We learned about Jeff’s father’s issues in this one and that Britta is in danger of being evicted in April and has lots of debts. I’m guessing those will be revisited as they have other things mentioned in what seemed like passing.
So what was Pierce’s bequeathal to Abed? Just the documentary?
Hmm, Annie has to live in a bad neighbourhood because of her money problems… perhaps the two decide to find a place together? With sexy results!
Or maybe Britta just moves into Annie’s studio apartment above Dildopolis? With sexy results!
Sorry, my husband and I both have crushes on Britta, Annie, and Jeff, to varying degrees. Most of our time watching is spent innudendo-ing scenes with any or all of the three.
And Troy’s freakout was amazing. “YOU CAN’T DISAPPOINT A PICTURE!!”
I think he knew Abed was immune to any mind games he wanted to play. And yeah I need to also emphasize just how amazing Troy was. Actually all of them had moments to shine but he owned every scene he was in.
Wish for a thousand pictures of Levar Burton…
That’s all well and good for back then, but now they have Chang to kick around.
I wonder if his alternate personality is Eng.
Not just the song, but the whole thing. I never thought watching someone just stare at Levar Burton could be hilarious.
I loved the episode. So funny. When the Levar Burton picture was brought out I said to myself “Wouldn’t it be great if he were a guest star?” And, there he was! Awesome. I like how they didn’t go the easy route by referencing his Star Trek character. Twice with a great Kunta remark. And, the theme song! So fun.
Very funny stuff up and down. The show keeps doing interesting things and for the most part they pay off.
I didn’t see any digs at the office, though.
Now, we had Betty White as a professor this season? Any other new ones? I think they need a couple of new ones. Just to have something surprising and fun.
I was curious if there’s a Dorchester, CO because Pierce said Jeff’s dad was “last living in Dorchester” (though he didn’t say what state and of course MA is the most famous).
There is a Dorchester, Colorado and it’s a ghost town/campground. I wonder if that will be in another episode.
What was Pierce’s original plan with Jeff’s dad? Was he just going to never have the dad show up?
When Jeff threatened to beat him if his dad didn’t show, or if it was an actor, etc he desperately grabbed the phone. So I guess he rented a town car and hopped in himself to avoid Jeff’s wrath? The “oh haha your father never showed up” original plan doesn’t seem that devious.
I think he was expecting Jeff to run away or tell him to send his Dad back. But Jeff called his bluff.
Huh?
This episode sucked. Except for the absence of the superfluous Senor Chang.
There must be two sets of writers for this show. One that comes up with the creative scripts like Abed and his father, and the Christmas episode, and the ones that produce a hash of pop-psychology and touchy-feely insights into sitcom characters (which by definition are one-dimensional).
Stop encouraging this crap.
Yeah. Didn’t work for me at all, either.
Yes, I’ve really been enjoying it. I fell asleep during the pilot and didn’t bother to give it another chance until recently my friend made me watch it. Since then I’ve regretted not having watched from the beginning (although I suspect I may have just missed a growing pains period before it got good).
I also enjoyed this episode, but I didn’t think the ‘documentary’ premise added anything at all. Really, you could have taken that out and it would have been exactly the same, except that we would have gotten one more bequeathal. Not only didn’t they really do anything with it, other than one or two gags that would have been just as funny without the meta, but it also didn’t tie in at all with the theme of the episode.
He asked Troy if he recognized him from Star Trek or Reading Rainbow. So he did bring it up once.
Troy (after singing the Reading Rainbow song in the restroom): “Set phasers to love me!”
It was a general dig at the documentary-style sitcoms like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family. At the beginning of the episode, Abed say he’s excited about the documentary format because “it’s easier to tell a complex story when you can just cut to people explaining things to the camera.” He then proceeds to do exactly that, cutting from Pierce telling the study group that he’s dying to Pierce alone explaining to the camera that he’s not really dying, he’s out for revenge on the study group for not paying attention to him. Then it cuts back to Abed: “See? Fish in a barrel.” Roll opening credits.
^ to add, i also thought shirley’s talking head was a twofold joke. 1 - she uses guilt as a tool, and 2 - not everyone gets an equal share of the talking heads on shows like The Office and Parks/Rec. When was the last time Meredith even had a line, much less a talking head?
Huh. Yeah. I misspoke. There were a couple of Star Trek references, but they were far overshadowed by everything else. Which is what I what I liked. I thought they were going to go over the top with Geordi references and they didn’t.
Ah, ok I see it now. I thought it was just a statement on the documentary format in general - I didn’t see it as a specific Office reference, or even a mockumentary reference.
I thought it was pretty wickedly hilarious to have Pierce tell Shirley that the two of them are the most hated in the group. I can’t think of any other show where the writers pay so much attention to what the interwebz say. I tend to forget Shirley exists sometimes, or consider her a sort of peripheral member.
Shirley is the second most hated on the web?
I just assumed it would be Britta despite her looks. She’s pretty but very annoying and shallow. Also unlike Pierce she is not a great character to hate or despise. She is just annoying.
I assume Annie, Troy and Abed are the most popular and liked characters, is that correct?
Also why is Chang popular? The character doesn’t work for me at all.
i liked season 1 chang. i don’t like the direction season 2 chang is going in. too… wacky? a disgraced professor wouldn’t be so needy. i would have much preferred a “rival study group” arc than a “chang is psychotic” arc. the pregnancy? too telegraphed.