ken Jeong carried so much of that show
Its not a blackface its a "drow" face
the fade away as he left had the whole room laughing here. good times.
Dismissing Chang quickly when he should've been accepted was kind of a running gag. The pop and locktoberfest, the vote between him and Dr Rich, cooperative polygraphy, and a couple more.
The risqué blackface joke isn't even as bad as the molestation jokes etc, Netflix took an important part of the show off to be ahead of cancel culture
If they remove this they have to take the whole show down 😭
Remove the Dean, remove every jew joke, remove the Trampoline episode ending
It's an indication of today's time. Whenever someone does something racist or otherwise horrible and gets called out for it, they will IMMEDIATELY point at something completely different and say "what about that?". Whataboutism didn't start with Trump, but he certainly took it an ran with it. How is that important? Even with the "blackface" of AD&D being firmly rooted in a context that doesn't make it offensive, there are some Nazis who are just waiting to create a horribly racist show and when someone criticizes them for the blackface they use they could have just gone: "Community did it too!"
Even Netflix India didn't include this episode. What a shame!
Something else that's good is that after fat Neil was introduced, he wasn't just forgotten he kept coming back in other episodes which was dope too
Fat Neil wasn't introducced this episode, though. Duncan called him Fat Neil a few episodes before this in anthropology.
The only thing I wish was to maybe see more of Neil and Vickys relationship develop in the background
I loved the bit in Anthropology class: "Neil is fine." "Not from an actuarial standpoint."
Yeah there were so many characters especially with abed that we never saw again that I would have loved to see again. Especially the secret service agent, I understand why she never appeared again but if there were a few nods or references to her and maybe another appearance would be cool
And after pierce died, he's Neil x said when he was the best dnd player he'd ever played with, implying that they did end up playing together again after this episode
It’s super easy to forget that nearly this entire episode takes place in one room
hold on it doesnt though lol pierce was in a broom closet for half the episode and jeff kept taking people outside the room to talk in private
Not if you watch the show regularly. It's a thing they constantly bring up--bottle episodes. That's how good the writing is.
Netflix be like:
"Advanced Dungeons and Dragons? You go drow so sunovabiach!"
"Cuties? Aww, who's my favourite pole dancers"
I actually really like Britta’s character. The way she perceives the world is interesting
"You will never understand"
It’s a common college student Marxist mindset. Idk if that’s interesting, it’s everywhere these days.
I think she has good intentions underneath it all
I love her so much
@@misanthropicservitorofmars2116 Yep, but she is one of the good ones, she only votes on The Voice
I attack them using my... Additional Notes 😂 reminds me of Chris Pratt's "Network connectivity issues" from Parks and Rec
Maazin5 or when the dean was on the phone going “can I just say that I loved you in..innnnnnnnnnnn..... IMDB”
Don't let that distract you from the fact that Chris Pratt had CGI muscles
“leslie i googled your symptoms and it says you might have... network connectivity issues”😂😂😂
Also love how similar Troy and Andy can be sometimes.
Fun fact: that line was improvised
Does it make anyone else laugh that even Community fans call Neil "Fat Neil"? Like, there's only one Neil. You can actually just call him Neil.
Well technically there is also bald Neil :)
tylermsc there was other “Skinny” “not that skinny” “black” Neil but we never see him
Not from an actuarial standpoint.
@@fakename2956 "Yeah but I don't see the world through that lense"
If you rewatch the first season you see when Jeff dubbs him Fat Neil which is a long setup which pays off in spades.
Netflix removed this episode but didn’t remove the white abed or Pierce’s blackface handpuppets
Don't give them ideas
Because whites don't matter right?
there isnt a racist history of black people wearing white face or hand puppets being black. the episode shouldn't have been removed but there are distinct historical situations that determine why blackface is now regarded as inherently racist
@@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199 Except that the hand puppets were deliberately and explicitly racist. But that was the joke.
@@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199 if blackface was inherently racist that would mean that a black person doing blackface would be a black person being racist against black people. Are you sure you know what inherent means?
