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7 of the Best Hidden Easter Eggs in Community
We’ll bet you didn’t spot all the secrets on your first watch.
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If you’re a fan of Community, you probably already know that Peacock has listened to our rallying cry/mantra/manifestation, “six seasons and a movie.” While we still have to wait a bit for the movie to premiere on Peacock, all six seasons of Community are available to stream, and now is the perfect time to treat yourself to a rewatch.
Community is rife with inside jokes, fun details, callbacks, and easter eggs, that make it a great show to watch again and again and way overanalyze, much in the spirit of Abed.
Here are our picks for some of the best hidden easter eggs to look out for in your next Community binge.
1. Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. If you’re reading this aloud, I’m afraid you may have summoned him. In an homage to the 1988 classic, the third time his name is uttered in the show, he appears. This easter egg took three seasons to pull off perfectly – his name was mentioned in Season 1’s “Communication Studies,” Season 2’s “Cooperative Calligraphy,” and finally, he appears briefly in the background after Annie says his name in Season 3’s Halloween episode, “Horror fiction in seven spooky steps.”
Catch in the moment in Community Season 3, Episode 5.
2. Abed’s secret storyline
Season 2’s “The Psychology of Letting Go” doesn’t feature an Abed storyline, that is if you aren’t paying attention. If you look closely at the background throughout the episode, you’ll see Abed interacting with a pregnant woman and her partner building to one of the final scenes of the episode, where you can spot him delivering the baby in Greendale’s parking lot.
See if you can spot the bonus plot in Community Season 2, Episode 3.
3. Annie’s pen gets stolen
In Season 2’s infamous bottle episode, the study group locks themselves in the study room until they can figure out which one of them stole Annie’s pen. If you’ve already seen the episode, you’ll know that after a classic inspirational speech from Jeff, the gang decides that, since their bonds are so strong, it’s most likely that the pen was simply taken by a ghost. At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that it was stolen by Troy’s old pet monkey from season 1’s Goodfella’s send-up “Contemporary American Poultry.” But if you look closely, you can actually see the exact moment the pen gets taken. The theft is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that occurs around 44-second mark.
Look closely to see the monkey paw in Community Season 2, Episode 8.
4. Abed’s POV hints at future episodes
Season 2’s “Aerodynamics of Gender” is probably best remembered as being the classic trampoline episode, but the other storyline concerns Shirley, Britta, and Annie realizing that Abed has a knack for insulting other peoples’ appearances. What starts as catty fun quickly devolves as Abed becomes unable to stop insulting people. You’ll catch a few glimpses of Abed’s Terminator-style POV as he homes in on his prey, but be sure to take a look at the “memos” section in the bottom left corner, which reveals plot points for future episodes in the season. For example, “Troy’s Birthday in 14 Days” hints at the plot for “Mixology Certification” and “Make Blanket Fort” lets you know Abed's construction plans in “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design.”
Check out the easter egg in Community Season 2, Episode 7.
5. Latvian Independence Day
Speaking of the blanket fort episode, it has a fun easter egg of its own that shows just how detailed Community really is. Midway through the episode, as Jeff and Annie crawl through Troy and Abed’s elaborate blanket fort, they get derailed by a Latvian Independence Day Parade. A joke about how large the fort is becomes even funnier when you learn that this episode aired on November 18, which is the actual date of Latvia’s Independence Day.
Watch the moment in Community Season 2 Episode 9.
6. Amy Poehler cameo
Amy Poehler never made a true in-person cameo in Community, though a Parks and Rec x Community crossover would have been amazing, but she does make a brief appearance in the background of Season 2’s “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking,” where a real-life stock photo of Amy Poehler is hung up in a hospital waiting room just before the ten-minute mark. The stock photo also returns in Season 5’s “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics.”
Try to find the poster in Community Season 2, Episode 16 and Season 5, Episode 3.
7. Six seasons and a movie!
After Abed first uttered the phrase in Season 2’s fake clip show episode “Paradigms of Human Memory,” about the short-lived NBC show, The Cape, the phrase became an aspirational rallying cry for fans of Community, who applied it to express their hopes for the show itself. Six seasons and a movie! Community acknowledged this in season 4’s finale, “Advanced Introduction to Finality,” when it was unclear whether the show would return for another season, where the phrase appears on the blackboard throughout the episode’s final scene.
Find the Easter egg in Community Season 4, Episode 13
Stream all six seasons of Community on Peacock and keep an eye out for the upcoming movie!
