TV.com

Community Season 2 Episode 19

Critical Film Studies

Favorite

Watched It I've Watched This 2

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

AIRED: Mar 24, 2011

7.4

User Rating

298 votes

Your Rating: 10
Your Rating: 9.5
Your Rating: 9
Your Rating: 8.5
Your Rating: 8
Your Rating: 7.5
Your Rating: 7
Your Rating: 6.5
Your Rating: 6
Your Rating: 5.5
Your Rating: 5
Your Rating: 4.5
Your Rating: 4
Your Rating: 3.5
Your Rating: 3
Your Rating: 2.5
Your Rating: 2
Your Rating: 1.5
Your Rating: 1

Rate Now

EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Write A Review

Episode Summary

EDIT

Jeff incorporates Abed's love of cinema and pop culture, into a specially themed "Pulp Fiction" surprise birthday for him. But the tables are turned as Abed arranges another dinner with an unsuspecting Jeff at another eating establishment, meanwhile the study group eagerly awaits their arrival.

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

This episode should have been a lot funnier.

6.5

By DebraMcClure, Dec 05, 2011

When I heard the plot I was intrigued. I enjoyed the movie Pulp Fiction, which had its own darkly humorous moments. The idea of a Pulp Fiction inspired party with the regulars dressed as characters from the film seemed like a good excuse for any number of jokes. I should have known something was wrong when I saw Shirley supposedly representing the Samuel L. Jackson character. She looked stupid, not at all funny. Chang as the Bruce Willis character also looked silly. What was most disappointing was that the party never took place. And the idea Abed had of reconstructing, My Dinner With Andre, with Jeff doing almost all of the talking didn't work, imo.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
5 15

Flag
Share Hide
Critical Film Studies...

7.0

By AjMc91, Nov 17, 2011

For a show that already pushes the boundaries of the amount of pop-culture that you can fit into 20 minutes of television whilst remaining genuinely funny and charming, Community really went all out this week.

"Critical Film Studies" focuses on Abed's unusual birthday. On the night of his birthday, Jeff meets Abed in a high end restaurant with the expectation that something is amiss given how unlike him it is to choose such a place to meet. Intending to lure Abed away to a Pulp Fiction themed surprise party that he has planned at Britta's newly discovered and short lived place of work, Jeff encounters significant difficultly as it appears that Abed has changed.

Seemingly uninterested in Jeff's hints at the surprise that he has in store or attempts at bringing pop culture to the conversation, the middle 10 minutes of "Critical Film Studies" is essentially a condensed homage by Abed to 80's film My Dinner with Andre. Bouncing back and forth between the unusually normal conversation between Jeff and Abed and the ridiculous goings on as the gang awaits their arrival, this episode had me genuinely worried that the writers had gone for an all out jump the shark until the plot was revealed.

When the credits rolled on "Critical Film Studies" I had mixed emotions to say the least. On reflection the episode was plenty funny and Chevy Chase in a gimp outfit should be enough to get anyone to watch, but the level of commitment to a pop-culture reference here was just astounding. I will be sitting for quite a while trying to decide if this was as genius as season one's "Modern Warfare", or just plain weird?moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
4 4

Flag
Share Hide

See All Fan Reviews

Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Joel McHale	Jeff Winger
Yvette Nicole Brown	Shirley Bennett
Chevy Chase	Pierce Hawthorne
Alison Brie	Annie Edison
Donald Glover	Troy Barnes
Danny Pudi	Abed Nadir

See All Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Patrick Cohen	Waiter	Guest Star
Michael McCafferty	Brian	Guest Star
Jill E. Alexander	Hostess	Guest Star

See All Cast & Crew

Watch Online

Episode Photos

Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley/"Jules", ...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Chevy Chase as Pierce/"The Gimp" on Comm...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Joel McHale as Jeff, Ken Jeong as Chang,...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Danny Pudi as Abed, Donald Glover as Tro...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.

See All Photos

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA
- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
QUOTES (0)
ADD QUOTES
- ADD QUOTES from this episode.
NOTES (1)
ADD NOTES
- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: March 24, 2011 on Citytv,
  Sweden: November 5, 2011 on TV6,
  Czech Republic: February 4, 2013 on SMICHOV,
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.