I watched this video a couple of days ago, and it had its intended effect, and I watched the show in it’s entirety. And honestly man I’m in tears and I just wanted to come back to this video and thank you for making this video bc it really did help me find my favorite show.
Wow thank you so much for sharing this!!!! Damn now I’m in tears haha this comment made me so happy
My favorite episode will always be Remedial Chaos Theory. The way every detail of it is important to how things play out in different timelines and the information learned in one timeline is useful to another, fantastic.
Edit: For my turn, I feel sorry for P̶i̶e̶r̶c̶e̶ ̶H̶a̶w̶t̶h̶o̶r̶n̶ Netflix
Very good take that I definitely respect! Damn haha might have to make a vid on that one now
Mason Bernheim agreed
Remedial chaos theory is without a doubt the best episode of Community, bar none. Maybe one of the best on TV. I will say, though, that it wouldn’t be a great episode to introduce somebody to the show because its brilliance is partially a result of how well we already know the characters and care about the outcomes of their lives. I think it’s a perfect... maybe 4th or 5th episode to show somebody :)
One of my favorite episodes, I can’t say it *is* my favorite, but it’s definitely up there is Critical Film Studies, the one with Abed and Joel doing My Dinner with Andre while the entire gang is trying to do a Pulp Fiction birthday party for Abed.
It’s maybe less humorous, but it, to me, was a really big and meaningful episode to the series.
same, its my favourite episode too
The "additional notes" line is 100% genius
"It has no effect"
I feel like it’s a semi-inside joke for D&D players, whereas most of the other references don’t require actual playing experience to understand.
Reminds me a lot of "Network Connectivity Issues" from Parks & Rec.
My favorite episode is S02E09 - Conspiracy Theories & Interior Design, by far. “Would that this desk were a time desk...” (for a moment of regret) & “ex-cheddar-uh!” (et cetera) are two quotes I use all of the time.
"Just talk to your dad, Craig"
"Would that this hoodie were a time hoodie"
it’s so good
WOULD THAT THIS DESK WERE A TIME DESK
@@oliviah.5846 seeing this quote always makes me smile! although, that smile does come from the lips of a ghost in the shadow of a unicorn’s dream…
The most moving thing in this episode is that Chang actually died for the group!
I accidentally got into Community when I clicked on the " Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" episode thinking it was just a RPG show.
I think Dan Harmon does a show called Harmonquest that does this exact thing
Definitely watch Harmonquest, then.
Annie with the elf-maiden is the funniest thing ever on any show. Ever.
And abed’s sigh right after was hilarious
"For how long?" -troy
She’s a bit younger we try to not sexualize her
@@babypluto3679 "try not to"
Absolulely agree. My wife and I had to replay that scene right then. Didn't even wait to the end of the episode.
This episode was so important to the story of the show
I cannot explain it but I die laughing at this one throwaway line from Troy everytime. It’s near the start of the episode and Abed is explaining how to play and the whole group says “oooh” but for some reason, Troy says “Neil” after his ooh and I cannot stop giggling
Fat Neil DID appear before this episode, though obviously as an extremely minor character, but he's in all of season 2 as a fellow student in Anthro.
Definitely a great episode, but picking a “best” episode of Community is not even possible. I could narrow it down to maybe 20 best episodes if you held a (paint)gun to my head.
Mark Troup I agree 100% this is more of taking a look at the argument for why this is the best episode, I don’t think I could actually pick one either!
My personal favorite is a fist full of paintballs
Mixology certification has always been one of my favorites because of how much Troy matures in the span of that one episode, but it really is impossible to pick an absolute favorite.
