In Conversation with the Cast of Community

welcome to the stage Dan Harmon Joel McHale Jim rash event Nicole Brown the screen [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so before right before that uh when do you guys last see each other hey tortoise thank you is now here this is the first I've been allowed to see anybody yeah restraining order this is really awesome though we may be out of coffee six months ago I believe there's a text chain and can you explain what that check what happens on this text chain who's good at it who's better at it lately we're mostly giving Ken about how he's gonna buy us all a very expensive dinner dinner tonight I really don't think I am a very expensive restaurant it's really stressing me out I really don't think I am we are reopening Marie Callender's on Wilshire that was my first job here so I'll be waiting on you would you like pie we have 23 I know so I had asked the cast for their favorite episodes and moments and we're gonna go through those but before then I want to talk a little bit about the pilot which was premiered ten years and two months ago Wow [Music] and yet I have an age today and it retained 97% of the offices ratings it's it that's all I remember so the following week you're done so the show changed quite a bit after that but thinking back on the pilot was there something in the script or something in your characters that you could point to you're like that's the show that we made even in those first days that had whatever the special sauce of the show was no I feel like when I think about the difference between the pilot and the series I always think of Britta because Britta is character in particular it was such a and they all props to my colleagues but it was it was such a it was such a straight dude like kind of version of a of a girl as a carrot you know for the male protagonist and it was like from the way we dressed her to every line of her dialogue and all these things it was like we didn't discover the Britta character for a long time and it by the end of the series I mean some people may go like oh that that's the character I don't like it here I don't like it there but one thing's for sure that Britta became so developed it was like and and and like I think of the pilot and I'm just like oh she was like a mannequin with like [Applause] yeah you agree gillies she certainly changed but you knocked it out of the park also I mean I I think about the first winger speech when I think about the pilot and what was essentially community to me was Joel delivering the Sharks and pencils and Ben Affleck speech but I think the thing that was special was that I had never a gotten to do a pilot that was that well written and then be when we started shooting it and we were sitting around the table and I was just blown away by the extraordinary talent of the people in the cast which the world has since discovered but that truly felt like something special and I remember one of the camera operators said to me you better find an apartment in LA and no one had ever said that on any a pilot he was a stalker and had nothing to do with the pilot so we're gonna go through the series based on your episodes through the first choice is season 1 episode 7 introduction to statistics Danny you mentioned this Danny oh sorry he is gone how's it going we haven't seen each other why did you single this one out this is um when I think about the show I think this is the first time during this episode where I felt like we were all clicking I think everyone was kind of doing their own thing and everyone showed up the costumes were all like very specific I felt like the world was kind of starting to establish itself meaning that the world was there was everything it was just chaos and I got to play Batman which was a dream of mine ever since I was kids so can you still do the voice and if so can you do it right now yeah I also want my favorite lines Chex Mix pretzels baby carrots typing it was also this was Justin Lin's first episode that he directed Justin love he never went on to anything he rigged the chair for an explosion and and the other thing is that that the weird thing about NBC changing its clock the it just happened that this was the first episode about six episodes in where the tags started needing to get shot and and and this was this episode was the first time that we put dump troy and abed together in this like intimate way in that tag for that episode where you guys are sitting there improvising really about Cookie Monster and stuff and and it says this episode was the birth of that friendship which was based on organic chemistry between actors on set as opposed to us having predetermined that Pierce and Troy were gonna be like the beavis and butthead of the show I mean this this in many ways that rewatching it felt like a sort of second pilot for the show where it's like a complete reintroduction what did what had you learned and what it's sort of this episode reveal that would become the show that is when we think of community I mean I I think that because it was about six or seven weeks the weird thing back then is if you had a show on NBC and and you opened your laptop you could for the first time Twitter was relatively new especially the concept of people cross-platform viewing but I was just I was just watching people watch the show and so it was it was again this episode was being produced around the time when I was watching people watched the pilot and I was watching what they were responding to and what they were responding to was obviously character they were quoting lines and the lines weren't one-liners they weren't like Henny Youngman jokes but were cleverly crafted they were they were lines that