Why you should watch tonight’s episode of Community

Because it’s awesome, that why. Thanks to One2One Network, I got to watch tonight’s special Christmas episode of Community, titled “Abed’s Unconrollable Christmas”.  It’s the last day of classes before Christmas break at Greendale,  and while Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) makes the announcement that everyone is invited to express their holiday sentiments in their own constitutionally-approved fashion in specially designated zones (ha!), Abed (Danny Pudi) joins the group in the cafeteria and after wishing Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and the rest of the group a Merry Christmas, asks what everyone is doing over the break.  Annie (Alison Brie) plans to read all of the books required for a class, Troy (Donald Glover) wants to make locking himself in his room with video games a new tradition.

When Abed is disappointed, Pierce (Chevy Chase) asks him why he even cares about Christmas, as a Muslim.  Abed tells everyone that it must be a special Christmas because everyone has been turned into a stop-motion animation character, something no one else sees.  Jaws drop, and then Abed suggests they stick with the traditional stop-motion animation format and sing a song.  He sings Christmas-y lyrics to the Community theme song before being, um, stopped (I won’t give that away), and then Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) take him to see Professor Duncan (John Oliver) in the psychology department.

The episode really gets going when Professor Duncan suggests hypnotizing Abed to find out why he sees everything as a stop-motion animation cartoon.  The classroom disappears and everyone is flying through space to Planet Abed, the most Christmas-y place in the world. When they land, Abed turns everyone into a Christmas cartoon character. Here’s a group shot, plus click here to see 10 more photos:

Abed and the group hop a train for the North Pole, but as they go, members of the group start dropping out. Professor Duncan leaves but comes back with something that reveals why Abed is having such a hard time dealing with Christmas.  As Abed confronts the situation, he realizes that he does know what the meaning of Christmas is. There’s a happy ending that will give you a warm fuzzy.

In true Community fashion, this episode is simultaneously funny, touching, silly, and heartwarming.  I’m looking forward to watching it again tonight with my sons, who are big fans just like me.  We’ll most likely DVR it too so we can watch it again.  I’ll be chatting on Twitter tonight while watching the episode, if you want to follow along, it’s hashtag #nbccommunity and I’m @Table4Five2.   Thanks again to One2One network for letting me see the episode!

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