Guess it’s up to me to start another Community thread.
This was the hyped Apollo 13 episode and I’m sad to say that my main reaction to it was “meh.” It was fun, but it felt choppy somehow. Annie’s reactions were all over the place and Jeff went back to being more douchey than normal.
The good: Dean Pelton and his ever-growing list of perversions. Abed. Butt flag. The ending clip with Troy and Abed.
The bad: KFC plug - it was okay until they went outside the scope of the Winnebago with Chang eating the burger. Characterizations were all over the place and Shirley and Britta were essentially useless.
Best Quote: “How many schools would let you get a degree in theoretical phys-ed?” Now we know what degree Britta’s getting.
I loved it, but I’m a sucker for anything even remotely space-related. The Right Stuff thing at the beginning was the best. City College Cosmic Pioneer. Heh.
And Chang bringing up the bundle of duct-taped equipment (a la Apollo 13) to Abed, saying excitedly “I figured out a way to reroute the power from the console!” Abed replies “Reroute it to where?” and Chang slowly and quietly backs away, starting at Abed.
I also got a chuckle out of Abed questioning the Dean why his map had all the rest stops circled and rated:
Abed - “…next to the rest stop with three thumbs up.”
Dean - (under his breath) “those aren’t thumbs.”
I just love the fact that even after the dean was aware of what the flag was, he STILL let it be vote on, and after winning, STILL let it be the official flag.
Abed: Which recipe - crispy or original?
Troy: “Original”.
Abed: How many pieces?
Troy: “Six”.
Abed: What’s the flavor?
Troy: “Good”.
Abed: Change it to “delicious”.
Troy: That makes sense…
It wasn’t just the slo-mo group walk, but the very beginning with the guy running down the hall and bursting into the darkened room to tell the Dean that the other school was going to be the first into simulated space is straight from the opening of The Right Stuff.
I thought this episode was trying too hard and just on the wrong side of plausibility (I mean I know the show is silly - but there can be a too far). But it had some funny moments. I’m hoping Chang becomes like Meg in family guy - just someone they endlessly abuse. Only Chang can occasionally come up with evil revenge plans.
A really good “theme” episode". You have to know your space opera movies to get some of the references. But starting with The Right Stuff briefing was hilarious. The slo-mo hero strut shout out. Abed feeling bad about not being on the mission. So many little things that were great. Who cares about real story line and all.
The weakest part for me was Annie being a City College turncoat. Just didn’t fit with the character. Pierce definitely. Jeff maybe. Not Annie.
I am quite surprised that the network allowed the flag, especially for an 8pm show.
Did KFC have “crispy” back in the 80s?
(BTW, the simulator was mounted on a truck which needs gas to get around.)
YMMV, but it seemed like Jeff was being more antagonistic than usual. Of course, now I can’t remember why I thought that besides Jeff doing his usual “too cool for the situation” schtick, but I’ll get back to you after I watch the episode a second time.
I thought the theoretical phys-ed major was poking fun at Britta for being an unambitious slacker when it comes to school as well as poking fun at the school.
The part near the end with simulator crashing thru the parking lot and the “heroes” stumbling out was very much like Galaxy Quest, but I suspect that GQ was paying homage to something else.
I thought that some parts were playing off Space Cowboys as well.
Just watched it a second time. A couple of other small bits I found really funny:
The elderly student (what’s his name again?) is in the cardboard “simulator simulator”. He says, “Wow, you guys did a really good job! It’s hard to believe I’m not really not really in space.”
When the group trapped in the simulator lets Pierce out of the cage, thinking he has calmed down. But he immediately attacks the TV at the front of the cabin, with the video Colonel Sanders on it. He rips the TV from the wall and throws it on the floor and begins stomping on it, while shouting rhythmically with his stomps, “GET-OFF-MY-MOMMY! I’M-HER-MAN!”
And when the simulator (driven by Annie) makes a sharp turn and–like the old movie cliche–Britta stumbles into Troy’s arms and they are face-to-face, inches away from each other. They stare at each other awkwardly for a moment, then Britta says, “Hi” and Troy replies, 'Hi."
Cut to Pierce stumbling into Jeff’s arms. Pierce smiles and says, “Hi” and Jeff says, “Get off me!.”
