“Guys, I’ll be back. But with booty.” – Jeff
“Hey, Phantom Menace, how’s the trade embargo with the Naboo?”
This from Senor Chang (Ken Jeong) with reference to Abed’s (Danny Pudi) burka-wearing mother. When Senor Chang steps into a classroom, things get set off for some serious comedy.
In 18 first season episodes, Community has carved out a unique niche for itself, with sharp, quirky, fast-paced and pop culture-drenched comedy. It’s already a show that’s hard to compare to others – and I think we’re already at the place where we’ll see a lot of Community (attack of the) clones and we’ll be referring back to this little gem of a show.
At its best (which is often), Community does a nice job of making you care about more than the punch lines and sucks you into the characters and “community” of Greendale Community. That’s very much the case here with Jeff, Pierce, and Pierce’s grifter step-daughter Amber (American Idol’s Katherine McPhee).
More thoughts on “Basic Genealogy”:
- Kids screaming “Homeland Security, Code Orange!” at Abed’s dad… wow.
- How awesome is it that Community has a recurring character called Star Burns?
- “You want me to wingman you with your step daughter?” – Jeff (Joel McHale) to Pierce (Chevy Chase).
- “How many men do you think I’ve lain with?” – Troy’s (Donald Glover) crazy/mean nana .
- “Smiling sideways vagina.” – Pierce, playing Pictionary and guessing wildl
- Absolutely love that Senor Chang’s dad is Jewish (and a Rabbi?)
- Also absolutely love that Senor Chang’s dad walked into the Pictionary game with Pierce’s Nazi icon-as-windmill
- Amazing that the episode ends on both a touching moment and one in which Glee is hated on.
From Around the Web: Community, “Basic Genealogy”:
- TV Squad: Jeff, the stand-up guy that he is, still had to sleep with her because she’s that hot, but he did restrain himself to doing so only once. All of this was expected, but I was again pleasantly surprised by the intimate moment shared between Jeff and Pierce at the end. Pierce supported that Jeff had slept with her anyway, despite Pierce’s earlier protestations, and even seemed to realize he was being grifted.
- TV with Alan Sepinwall: It’s been instructive to watch the ups and downs of “Community” and “Modern Family” this season, not only on their own paths, but in relation to each other. (And I say this as someone who enjoys both shows a great deal and thinks the whole “there can only be one” attitude among some fans of each to be pretty silly.)
Some stats and info about Community, “Basic Genealogy”
TV SHOW – Community
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 18
AIRED ON – March 11th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – NBC/Yahoo! Screen
GENRE – Comedy, College Shows
CREATED BY – Dan Harmon
CAST – Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, Jim Rash
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.