Community: 10 Hilarious Things Fans Noticed In The Background

When it comes to Community, there’s more stuff going on in the background than there is going on in the foreground. The way the show is shot, whenever there’s a close up of a character, there’s still plenty of space in the frame for Easter eggs and references behind them.

The subtle nods and references are some of the major reasons why Community has become such a cult hit. And whether it’s a reference to one of the creators’ favorite movies, secret answers to fan questions, or even a hint at the future of Community itself, there’s a lot of stuff going on in the background.

10 Chang In The Window

Being one of the side characters who made the show perfect, Ken Jeong amazingly kept showing up as Chang throughout the series despite the insane amount of fame he reached in the 2010s. Chang is one of the series’ greatest villains, but in the early days, he was desperate to join the study group. Though he might have been clearly trying hopelessly to get in, he can be seen outside of the library, just looking in at the group.

9 Abed Delivers A Baby

Though there are plenty of sad things that happened to Abed, his home life and his school life never seemed to affect the way he presented himself in public and he always remained respectful to everyone he came into contact with. And if viewers were paying close attention to “The Psychology Of Letting Go,” they would have noticed that he extended his services further, as he spent the whole episode helping to deliver a baby in the background.

8 Occupy Greendale

With many recurring motifs in the series, one of them is the rotating leaflets on the bulletin board. The leaflets often refer to the greater Greendale universe, not just relating to the study group.

One of the many flyers on the board is the very Britta sounding “Occupy Greendale,” a protest that was happening in the show parallel to the Occupy Wall Street movement that was going on in the U.S. at the same time.

7 The Name Of Troy’s Boat

Donald Glover has had the most successful career of the whole cast, as his role as Lando in Solo is one of the best things any of the cast has done outside of the show. But he has had an amazing music career too, performing rap under the name of Childish Gambino, and the reason why he left the show in the first place was to focus on his rap career. Well, in Glover’s final episode of the show, he “sails” away on a giant boat named Childish Tycoon.

6 Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

Being a show riddled with pop culture references in every single episode is one of the reasons why Community has so much replay value, and this is one of the best examples. Everybody knows that in Beetlejuice when his name is said three times, the demon appears. And just like in the movie, when Beetlejuice’s name is uttered for the third time in the series, somebody dressed up as the character walks by the library.

5 Cougar Town Cameos

Cougar Town and Community have a long intertwining history. Not only has Abed expressed his love of the show on countless occasions, but the character even had a cameo in the show too. Well, the creators of Community returned the favor, as Travis and Lori, the characters from Cougar Town, can be seen in the background of the show in the episode “Critical Film Studies,” but it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it instant.

4 Annie’s Pen

Though Annie has a lot of great traits, one of those traits according to Troy are her boobs, which is why he named his pet monkey after them. After Annie’s Boobs’ went missing, he learned to make the school’s air vents his home, randomly stealing things from the library.

As the question over who stole Annie’s pen is the premise for “Cooperative Calligraphy,” eagle-eyed fans would have known who took the pen before the argument ensues. Annie’s Boobs can be seen stealing it in the background right at the beginning of the episode.

3 Robocop Vision

Being the fountain of pop culture knowledge that he is, Abed relates any kind of social situation to what he has seen in TV and movies, and that’s no different when he becomes a mean girl. When he walks around the campus he has a Robocop vision that lets him see everything about anybody who enters his vision, and one of them is even Shirley’s menstrual cycle. There are so many details in here that it requires viewers to pause the episode several times if they want to see every reference.

2 The Axe Marks On The Study Table

In yet another amazing pop culture reference, the season three premiere, “Biology 101,” brilliantly references The Shining, as Jeff becomes possessed by the magical powers of the study room and wields a red axe. He swings the axe at the study table several times, and ever since that episode, right up until it was burned several seasons later, those axe marks remained on the table.

1 Six Seasons And A Movie

Though losing its eccentricity is one of the ways the show got worse and worse, fans are still holding out for more Community pop-culture referencing goodness. And fans aren’t getting their hopes up based on nothing, as a hidden detail in the background of the study room clearly showed the creators’ intentions. Written on the chalkboard it said, “six seasons and a movie.” There have been six seasons, but we’re still waiting on that movie.