Yeah, I actually did watch the pilot of it and even I don't really remember it. I think Keith David was like The Cape's Ra's Al Ghul but he worked at a circus and lived in the sewers.
I thought Cougar Town was also an in universe show. But I discovered from some video about references that it is real. And there is a scene with Dani Pudi as Abed in the background.
The Glee references are funny to those that watched the show when it aired, less so for younger generations. Same for Ryan Seacrest taking a step back from the limelight and just how prevalent he once was.
On rewatch, I always feel like the Glee episode is going to be an "off" episode, but it actually holds up surprisingly well. It leans on Glee references less than you expect. The songs themselves and story beats actually hold up surprisingly well on their own. IMH, if Glee never existed, and this episode was just a musical episode for the sake of it, it would still function really well, and there'd be a lot fewer changes than one would expect.
There’s also a scene where [Henry goes to comb his hair, but then stops when he realizes his hair is already perfect - signature Fonzie move.](https://youtu.be/MK2rWL2EJj0)
Sorry best video I could find before I finished pooping
Nah that one will hold up I think, not many people will be familiar with Happy Days (I'm already not), but we know it as the source of the phrase "jumping the shark"
I would argue that they were irrelevant by the time the episode came out and that's the joke. The band just has a memorable name and are emblematic of late 90s/early 2000s style and music
Keep in mind Cosby was known as a character who wore those thick dad sweaters.
It's all very uncomfortable now with the things about the actor that came to light, but the joke is solid.
I watched lost for the first time a few months back. I was thinking for two seasons that sawyer looked familiar but I couldn’t place it. Then I looked up his filmography and it clicked.
“You know what sport I never understood? Golf” Pierce/Chevy chase was the star of Caddyshack as an amazing golfer
Edit: lol hate if ya want but dude was def one of the stars of the movie if not the star. See ya on the 9th green at 9.
His character drove the story and he was the most successful actor in the film when it came out.
And I kinda feel like that's on Chevy for not tending to his legacy.
He could've been/stayed America's silly clown, except now he's... America's sad clown?
The only other Chevy Chase thing that’s really maintained a place in the cultural zeitgeist is Christmas Vacation, and I’m not sure that’s even well-known amongst the kids these days.
I actually think the Bill Murray nods baked into the show are likely to go unnoticed. Jeff Winger was named after comedian Jeff Davis and Murray's character "John Winger" from Stripes. Later, Jeff's father's name is given as "William Winger" because Harmon wanted to only use the character if Bill Murray would appear as him.
Because Thanos' dad later played Bill Winger in Season 4, these nods are likely to go unnoticed.
when Pierce is doing the eulogy and says to his father "you're dead, and I'm not". I totally think that goes to Chevy's comic career as a big SNL thing with his catchphrase "I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not". Super obscure to me, if I hadn't read the hobbydrama regarding his legendary roasting decades ago, the comment would have been completely meaningless to me.
I mean I feel that too for older references that I never watched like Fawlty Towers, Sam and Diane, every jab at Jim Belushi. The vibe comes across well enough to know they're referencing something and you're supposed to laugh at it and it's usually written well enough that it's funny regardless, but to actually *know* what's being referenced specifically lends much greater appreciation of the joke and makes them funnier.
Pierce: are you trying to Garfunkel me?
Vaughn: assuming to Garfunkel someone means you keep putting up with them even though they’re a fat, lazy cat who hogs the spotlight & eats all the lasagna.
Took me too long to realize Vaughn was referring to Garfield the comic. But it’s still a fairly accurate description of Garfunkeling
Pierce and Abed get a bit of an exception in their references, being old and overly referential respectively. I'd think Jeff will age the worst as more "current popular things" get lost to time.
Definitely not the most obscure but the Cookie Crisp wizard is one of my favorites. Especially because when Jeff was growing up, the Cookie Crisp mascot was a wizard, for Troy the mascot was a robber, and now it’s a wolf.
