Director: Rob Schrab — Writer: Dan Harmon & Chris McKenna — Aired: June 2, 2015 —Season: Six — Number: Thirteen Summary: As the latest semester ends, Abed asks everyone to imagine pitching a TV show about next year.
Lines between perception, desire, and reality may become blurred, redundant, or interchangeable. Characters may hook up with no regard for your emotional investment. Some episodes too conceptual to be funny, some too funny to be immersive, and some so immersive they still aren't funny. Consistency between seasons may vary.
— Final narration
As another school year comes to a close the Save Greendale Committee has its last meeting. Their final task is to rename the committee since Greendale is officially saved. To Frankie's dismay everyone agrees on Elroy's suggestion "Nipple Dippers." An over costumed Dean Pelton arrives just in time to accompany the committee to The Vatican for a post year celebration. Elroy declines as he's headed to California for a job and is unsure he'll be back. He wishes everyone a great summer before going. Later at the bar, Elroy leaving has the committee speculating about next year.
Elroy says goodbye to the committee.
They ask for Abed's opinion framing it in terms of a seventh "season" of their "TV show." He is uncertain about the future of the group since they are losing members. Britta suggests Shirley might come back but Abed is skeptical. He admits it would be a return to the "formula": Jeff is snark, Britta is cluelessness, Annie is focus, Shirley is sassiness, Frankie is exposition, Chang is non-sequiturs and Pelton wears silly outfits. Britta and Pelton object to his take on the group dynamics. The Dean then reveals his idea for another year which portrays Shirley and Elroy as ethnic stereotypes and ends with Pelton fondling Jeff's abs.
Shirley meets New Shirley.
Chang argues against bringing anyone back. His pitch introduces a brand new committee member named "Ice Cube Head" who has magical powers and again ends with Pelton in a diaper dancing. Jeff is about to leave when Annie arrives and announces she got a summer internship with the FBI. As everyone congratulations her, Jeff has a nightmarish vision of his future. He is the only original study group member left; replacing his friends are Vicki, Garrett, Dave, Todd, Leonard and Scrunch an Internet billionaire who bought the school. They all tell him they will all end up abandoning him too.
Chang's pitch introduces Ice Cube Head.
Jeff is pulled out of his thoughts by a concerned Annie. He invites her to join them in speculating about next year. He imagines a scenario where Annie commutes to Colorado from the FBI headquarters in Washington. Britta counters with her own scenario where Greendale becomes its own nation; in it Annie is the school's FBI liaison and Pelton is a trans woman. Although Frankie criticizes Britta's idea she is unable to offer a better one as her bland suggestion gets booed. Abed states that good TV is meant to be joyful, effortless and comforting. Jeff pitches another idea where he is the Dean and everyone on the committee is faculty at the school. While the pitch is received well, Abed says it might not be possible.
Britta's scary Community pitch.
He's headed to Los Angeles and taken a job as a production assistant on a new Fox TV show. When he tells everyone he's uncertain if he'll be back, Jeff imagines himself strangling multiple Abed clones before he abruptly walks out of the bar. Over at Greendale, Jeff is in the study room contemplating a future where Annie is his wife. He finds himself unable to reconcile his vision with reality and his thoughts are interrupted by the real Annie's arrival. Jeff admits he is bitter about his age and resentful his friends are leaving. Annie tells him he needs to embrace the status his age gives him, accept the things he can't change and move on. Jeff unexpectedly admits to Annie his feelings for her are one of those things he's been unable to let go of.
Annie is stunned by his confession until a text alerts her that the other committee members are coming. At Annie's suggestion she and Jeff share a brief kiss goodbye so he'll have no regrets. Their friends intrude on the moment and Jeff pretends they were saying farewell to the study room. Annie pointedly tells Jeff the goodbye may not be for good with so many variables to consider. Frankie suggests that they take a minute to imagine their own personal Season Seven. Once they finish everyone embraces in a group hug. Later, Jeff drives Annie and Abed to the airport and sees them off. He then heads to the Vatican and meets up with the rest of the committee to share a drink. As the screen fades to black and "#andamovie" appears on screen.
A commercial is shown featuring a family playing the "Community Board Game". A narrator does a voice over selling the game as the father of the family has a startling revelation. His son plays a move that has him hand a script of the commercial to his dad. The father has a sudden breaking the fourth wall epiphany that he and his family are just promotional constructs and aren't real. As the truth dawns on everyone in his "family" the narrator continues plugging the game. The commercial comes to an end as the narrator's sales pitch turns into a lengthy meta commentary.
