The second season of the television comedy series Community premiered on September 23, 2010 and concluded on May 12, 2011, on NBC. The season consists of 24 episodes and aired on Thursdays at 8:00 pm ET as part of Comedy Night Done Right.[1]
Classes resume at Greendale Community College and the group enrolls in a new class, Anthropology 101, which is taught by June Bauer (Betty White), an esteemed, but quirky anthropology professor. Jeff deals with the aftermath of last season's transfer dance, where Britta confessed her love for him and he shared a secret kiss with Annie. Señor Chang decides to enroll at Greendale as a student.
Jeff is re-connected with his former law firm colleague Alan Connor (Rob Corddry) and finds himself returning to his old ways and missing his former life. Alan takes Jeff to a law firm event to see his former boss Ted (Drew Carey), and the study group shows up to "rescue" him. While Annie, Abed, and Troy sneak into the offices to gather dirt on Alan, Jeff attempts to keep his friends out of his life. Meanwhile, Chang waits for the study group to join him in a dance competition in hopes that they'll let him in to the group.
After the death of Pierce's mother, the group comes together to help comfort him in his time of need, only to find him in denial of her death in accordance with his obscure religion. Jeff is told that he has high cholesterol, causing him to rage against the injustice after a life of healthy eating and exercise. Dr. Duncan (John Oliver) struggles to take over the anthropology class. Britta and Annie clash over their methods of raising funds for an oil spill.
Dean Pelton acquires a spaceflight simulator for Greendale after City College announces one of its own. The group becomes trapped in the simulator as it is towed off campus. Abed is left behind and attempts to guide them safely back.
Shirley gets inspired to create a religious film. After reading the Bible, Abed becomes very enthusiastic and wants to make his own, however, Shirley wants no part of it when she hears his idea, a film that equates a film director with Jesus and his camera with God. Meanwhile, Pierce struggles to come to terms with being the oldest member of the group and is recruited by another set of students his own age, known around the campus as "hipsters."
Pierce and a few other Greendale students ingest a bio-hazard substance at the school Halloween Party, causing them to exhibit flu-like symptoms and they soon begin turning into zombies. It is up to the rest of the gang to save themselves and the school when Dean Pelton locks them in with the zombie-infected student body.
After a classroom smackdown with a group of "mean girls" led by Meghan (Hilary Duff), Britta, Shirley, and Annie bond with Abed by turning him into the ultimate "mean girl." Meanwhile, Jeff and Troy embrace a zen-like spirituality under the guidance of a groundskeeper (Matt Walsh) when they come across a secret trampoline on campus. Determined to uncover the source of their new bliss, Pierce ends up taking a disastrous turn on the trampoline and lands in the hospital.
When Annie's pen goes missing, she suspects that a member of her own study group is the thief. On a mission to find the pen and solve the mystery, the group takes a self-imposed lockdown and Jeff takes the lead in conducting the search. Meanwhile, Troy and Abed are itching to get out of the study room to make it to the Greendale Puppy Parade taking place on the quad.
When Dean Pelton begins checking class schedules, he discovers that Jeff has listed a class that doesn't exist. Just when it appears Jeff will be caught in a lie, the mysterious "Professor Professorson" (Kevin Corrigan) emerges from the shadows to confirm that Jeff has been taking his class, "Conspiracy Theories in U.S. History," at night school. When Jeff later admits to Annie that he's never seen Professor Professorson in his life, the two decide to find out who the professor really is. Meanwhile, Abed and Troy are busy building the most elaborate blanket fort that Greendale Community College has ever seen.
When the study group convenes to celebrate Troy's birthday, they realize he is actually turning 21 and decide to hit the bars. While Jeff and Britta ingest a few too many cocktails and get silly, Shirley gets busy pulling down incriminating photos of herself that are posted at the bar, and Pierce gets stuck in his resolve of not taking help from others. Annie embraces the identity on her fake ID while Abed delves into conversation with a fellow sci-fi nerd (Paul F. Tompkins).
When Abed wakes up in stop-motion animation, he takes it as a sign that he and the group must re-discover the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, Jeff and Britta become increasingly concerned about Abed's mental health and enlist the help of Duncan. They trick Abed into a group therapy session to explore his winter wonderland and unravel the truth behind Abed's madness as one by one, the members who don’t believe in his fantasy get thrown off the tour.
The group debates whether Annie's new crush Rich (Greg Cromer) or Chang should be new additions to the group. Shirley has big news to reveal when her ex-husband Andre (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) returns.
Annie convinces the group to put on a middle school anti-drug production, but finds it continually derailed by Pierce's efforts to give himself a better role. Meanwhile, Chang attempts to connect with Shirley, while a prank involving Britta's phone puts Jeff in an awkward situation.
Jeff invites "Fat Neil" (Charley Koontz) to play a game of Dungeons & Dragons with the rest of the study group, hoping to boost his confidence, after Jeff becomes concerned about his mental health. When Pierce finds out he was not invited, he joins anyway, disrupting their plans.
During Valentine's Day, Abed and Troy compete over the college librarian. Britta befriends a female student who she thinks is gay. Jeff is forced to throw a party at his apartment when Duncan invites himself over to watch a soccer game.
