Streets Behind: A Community Fanpod

Matthew and Sandi had different initial reactions to this one. Matthew thought it was pretty meh but Sandi goes outside of her slang comfort zone to call this one an absolute banger. Who was right? Who was wrong? Tune in to find out and to hear all about Jeff's epic billiards battle, Abed's quest to win over his secret admirer, and Britta's bagel problem. If you're a Danny Pudi fan, do not miss this one. Abed plays so many amazing roles, including a surprisingly convincing Don Draper. Also, stay tuned for an upcoming mini bonus episode where we take a deep dive into the billiards artwork in Coach Bogner's office.

In this bonus episode your co-hosts try an experiment - is it possible to talk about politics without getting political? Do we cover every issue? Heck no, but we chat about how it feels to have a midwestern teacher on the national political stage and why we'd like to see more of a Community school spirit in politics. Hopefully, anyone at Greendale, no matter what their politics are, would feel welcome to join the conversation.

It's Valentine's Week at Greendale, and you know what that means - it's a dance episode, people! The theme is ostensibly romance, but really this episode is all about friendship. While the Cupid Being wanders around campus delivering valentines (oh, now it has arrows, that's safe), the study group members are all finding ways to get out of their comfort zones and come through for each other when things get weird. Britta and Jeff exchange drunk dials, which almost tanks Jeff's relationship with Professor Slater until Britta swoops in with the save. Abed stops being a detached observer and steps up when Jeff needs a drinking buddy. After Chang humiliates Pierce and Troy, Annie and Shirley decide to prank Chang in return. It goes horribly wrong, of course, and just when they're about to confess, Pierce and Troy take the fall instead and face the punishment - accompanying Change to the dance in elegant ladies' pant suits. This is a can't-miss episode of Community, and dare we say, of this pod? Share it with the friend you'd want at your side if you had to go on a date with Chang.

This episode gets super college-y. Shirley joins Troy and Abed to make fun of their favorite bad movie, Kick Puncher. Pierce crashes their party, and crashes into a giant bowl of popcorn. Meanwhile, Annie starts hanging out with Britta's ex-boyfriend Vaughn, which throws Britta and Jeff into a tailspin of jealousy, although they try to tell themselves they're just looking out for Annie's best interests. This is one of those iconic Community episodes - zippy, funny, concise, with great background detail - but some of the humor just doesn't age well. We get into some of the ways pop culture has changed since the show was made, and how to criticize something you love while acknowledging its historical context.

This week we have one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series - Britta and Troy's teapot dance for the ages! Up until this point, Britta and Troy have been doing an excellent job of hiding the fact that they were both taking dance classes all semester because it comes out of nowhere in this episode, and it provides lots of opportunities to explore gender norms and how they specifically apply to Britta and Troy's identities. This episode also has the Library's Backdoor Conundrum (iconic stuff here!). When the group all gathers outside the conundrummed backdoor waiting to be let in, they spot Jeff and Professor Slater sneaking a kiss. They manage to keep this relationship a secret for about 12 seconds, and then in true Greendale fashion, the Dean gets involved with a bonkers administrative form about how long they've been doing it. Not as many quick zingers in this episode, but lots of more subtle comedy and tons of clever character development. This episode is a can't miss.

Would you believe this is the Jack Black episode, and the MASH episode, and the school newspaper episode? No? We didn't either, but it is. It's the first day of spring semester at Greendale, and a new, chill Jeff is cracking wise in the school newspaper office/distillery while Annie hunts down a major scoop and Buddy (Jack Black) auditions to join their study group. This whole time the MASH theme song is definitely playing on a loop in Abed's head. Listen to find out why we think this is a quintessential Community episode, and why some parts of it don't age quite as well as others.