BOTTLE EPISODE FULL EPISODE TV

Abed's disgust and resignation at finding himself in a bottle episode was wonderful not just because of his ability to chart the parallels between his life and sitcoms but because he knew that a bottle episode would require the kind of emotional honesty he's had so much trouble mastering.

The inciting incident was a missing pen: Annie's pen disappeared during the group's study time, and she didn't want anyone to leave until they'd coughed it up, which meant the group had to miss the puppy parade in the quad. That's the first step to wanting something better and loving it when you find it.

The term 'bottle episode' is one of those that's typically tossed around only by comedy and television nerds, but by working to popularize the trope, Harmon is equipping his viewers to have a greater understanding and appreciation of what's going on.

BOTTLE EPISODE FULL EPISODE TV

More importantly, by calling attention to the term, Harmon and his team continued their tradition of pulling back the curtain and getting the audience to see TV in a way they might not have before. It became a brilliant way to keep the concept fresh and poke fun at the old practice of doing such episodes while also getting to pull one off flawlessly. Community creator Dan Harmon gets infinitely more mileage out of this concept by making its existence a part of the story itself, referenced directly by Abed and Jeff. Yet bottle episodes can also be aesthetically and structurally pleasing, as they offer creators a chance to work with their core characters and tell great stories built on years of relationship history. The installment was what's known as a bottle episode, in which sets are limited and the cast is kept to just the main players (or fewer) in order to save money. Yet aside from the pure joy of seeing this ensemble work together so tightly on their own - and it was a total joy, Mozart the way it was meant to be heard - the episode's glorious commitment to pushing the TV envelope is what set it apart and made it a thing of beauty. The jokes came even faster than expected as the gang spent the episode walled off in the library, forcing the comedy to come from a constant rubbing of occasionally conflicting personalities and ideas.

'Cooperative Calligraphy' is destined to rank with the best episodes of Community's entire run, as well as one of the funniest half-hours of television this year.

Bottle episode full episode