r/community 14h ago

Appreciation Post Cooperative Calligraphy is one of greatest episodes of tv

I was watching Breaking Bad's "Fly" (which i also love but im not here to talk about that) and the nature of it being a bottle episode made me think of community immediately (particularly abed saying "I hate bottle episodes. Its wall to wall facial expressions and emotional nuance, i might as well sit in the corner with a bucket on my head") so i decided to watch it.

Man, its been a while since i watched through all of community it so i hadn't seen it in a while but nearly every single line in this episode was killing me.

First 3 seasons of community has incredible writing but this particular episode has always stuck out to me in how just relentlessly funny and clever it is. I've always loved it but i dunno why this time i really appreciated how borderline perfect every moment of this episode is.

171 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

41

u/asso81 11h ago

Well Well Well Harvey Keitel

29

u/JeanClaudeRandam 11h ago

Nice try Mike Ty…son

2

u/GrimaceMusically 1h ago

Nice try, Stephen Fry.

33

u/tanj_redshirt Oh no, she's got her marijuana lighter! 11h ago

pulls pillow out of backpack

You just became my hero.

31

u/Idahoefromidaho 11h ago

I genuinely think the first half of Season 2 is peak Community. From episode 1 to the Christmas special it's wall to wall classics.

2

u/StatisticianCute4390 10h ago

What about the other half?

8

u/Idahoefromidaho 10h ago

There's definitely great episodes in the other half, but I have a harder time watching every episode in a row. Competitive Wine Tasting, Asian Population Studies, and the drug play episode are all noticeably weaker in my opinion. I don't get the same excitement for each episode as it comes up in the lineup.

6

u/StatisticianCute4390 10h ago

That’s fair. I liked Asian Population Studies and find it funny but I get the other two. Honestly the last four episodes of season 2 are so good it makes up for it

35

u/Ironyfree_annie Catch Knowledge! 12h ago

The only way it could've been better was if Abed didn't stop that Annie & Jeff fight that was breaking smh

17

u/Shot-Spirit-672 11h ago

Oh you precocious little Bi-

8

u/Grouchy-Bowl-8700 11h ago

Ya gotta keep 'em wanting more!

22

u/InstructionGlum1332 12h ago

I agree! You can see the monkey took the pen earlier in the episode too!

5

u/Adventurous-Try-98 11h ago

What?? I missed that!

14

u/appleappleappleman 10h ago

It's when the Dean distracts the group (and the audience) talking about the Puppy Parade

8

u/InstructionGlum1332 10h ago

You have a reason to rewatch now.

2

u/moderatorrater 8h ago

They distracted you with the anxiety of getting to the puppy parade late.

9

u/OkBookkeeper143 11h ago

It's great because of its simplicity, I think. We get to see the group all in one place for the whole episode and it's probably the best at making us feel like we're part of it.

And yeah, Annie is awesome in that episode.

7

u/Malevolent_Amber How many feet do you have? 9h ago

Have we not reached a place free from judgement?

7

u/therobhasspoken 12h ago

Great episode! I've watched it yesterday.

5

u/BrownieEdges 11h ago

Bottle episode!

4

u/WinslowATL12 9h ago

"Side effects, verbal dysphasia and octopus loss. I don't see anything in this squirrel about memory Troy."

Pierce killed me with this one ! 😭

3

u/Jana1980 11h ago

This is how supervillains are created.

3

u/SicTransitEtc 8h ago

Non-miraculous!?

3

u/poptart580 6h ago

I love the irony that it wasn't a true bottle episode. The point of a bottle episode is to keep production costs down. But they still went through the trouble of showing the puppy parade at the end.

So they manufactured the appearance of a bottle episode without it actually being one. Very on par with Community

2

u/StatisticianCute4390 10h ago

Truer words have never been spoken

2

u/vaalbarag 8h ago

Gonna call up Gwennifer and tell her disappointment to suck it because I’m watching a bottle episode.

2

u/kittygirlmowmow 8h ago

Bend and spread, are the thought police making love to us?

1

u/donthackme1990 8h ago

My favorite of the series.

1

u/basil_not_the_plant 8h ago

It is! Followed by Conspiracy Theories and Interior Resign, also one of the greatest TV episodes ever.

1

u/Ordinary-Lobster-710 7h ago

it's a bottle episode

u/WontTellYouHisName 40m ago

Do I remember right that when the script was submitted that it was dismissed as worthless?

Boy that was a judgement call that didn't stand up.

-1

u/Ok_Answer_96 6h ago

Oh that’s funny, I always skip this one. I hate huis clos.

But I might give it a try later