Abed mentions Troy leaving on his boat trip and not returning which happened in the Season Five episode "Geothermal Escapism."
Replay:
Several different versions of shows opening credits are played before each of the committee members Season Seven pitch.
In one of Jeff's imaginings of Season Seven, he paraphrases his line from the Season Onepilot episode and says "You've just stopped being a study group. I hereby pronounce you a community."
That just happened: In the scene where Garrett appears as a replacement committee member, he is wearing a wedding ring as he was married in the previous episode, "Wedding Videography".
Actor Seth Green appears in Jeff's Season Seven pitch as a millionaire who bought Greendale.
The intensely staring guy in The Vatican, played by Community writer Dan Guterman, who first appeared in "Advanced Safety Features", reappears in the background just as the remaining Committee is starting to share their drinks in the ending scene.
Returning students:
Shirley returns in this episode in several pitches imagined by the committee for a possible Season Seven.
Leonard returns to announce the end of the school year. He also joins other students in an imaginary sequence as possible replacement committee members.
Garrett appears in an imaginary sequence as possible replacement committee members.
Vicki appears in an imaginary sequence as possible replacement committee members.
Todd appears in an imaginary sequence as possible replacement committee members.
Dave appears in an imaginary sequence as possible replacement committee members.
Bon Appetit!: In Jeff's version of the show, Frankie says she is a lesbian, which is why she never came on to Jeff.
Fan service: Jeff takes off his shirt in Pelton's Season Seven pitch.
Gay, he's so gay!: Chang calls Jeff this but then apparently admits to being gay himself.
Nice outfit:
After not putting on a costume all year Dean Pelton finally dresses up in several different outfits at once.
Dean Pelton wears a diaper in two different Season Seven pitches.
Dean Pelton wears a Father Time outfit in one imaginary scene and then dresses as a serious transgender in another scene.
Pansexual imp: The Dean is not impressed by Britta rewriting him to be a transwoman, instead of "all this other stuff."
PCness: Dean Pelton tries to not be racist by including in his pitch not only both Shirley and Elroy, but also a new black person.
Raging against the machine: Britta tries to do an impression of herself: "I've got... I'm angry and you should vote, or don't vote." Later she imagines a version of the show with her as the leader of political activists/terrorists.
Shut up, Leonard!: The father in the episode end tag delivers the joke when playing the Community board game.
Take that, inspector!: In his announcement at the beginning of the episode, Dean Pelton mentions that Greendale is still standing and tells off a building inspector, a health inspector, a foundation inspector, a water line inspector, a geologist, an exterminator and a plumber.
You're a huge nerd: While Jeff initially dismisses Abed's idea of pitching a Season Seven, he is ultimately the one who comes up with the most hypothetical scenarios, even if he doesn't share some of them, as a way to deal with Annie and Abed leaving.
Name that tune: The song "Ends of the Earth" by Lord Huron plays during the scene where Jeff drops Annie and Abed off at the airport.
Product placement: Elroy mentions he was hired by the online job market site LinkedIn.
Shout out: Dan Harmon, who reads the voiceover in the end tag, compares his own voiceover to sitcom producer Chuck Lorre and his "rants", referring to Lorre's vanity cards at the end of shows he's produced, such as The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men".
TV Guide:
The Simpsons, Seinfeld, South Park and Friends are mentioned by Chang as examples of shows that peaked after their sixth season, although this would not chime with critical opinion (except perhaps South Park).
Abed describes the show where he's going to be working as a production assistant as 30 Rock meets IT Crowd meets me', the latter presumably referring to Community.
Use your allusion: The father's line in the end tag ("The whole show is happening inside this game") and the Snow Globe playing card he is holding refer to the series finale of St. Elsewhere, where it was suggested that the entire series took place inside the mind of an autistic kid (Tommy Westphall) who imagined the events while staring at a snow globe.
Background check: The nine numbers on the white board behind Annie and Elroy, all starting with NM, are a reference to the IMDB website. Inputting one of the numbers and letter combinations into a search engine will bring up the IMDB pages of Dan Harmon and the eight main actors of this season. The number GC613 is just a reference that this is the 13th episode of season six.
Parody:
The episode pokes fun at the process of continuing a show past six seasons.
Britta's imagined version of the show depicting real-world problems has a theme tune sung in the style of Leonard Cohen.
Also being parodied are the several changes in the core cast of Community, particularly with the CGI animated character Ice Cube Head (voiced by Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon's friend and co-creator of Rick and Morty).