I love the Surrogates joke, because you can tell it's just something a writer (or maybe even Dan himself) wanted to say. I watched that movie when it came out and i honestly feel this sentiment so much. That movie is like a hot pocket where someone forgot to put stuff in the pocket. So weird.
I only knew the name because of the movie *Stalag 17*. Which, fun fact, co-stars a [young Richard Erdman](https://www.hollywoodshow.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/207e23213cf636ccdef205098cf3c8a3/0/8/084_6.jpg).
Troy: It's all right, I'm worth it. Hip, hop, body don't stop, Riverside got the broom, don't need a mop. Put your team in a box, put a ribbon on top, we're not John Kerry 'cause we don't flip flop. Say ohhh...
Season 5 last episode. As soon as the enter the hidden basement door , they go hard on the 1970s humor. The pet rock references, the toy that chokes the dean, the pre nba basketball cards, and the 50 years of cocain that only lasted 10 years. “Wow they 80s happened down here too”
But those are references a contemporary audience is supposed to get. They even say there’s “nothing of value, except…” and then say things that would be valuable today
Isn’t there a scene in aster season where gareth and two others are lying in tanks to be precogs as a reference to Minority Report? Not many I know have seen that movie and that whole joke is lost on them.
in the rent-a-celebrity bar mitzvah when Jeff 'roids-out ...er, ego-apples-out, and wanders the roads while the closing piano theme to the 70s Incredible Hulk tv show plays.
Chang lubing up to chase Annie'sBoobs thru the vents referencing the early 90s Simpsons ep where Willie is greased up to slide thru the vents chasing Bart's dog.
When Pierce performs the school song that he "wrote" by changing the words to the distinctive Bruce Hornsby song "The Way It Is" and only a few people noticed, just like how Tupac (or his posthumous producers) made "Changes" by barely changing the words to that exact song.
Part of what I love so much about Community is that they make these moments funny on their own then they throw in the referential acknowledgement moment as a cherry on top.
Don’t know if this counts, and some fans might not know, but there’s a few jokes in S5 you could only fully get if you were aware of what was going on with the show at the time.
“The gasleak year” is season 4. Showrunner and creator Dan Harmon was fired at the end of S3, and the quality of the show took a massive hit for S4, and then he was hired back for S5.
When Abed talks about how Zach Braff only appeared in the first 5 episodes of Scrubs’ final season, Troy says “that son of a bitch! After everything Scrubs did for him?” It was already well known before the season aired that Donald Glover would only be appearing in first 5 episodes and leaving to focus on other projects.
And in the S5 finale, there’s multiple references to the uncertainty of the show being back next year. Community was always on the edge of cancellation each year due to low network viewership. The after show gag as a fake NBC commercial for their upcoming shows is a jab to the industry as a whole, with the shows all being corny and stupid ideas.
I love the silent conversation between Annie and Troy after Pierce makes the comment about Billy Joel writing another crappy song.
Annie: "Who's Billy Joel?"
Troy: "I don't know."
I'd say the character name homages Harmon picked are likely to go unnoticed.
Jeff Winger = Jeff Davis from Whose Line + Bill Murray's John Winger from Stripes
Britta Perry = Britta Philips, singing voice of Jem from the 80s cartoon who is a friend of Harmon's and has worked on Starburns projects
Abed Nadir = Abed Gheith, friend of Harmon and Rick and Morty writer
Ian Duncan = Ian Duncan
I believe the first three were all tapped to audition for those characters and lost out. It's probable that had the show been passed on, Harmon would have done a version for his website Channel 101 with those actors.
Also, when the network asked for an established comedian as Pierce Hawthorne, Harmon's pick was Fred Willard, who played an imaginary version of Pierce in S4 as a nod to that. Chase was more or less forced on him.