encapsulated the characters that made them unique and so I think that was the big thing for me was as of this episode there's a kind of pure pretty that the show hits because you just I was just like oh these characters are real service them and then the world can be insane apologies to the Henny Youngman family these Millennials they love and even his name so there are two character decision in this episode that I want to talk about first was Gillian helped in choosing the costume the squirrel that was start from he won a few chipmunk can you talk about being collaborative on that that idea they asked me what do you want to be and I said how about a squirrel finally we really get D Wow saw the theme they saw the crease chew on that the Sistine Chapel was faced with like I want something i'ma see you think like you know it was I don't know why I wanted to be a squirrel it was I every day you guys I don't remember to you Dan do you remember anything no I think he really just said squirrel I think I think you wanted the comfort of it too I remember every cost of you were was comfortable wrong tail was very we thought that tail well it was it was the grooving ridges into my shoulders for that week I I think it was I don't know um we got the furry audience big time on that one huh yeah I just felt right for Britta that she would not wear a stereotypical girls on Halloween costume there was also a joke I believe that Shirley was supposed to do to the statistics teacher's office oh that was cut out the conversation uh well if you can tell the audience what was supposed to happen and why we determined Shirley wasn't a person who would do that ok ok so I've told this before Dan knows I've told this story before Shirley was supposed to take a in the drawer she was supposed to want to she was supposed to want you know I don't think that would be dignified black woman would ever do that and I remember I was I was so sad like I was so sad that I had to go talk to my boss and try to explain and I remember I went to Joe Russo and I said Joe is something horrible has happened and we have to fix it and I told you what my problem wasn't Joe cracked up he was like Yvette it's a comedy you don't understand I'm the only black woman on the show so I went to Dan and I talked to Dan and I said you know listen I know our show may not be for you know Christian black woman and of a certain age but you know if 1 or 2 is watching we're gonna lose them whistles I dropped my you only get one chance I said you know we should find something else please sir and he was kind enough to come up with the hose in the drawer yeah so thank you yeah it's funny to even think that there would be a debate you know like like that nowadays if you came to my office and said black woman I'd be like huh yeah don't cancel ironically like during when we weren't filming that would anywhere this is not representative just representing someone who had a lot of chick-fil-a so we're about to go to season 2 episodes I came to set a lot no joke before to go season 2 does anyone have any stray thoughts about contemporary American poultry or the first paintball episode since seemingly that person really wants to hear I'll say contemporary American ball true that wind which was the homage to Goodfellas with that when that freeze happen and Danny as Abed said I always wanted to be in a mafia movie I was like I think I'm on the greatest television show ever made I think that episode also sees the introduction of Annie's boobs that was very well known on our show I don't know why people loved the monkey so much or why I sing it now here we are Annie's boots at one weight at one point people became convinced that that monkey was going to save our show and we had to do a syndication photo shoot the monkey right to work the monkey into every shot and at one point it was all of us pressed up against the study room windows and the publicist was like and remember to look down cuz they're gonna add the monkey swinging enjoy and then since then I have called the show come on kitty but yeah that monkey was supposed to save us all you'd worked with the monkey before oh my god hangover 2 & 3 it was amazing oh I made a lot of money crystal Wow crystal the monkey Thom Gunderson's a trainer can't believe ken drop that in there that's one how dare you you had the mic damn your mouth waiting to say that there there was an audience questions does anyone know if the monkeys still alive oh my god I was at the little beach house in Malibu right next to Nobu we had like we had like amazing right yeah okay yes I am bragging it was great I had great job I had a great time crystal and Tom they send their regards you today I'm pretty sure if there's an animal that you learned the name of it's already dead six months ago sorry there were 70 lassies you heard it from me first don't Google Milo and Otis goodnight I got a letter from PETA that shut that monkey down season 2 episode 9 spiritually theories and interior design dan and Chrissy both mentioned yes so what did you love about it Chris professor professorson it needs must what's up that's what he said if needs must I just remember him saying that or did you just miss pronounced etc no it was just a really great fun episode it was a idea that was kicked around I think Megan Gans had come up with like Oh what if there was a conspiracy theory episode and it was like Joel's taking a class like that and I was like oh what did that class didn't even exist or maybe she I don't know we came up with like a fun plot that was only like half of a plot though and we would always go back to it and then we actually wrote a whole conspiracy about night school night before we started shooting it when you watched that