I'd have to say Remedial Chaos Theory tops it for me
Mark Troup some of my favs are definitely:
-The claymation Christmas episode
-The paintball episodes
-D&D episode
-The hidden trampoline episode
-The timeline episode with the dice roll
-Halloween zombie episode
-the purple pen episode
-the chicken maffia episode
-the episode where pierce's will is read and they all get sperm
I’ve seen this video a few times, but I come back to it because this episode is also my favorite in all of community. Possibly in all of sitcom in general. Literally for my wedding, all of the groomsmen stayed at my house for the weekend and we watched this episode over and over. Every time someone would come over that hadn’t seen it, we would instantly put it on again. Truly one of the best times of my life
I was literally going to watch this episode again cause I was feeling down and was wondering where the heck it was I thought I was going mental until I found out it got removed... -_- I'm black and I thought it was hilarious
Skdjjsjakakskakfkkdksk daily motion has a low quality version skdjsjjfdjsjjajaksjdj
I can’t believe Netflix just pulled this episode
I can. Idiots run the entertainment industry. Next they'll pull movies about miners who have soot on their faces.
J B I'm in the same boat, where did you watch the episode tho?
@@rondog835 I know im a little late, but its on prime video
Hulu pulled it too
Why is it being pulled? Is it because if black face or something?
This was quite a good episode, but pillows and blankets will be my all time favorite. The Changlorious Bastards goddamnit 😂
"The All Tomato" was such a great joke, it took me by surprise and had me crying my eyes out in laughter
I agree. The writing was so sharp, and who the hell satirizes Ken Burns documentaries? That’s why Community is the best comedy ever. They never go for the low hanging fruit.
Leonard likes this post.
What about the pillow man?
As I've seen a few times in other comments, it's not even possible to narrow it down to one. Perhaps a top-10 or so.
Pillows and Blankets is def in there. The Law and Order parody definitely is too (I'd choose that one over any other if you were trying to introduce somebody to Community, not this one, as good as it is). This D&D one. The Meow Meow Beans episode. At least one paintball. The one where they are in the video game.
That's probably my top tier.
I only recently got into Community, just started season 6. It sucks super hard knowing I missed this episode entirely, especially because ive been playing DnD for years!
The "Had you been more PROFESSIONAL, you could have made WORSE T.V.!" line cracks me up so much. Way to go Dan Harmon!
Dear Netflix,
You think that removing this episode makes you look holier than thou to the cause of racial inequality, but the truth is it makes you look ridiculous.
The blank, dark screen in place of its idiotic removal is more racist than any dark elf could ever be.
@@commandercaptain4664
Wym the episode was just removed in its entirety from the site?
@@addamazeing Yep, they even renumbered the episodes. They're just pretending it never happened.
@@softlyfalling8563 Changing history to suit a personal agenda somehow feels worse
@@wizardflaps it's not even that clever your just using it for the word change
I can't believe we would have never gotten this episode if it was turned in on time.
This is the same studio that thought nobody was watching Community due to low TV ratings so they cancelled it only to find out after that it was one of the most watched shows online.
Now.... imagine how many other great episodes were turned down by the executives. Because I'm sure that wasn't the only time the net execs acted like a bunch of nobs.
and now we don't have it
For people that are watching on Netflix, the episode is still on amazon prime. I discovered this episode excited because of this video. I was done watching everything from Community until I saw I started watching this video at some point in my history box, so thank you, this episode was really great indeed!
I'm still upset this episode was removed from streaming services. The melodrama tied perfectly with the silent desperation of an outsider trying to find his place. This was a bottle episode with higher stakes than a missing pen.
I agree with you that the pilot doesn’t represent the show very well. When I first heard about how great it was I watched the pilot and wasn’t impressed so I decided not to watch until like 2 weeks later and I realized it’s greatness
Some of the best shows heavily diverge from their pilots. The Office and Parks and Rec both had so-so first seasons.
Speaking of "bad" pilots: Rick and Morty has one of the worst pilots I've ever seen and I really like the rest of the show. Glad I tried to continue watching it a few weeks later.
to me the only comedy show with a nearly perfect pilot is arrested development
@@MastalinkZ bojack horseman's pilot feels like an entire different show
You watch the pilot and think "oh right, another college comedy with the cool guys and the bad jokes", and you keep watching with low expectations because "it's just another college comedy"... and then paintball happens.
Netflix and Hulu's idiocy is proof physical media is still relevant.
owed the dvds and rebought when they came out on blu ray. great extras, great commentary and you didn't have deal with publicity seeking nonsense. much love to my fellow human beings. as a great man once said, "pop, pop."
wait what did hulu do?