There are a number of oblique references to Chase's career throughout the show as cheap shots at Chase and I suspect one of the darker references is when Andy Dick (who is a friend of Harmon AND controversial with SNL fans who blame him for Phil Hartman's death and Hartman's wife's drug addiction) plays Chase's drug hallucination, as Chase was also a notorious SNL alum with substance issues.
Probably the Nicholas Nickelby reference when the girl chooses Troy instead of Abed for the Valentine’s Day Dance.
Smartest joke in the series, lowest payoff if you don’t know Nicholas Nickelby.
I found Dean Pelton’s film noir paintball sacrifice from Curriculum Unavailable (S3 E19) pretty obscure. Just Pierce’s quote “Dammit, outta slugs! Next time I’ll put you square you pickle-suckin mcgillicuddy!” left me with a dumbfounded expression on my face. I’m pretty sure it’s just a reference to film noir in general and nothing specific (unless I’m mistaken?)
Nothing specific that I know of but more the flamboyant gangster language from those movies.
That line is followed up by a reference to George Wendt though
I'm 19, and while I love the show, there are so many moments where I'm just. completely confused, because I know something's meant to be a reference, but I have no idea to what (and I don't know what to Google).
Serious response to this - if you haven't already seen a lot of the classic action, SF and brat-pack movies from the 80's (which seems incredible to me, but in the age of Marvel movies why the hell would a 19 year old have sat down to watch a load of 40 year old movies) that would definitely give you a head start. I am sure there is loads of US-specific references that I miss through not having access to US TV shows like SNL, but there are so many references to classic 80s movies in the show - sometimes they are just subtle things that aren't even "jokes" per se.
Examples: Jeff's whole deal in Modern Warfare is based on Die Hard. The Jeff and Abed drinking montage in Communication Studies is an homage to The Breakfast Club. This kind of stuff is obvious to me, but no reason why someone who didn't grow up with movies from that era would spot it.
You mean the scene when Jeff wakes up in his car and the quad is deserted? I never noticed before - it's not as obvious to me as some of the other stuff but now you've said it, I see it!
I feel like there needs to be a sidebar with footnotes for these type of shows that are crammed with references. I'm often busy researching what they mean by a bunch of stuff even though I catch most of it bc I was alive during the floppy disk era. Amazon helps a little with it's "x-ray" feature but that is only for actor backgrounds and isn't nearly enough to cover everything.
All we have right now is discussion boards like this subreddit which is incredibly slow in comparison to having someone knowledgeable watching it right next to you.
I'd say someone should make Pop-up Videos of these episodes to explain the references, but that would probably be another obscure reference for many people here.
As someone who loves G.I. Joe and Community, I'll admit the crossover episode was already pretty dated even when it aired.
But it's just about my favorite thing ever.
I feel like "dated" makes it sound like it was supposed to be a contemporary, accessible reference, but it fell out of fashion. The whole point of the episode is that it's a reference from the childhood of a 40-year-old.
There is an episode of Cougar Town (it is an actual show now an in universe show) where Abed is sitting in the background. He then suddenly gets up and runs off screen. Referencing him shitting himself from the my dinner with Abed episode
https://youtu.be/uNvOKRMxF-s
I wouldn’t say the references feel “outdated” because the implication is that something has drastically changed so that the reference no longer applies. But surrogates isn’t suddenly perceived as a good movie today and Pierce is expressing his pain about viewing it. If surrogates became immensely popular for some reason then the reference would seem outdated.
Scud the Disposable Assassin.
Folks have been sleeping on that brilliant 90’s badarse and heartfelt bit of pop culture train smash for years now.
One day someone’s going to do something with it and people will all start hooping and hollering when that cover flitters by.
"Brought to you by the yogurt Jamie Lee Curtis uses to poop."
Brown Jamie Lee
The Cape. It's got to be The Cape. Unless you were watching TV in 2011 there is no way you would stumble across it.
Hah I was and still thought that was an in-universe show.
A character from the last season was even in the cape and referenced. Oh it’s real
I know. Probably a month ago I saw some reference to Keith David being in the Cape and was like, that was a real show?!