Résumé:
Referencing Britta's "Pitch", Frankie says she wouldn't watch it even though she doesn't own a television. In The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Paget Brewster's signature character Sadie Doyle uses the recurring catchphrase "I would not watch that TV show" as a reaction to absurdist situations.
Actor Seth Green makes a cameo in one of Jeff's imaginary future scenario's wearing bunny ears. This could possibly be referencing his past role in the short lived Fox TV program Greg the Bunny.
Abed describes the show he's going to work on as "like '30 Rock' meets 'The IT Crowd' meets . . . well, me." In 2007, NBC filmed a pilot for a US adaptation of The IT Crowd, starring Joel McHale, and ordered it to series but cancelled it without ever airing. Moses Port and David Guarascio were among the writers.
Up against the wall:
Abed says "Cool" for every "Season/year" the group has been at Greendale but briefly pauses before senior year. This alludes to Season Four, the one season creator Dan Harmon was not the showrunner. Chang asks Abed to repeat saying cool and when he again pauses at year four Ben farts and claims it's an inside joke. Harmon has been vocal about his dislike of Season Four. One could also take it as a reference to "Repilot" where the characters' odd behavior in Season Four was attributed to a gas leak.
Frankie describes herself as a "humble outsider who came in and nailed it" referencing actress Paget Brewster's addition to the cast this season.
The end tag features a family playing a board game and realizing they are fictional characters. The commercial's voiceover is read by Community's creator Dan Harmon. He also recites a lengthy diatribe about criticisms regarding Community and its creator.
This episode features the first use of a broadcast television banned expletive. It was spoken twice by both Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) and Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs). In an interview with TV Insider, "Community" creator Dan Harmon explained how it happened:
“It was kind of unintentional. That one that Jim [Rash, as Dean Pelton] does is adlibbed. As soon as he said it, the entire cast started laughing, but I edited around it. As for Britta's I should have bleeped it… it's weird to have two "f***s" on that one.”
Elroy's LinkedIn profile[]
The official Community Facebook page created a real LinkedIn profile for Elroy Patashnik. It can be seen HERE.
Elroy's LinkedIn profile.
Quotes[]
“Dice not included, some assembly required. Lines between perception, desire, and reality may become blurred, redundant, or interchangeable. Characters may hook up with no regard for your emotional investment. Some episodes too conceptual to be funny, some too funny to be immersive, and some so immersive they still aren't funny. Consistency between seasons may vary. Viewers may be measured by a secretive obsolete system based on selected participants keeping handwritten journals of what they watch. Show may be cancelled and moved to the internet where it turns out tens of millions were watching the whole time. May not matter. Fake commercial may end with disclaimer gag which may descend into vain Chuck Lorre-esque rant by narcissistic creator. Creator may be unstable. Therapist may have told creator this is not how you make yourself a good person. Life may pass by while we ignore or mistreat those close to us. Those close to us may be those watching. Those people may want to know I love them but I may be incapable of saying it. Contains pieces the size of a child's esophagus.”— TV commercial narrator
“There is skill to it. More importantly, it has to be joyful, effortless, fun. TV defeats its own purpose when it's pushing an agenda, or trying to defeat other TV or being proud or ashamed of itself for existing. It's TV, it's comfort. It's a friend you've known so well, and for so long you just let it be with you. And it needs to be okay for it to have a bad day, or phone in a day. And it needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with Levar Burton and never come back. Because eventually, it all will.”— Abed
“I don't wanna be fine. I wanna be 25 and heading out into the world. I wanna fall asleep on a beach and be able to walk the next day, or stay up all night on accident. I wanna wear a t-shirt without looking like I forgot to get dressed. I want to be terrified of AIDS, I want to have an opinion about those...[whispers] boring ass Marvel movies. And I want those opinions to be of any concern to the people making them.”— Jeff
“Well I want to live in the same home for more than a year, order wine without feeling nervous, have a resume full of crazy mistakes instead of crazy lies. I want stories and wisdom, perspective. I wanna have so much behind me I'm not a slave to what's in front of me, especially these...[whispers] flavorless unremarkable Marvel movies.”— Annie
“I let you go, Annie. From my hands and my head. The heart, which cynics say is code for penis, wants what it wants. But I let you go.”— Jeff
“The others are coming. I think you should kiss me goodbye or you might regret it for the rest of your life.”— Annie
“What about you? ”— Jeff
“Oh, I'll regret the kiss for a week, I'm in my 20's.”— Annie
