| “ | Abed, it makes the group uncomfortable when you talk about us like we're charcters on a show you're watching. | ” |
–Jeff | ||
| “ | Well, that's sort of my gimmick...but we did lean on that pretty hard last week. I can lay low for an episode. | ” |
–Abed | ||
Meta references are anything on Community that indicates a self awareness that it's a television show. This is usually expressed through Abed who will often make comparisons through TV and pop culture references. Typically, these statements come close to breaking the fourth wall. These can also be expressed through homages and parodies or allusions to things indirectly related to the show. In the "Recurring Themes" section of the episode pages on this wiki, Meta references that appeared in that particular episode are listed and seperated into categories. Below are a list of each category along with examples
- IRL (In Real Life): These are references to personal information about cast or crew who have worked on the show. Ex. Donald Glover was once a practicing Jehovah's Witness, a religion he shares with his character, Troy. Yvette Nicole Brown's Christian faith is also referenced through Shirley's religion.
- Homage: A tribute to something done with reverence. Ex. "Basic Lupine Urology" was an homage to "Law & Order".
- Parody: A lampooning of something done very satirically. Ex. "Regional Holiday Music" was a parody of "Glee".
- Résumé: A reference to a project outside of "Community" that is related to someone who is a current or past member of the cast and crew. Can also be used if a series of references are made about somoenes specific body of work. Ex. In "Environmental Science" Chang and Jeff mention cherry daquiries which was the stage name of a character Gillian Jacobs played in the movie "Choke". In "Introduction to Film", a few references are made to Robin Wlliams career.
- Up against the wall: Any reference that comes close to breaking the fourth wall. Ex. Jeff mentions an unmovable date he has at Morty's Steakhouse on May 23rd 2013 to celebrate his graduation from Greendale College. This is a possible date when Community's fourth season/series finale could air.
- Use your allusion: Any indirect refrence to something which does not include information on the source material it comes from. Ex. In "Course Listing Unavailable", the head of Greendale's school board uses Optimus Prime's quote, "Transform and roll out".
- Everyone's a critic: Any indirect references to criticisms about the show. Ex. "Biology 101" opening musical number "We're Gonna Finally Be Fine" has references to criticisms about Season Two.
- Current events: Any indirect reference to any news items which had occurred in the real world at that time.
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