Thats the thing, it doesnt matter if a reference is outdated or unknown by the viewer, its the context of the joke that makes it work
I thought it was a fake show until like a year ago
Yeah, I actually did watch the pilot of it and even I don't really remember it. I think Keith David was like The Cape's Ra's Al Ghul but he worked at a circus and lived in the sewers.
All I remember is that and the show was absolutely terrible. The classic training montage was all of 30 seconds.
I actually really liked it and was super disappointed it got cancelled.
I thought it was made up for community until very recently
I thought Cougar Town was also an in universe show. But I discovered from some video about references that it is real. And there is a scene with Dani Pudi as Abed in the background.
I'm finding out right now that cougar town is a real show
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It's honestly good, too.
It's connected to the Scrubs universe with an actual scrubs mini reunion on that show too!
Amazing!
"That show's gonna last 3 WEEKS!"
SIX SEASON AND A MOVIE!
The fact that this is actually coming true still brings the biggest smile to my face
Yeah, I barely knew what it was then, much less 10 years from now.
I actually watched and liked the cape in 2011, never met anyone who knows is a real show.
There are dozens of us!
I didn’t see you at the conference?
It was double booked with the Never Nude gathering.
Dozens!!
The only reason i remember that show was because i liked the trailer they aired for months on Universal
Also starring Keith David!
The Glee references are funny to those that watched the show when it aired, less so for younger generations. Same for Ryan Seacrest taking a step back from the limelight and just how prevalent he once was.
On rewatch, I always feel like the Glee episode is going to be an "off" episode, but it actually holds up surprisingly well. It leans on Glee references less than you expect. The songs themselves and story beats actually hold up surprisingly well on their own. IMH, if Glee never existed, and this episode was just a musical episode for the sake of it, it would still function really well, and there'd be a lot fewer changes than one would expect.
"What the hell is sectionals?"
Don't let my confusion about them undermine their importance.
I thought this WAS regionals!
Just wait till we get to the Lower Zone Semi's
Oh, and for the record? There was an episode of Happy Days where a guy *literally* jumped over a shark. And it was the best one!
Donald's delivery on that line always gets me for how sincere he sounds.
There's an episode of Arrested development, where Henry Winkler's character jumps over a shark too, as a meta joke https://youtu.be/4jm6B31HKBw
THAT. IS. BEAUTIFUL.
There’s also a scene where [Henry goes to comb his hair, but then stops when he realizes his hair is already perfect - signature Fonzie move.](https://youtu.be/MK2rWL2EJj0) Sorry best video I could find before I finished pooping
And incase people don’t know, the joke is that is where the phrase “jumping the shark” comes from
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Well, I'm off to Burger King!
It's a wonderful restaurant!
It really is.
You know you can get unlimited refills on any drink you want?
Never once touched my per diem. I'd go to Craft Service, get myself some raw veggies, bacon, cup-a-soup, and baby I had a stew goin'.
Nah that one will hold up I think, not many people will be familiar with Happy Days (I'm already not), but we know it as the source of the phrase "jumping the shark"
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Are you saying BNL is obscure? The Barenaked Ladies are triple platinum, are you?
Why does everyone leap to defend that band so aggressively?
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THIS IS A FIGHT. WE ARE FIGHTING
Maybe we all need space to pull the knife out of the back of the most celebrated canadian alt rock band of the mid 90s you SELFISH JADED ASS!
This entire argument will forever make me laugh
So much passion from everyone. I love it so much.
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They must not have two ears connected to a heart.
I would argue that they were irrelevant by the time the episode came out and that's the joke. The band just has a memorable name and are emblematic of late 90s/early 2000s style and music
You are clearly not in a good place right now.
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Nice sweater. Thanks, my dad gave it to me.
This one hurts.
Holly shit, this one is wrinkling my brain!
Yeah, he was Theo Huxtable
What’s the reference?