Pierce pretends to be dying and gives the study group specific gifts that are actually meant to torment them. Britta wonders what to do with a blank check for "charity," Jeff ponders the idea of meeting his father, and Troy gets to meet LeVar Burton, while Abed films the whole thing for a documentary.
When the vice president comes to Greendale, Dean Pelton organizes a student body election, which Annie is determined to win against Leonard, Jeff, and Star Burns. Meanwhile, Abed becomes friends with a secret service agent (Eliza Coupe).
The study group organizes a baby shower for Shirley, while she tries to keep Chang out of her life. Britta is interested in Abed and Troy's new friend, Lukka (Enver Gjokaj), who has a dark past. Jeff tries to get Chang out of his apartment by making him believe that having his own apartment and a job would convince Shirley to let him be in the baby’s life.
For Abed's birthday, Jeff plans a Pulp Fiction inspired surprise party at a restaurant. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Abed invites Jeff to another restaurant for dinner based on the film My Dinner with Andre.
The study group begins to choose their spring electives. Britta and Troy explore an acting class where Troy makes up a story about being molested as a child in order to fit in with the group which in turn makes Britta attracted to him, while Abed picks a course that studies the 1980s sitcom Who's the Boss? taught by Professor Sheffield (Stephen Tobolowsky) who has written a book on the subject. Meanwhile, Jeff and Pierce take a wine tasting class, where Pierce meets a mysterious Chinese woman named "Wu Mei" (Michelle Krusiec) who quickly becomes engaged to Pierce. Jeff gets suspicious of Wu Mei's actions and tries to figure out what is really going on.
As the study group assembles their 20th and final diorama for their anthropology class, they reminisce about their favorite moments over the past year (all never-before-seen flashbacks). However, while reminiscing, a secret year-long affair between Jeff and Britta comes to light which threatens to tear apart the group. Meanwhile, Troy's monkey reappears but disappears back into the ventilation system, leading Chang to try to get the monkey, as well as retrieve all their stolen loot.
Just as the study group is getting ready for their final Anthropology exam, Shirley goes into labor, leaving the group to figure out the best way to help. Meanwhile, Pierce buys the rights to Troy and Abed's special handshake, ruining it for them.
The Greendale campus celebrate their last day of school with a BBQ picnic. Dean Pelton announces plans for a new game of paintball, which has students forming alliances and friendships being tested. During the game, a mysterious man (Josh Holloway) emerges on campus.
As the paintball game continues, it takes a dramatic turn with new participants entering the game. The study group realizes they must unite to defeat the enemy despite disagreements about strategy.
Production
On March 5, 2010, NBC renewed Community for a second season.[27]
Guest stars in the second season of Community include Betty White in the season premiere as June Bauer, an anthropology professor.[28]Drew Carey appeared in the second episode of the season as Ted, the boss from Jeff's old law firm, and Rob Corddry also appeared in the second episode as Alan, Jeff's best friend from his old law firm.[29]Hilary Duff guest starred in the seventh episode as a "mean girl" who's a part of a clique that goes head-to-head with the Greendale study group.[30]
The second season featured a stop-motion animated Christmas episode written by series creator Dan Harmon and Dino Stamatopoulos, who plays Star-Burns in the series. Harmon said, "There's a reason for it to be stop-motion animated, but it's not a dream. It still exists within the reality of the show."[31]
On November 3, 2010, NBC ordered 2 additional episodes for the second season, bringing it to a total of 24 episodes.[32]
The second-season finale was a two-part episode featuring Josh Holloway in a guest appearance. The episodes were a follow-up to the season one episode "Modern Warfare" where the students partake in a campus paintball match.[33]
In the episode "Critical Film Studies", Abed mentions he traveled to Los Angeles to appear in a scene in the television series Cougar Town. In the second-season finale of Cougar Town, Danny Pudi as Abed appears in the background of a scene. Cougar Town actors Dan Byrd and Busy Philipps also appeared briefly in the background of a scene in second-season finale of Community. Cougar Town creator Bill Lawrence explained, "They had Abed have a love of Cougar Town, we had Travis have a love of Community, and once we got wind of what they were having Abed say he experienced out here, we were going to try to find a way of Danny being a background character and essentially act that same thing out on our show."[34]Community previously had an episode that featured several shout-outs to Cougar Town.[35] The mutual admiration between the two shows started as Cougar Town creators Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel became friends with Community creator Dan Harmon, and would often tweet each other. Also, Community executive producers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan previously worked with Lawrence on Scrubs for several years.[36][37]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 100% with an average score of 8.9 out of 10 based on 18 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Community unfurls into a marvel of meta-madness in its sophomore season, artfully deconstructing sitcom tropes while repeatedly knocking its own emotional beats out of the park."[38]
DVD release
The second season of Community was released on region 1 DVD on September 6, 2011,[39] and on region 2 DVD on September 24, 2012.[40] The DVD contains all 24 episodes on four discs plus special features, which include:[39]
Commentary on every episode.
Outtakes
Deleted scenes
"The Paintball Finale: From Script to Screen" featurette
"Creating Wonderland" featurette
"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" Original Storyboard Animatic