episode at the point where Joel and Annie said Joel and Annie Jeff and Annie say in like like they it goes to commercial break with with her going why and him going I don't know and it goes to commercial that was the entirety of the pitch of that episode was like just this idea of like we knew that was a good idea but we didn't there you go Dan do it do your thing well two more acts of it oh yeah he's so excited about that first I thought you were saying Dan go ahead Dan be a panel hog no but we were we were so we were so happy with that AK break but we didn't know what to do with it and we still didn't when we started shooting it that's what is amazing I mean I work at the animation now where you could just make people draw stuff and we're not that ballsy we had human beings that had to show up and going to make up and we were like yeah we'll figure it out it was create the third act of that episode was literally like Chris and I ran to the phone we had figured it out and we were like there's a lot of guns in this and we had to call S&P and NBC and we pitched the fine wonderful woman at SP at NBC we pitched her the whole thing and she heard it all and she said ha and so are they they're not really getting shot yeah but it's gonna be bloody good squibs and then she said something like could the whole thing be about gun safety yes it guess it can because it wasn't about anything 10 minutes ago may as well be about pretzels she's the head writer this is a snap but in typical fashion we wrote ourselves into a corner and then while we were trying to burrow our way out of it the production was going all the I mean it was like this is happening and they were just like I guess you have to shoot this because it's Thursday now this is answering so many questions are you doing so long did you remember because Kevin Corrigan was so great in the episode but also very shocked by how long it took us to shoot an episode and I remember I'd be standing with him in the hallway and he'd just be like I don't understand half-hour comedy show and I'd be like it's okay Kevin now get on your hands and knees we gotta race through this blanket Adam Adam Adam Davidson shot that episode I thought it's a movie I mean there are million shots in and then at one point he's playing the Knicks I studied for this panel you guys and I will show up right now let's rap out and watch did you watch the whole do you not watch the whole series you watched a lot of I did I skipped the gas leak year well wasn't about a43 like oh we needed this means this is such a rich setting that we need to revisit pillows and blankets for another season what about a blanket for it what about a blanket for it did you as the creators of the show we're like we need to revisit this in a future season what do you see trying to say pretty straightforward question pop three yeah we did we did the we did oh yeah yeah okay we did the Ken Burns episode yeah yeah it was this was a creative compromise right there it was a compliment it was a combination of us desperately what have we done that we used to love and Sony being like you're a million dollars over budget and I was like so they had reduced the budget to about $50,000 so I mean in order to pay for the episodes we've done like you can't keep making movies every week we you now have to make in episode that and I was like what if it was just photos and they're like you got us you can keep making a TV show technically but this isn't over turn back to making our VCRs see that's the thing like you can't trust a TV studio that makes VCRs they're like they hate TV yeah they're like man we must destroy TV yep season two laser discs episode 13 celebrity pharmacology Joel this was your choice what did you love about this episode oh I like the part where Jim is warming up the yeah this is where Jim the Dean has to warm up the junior high school crowd before we gave a we presented a play about not doing drugs and D the team did a one-man freeze tag game and then he kept the suggestion from the Hulk like can I get a suggestion it just goes bald and they're like all right can I get a an occupation mayor of bald City and then Jim proceeded to - this way I watch I thought Donald was gonna choke to death because he was laughing so hard and just that was my look I when they asked what my favorite episode was all I was that di all I said was like Jim doing one man freeze tag and Chang falling in love with a burnt mannequin I said the scene where they're discussing monkey gasps and that is lucky that was my attire there wasn't an entire episode that was like I was like to play those so anyway that's what I loved and when the kids in that episode at the end of the first act of the play are chanting we love drugs again I was just like I think I'm on the greatest television show name was this Hillary Winston or Lauren Pomerance I think this was Hillary Hillary there you go Jim what do you remember from well I just now I remember everything I do remember I do remember that we yes they just had me at his bad miming he was like you driving I remember I was there was a fire there was a fire at the cleaners on the Moon or Mars or no I insisted that I was gonna definitely take here dry-cleaning no matter what people said they said go out there and do an improv cuz those guys were having a scene back there so we might use the audio of your improv while they're back there and so I just did a long improv about a fire at a dry cleaner and I think I said where it didn't matter what someone says I heard dry cleaner because I had a great plot and then that was remembered my dream or something stood reims all went up in flames that's it and then you cut to your brother who was a firefighter who was Wow yes yeah