Running gags

"Running gags"
First occurred: "Pilot" — Participants: Community characters
Type of theme: Running gag - a joke or a comical reference that appears repeatedly throughout the show

Summary

I hate Glee! I don't understand the appeal at all!

— Jeff expresses his hatred of the TV show Glee, "Basic Genealogy".

Running gags are jokes on Community that have often been repeated and used consistently throughout the show's run. In the "Recurring Themes" section of the episode pages on this wiki, running gags that appeared in that particular episode are listed and separated into specific categories. Below is a brief description of what type of running gag each category represents along with a list of it's appearances:

A dollop of whipped irony

Any statement or action from a character that proves ironic in some sense. Season One "Pilot": When Shirley tells Pierce he has been sexually harassing her, Pierce replies he wouldn't do that to someone that turns him on and Troy points out to the irony of his statement. "Spanish 101": Pierce tells Jeff not to pursue Britta so desperately because it comes off as too creepy. He then ignores his own advice and asks Jeff to have a drink with him and have what the kids are calling a "Sausage fest". "Environmental Science": Troy tells Britta how cold she is being towards Jeff. Right after he says this Troy acts the same way towards Abed by avoiding helping him look for their lab rat Fievel. "The Art of Discourse": Jeff celebrates a good grade in his nutrition class by eating a pie with "a dollop of whipped irony". After the group kicks him out, Britta calls Pierce a child for having walked past her without saying a word when she greets him. She then shows herself to be childish as well when she sees Mark Cahill and calls him a "stinky turd face". 'Modern Warfare": Jeff says he's all for winning but doesn't like resorting to cheap ploys. He then takes off his shirt and revealing a tight fitting wifebeater shirt which he wears for the most of the competition. Season Two 'Aerodynamics of Gender": Troy says "Let me just make sure Pierce isn't hovering around", refering to Pierce's claim he will be watching them all the time. Pierce then proceeds to use a device that hovers around to spy on them, and ruin their secret. Season Three "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism": Juergen says "I wish there was a word to describe the happiness I feel at your misfortune!" referring to the German word Schadenfreude, which means exactly that. Season Five 'Basic Intergluteal Numismatics": Pelton calls Jeff and Annie unprofessional and creepy due to them teaming up only to sublimate romantic urges they have in acceptable ways. He then does something creepy and unprofessional by forcing Jeff to become the new water polo coach with Pelton stating he will be his assistant coach. Despite Troy's repeated statements about liking "butt stuff", he is traumatized by actual (and rather innocuous) butt stuff happening to him in this episode. Season Six "Ladders": Annie sweetly condescendingly asks Abed if Frankie was sweetly condescending to him. Abed says she wasn't and can tell the difference now. While working the counter at Shirley's Sanwiches, Britta tells Annie that she has better experience at customer relations. She then yells at customer who tries to return a sandwich she burned. "Laws of Robotics & Party Rights": After Annie refuses Britta's house party request, she tells her she's not some authoritative controlling power to rebel against. When Britta denies that's what's she's going to do, Annie tells her she'll do what she's told.

Annie's Boobs

Both the monkey and Annie's chest are showcased in a comedic way. Season One "Environmental Science": Annie pretends to be a choo-choo train while wearing a tight fitting sweater. "Debate 109": Annie's cleavage proves too distracting and tempting for Jeff. "Contemporary American Poultry": The monkey "Annie's boobs" debuts in this episode. The real Annie doesn't care for the name which Troy points out was voted on by the monkey's Twitter followers. Season Two "The Psychology of Letting Go": Annie raises her hand and Duncan calls on her by saying, "You, in the boobs." Britta calls Annie out for the way she tends to stick out her chest while soliciting donations for the oil spill. Annie scoops oil off her chest and throws it at Britta. "Cooperative Calligraphy": The monkey steals Annie's pen to set off the entire chain of events and is revealed to the audience as the culprit at the end of the episode. Annie shows some cleavage when she takes off her sweater and minutes later when wearing just a bra. Annie is initially topless behind the study table. "A Fistful of Paintballs": Annie's modified saloon girl outfit. Annie runs in slow motion down a hallway in the low cut outfit. The Black Rider also makes a reference to Annie's chest when she gets flustered with him. "For A Few Paintballs More": Annie is still wearing her low-cut modified saloon girl outfit. Her cleavage gets drenched in orange paint near the end of the episode. Season Three "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps": Annie's teacher dress has a very low-cut front. "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism": Annie hides a piece of Abed's DVD in her bra when they go to the landlord's apartment. Season Four "History 101": The monkey makes an appearance in Abed's imagined sitcom opening sequence. Season Six "Intro to Recycled Cinema": In the film Annie improvises that her character pulls a "laser grenade" from her cleavage to destroy the enemy.