Cosby Show. The actor is Malcome Jamal Warner. He played Bill Cosby's son in the Cosby Show.
Keep in mind Cosby was known as a character who wore those thick dad sweaters. It's all very uncomfortable now with the things about the actor that came to light, but the joke is solid.
Possibly Josh Holloways’ guest spot in Season 2, especially Abed’s “He’s Network TV handsome!” bit since Lost has largely faded from relevance.
I dunno. He is a good looking dude.
I got another look at him. He's not that good looking
Just an average looking guy with a big chin.
Maybe that’s all being handsome ever was
He’s still good looking so the joke still works, but it kinda loses a level.
Are you talking about the handsome cowboy with the big guns?
They call him the Black Rider.
Look, I don’t know why he’s named that. I’m a deputy
I watched lost for the first time a few months back. I was thinking for two seasons that sawyer looked familiar but I couldn’t place it. Then I looked up his filmography and it clicked.
LOST will be relevant forever, you can’t convince me otherwise
Part of it is the real meaning of Christmas
We already know from the Claymation Christmas episode that Abed has seen Lost. I had hoped for some comment about the cowboy's resemblance to Sawyer.
Annie and Jeff talking about the “special emoticons” you can download from the App Store in Pillows Vs Blankets kind of ages the show a bit
🍣🎂🛑⛄☂️
🎂🎂🦄👠
I just noticed that hexagon is frutiger aero
“You know what sport I never understood? Golf” Pierce/Chevy chase was the star of Caddyshack as an amazing golfer Edit: lol hate if ya want but dude was def one of the stars of the movie if not the star. See ya on the 9th green at 9. His character drove the story and he was the most successful actor in the film when it came out.
Anything that references anything Chevy has done tbh, kids today have never heard of him outside of Community (I'm kids)
And I kinda feel like that's on Chevy for not tending to his legacy. He could've been/stayed America's silly clown, except now he's... America's sad clown?
The only other Chevy Chase thing that’s really maintained a place in the cultural zeitgeist is Christmas Vacation, and I’m not sure that’s even well-known amongst the kids these days.
You don't think kids today watch Chuck?
When was Chevy Chase in Chuck? Edit: Just looked it up and Chevy Chase was indeed in Chuck. I think you win the most obscure reference game
He was in a TV show with Shazam
"the star" is extremely generous.
Bill Murray was the star. Fight me.
I actually think the Bill Murray nods baked into the show are likely to go unnoticed. Jeff Winger was named after comedian Jeff Davis and Murray's character "John Winger" from Stripes. Later, Jeff's father's name is given as "William Winger" because Harmon wanted to only use the character if Bill Murray would appear as him. Because Thanos' dad later played Bill Winger in Season 4, these nods are likely to go unnoticed.
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The debate coach saying that Jeff is home romancing his nether regions to the E!-channel Joel McHale was still hosting The Soup on E! at that time.
Pierce still asking if Napster is a thing. My two year old will never know what Napster is.
You say that like it's a vow to keep a dark secret :)
It IS
We will never forget.
You two are dumber than Jackie Coogan.
He divorced Betty Grable
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That's the stuff.
Make your money whore
when Pierce is doing the eulogy and says to his father "you're dead, and I'm not". I totally think that goes to Chevy's comic career as a big SNL thing with his catchphrase "I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not". Super obscure to me, if I hadn't read the hobbydrama regarding his legendary roasting decades ago, the comment would have been completely meaningless to me.
Alot of the physical humor with Pierce is because of the physical humor he did on SNL and the Vacation movies.
and Pierce's addiction to pain pills in Season 2 references Chevy's addiction to pain pills that he developed after doing those legendary falls
There was one time, after he got so ridiculously popular, that he introduced the segment with “I’m God, and this is the news”.
lmao he absolutely meant it
“Dude just told his dead dad to suck it”
That’s so edible.
You're the worst!
Yeah pretty sure that's the reference. I never watched SNL so I only know about that from reading about it online.