@@giovanna5380 Hulu, like Netflix, took this episode off their platforms, so it can no longer be seen.
You can pirate it my man.
It's on Amazon Prime, if that's any help
New fan here. I kept thinking why I don't remember this episode, only to find out it was removed from Netflix.
But...I gots to watch!
What's amazing is I saw this episode only one time back when it came out, and for some reason remember it with special effects and actual costumes. They did a great job
I first felt bad for fat neil during anthropology when John Oliver was roasting him.
Jeff: Warlock (fiend)
Annie: Wizard
Shirley: Cleric
Chang: Bard
Troy: Fighter
Britta: Paladin
Abed: Mystic
Pierce: BBEG
Oh god yes
philuip Cummins I think he’s referring to them as characters, not the ones they used in the game
@philuip Cummins well what he did in the stables was magic
@@lyranorthstar960 OH MY 😂😭😂
What’s a BBEG?
Thank you for brining this show to my attention. Just watched for the first time, and it was so excellent.
Thank you for letting me know I love comments like this!!!!
I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY REMOVED THIS EPISODE OFF NETFLIX IT IS LITERALLY THE REASON I STARTED WATCHING COMMUNITY IN THE FIRST PLACE
Personally, I nominate
"Remedial chaos theory"
I’m working on a video about that episode lol
@@tylermsc nice! I'll keep an eye out
Meow Meow Beenz is also great
I actually knew Russo brothers from Community first
It was really surprising to watch Winter Soldier and it was great
"These guys directed Community??"
I watched this show on a glitchy, not so legal website and finished it just before they put it on Netflix. I rewatched it on there a couple times, going back to my favorite episodes and when looking for this one and counting the episodes, thought I was going crazy, looking it up and getting the OTHER DnD episode, until I went back to the other site, got the episode name and looked it up- I really like this episode and it sucks that it did get removed from some websites that stream it.
"I don't like being excluded, Jeff! Do you?"
"YES!"
I can relate to this mentality so well
Important message about mental health and caring for your fellow humans.
Netflix: "Yeah, but one character cosplays as a dark elf, soooooooo BANNED!"
I described to my wife that I love this episode because it is so over-the-top yet down-to-earth at the same time.
Wow I love that!
Exactly! This also goes to all of the parody/homage episodes with wacky premises. Love how the show always goes all the way and has a big heart at the same time.
I never saw this series but after watching your video, it made me take a chance. This has become one of my absolutely favorite series of all time. I have gone and recommended to other people as well.
Jeff's face after the "what am I not good at" line is always just so funny, it just looks so genuine.
I wish to hear the African-American fans of Community’s reaction to the episode being taken down by Netflix because of Chang’s “blackface”. It is clearly addressed in the episode, even pointed out by Shirley and explained immediately afterwards. I’m not gonna go out of my way and say it can’t be offensive to anyone, but IMO it was a great moment of the episode and it had the Community brand of humor, without having the intention to offend. It’s very unfortunate that the episode has been pulled.
I bet most black people are not offended by it. It's always the people with "white guilt" that assume everything is racist towards black people.
@@LeoSRL300 Indeed. It's a social overcorrection to disguise the fact that reparations aren't a thing to them.
@@LeoSRL300 funny you say that, because it's true. I've seen it happen.
In episode 6 of Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, there is a joke character called Jeb from North Carolina who joins the vatigan in a catholic crusade of London. He makes an N-word joke in it and I was watching someone, who was white, react to it. He said exactly what you'd think when that line was uttered, and boy did I chew his stupid privileged ass out in the comment section.
@@LeoSRL300 am black, can confirm. (not to say that i'm representative of all black ppl tho). this is my second favourite episode (next to remedial chaos theory) and i was seriously peeved when they took it down. i dont know anyone who really thought it needed to be removed
As a black guy who jumped on the community train after the episode was taken down didn't even "notice" it. When I noticed I didn't see the episode, I initially assumed the suicide theme was too much (a poor assumption considering) . The comments are what pointed out black face to me.