what a show what a show time what a time [Applause] season 2 episode 14 advanced studies dragon Dan and Chris he mentioned this episode yes I chose this episode because I loved playing Hector the well-endowed and I loved that during that part of the episode I got to just improvise along sex scene with Danny's like elf Maiden yeah none of the audio is in but you can figure out what I'm so dirty you guys it was so dirty watch it's just great storytelling it's a very beautiful episode I'm being genuine can how dare you dare you hey take seriously for once in your life you got to put the can oh sorry no serious when you filled in for Ellen last week please why was not I was trying to get laughs okay let's not forget the Ken's sort of in blackface in the episode dark oh yeah we have to breathe it right now right now 2019 really really really how did as I was saying it's great storytelling the villain of the group which is very important it was that the one where we did all the hand pile and then Ken's had been there the entire time then you mentioned the scene where Jeff confronts appears outside and Pierre says you know Pierre says you're giving me a look like I can't get erections as your favorite as your favorite moment which is a pretty small you know it's pretty small moment in the the roundest trio what was that about that that scene that was so special to you I just thought it was just this perfect scene if you showed a clip of it before we came out I don't like being excluded Jeff to you yes it's just such a great example but I've never been a joke writer and I didn't write those lines but that those are examples of like those aren't jokes those are those are lines that are incredibly funny because you love the characters there are jokes coming from those particular characters and it was like it was just this high point of you know Chevy I was like finally like like as much as he hates like doing TV and he should because it's hard work and he's self-described legend and he's alleged legend legend legend legend legend Chris legend I have a tick I say self-described just randomly like this is great self-described carpet I love it no but he like I get it I get why coming from features and having his like career like why like working Lu hours that these guys work like was like grueling to him but and I remember in that moment going like Chevy's finally gonna thank me he's gonna see this episode he might get he might get an Emmy or something like like this is like an amazing character for him to play and it's courtesy of our writers Chris and your guest Megan Gans like like and me like III had a milk crate full of my old D&D stuff from when I was a preteen and I hung onto that stuff because Marie Kondo didn't exist yet and and it did spark joy it did but like like I write brought it into the writers room and I just plopped it on the table and the pride I felt when the writers room didn't go I was like if you guys want to take a look at this stuff you know I'd love to do a D&D episode and they're like alright and then I went to sadder went to the Edit Bay and came back and they had this pitch this idea the concept was created by them not me how do you make a D&D session compelling the idea of the fat meal thing that was you guys and I was so proud because it was such a great like idea such a great in and then Chris I came into that room late and would they already had that Saving Private Ryan element with fat Neil which was a throwaway joke and conspiracy that then became a person but I think Hillary was in that room too I forget who was in that room but it was it was such a crack team I mean if I had nothing to compare it to I didn't know I how you know I guess this is what it's like to have a staff of writers and all of our hard work paid off at that table read but I just want to say also though Chris came into the show with this particular like ability to start bringing the Chevie character to life like in this like weird like he's the ten-year-old son way and that that that Daffy Duck kind of like that that version of Pierce who's being dragged out by the ear by Jeff and lectured it was just magical and Joe Russo is on point he's like he's the guy that's gonna go on and make Marvel movies but he's owning that room there's no special effects in the episode boy what a show it's just such a good character piece and then and then and then the and then the whole thing yes I mean we wrote it till til til 11 a.m. we stayed up all night at Andrew Guest House did shots of whiskey to wake us up after finishing the script brought it in in time for the table read read it and because Game of Thrones wasn't on the air yet Sony had to have a special meeting and said there's a lot of Goblin in this script and one of them said we wish you had turned this in on time so we could have thrown it in the garbage and I was so proud because it was like they try to stop it right this justifies everything about my my horrible dysfunctions this is the most enabling thing it could ever happen again never turn anything in on time professional you could have made worse TV and well my favorite line probably from the whole series is when Pierce gets this sort of Duquesne and they gets it from a the role of a Dinah goes oh I wiped my ass with it and I throw it off a cliff and then he rapes the Duquesne family again twice I want to open the floor for any Chevy Chase stories or feelings I will say also the erections line that was another moment for me that I'll never forget because we were outside reading the script with Jeffy and he was reading that line for the first time I think I was watching him read that line for the first time and he was saying erections or erection I think he's and I think