I was not in the best of moods last night when Community materialized on my TV. I was exhausted, I had a stubborn headache, and it was approaching 50 degrees outside, which for Angelenos is the equivalent of being trapped on Hoth. Luckily, yesterday’s episode, “The Politics of Human Sexuality,” was an agreeable affair. The show wasn’t top-tier Community, mind you, but it was satisfying enough to snap this blogger out of his funk, and what more could you ask for from a freshman comedy series? While the episode’s setting of a school STD fair didn’t set up its humor as effectively as, say, a Halloween party or a debate competition, the writers did an admirable job of balancing individual character moments (e.g. Jeff’s maturing attitude toward women, and Annie’s acceptance of her repressed sexuality) while not forfeiting the appeal of the cast’s collective chemistry.
Speaking of Community‘s ensemble, I particularly appreciated how well this episode spread the wealth — every character had at least one substantially witty wisecrack. For that reason, here are my picks for each character’s best line, after the jump:
Jeff: While hitting on Dean Pelton’s new assistant, Sabrina, Jeff professed his love for horses. Sabrina asked him if he owned a horse. Sharp as a whip, Jeff responded, “Can you ever really own a horse?” Sabrina’s heart melted.
Britta: She actually had a number of notable quips, but I’ve settled on this one. Annie was describing her sole sexual experience with a high-school boyfriend who cried both during and after the deed. “He’s gay now,” Annie sighed. “I think he was gay then,” retorted Britta.
Abed: “I’m trying to reduce my pop-cultural referencing,” Abed proclaims at the start of the episode. That doesn’t stop him from bringing up the arm-wrestling flick Over the Top when Troy issues an arm-wrestling challenge: “It’s like Stallone in Over the Top, but I’m not sure of all the rules. Don’t I need a semi-truck and a 10-year-old son?” I also liked Abed’s insistence on waiting for more dramatic arm-wrestling music, which brings up the question: What is the ultimate arm-wrestling song? PopWatchers, gimme your picks.
Shirley: “Annie, being a virgin in this day and age is something to be proud of — you’re like a unicorn!” Also, the scene in which Shirley asked Annie if she’s ever seen a penis before: “You’ve never seen one when you were growing up, like on the Internet, in a picture, or Harvey Keitel’s?” How many of Community‘s teenage viewers got that reference to Bad Lieutenant and The Piano?
Annie: Her pro-repression speech: “I like being repressed. I am totally comfortable being uncomfortable with my sexuality. Maybe, just maybe, if everyone were a little bit more like me, we wouldn’t have to have a STD fair. And by the way, now that I’ve got a good look at (a penis), I don’t see what all the fuss was about. Giant thumb in a turtle neck!”
Troy: He wasn’t too thrilled about losing to Abed in a game of basketball. “Don’t gloat. It’s impossible to guard you — your eyes are too gentle and mysterious.” And I’m sure some of you would have also voted for Troy’s “don’t eat the crab dip” joke. Ehhh, nice try.
Pierce: After borrowing $200 from Jeff to pay a female escort (Sharon Lawrence), Pierce said, “You know, for $220 I can get…” Jeff interrupted him: “I’ll give you $250 if you don’t finish telling me.” As Pierce pocketed the additional money, he happily said, “Ooo, I can get it twice!”
Plus, we cannot forget when Annie asked Britta and Shirley if the mannequin’s penis size is considered large. Shirley instantly said no, while Britta simultaneously said yes, and then the two glanced at each other in a brief state of confusion. But we, the viewers, understood.
PopWatchers, were you guys starving for your weekly dose of Community after the series took Thanksgiving off? Did this week’s episode hit the spot?
I thought it was funny as usual. I loved the girls’ interactions with each other. The “Reverse Porkys”!
Congratu-horrible!
This show has gotten better as the Jeff-Britta relationship has taken a back seat and let the supporting characters have their chances to shine.
I may be jumping the gun here, but I really started comparing it to Cheers in as much as the supporting cast is just as likeable, just as important and just as featured as the main characters.
Nitzer Ebb’s ‘Murderous’ would make an excellent arm-wrestling song; brutal, funky, and it would really bring out the homoeroticism inherent in the sport.
i am loving this show more and more each week. the over the top parody made me so excited. the one thing that bugs me is the make up they use on mchale. is it just me or does he always look like he has orange splotches on his face? oh and abed and troy are quickly becoming my favorite on screen duo.
I didn’t find this one quite as funny as previous episodes; the only moment I laughed out loud was the Britta/Shirley yes/no bit. But I’m sure the show will rebound next week.
I was a little disappointed too. It had its moments but a lot of the storylines were clunky and forced this episode.
Yea, like why wouldn’t they tell her that yes, it is like a banana and just practice on that?
Annie is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. I love Community and I’m still holding out for a Jeff/Annie thing…I know, I know- the age, but who cares?
Did anyone else think that they were going to go for a Jeff and the Escort going off together thing for a little while there.
Yes! I bet Sharon Lawrence will be back!
“You’re the best, around! Nothin’s ever gonna take you down.” best song.
i vote this too.
This song is more appropriate for a high stakes karate match. Preferably right before someone “sweeps the leg.”
Which, incidentally, was the song going through my head for the rest of the night, even though Over the Top & Karate Kid are two separate films. It was 80s cheese night at our house.
I may have the words wrong, but hopefully you remember the tune.
I know this is a huge gap in my cultural knowledge, but I’ve never seen Porky’s. Can someone please explain the “reverse Porky’s” reference?
In Porky’s a bunch of guys looked through a peep hole into a girls shower, at least that is what I remember, I haven’t seen it in years
‘What in the reverse porky’s is going on here!?’ – has me cackling even now. Such an underused 80′s reference!
The minute my husband saw the girls peeking through the hole in the door he said Porky’s out loud. He was delighted when it was referred to as a reverse Porky’s. The explanation about Porky’s above is correct. Porky’s was quite risque for it’s time (now it would just be more of the same).
I really do love this show… its not perfect and its probably not gonna win any awards (or be nominated) but I really do love this cast. here’s hoping it continues being so good.
This is one of those shows where it needs to be viewed twice in order to catch all the lines. It is sometimes so corny but that is also its charm.
STD-efense!
When I saw Abed’s hat, my first thought was “I am gonna put this on the message board tomorrow!”
It wasn’t so much Troy’s “your eyes are too gentle and mysterious”, it was Abed’s quick demonstration of such immediately after that had me guffawing into my green tea..
Yeah, I loved that too! Abed rules!
I love this show and I hope it never disappears.
Chris Mayer / Ahh, so by setting your exoittacepns low you actually ended up enjoying it more, and fell right into my ummm trap there!I honestly felt like I was channel Dave from the previous episode watching this one. All of his comments about Chaos Theory’ seemed to be ringing true. Then again, as everyone is saying, it is pretty hard to judge this on its own when it follows right after Chaos Theory’ which was universally* loved.* yes universally