Following a two-month hiatus and subsequent rumors of cancellation, Community,
one of the smartest, funniest and outlandish programs on network television, is revving up for the remaining 12 episodes of its third season, the first of which will premiere tonight at 8/7 central on NBC. Being that we're fans of the multi-layered masterpiece, we figured we'd beguile you into joining the Community cult (if you haven't already) with some of our favorite clips from episodes past. Check them out, and tune in tonight to see the gang back in all their wonderfully weird glory!1) In the now-legendary "Modern Warfare" episode, Señor Chang, the college's
sourpuss Spanish teacher, takes a school-wide paintball tournament very seriously.
2) For their 2011 Christmas episode, Community perfectly parodied Glee -- here,
Annie (Alison Brie) performs "Teach Me How to Understand Christmas," a hilarious send-up to songs like "Santa Baby" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause," and straddling the line between creepy infantilization and sexiness.
find an interesting way to study for their Spanish class.
4) Things on Community can often get pretty complicated -- in the episode aptly titled "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" (each episode is named after a class offered at Greendale), Jeff, Annie, the Dean and Professor Professorson (played by Kevin Corrigan) all try to teach each other a lesson at once.
5) Some of Community's best moments happen as the credits begin to role, like when the characters get together to sing "Carol of The Bells."
6) "Community" is no stranger to animation, and in this recent episode, Jeff and
Shirley's friendly game of foosball morphs into an all-out Anime war.
7) It was only a matter of time before Community and Ru-Paul's Drag Race joined forces. Well, maybe not, but this clip (featuring Drag Race's fabulous Shangela), where Pierce discovers his moist toilette business has become a "gay icon," is pretty amazing anyway.
8. Much of last season was devoted to both Community and Cougar Town working mentions of each other into their episodes. This culminated in Danny Pudi lurking in the background of the ABC sitcom about 40-something divorcees while drinking Starbucks and, similarly, Cougar Town stars Busy Phillips and Dan Byrd appearing in a split-second shot on Community. Here's a compilation of all cross-references.