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Abed's Master Key

"Abed's Master Key"
Air date: Mar 7, 2012 — Season: Three — Featuring: The study group, Dean Pelton and Ben Chang
Summary: Abed is made Dean Pelton's assistant and given the school's "Master Key" in this animated 3 part web series


“
Dean Pelton, you seem extra animated today!
”
— Annie


Community: Abed's Master Key is a three part animated webisode that has Abed being made Depu-Dean and given the responsibility of safeguarding the "Master Key" to the school . It aired March 7, 2012 and was produced to promote the return of Community on March 15 from its hiatus. The episodes were written by Dan Harmon's Channel 101 alumni Dave Seger and Tom Kauffman. The animation was done by Animax Entertainment.


The webisodes[]

   "Episode One"
"Dean Pelton you seem extra animated this morning!"
Featuring: The Study Group, Dean Pelton

In the midst of school budget cutbacks, the Dean appoints Abed his "Depu-Dean" and gives him the "'Master Key" to Greendale.

   "Episode Two"
"This really is like "Lord of the Rings"!"
Featuring: The Study Group, Ben Chang

When the Study Group starts demanding favors from Abed because of his new position he gives the "'Master Key" to Britta for safe keeping.

   "Episode Three"
""It's not his fault! I abused Abed's trust to help hummanity!"
Featuring: Britta, Abed, Ben Chang

Britta learns her new cause isn't all it seems which leads to the Dean discovering an ignored part of Greendale's student body

Recurring themes[]

Continuity[]

  • Previously: In the Season Two episode "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design", Dean Pelton mentions he is writing a novel called "The Time Desk: The Chronicles of Dean Dangerous". In Part 3 he is shown holding an award for writing a screen play for that novel.
  • First appearance: The character of Kyle Schmidt appears a few times in this webisode series
  • School supplies: Abed is given "The Master Key".
  • School uniform: Abed wears a piano key neck tie for his new job as the Dean's assistant.
  • This must be the place: Group Study Room F, Dean Pelton's office, Student lounge all appear in animated form.

Pop culture references[]

  • Catchphrase: At the end of each episode, Shirley appears and says her signature catchphrase "That's nice!".
  • Shout out: Britta's e-mail address includes the band "Radio Head" and Bush, probably George W.Bush
  • IMDb: Abed and Kyle mention the movie franchise "The Lord of the Rings"
  • Product placement: The Dean mentions he has a "Tomagachi"

Running gags[]

  • Deanotation:
    • The Dean refers to Abed as his "Depu-Dean".
    • The Dean mentions lying about the school's fun-Dean (funding) and then changes what he said to "I'm a fun Dean". He is also shown holding an award for best "Dean-play".
  • Britta'd it: Britta attempts to help a homeless guy by stealing food from the vending machine but later finds out he isn't homeless.

Meta references[]

  • Up against the wall:
    • Jeff mentions they are all missing a finger, a standard animation trope.
    • Annie mentions that the Dean looks "extra animated".
    • Abed looks straight at the camera and mentions a hiatus while welcoming back the study table referencing the real life hiatus the show was going through at the time.
  • Everyone's a critic: Britta criticizes the Dean for not counting the number of online students who attend Greendale. This is a jab at 'Community"'s ratings which are low despite the seeming popularity of the show online.
  • IRL: The Dean is shown holding a Greendale Human Being statuette which looks similar to an Oscar. Jim Rash who portrays the Dean won an Oscar for co-writing the film "The Descendants".

Production[]

"Abed's Master Key" was animated by Animax Entertainment. The Los Angeles based studio creates content for various multi-media platforms. Their official website can be found HERE. Animax logo

Quotes[]

Something is different.Abed
What was your first clue, that our table was gone or that we woke up missing fingers?Jeff
Wait a second, you haven't been counting online students? That's our biggest demographic!Britta
Welcome back table. It's been a long hiatus.Abed


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