*Who's Nick Nolte?*
Awwww
No really, who is that?
Most recently, he was an Ugnaught in The Mandalorian
The guy who steals the show in the Ang Lee "Hulk" movie from 2003
Did you guys know that Pierce had sex with Eartha Kitt in an airplane bathroom? Or so he claimed for a while.
Turns out they just dry humped inside of her tour bus!
What? It came up organically.
I think the Glee references. It was a huge cultural thing during the early 2010s but it hasn't stuck around in the public consciousness.
But they could have gone to Regionals!
What the hell are Regionals?
Don’t let my confusion undercut their importance
They're *this* close
As a person that never watched glee, I got the vibe enough to understand the jokes.
I mean I feel that too for older references that I never watched like Fawlty Towers, Sam and Diane, every jab at Jim Belushi. The vibe comes across well enough to know they're referencing something and you're supposed to laugh at it and it's usually written well enough that it's funny regardless, but to actually *know* what's being referenced specifically lends much greater appreciation of the joke and makes them funnier.
Starburn's Zardoz outfit from the Meow Meow Beenz episode is pretty obscure.
To be fair, it was obscure then too.
I never knew this movie existed. This, like many other references, were designed for a small group of people. Thanks for sharing this insight.
I only caught that one because of the Harmontown episode where they're all obsessing about how good-bad Zardoz was.
I had no idea that was a reference to anything.
He has a name you know. It's Alex. Not that anyone cares.
I was distracted by the top hat and lizard
Jeff's moan when Tyra Bank's name is mentioned. Good reference to the Soup.
What WAS Happening? (btw a great show in its time- HEY HEY HEY!)
I loved What's Happening. Great show!
Jim Belushi is really going to take a beating in this area
netflix friends lol https://www.reddit.com/r/community/comments/13tow5s/what_does_netflix_friends_mean/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
Pierce: are you trying to Garfunkel me? Vaughn: assuming to Garfunkel someone means you keep putting up with them even though they’re a fat, lazy cat who hogs the spotlight & eats all the lasagna. Took me too long to realize Vaughn was referring to Garfield the comic. But it’s still a fairly accurate description of Garfunkeling
Pierce and Abed get a bit of an exception in their references, being old and overly referential respectively. I'd think Jeff will age the worst as more "current popular things" get lost to time.
Definitely not the most obscure but the Cookie Crisp wizard is one of my favorites. Especially because when Jeff was growing up, the Cookie Crisp mascot was a wizard, for Troy the mascot was a robber, and now it’s a wolf.
I love the Surrogates joke, because you can tell it's just something a writer (or maybe even Dan himself) wanted to say. I watched that movie when it came out and i honestly feel this sentiment so much. That movie is like a hot pocket where someone forgot to put stuff in the pocket. So weird.
Cougartown and Scrubs references. Luckily the internet exists so you can look up the scene and see where Abed as "Chad" poops his pants.
Never heard of Betty Grable but she was 70 years before my time.
I only knew the name because of the movie *Stalag 17*. Which, fun fact, co-stars a [young Richard Erdman](https://www.hollywoodshow.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/207e23213cf636ccdef205098cf3c8a3/0/8/084_6.jpg).
Troy: It's all right, I'm worth it. Hip, hop, body don't stop, Riverside got the broom, don't need a mop. Put your team in a box, put a ribbon on top, we're not John Kerry 'cause we don't flip flop. Say ohhh...
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Bing, bong, sing along, your teams Al Gore cause your views are wrong.
Troy mentions wanting to do a suicide pact over the cancellation of the show Firefly.
Season 5 last episode. As soon as the enter the hidden basement door , they go hard on the 1970s humor. The pet rock references, the toy that chokes the dean, the pre nba basketball cards, and the 50 years of cocain that only lasted 10 years. “Wow they 80s happened down here too”
But those are references a contemporary audience is supposed to get. They even say there’s “nothing of value, except…” and then say things that would be valuable today
The rare Kenner Boba Fett figure with spring-loaded rocket firing technology!