• Attention students!: Dean Pelton and others making announcements over the P.A. system (see main article Public address system).

Awww!

When someone find something adorable and "'Aww!"s. Usually the moment is immediately undercut by something offensive. Shirley and Annie are usually the ones to do this (mostly in tandem) although others sometime join in. Season One "Spanish 101": Annie reacts sadly to Jeff mentioning how empty his life is. "Introduction to Film": Annie and Shirley coo when they see that the check Britta made out to Abed for his class is signed with "For dreams" "Social Psychology": Shirley coos when Abed agrees to participate in Annie's lab experiment in the name of friendship. Season Two 'The Psychology of Letting Go": Annie, Shirley, and Britta all "Awww!" when Troy tells them he discovered Pierce's mom's dead body. "Cooperative Calligraphy": The whole study group responds to Dean Pelton's announcement of a Puppy Parade. "Mixology Certification": When Troy says he wants to bathe in his manhood, Shirley and Annie coo but soon realize how gross that sounds. When Troy tells the waitress that he's waiting until midnight to have a drink, Annie and Britta "Aww" at the gesture. "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking": Shirley and Annie are saddened by Pierce's seemingly imminent demise. Later, the rest of the group Awwws when they look into Pierce's room and see Pierce and Jeff resting.

• Bag-ul: Britta mispronounces a word.
• Biggest laugh of the night!: Physical comedy. Someone, usually Pierce, does a pratfall or takes a hit.
• Board certified tutor: Someone claims to have skills or abilities that they obviously do not have. Ex. Pierce pretends to have a number of vocations, usually related to Hawthorne Wipes.
• Bon Appetit!: A woman's sexuality is questioned, usually Pierce thinking that Britta is a lesbian. In Season 6, it became the group wondering about Frankie being a lesbian.
• Britta'd: To make (the opposite of) a tiny and (not so) understandable mistake.
• Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?: When something is repeated several times as a question, usually punctuated with the person saying it pointing at others. The name is a reference to Ben Stein's line from the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".
• Butt stuff: Troy's fascination with butts.
• Changuage: Ben Chang using his last name in place of other words (see main article Changuage).
• Come sail away!: Troy unabashedly crying.
• Deanotation: Much like Changuage, except it's relevant only to Dean Pelton and concerns his use of the word "Dean".
• Disney face: A character using a sad face or tears to their advantage, usually Annie.
• Double entendre: Wordplay with suggestive connotations.
• E-vasive: Jeff distracts or fools the group in order to avoid or get away from them.
• Fan service: Any gratuitous eye candy done for sake of titillation and amusement.
• Fivehead: Jokes involving Jeff's high hairline.
• Gasp: Someone, usually Annie, will gasp loudly. Sometimes done sarcastically.
• Gay, he's so gay!: A man's sexuality is questioned, usually Pierce thinking Jeff is gay.
• Greendale bylaws: Ridiculous rules and laws are enforced or mentioned.
• I hate Glee!: Many jokes are made at the expense of this popular program.
• I'm Batman!: Abed takes on a different persona, sometimes one which Annie finds attractive (Don Draper, Han Solo).
• It's a mixer, it's a mixer!: Any time Abed acts robotically.
• It's a vase: Someone, usually Annie, performs an unintentionally suggestive action.
• Like an evil genie: Someone, usually Dean Pelton, enters the scene on an unfortunate or ironic verbal cue.
• Mad or hungry?: Abed's difficulty with recognizing and reading faces.
• Man crush: Dean Pelton's man-crush on Jeff.
• My other half: Hints that Troy and Abed's relationship is more than platonic.
• Nice outfit: Sartorial humor, usually Dean Pelton wearing ridiculous outfits (see main article Dean Pelton's outfits).
• NOOOOOO!: Someone screams, usually Annie.
• Pansexual imp: Hints or examples of Dean Pelton's multitudinous and often unusual turn-ons.
• PCness: A character, usually Dean Pelton, tries too hard to be politically correct.
• Raging against the machine: Britta goes off on one of her political rants.
• Rhyme time: Rhyming responses by the characters, example "Well, well, well, Harvey Keitel."
• Screw you guys: Somebody leaves or gets kicked out of the group.
• Sexy voice: Shirley goes from her sweet sounding voice to a more serious tone.
• Shut up, Leonard!: Leonard interjects an unwelcome remark into a conversation which causes someone to tell him to shut up followed by a cutting remark (see main article Shut up, Leonard!). 
• Take that, inspector!: It is mentioned or shown that buildings or other accommodations on the Greendale campus are poorly planned, badly built, or are in bad shape.
• That's you: Someone either intentionally or accidentally does a bad impersonation of someone else.
• The Jim Belushi of...: When someone or something is referred to as second rate or inferior.

