Community S3E19 "Curriculum Unavailable" OAD 5/10/12

[tiams]

Wow, I loved this episode. My favorite group of clips was from the mental hospital. "Should I increase their lithium? No, not yet, I want to see what happens when I confiscate one of their pens."

[Bob Coxner]

I love these clip non-actual-clip shows. There were what, 20?, 30?, clips that were new. They did a similar one last season that was really good.

[tiams]

I love these clip non-actual-clip shows. There were what, 20?, 30?, clips that were new. They did a similar one last season that was really good.

Yes, I kept thinking about the large number of sets they had to do for all those clips. What's the opposite extreme of bottle episode?

[DevdogAZ]

Wow, I loved this episode. My favorite group of clips was from the mental hospital. "Should I increase their lithium? No, not yet, I want to see what happens when I confiscate one of their pens."

I loved that one as well. The pen episode was great.

[robojerk]

This episode was awesome.

[aadam101]

I love this show so much! Great episode!

[cmontyburns]

Terrific episode, but I hope this leads to the show dropping Ken Jeong's Chang from the roster at long last. It seems like even in Community's bent reality, there is no way Chang could keep Dean Pelton prisoner for two months and still be around the school (much less not in prison) after that.

[aadam101]

Terrific episode, but I hope this leads to the show dropping Ken Jeong's Chang from the roster at long last. It seems like even in Community's bent reality, there is no way Chang could keep Dean Pelton prisoner for two months and still be around the school (much less not in prison) after that.


I get the feeling he isn't imprisoned. I kinda feel like he is at a Lady Gaga retreat or something and doesn't want to come back. While he likes the Greendale Seven, he doesn't like them that much......

[DreadPirateRob]

Brilliant ep. As is usual. I love how they create so many fake clips to throw in there. I think my favorite was the detective-noir paintball scene. So yes, there is still an annual paintball game, but there won't be another ep (diminishing returns and all that).

I got a very strong "Normal Again" vibe from S6 of Buffy - in fact, I have to believe it was intentional - in how the fake psychiatrist tried to convince them that everything that had happened previously had been a hallucination.

Otherwise, I liked the scenes in the "asylum" - so much greatness. I remember writing about the Christmas claymation ep how much I would have liked to see a DVD extra of the cast performing their parts, and this was kind of like a nod to that, with them acting out the paintball scenes and the trampoline from the Secret Garden.

I also liked how they brought up the whole "don't community colleges only go for 2 years" argument. :)

[TonyD79]

Yes, I kept thinking about the large number of sets they had to do for all those clips. What's the opposite extreme of bottle episode?

I would think they do them throughout the year while they have the sets up. These sort of episodes don't just get written in one week. They have to be planned.

[DevdogAZ]

I also liked how they brought up the whole "don't community colleges only go for 2 years" argument. :)
The average community college student attends for five to seven years.

[Aniketos]

I think my favorite was the detective-noir paintball scene. So yes, there is still an annual paintball game, but there won't be another ep (diminishing returns and all that).


"I get it now. It just feels...forced."

[aadam101]

The average community college student attends for five to seven years.

This is probably a true statistic since so many students attend part time. However, Jeff made a point in season 1 that he needed to do a "full load" in order to be out of there in 2 years.

[DevdogAZ]

I loved the clips of all the various preposterous classes offered at Greendale:

Advanced Breath Holding
Can You Fry That?
Ladders

[mattack]

OK, what actual movie(s) was this spoofing -- that they're just really in a mental hospital?

The only one I could think of is:

Identity.. Though upon rereading the info at wikipedia, it's not exactly that.. Though the funny thing is, I couldn't remember John Cusack nor Pruitt Taylor Vance's name.. I googled for "twitchy eye actor" and found the wikipedia page for Vance.. However, I read there that his twitchy eye thing, that many people have complained about, is actually a medical condition.

[cmontyburns]

It wasn't a spoof of anything.

[taronga]

OK, what actual movie(s) was this spoofing -- that they're just really in a mental hospital?

The first movie that came to mind was Shutter Island. Leonardo DiCaprio thinks he's an agent investigating an asylum but in actuality he's a patient.
Though I'm sure there's not just one answer.

[DevdogAZ]

OK, what actual movie(s) was this spoofing -- that they're just really in a mental hospital?