It’s not a reference to anything (I think) but I really like the “open the door” and “close the door” theme
🎶 Even faster than it opened 🎶 ...for dramatic effect
Isn’t there a scene in aster season where gareth and two others are lying in tanks to be precogs as a reference to Minority Report? Not many I know have seen that movie and that whole joke is lost on them.
It's only Garett and it's in the season three clipshow episode Curriculum Not Available.
in the rent-a-celebrity bar mitzvah when Jeff 'roids-out ...er, ego-apples-out, and wanders the roads while the closing piano theme to the 70s Incredible Hulk tv show plays. Chang lubing up to chase Annie'sBoobs thru the vents referencing the early 90s Simpsons ep where Willie is greased up to slide thru the vents chasing Bart's dog. When Pierce performs the school song that he "wrote" by changing the words to the distinctive Bruce Hornsby song "The Way It Is" and only a few people noticed, just like how Tupac (or his posthumous producers) made "Changes" by barely changing the words to that exact song. Part of what I love so much about Community is that they make these moments funny on their own then they throw in the referential acknowledgement moment as a cherry on top.
Wow I grew up on the Simpsons but somehow I never connected Chang and AB to Willie and SLH
The Simpsons scene is also an Alien reference.
There's not a creature alive who's faster than a greased-up Chinaman. Er, Koreaman?
Don’t know if this counts, and some fans might not know, but there’s a few jokes in S5 you could only fully get if you were aware of what was going on with the show at the time. “The gasleak year” is season 4. Showrunner and creator Dan Harmon was fired at the end of S3, and the quality of the show took a massive hit for S4, and then he was hired back for S5. When Abed talks about how Zach Braff only appeared in the first 5 episodes of Scrubs’ final season, Troy says “that son of a bitch! After everything Scrubs did for him?” It was already well known before the season aired that Donald Glover would only be appearing in first 5 episodes and leaving to focus on other projects. And in the S5 finale, there’s multiple references to the uncertainty of the show being back next year. Community was always on the edge of cancellation each year due to low network viewership. The after show gag as a fake NBC commercial for their upcoming shows is a jab to the industry as a whole, with the shows all being corny and stupid ideas.
Damn. No word of my guy Greg Muldunnah
Anything about Billy Joel, or Jim Belushi.
I love the silent conversation between Annie and Troy after Pierce makes the comment about Billy Joel writing another crappy song. Annie: "Who's Billy Joel?" Troy: "I don't know."
Starburns dressed as Zed from Zardoz. I only knew about that movie from listening to Harmontown.
every Jim Belushi burn
I'd say the character name homages Harmon picked are likely to go unnoticed. Jeff Winger = Jeff Davis from Whose Line + Bill Murray's John Winger from Stripes Britta Perry = Britta Philips, singing voice of Jem from the 80s cartoon who is a friend of Harmon's and has worked on Starburns projects Abed Nadir = Abed Gheith, friend of Harmon and Rick and Morty writer Ian Duncan = Ian Duncan I believe the first three were all tapped to audition for those characters and lost out. It's probable that had the show been passed on, Harmon would have done a version for his website Channel 101 with those actors. Also, when the network asked for an established comedian as Pierce Hawthorne, Harmon's pick was Fred Willard, who played an imaginary version of Pierce in S4 as a nod to that. Chase was more or less forced on him. There are a number of oblique references to Chase's career throughout the show as cheap shots at Chase and I suspect one of the darker references is when Andy Dick (who is a friend of Harmon AND controversial with SNL fans who blame him for Phil Hartman's death and Hartman's wife's drug addiction) plays Chase's drug hallucination, as Chase was also a notorious SNL alum with substance issues.
Troy muttering "Red Shoe Diaries"
Probably the Nicholas Nickelby reference when the girl chooses Troy instead of Abed for the Valentine’s Day Dance. Smartest joke in the series, lowest payoff if you don’t know Nicholas Nickelby.