Thrown together

When a character's actions causes people around him to throw things at him/her Season One In Advanced Criminal Law, during Spanish 101, Britta indignantly claims, "It's not that easy to get human beings to turn on each other!", upon which Chang commands the class to turn on her; the entire class follows suit by throwing paper balls at her In Comparative Religion, Jeff gets paper balls thrown at him twice, once for saying "I'm agnostic", and again moments later for saying, "As an agnostic, I'm gonna bring my winning smile." In Basic Genealogy, during family day, Jeff announces to the class, "Everyone here is my family". The entire class, booing, throws paper balls at him. Season Three In Introduction to Finality, Jeff tricks Pierce into publicly making jokes during a court session. After three jokes, he has the entire room throwing paper balls at him as he insists, "So you're telling me they're not good at basketball?".

• Troy and Abed in the morning!: Troy and Abed's fake morning talk show. Also, when the jingle is put to different words, example "Troy and Abed's new apart-ment" (see main article Troy and Abed in the Morning!).
• Turning it into a snake: Britta sings and dances awkwardly.
• Uh-oh: Pierce keeps losing touch with reality.
• Whoops!: Somebody, usually Troy, catches themselves after saying too much.
• WWBJD: Short for "What Would Baby Jesus Do?" Shirley moralizing to the group.
• You're a huge nerd: Examples of Jeff being a closet geek and closer in mentality to Troy and Abed than he is willing to admit.
• You're the worst!: Britta is called "the worst".
• Zzzzz: When Troy says "Pretend like you're asleep".

Recurring themes Story Continuity · Pop culture references · Meta references · Running gags · Community end tags · Changuage · Community webisodes Metafiction The Community College Chronicles · Kickpuncher (franchise) · Cougarton Abbey · The Inspector · Inspector Spacetime (television show) · Bloodlines of Conquest · Chief Starr and the Raiders of the Galaxy Fandom Comic-Con · CommuniCon · "Gravity" · #Sixseasonsandamovie Miscellaneous Winger speeches · Reformed Neo Buddhism · Shut up, Leonard! · Troy and Abed in the Morning! · Dean Pelton's outfits · Dean Pelton's Dalmatian fetish · Paintball Assassin games · The Darkest Timeline · The Gazette Journal Mirror See Also: Greendale Events