Community Trivia | 50 facts about the sitcom

One of the most popular and successful sitcoms, that was ever created is the “Community”, that aired from 2009 until 2015.

Let’s find out more about the Community!

1. The plot is about a suspended lawyer who is forced to enroll in a community college with an eccentric staff and student body.
2. Community is a sitcom, that means situational comedy.
3. The show was based on series creator Dan Harmon’s life at a community college, attempting to reconcile with his girlfriend in Spanish courses.
4. He has also stated the characters are loosely based on the people with whom he hung around, and has nothing to do with his film and television career.
5. On the commentary for Basic Lupine Urology, Rob Schrab says that in the background of the scene where Jeff is getting a hot dog, there is a woman who comes out a door wiping her mouth followed by a man doing up his zipper.
6. Apparently, no one on the production knew about this until people started making GIFs.
7. In one episode, Abed (Danny Pudi) says he got offered and accepted a screen appearance on his favorite show, Cougar Town (2009).
8. Danny Pudi appeared on Cougar Town (2009), and is credited as “Visitor”.
9. Abed (Danny Pudi) was based on a real person, also named Abed: Abed Gheith.
10. Dan Harmon revealed at the 2014 PaleyFest that Joel McHale lobbied for Harmon to be rehired after he was fired after the third season.
11. Harmon then met with Chris McKenna and agreed to return for the fifth season.
12. After five seasons, NBC cancelled this show in May 2014.
13. Sony, the show’s production owner, was involved in talks with Hulu to renew the show for its sixth season. Talks with Hulu collapsed, however, but Yahoo! purchased a thirteen episode order, and renewed the show in June 2014 for a sixth season.
14. Harmon said in a July 2014 San Diego Comic Con panel: “Community season six, now you’re watching the way you used to watch, only now it’s legal”, jokingly referring to how many in its audience watched the show illegally on their computers.
15. This show aired new episodes exclusively on the online streaming site, Yahoo! Screen, in March 2015.
16. Sir Patrick Stewart was considered for the role of Pierce Hawthorne.
17. Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) is supposed to have made his fortune with a moist towelette company called “Hawthorne Wipes”. Chase, in real life, also has a family fortune derived from a personal sanitation product.
18. His real name is Cornelius Crane Chase, and he is the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, who was heir to the Crane Plumbing company, which manufactures and distributes plumbing fixtures and products (most notably, toilets for home and commercial markets) in North America.
19. Each episode ends with a credit as “A Dan Harmon/Russo Brothers _________.” The last word(s) include “Fiasco”, “Parade of Tears”, “Diorama”, “Bridal Shower”, and “Tantrum”.
20. Danny Pudi (Abed) is half Polish, and speaks Polish fluently.
21. Dan Harmon originally wanted Annie to be played by an Asian or Latina actress.
22. He eventually cast a white actress, Alison Brie, in the role, but later created a character named Annie Kim, played by Irene Choi, who is Asian, as a nod to his original idea.
23. The show had a Will they?/Won’t they? subplot with Jeff and Annie. Originally the Will they?/Won’t they? subplots were to be with Jeff and Britta, Troy and Annie, but the writers noticed the twos’ on-screen chemistry, so they changed it.
24. Ray Liotta was Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna’s first choice for the character of Buzz Hickey in the fifth season. Harmon revealed at 2014 PaleyFest that he was in several phone calls with Liotta, but ended up eventually casting Jonathan Banks.
25. In Season 5 Episode 5, Geothermal Escapism, Ben Chang confesses his same sex celebrity crush is Nathan Fillion.
26. In the following episode, Analysis of Cork-Based Networking, Fillion has a guest role as Bob Waite – a senior member of Greendale’s custodial staff.
27. Dan Harmon was fired after the third season by Sony Pictures Television. Crew members claimed that Harmon caused numerous delays in shooting, and that his work habits caused tension between the writers and him.
28. Harmon was replaced with David Guarascio and Moses Port.
29. Writers Chris McKenna and Dino Stamatopoulos also left. After a low-rated fourth season, Harmon was rehired, and Guarascio and Port were fired.
30. McKenna and Stamatopoulos also returned.
31. Season 4 is considered by the cast and characters as the “Gas Leak” season.
32. In the fourth season, the main cast was given more freedom to improvise.
33. “Daybreak” by Michael Haggins is a recurring piece of music that pops up frequently throughout the show.
34. Multiple references are made on the show to Annie being about ten years younger than Britta (Annie being eighteen in the first season). In reality, Gillian Jacobs and Alison Brie were born just two months apart.
35. In 2018, on an episode of his podcast, “Harmontown,” Dan Harmon offered a public apology to Megan Ganz, who had been a staff writer on Community.
36. Harmon admitted that he sexually harassed Ganz, tried to gaslight her into believing it wasn’t happening, and then retaliated against her professionally when she made it clear she had no romantic interest in him.
37. As part of his apology (which was nearly eight minutes long), he said with contrition, ” I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it if I had any respect for women.” The public radio program “This American Life” aired a segment on May 10, 2019, dedicated to the incident.
38. Dan Harmon was the co-founder of Channel 101.
39. Many actors who appeared on this show appeared in Channel 101, including Jack Black, Drew Carey, Rob Corddry, Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, Joel McHale, John Oliver, Patton Oswalt, and D.C. Pierson.
40. The movie posters in Abed’s room hang in different spots from episode to episode.
41. In 2009, Donald Glover (Troy Barnes) told The New York Daily News that one of his inspirations for his character was the character of Brian “Smash” Williams in Friday Night Lights (2006).
42. In season six, episode twelve, “Wedding Videography”, Abed tells Annie not to “Jim” the camera. This is a reference to The Office (2005), which was filmed in the same documentary style as the episode was.
43. Bloodlines of Conquest and Inspector Spacetime are spoofs of Game of Thrones and Doctor Who, respectively.
44. At least one Wilhelm Scream can be heard every season.
45. The drawing of the head peeking over the wall in the opening credits when Joel McHale ‘s name is shown is of Kilroy, famous for popping up in World War II with the line “Kilroy was here”.
46. In the Season 1 finale, “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited”. When the Dean is listing off the prom queen contestents, one of the names he says is “Danielle Harmon”, this is a reference to Dan Harmon, the show’s creator.
47. In season six, episode eight, “Intro to Recycled Cinema”, a pile of Doctor Who (1963) VHS tapes can be seen next to Abed’s television. Abed’s favorite show is Inspector Spacetime, which is a long running reference to Doctor Who throughout the series.
48. There is a fan theory that Abed actually knows he is in a T.V. show.
49. There is an actual Leonardlikespizza channel on YouTube with 5 sub channels, supposedly by Community characters. One of which is made to appear to be by one of the German foosball players from The 3rd season episode Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism
50. In an early draft of the pilot, Jeff Winger’s (Joel McHale’s) surname was originally Crocker.