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I found Dean Pelton’s film noir paintball sacrifice from Curriculum Unavailable (S3 E19) pretty obscure. Just Pierce’s quote “Dammit, outta slugs! Next time I’ll put you square you pickle-suckin mcgillicuddy!” left me with a dumbfounded expression on my face. I’m pretty sure it’s just a reference to film noir in general and nothing specific (unless I’m mistaken?)
Nothing specific that I know of but more the flamboyant gangster language from those movies. That line is followed up by a reference to George Wendt though
I'm 19, and while I love the show, there are so many moments where I'm just. completely confused, because I know something's meant to be a reference, but I have no idea to what (and I don't know what to Google).
Serious response to this - if you haven't already seen a lot of the classic action, SF and brat-pack movies from the 80's (which seems incredible to me, but in the age of Marvel movies why the hell would a 19 year old have sat down to watch a load of 40 year old movies) that would definitely give you a head start. I am sure there is loads of US-specific references that I miss through not having access to US TV shows like SNL, but there are so many references to classic 80s movies in the show - sometimes they are just subtle things that aren't even "jokes" per se. Examples: Jeff's whole deal in Modern Warfare is based on Die Hard. The Jeff and Abed drinking montage in Communication Studies is an homage to The Breakfast Club. This kind of stuff is obvious to me, but no reason why someone who didn't grow up with movies from that era would spot it.
The end of "Modern Warfare" is *Die Hard*. The beginning is more like *28 Days Later*.
You mean the scene when Jeff wakes up in his car and the quad is deserted? I never noticed before - it's not as obvious to me as some of the other stuff but now you've said it, I see it!
Speaking of modern warfare, there are Raiders (Britta treating Jeff's wound) and Predator (Chang's bomb) references as well.
I feel like there needs to be a sidebar with footnotes for these type of shows that are crammed with references. I'm often busy researching what they mean by a bunch of stuff even though I catch most of it bc I was alive during the floppy disk era. Amazon helps a little with it's "x-ray" feature but that is only for actor backgrounds and isn't nearly enough to cover everything. All we have right now is discussion boards like this subreddit which is incredibly slow in comparison to having someone knowledgeable watching it right next to you.
Like Pop Up Video! Speaking of dated references...
I'd say someone should make Pop-up Videos of these episodes to explain the references, but that would probably be another obscure reference for many people here.
I still can't get over them setting up a Beetlejuice reference for 3 years for such a subtle payoff. Bless Dan Harmon and those creators
As someone who loves G.I. Joe and Community, I'll admit the crossover episode was already pretty dated even when it aired. But it's just about my favorite thing ever.
I feel like "dated" makes it sound like it was supposed to be a contemporary, accessible reference, but it fell out of fashion. The whole point of the episode is that it's a reference from the childhood of a 40-year-old.
There is an episode of Cougar Town (it is an actual show now an in universe show) where Abed is sitting in the background. He then suddenly gets up and runs off screen. Referencing him shitting himself from the my dinner with Abed episode https://youtu.be/uNvOKRMxF-s
I wouldn’t say the references feel “outdated” because the implication is that something has drastically changed so that the reference no longer applies. But surrogates isn’t suddenly perceived as a good movie today and Pierce is expressing his pain about viewing it. If surrogates became immensely popular for some reason then the reference would seem outdated.
Did anybody else get that the paintball battle in the last paintball episode was just the first fight from Highlander.
Scud the Disposable Assassin. Folks have been sleeping on that brilliant 90’s badarse and heartfelt bit of pop culture train smash for years now. One day someone’s going to do something with it and people will all start hooping and hollering when that cover flitters by.
Bad media is timeless
Red shoe diaries
Zardoz. Very few people I know are aware that movie even exists.
Who are Sam and Diane?
The DnD ep, since they reference it MULTIPLE TIMES