The 10 Best Episodes Of ‘Community,’ Now That Netflix Has Sparked A Resurgence

Netflix landed a beloved piece of TV comedy this month by getting the rights to Community, the show that was always scrapping by to survive cancellation at NBC back when it originally aired, but did manage to make it to six seasons despite a channel switch and a good chunk of the cast leaving by the end.

Community has landed in Netflix’s top 10 list this week, and old fans are rewatching it, and new fans are getting to know why everyone raves about it and why it’s spawned so many memes and inside jokes that are still passed around to this day.

Since all “best of” lists are subjective, I tried to be somewhat empirical with this ranking list. I went to IMDB and found the top ten highest rated episodes there, which you can see below. While you might as well just watch all of them, in order, here are the ten that you will probably end up remembering more than most.

10. Epidemiology (Season 2) – 9.3: “The study group is left to fend for themselves by Dean Pelton during a rabies outbreak due to tainted food at Greendale’s Halloween party.”

A pretty perfect episode for our current pandemic, and a hell of a comedy zombie parody to boot.

9. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design (Season 2) – 9.4: “Dean Pelton tries to bust Jeff for a phony night school credit, which only unveils a series of conspiracies, plots, and double-crosses between Jeff, Annie, and the dean.”

This is one that I don’t quite remember off the top of my head, but any plotline that focuses on Annie, Jeff and the dean is a good one.

8. Basic Lupine Urology (Season 3) – 9.4: “Presented like an episode of Law & Order (1990), the study group attempts to find out who squashed their biology project: a yam. Troy and Abed become detectives, Shirley is their boss, Jeff and Annie pose as prosecuting attorneys, while Pierce is an informant and Britta a lab tech.”

Community quickly learned to lean into “gimmick” episodes which could have been lame, but almost always ended up working like this Law and Order parody.

7. Geothermal Escapism (Season 5) – 9.4: “As a going-away present to Troy before his around-the-world trip, Abed sets up a high-stakes game of “Hot Lava” at the college, but Britta suspects that the game is just masking his real feelings about Troy’s departure.”

Community lost something when Donald Glover left to go on and pursue an EGOT with all his many talents, but this was a fantastic send-off for him.

6. Digital Estate Planning (Season 3) – 9.5: “The Study Group must help Pierce win a video game so that he can claim his inheritance, but somebody may be out to ensure that he loses.”

A very solid video game-based episode that I am not surprised to see in the top 10 here.

5. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (Season 2) – 9.5: “The study group plays Dungeons & Dragons with another classmate to improve his spirits, but Pierce’s jealousies cause their good intentions to backfire.”

Probably one of the most emotionally resonant episodes of the entire series, this is held up as an all-time classic in the entire comedy genre.

4. Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television (Season 6) – 9.6: “As their sixth year at Greendale draws to a close, Abed asks everyone to imagine pitching a TV show about what they would do in season seven.”

I never watched the final season of Community, but apparently its finale was well-received, which is good to see. Time to probably give it a chance, even if later seasons are generally not as well regarded as the earlier ones.

3. A Fist Full of Paintballs/For a Few Paintballs More (Season 2) – 9.7: “When the study group learns that there’s a sinister plot behind the paintball tournament, they unite the remaining players to defeat the enemy.”

This is the sequel double episode to the original paintball episode that spoilers, is at the top of this list (as if you had any doubt).

2. Remedial Chaos Theory (Season 3) – 9.8: “At Abed and Troy’s housewarming party, Jeff decides to let the decision on who gets the pizza rest on the roll of the dice, leaving Abed to contemplate six alternate realities.”

You know that “guy enters a room with pizza and it’s on fire” GIF? That’s where this came from. But it’s more than a meme, it’s one of the best episodes of the series.

1. Modern Warfare (Season 1) – 9.8: “Greendale Community College is transformed into an apocalyptic war zone when the dean promises the winner of a paintball competition priority registration, and it could fan the flames of sexual tension between Jeff and Britta.”

The quintessential Community episode that cemented the series as an all-time great as early as season one. Just watch it.

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