It’s great how Netflix has completely revived interest in community.
...and they removed this epidsode
J Will Yeah I just found out about that. So dumb. Same as the episodes of IASIP they removed. It’s so obviously mocking blackface, and didn’t even garner any negative opinions.
Interest in Community never died
Literally bought this episode and watch it repeatedly when I need to feel better
RIP Brutalitops. You truly were magnificent.
Everyone: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is my favorite episode!
Netflix: WELL TOO BAD! SAY GOODBYE!
I don't know if it's my favourite episode, but you do a good job of showing something that is common in the run of this show: the ways in which writing, directing, costuming, and acting are all elevated by each other. That is, some of the jokes are funny on paper. Some of the jokes work because of choices made by the director. Some of the jokes are made by their delivery (Annie's improv lovemaking probably the most notable). As you note, the sound design of this episode contributes to its impact. Unlike pedestrian sitcoms that follow a predictable formula of setup-joke-punchline, Community often demonstrates there is humor to be found in different qualities of the production.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! I definitely agree they had a great team behind the show
I love the complete hodgepodge of books. A 1e dungeon masters guide, a 4e essential's player book, a map of Tollenkar's lair from the fantasy trip.
Came here through reddit, this is awesome video, I love Community, it is hard to pick just one favourite episode! great video
*Neil. Unless the point of still calling him "Fat Neil" is that it no longer bothers or defines him.
I prefer real Neil with pipes of steel
It's a bottle episode, mostly! One of my favorites, one of many!
i somehow cut out a part where I mention that there are shots of pierce in a closet and didn’t realize until after I uploaded to CZcams haha but agreed so many good episodes to choose from
"it's replayability is so great" that explain why i keep coming back and rewatch this show...it's like a comfort show like you know you can get a good laugh out of it even though you have seen it before xD
"You are the AT&T of people!" is a Class A insult... I forgot the name of this episode, and now I'll watch it again. Great stuff man.
5:58 "... gave more depth to Annie's character" -- I have a different take. It seems to me that the writers often incorporated Alison Brie the _actor_ into the storylines. Brie has boundary-less levity as well as off-the-charts, um, charisma, and I think the writers, as their fondness of the actor grew, felt compelled to share Brie's joie de vivre with all of Community's viewers. Alison Brie becomes at times a kind of eighth member of the study group, and this goes unnoticed because Brie's personality is so unusually open-minded and gleeful that it fits in a comedic context.
Fun Fact: Community never actually went over budget
I just saw that in the darkest timeline podcast lmao
Using Roxanne in Remedial Chaos Theory though came with a heavy price.
Even with ABBA in the season 2 Halloween episode? I heard Harmon spent, like, $30,000 on it.
It’s also a great way to introduce someone to RPGs. That’s a great session.
one of the best community episodes, and the best depiction of a D&D session in any series ever.
Funniest moment for me is the defeated "haa zaa" troy says , the second time
Just FYI it's spelled "huzzah" and it's an exclamation that is basically an archaic version of "hurrah" and "hooray" #themoreyouknow
Troy was always my favorite character and that one line always makes me laugh
Yes!!! I just added that up above as well. I've laughed all 27 times I've seen it.
@@dw1419 was that an explainabrag
@@fedor4655 I feel complisulted by your question.
I love how in the Aerodynamics of Gender episode (S2E7) when the girls teach Abed how to be a bitch, there’s a preview of the next episode. Whenever he’s calculating info, kinda like a robot? There’s extra notes on the side of the screen that say something like “current cycle: Britta/Annie/Shirley.” I thought that was a bit weird, but imagine my surprise when the very next episode discussed how Abed was tracking their cycles!! I loved it.
I just watched this show for the first time on Netflix and loved it but sad when it was over because it’s what kept me busy while I was sick for a week. After the series finale I learned that this episode was available on Amazon and was very thankful to tune in one more time, not to mention the theme of the episode delivered was one of grave importance told to me when I was not in the best of moods, job well done guys.
A while ago (2 years ago) This episode was only ~legally~ available on Amazon prime for anyone wondering where they might be able to find it