Dr. Strangelove
Episode: Season 3, Episode 20: Digital Estate Planning
Reference: Having spent the whole episode battling Pierce's evil half-brother within the confines of an 8-bit 2D platformer (it's a long story), their nefarious enemy is finally brought down by one hell of a special move - a digital Pierce riding a giant nuclear bomb to victory, a la Strangelov e's iconic Major Kong-riding bomb drop.
Synecdoche, New York
Episode: Season 3, Episode 8: Documentary Filmmaking: Redux
Reference: A subtle one for sure (to be fair, not many people actually saw Charlie Kaufman's head-spinning super-meta movie-within-a-movie movie), but the way in which the Dean's ego-cannibalising attempts to create a Greendale commercial are documented by an amateur filmmaker, brings up one specific homage - with each of the actors-turned-characters playing other characters from the show.
Jeff plays the Dean, before Chang is also brought on board to play Jeff-playing-the-Dean. Confusing much?
The Empire Strikes Back
Episode: Season 2, Episode 6: Epidemiology
Reference: Troy and Abed's epic bromance is summed up in one classic, nerdy line, as Abed is being dragged away to his 'death' by the 'zombies'.
As Abed sacrifices himself for Troy, Troy admits: "I love you." Abed, proving he'll always be the Han Solo to Troy's Leia simply says "I know".
Apocalypse Now / Hearts of Darkness
Episode: Season 3, Episode 8: Documentary Filmmaking Redux
References: When the Dean is given the task of updating the college's commercial, things start spiralling rapidly out of hand - not only does the budget inflate exponentially, but the Dean himself starts to go more than a little loopy.
All the while Abed is eagerly documenting the whole breakdown for his own project - a comparison so direct to both Apocalypse Now and the documentary about its production, Hearts of Darkness , that Abed draws numerous direct, vocal comparisons.
Twilight
Episode: Season 3, Episode 5: Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps
Reference: In an episode constructed to poke fun at horror movies' countless tropes, Annie's overly romantic, ridiculously sappy approach to vampires is the most zeitgeisty, imaging Jeff as a Twilight -ish creature of the night who uses Britta solely for sensual sustenance.
Men in Black
Episode: Season 2, Episode 6: Epidemiology
Reference: Community 's not your atypical sci-fi show, so the appearance of 'shadowy government individuals' doesn't crop up that often.
But when an outbreak of a distinctly zombie-like virus infects the school, it's left to a series of sunglass-wearing, suited and booted agents to sweep in, cure everyone and magically make everyone at the party completely forget the outbreak ever happened.
Sound familiar?
Mean Girls
Episode: Season 2, Episode 7: Aerodynamics of Gender
Reference: When Annie, Shirley and Britta discover Abed's unhereto discovered mega-talent of being able to initiate the perfect bitchy putdown, they recruit him to help defend themselves from a gang of mega-bitchy girls. Inevitably, he's corrupted a little *too* well...
Run Lola Run
Episode: Season 3, Episode 4: Remedial Chaos Theory
References: One of Community 's greatest ever episodes has numerous cinematic nods ( Final Destination and Indiana Jones are both homaged), but when it comes to its key concept, there's no greater comparison than Run Lola Run .
At Abed and Troy's housewarming soireee, the decision on who's sent down to meet the pizza guy is met by Jeff's decision to roll a dice.
Cue the exploration of six alternate realities, all determined by the roll of a dice - a catalyst that mirrors Run Lola Run 's own soccer ball/alternate reality intro.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Episode: Season 3, Episode 1: Biology 101
References: The ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey isn't something you forget quickly.
Which is why Community's own homage is so immediately amusing, with a visual style immediately in line with Kubrick's stark, bonkers sci-fi weirdness.
After being sprayed by 'monkey gas', Jeff and Pierce hallucinate themselves into a clinical, white-saturated room in which they see older versions of themselves, before stretching out their arms to touch the study group table (ostensibly 2001 's monolith).
Galaxy Quest
Episode: Season 2, Episode 4: Basic Rocket Science
Reference: You know you're getting meta when you spoof a spoof - and that's exactly what Community does in its epic space movie rip-off-athon.
The Galaxy Quest nod comes when the simulator 'crashes' into a stage, and the gang stumble out, only to be introduced by someone with a microphone - a direct lift from Galaxy Quest 's own bumbling crew emerging triumphant from their own spacecraft.