The only one I could think of is:

Identity.. Though upon rereading the info at wikipedia, it's not exactly that.. Though the funny thing is, I couldn't remember John Cusack nor Pruitt Taylor Vance's name.. I googled for "twitchy eye actor" and found the wikipedia page for Vance.. However, I read there that his twitchy eye thing, that many people have complained about, is actually a medical condition.

Why do you think it was spoofing a movie? While this show does spoof movies on occasion, they don't do it in every single episode. This was simply another of their non-clip clip shows, where they parody the old clip shows that sitcoms used to do, but inserting new footage into all the "flashbacks," so as to make it not only NOT a clip show, but actually more ambitious than even a regular show.

[busyba]

The average community college student attends for five to seven years.

And has a movie! :D

[DreadPirateRob]

#fourteensemestersandamovie

[Hunter Green]

When the [fake] psychiatrist made the point that, without them being actually patients in an asylum, so much of what's happened makes no sense, I laughed so hard because he's right. The bit about starting as a Spanish study group, for instance. Great job of the show poking fun at its own premise. Almost too good a job; the psychiatrist's reasoning was actually pretty darned sound!

[busyba]

When the [fake] psychiatrist made the point that, without them being actually patients in an asylum, so much of what's happened makes no sense, I laughed so hard because he's right. The bit about starting as a Spanish study group, for instance. Great job of the show poking fun at its own premise. Almost too good a job; the psychiatrist's reasoning was actually pretty darned sound!

It was almost like it was meta or something. ;)

[alpacaboy]

Throughout the episode, it reminded me of the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, issues 39-40 storyline, "Mask."

But I'm pretty sure that it wasn't parodying that...

[aadam101]

OK, what actual movie(s) was this spoofing -- that they're just really in a mental hospital?

The only one I could think of is:

Identity.. Though upon rereading the info at wikipedia, it's not exactly that.. Though the funny thing is, I couldn't remember John Cusack nor Pruitt Taylor Vance's name.. I googled for "twitchy eye actor" and found the wikipedia page for Vance.. However, I read there that his twitchy eye thing, that many people have complained about, is actually a medical condition.



The only thing I could think of was that episode of Buffy

[windracer]

Can You Fry That?
"Potatoes?"

"Get out! There's one every semester ..."

"Car keys?"

"Yes!"

[DevdogAZ]

"Potatoes?"

"Get out! There's one every semester ..."

"Car keys?"

"Yes!"

It wasn't potatoes. It was "Fries?"

[rahnbo]

OK, what actual movie(s) was this spoofing -- that they're just really in a mental hospital?

The only one I could think of is:

Identity.. Though upon rereading the info at wikipedia, it's not exactly that.. Though the funny thing is, I couldn't remember John Cusack nor Pruitt Taylor Vance's name.. I googled for "twitchy eye actor" and found the wikipedia page for Vance.. However, I read there that his twitchy eye thing, that many people have complained about, is actually a medical condition.


It's not a movie, but the final episode of M*A*S*H is as close a parallel I can draw from.

[mattack]

Why do you think it was spoofing a movie?

Because that seemed like something I'd seen a million times.

(and argh, why did I spoil I may potentially see sometime.. sigh..)

[USAFSSO]

OK, what actual movie(s) was this spoofing -- that they're just really in a mental hospital?

The only one I could think of is:

Identity.. Though upon rereading the info at wikipedia, it's not exactly that.. Though the funny thing is, I couldn't remember John Cusack nor Pruitt Taylor Vance's name.. I googled for "twitchy eye actor" and found the wikipedia page for Vance.. However, I read there that his twitchy eye thing, that many people have complained about, is actually a medical condition.


St Elsewhere?

[TonyD79]

St Elsewhere?

If they were spoofing St. Elsewhere, they were way off.

[DreadPirateRob]

People, I answered this already. It's a nod to the BtVS episode "Normal Again (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Again)".

It has to be. :)

[Fleegle]

People, I answered this already. It's a nod to the BtVS episode "Normal Again (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Again)".

It has to be. :)

That episode of Buffy was very similar to teh Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode "Far Beyond the Stars".

[Steveknj]

Fun episode. I'm surprised nobody mentioned 10,000 Flush celebration with Chevy. That had us rolling :)