Riding high off of a stellar sophomore run, Community looked to continue its upward trend with season three. They continued to do what they excelled at. They brought in quality guest stars like Michael K. Williams, Martin Starr, Giancarlo Esposito, and John Goodman to name a few.
Their other strong suit was high-concept episodes. This season featured a Law & Order parody, a musical Glee spoof, a war documentary, and a video game-based half hour. Some of these were hits, and a few weren’t up to the lofty standards of Community. These were the highs and lows of Community season three, according to IMDb.
Worst: Contemporary Impressionists (8.1)
If you want a sense of this season’s quality, understand that an 8.1 consists of the “worst” stuff Community did. “Contemporary Impressionists” is the season’s twelfth installment. Abed owed a debt to a celebrity impersonator business and the study group came together to help pay it off.
For example, Shirley played Oprah while Britta and Troy were both versions of Michael Jackson. Jeff went on medication that caused his fragile ego to spin out of control. Despite the hard work everyone did, Abed went back to getting in debt, causing a rift in his friendship with Troy.
Best: Curriculum Unavailable (9.2)
In season two, Community did something different. They ran a clip show,” usually reserved as a “greatest hits” recap of a series. The twist was that the clips we saw were from wacky situations that had never aired on the show in the past. Season three gave us a version of that with episode nineteen, “Curriculum Unavailable.”
With the study group expelled, Abed claimed the Dean was replaced by a lookalike. That sent the team to therapy. There, they relived moments from the show that we hadn’t seen before. They were made to believe that they had never attended the school and it was all in their heads.
Worst: Competitive Ecology (8.1)
A running joke on the show saw some of the minor characters at Greendale get annoyed with how everything seemed to revolve around the study group. In “Competitive Ecology,” the third episode, the gang was forced to break up into pairs of two, meaning one of them would get left to work with Todd, a random classmate.
This led to everyone spending the whole episode bickering about and switching partners for various reasons. All the while, Todd was made to feel worthless. This was the case of the study group ultimately being too mean for us to enjoy. We know they’re flawed people but this was too much.
Best: Pillows And Blankets (9.3)
As noted earlier, an episode was done in the form of a war documentary. The feud between Troy and Abed came to a boiling point when their rival forts, made of pillows and blankets, led them to competition. The thirteenth episode, “Pillows and Blankets” told the story of the battles.
Fans were pleased with the way the episode felt true to something that you might see on the History Channel. It was also praised for the work it did on the Troy and Abed relationship and how each character was used. Fun fact: Keith David provided narration work and he ended up as part of the cast in season six.
Worst: Biology 101 (8.1)
Season three’s premiere episode set a lot in motion. Biology 101 doubled as the title and the course the gang would be taking. This opened with a musical number (kind of a preview of another standout installment from the series) and introduced Michael K. Williams.
The episode centered around Jeff trying to kick Pierce out of the study group, only for it to backfire and lead to him getting kicked out instead. This was another case of the series being of such a high quality that a score like 8.1, which is actually very good, ranks near the bottom.
Best: Basic Lupine Urology (9.5)
Here is the aforementioned Law & Order parody. The seventeenth edition of the season saw them go all the way with the concept. That included casting Leslie Hendrix (a Law & Order veteran) in a small role and borrowing the show’s signature opening chimes.
The storyline followed the study group as they investigated who destroyed their biology project. The episode was laid out exactly like Law & Order, with the first half focusing on the case and the second being taken up by the trial. Fans loved the comedy and the homage paid to the source material.
Worst: Urban Matrimony And The Sandwich Arts (7.8)
Only Community could blend the idea of a wedding and sandwiches like this. Shirley prepared to fulfill her dream and open a sandwich shop by using the open space in the Greendale cafeteria. However, she quickly brushed that to the side when Andre proposed to her.
The wedding gave everyone roles to play that weren’t all that interesting. Troy and Abed attempting to act normal and Jeff struggling with his toast? Not great. This episode did introduce Subway to the series, which was meta considering the sandwich chain helped sponsor the show.
Best: Digital Estate Planning (9.5)
When this show wants to go high-concept, it goes all the way. “Digital Estate Planning,” the twentieth episode, saw Pierce having to fight to get his inheritance from his father. The way to do it was for the entire study group to participate in an old school video game.
From the video game-style intro music to the adorable in-game avatars, this episode was fantastic. It gave us so much great moments, as well as hitting on emotional beats when everyone came together for Pierce. Throw in a guest appearance from Giancarlo Esposito and you’ve got a winner.
Worst: Advanced Gay (7.7)
The worst episode of season three was the sixth installment, “Advanced Gay.” The story centered around Hawthorne Wipes becoming a hit with the gay community. Pierce went with it and started going way overboard into gay stereotypes. Some fans may have found it offensive.
This also introduced us to Pierce’s father. It was a character that almost nobody enjoyed. He was too goofy and over the top to take seriously. The side plots didn’t do much either, making this a rare miss during an otherwise great season.
Best: Remedial Chaos Theory (9.8)
Troy and Abed invite the group over for their housewarming party and thus began arguably the best episode in Community history. As they prepared to play a board game, they rolled a die to determine who would go downstairs to get pizza. Abed noted that this act created six different timelines.
From that point forward, the episode kept rewinding to show us what happened in each of those timelines. Some were simple, others were as wild as possible. All of them were funny and featured some fantastic character moments. This was pretty close to perfection for the series.