he'd mentioned it should be erection or he wasn't sure why was erections and we were all trying to convince him though that it should be erections plural and that's when I was like we made it the show is the greatest show of all time like that all the dialogue wasn't lifted from the meetings where he'd summon us to his trailer he just would never remember saying this stuff sixty-six dick it's outside swear to God so many lines of dialogue we're just written in the margins of the script during meetings in his trailer I speak seven languages I play piano I'm I have absolutely no teeth and then we'd write over the script and then he'd be like now we're talking [Applause] who's this writer these new episode 19 critical film studies and he also mentioned this one I feel like this was a member when this came out this felt like a fu to the people who did not watch the show and just assumed it was like a bunch of parodies and also I imagine a few to the network was like you're gonna do I eat my dinner with Andre but how does this sort of represent the difference what a community thing is which is sort of homage versus parody for you guys and what does that mean in terms of writing or performing well I for me it was always about the Abed character license to us to do homage the show wasn't like you know I don't know Family Guy I've never seen it my therapist watches it but it's a it's a show doesn't just go hey thanks for tuning in we're gonna do Taming of the Shrew this week I I grew up watching moonlighting and I observed like I love moonlighting this seems like it's off the rails and god I mean God bless him for experimenting but it was like that was the deal breaker was that it wasn't an expression of a character and so Abed was the guy that made it possible to riff in the vocabulary that I understood thereby making it more realistic than if I just did stories about credit cards and jealousy and dyeing your hair like I just understood like how do you relate to people without getting kicked out of society Abed was a film major and it allowed for this stuff I think I answered your question no and I just loved it when critics when the first show when the show came out they were like it's just reference humor and then critics apologize two years later going like well it got better and I was just like you [Applause] it's always good dick Danny do you remember Monica memorizing that monologue no we had television takes weeks to memorize it Danny what happened this I do it now I don't know it at all I just remember the last line was and I pooped my pants I remember that I remember that this was the only episode where I went up to to Dan's office with the director Richard Ayoade a who's incredible and I thought did an amazing job and that was all Joel's doing getting Richard to direct the episode one of the funniest mounted people on the planet and we showed up in Dan's office and we there was like there was no script yet and we were just talking about my dinner with Andre and I'd never seen my dinner with Andre so I was like okay I know what I'm doing tonight I did watch my dinner with Andre and that house like how because everybody else was dressed in Pulp Fiction clothes I remember watching my dinner with Andre and being like these guys are just having a conversation it's a super engaging but then thinking like okay so everyone's having a pulp fiction party me and Jeff are just talking at a dinner table okay and then we showed up with teleprompters and it was amazing and then the weirdest thing was that tim tebow showed up that day because because while we're doing the seed he's standing over there because he's shooting a Haines commercial right there and he he is I don't think he was a fan of the show at all no didn't know who we were hewn from The Hangover he was so excited to see Ken he was like do the hangover do it boy do the things that's a monkey's friend the whole crew no one's watching me until they're all watching Tim Tebow talk about Ames commercial and I was like this is perfect for our show it also was like not the start but sort of the start of the increasingly creative ways that we would disguise Chevy's body double oh yes he was never on set three different Chevy's for this one right I think this was three different Chevy's in the mask right yeah his body double is the game The the body though and then stand-in John who often would read his lines so we just be staring into his body doubles eyes like John being like I get erection the react to one face while we hear erections over here I love that episode what was season 2 episode 21 paradigms of human memory Evette and Jamie pick earth is also my favorite episode your ears on these memory pops this is my favorite episode of the whole show because one I was so impressed with how quickly we moved we did like 70 scenes in a week wasn't it yes and I just remember thinking how many drawers did you in it was beating at least five yeah like we could do this every week we did 17 away why are we taking so long that's part of the hair while I loved except for that we were so efficient this week because we had we had to be you know I mean like we had to be efficient we shot at Universal yes which was different because we usually shot at Paramount and so we didn't have the budget to go outside normally so that we were just excited to have sunlight got to see all of the behind-the-scenes stuff like we know how everything works a universal no like that water that comes down we know how that works on jaws we got to be on the other side if I just you know I'm a fan of entertainment so I just love that part of it too and I think it's a really funny episode cuz everything goes so fast it's that the writers created jokes in every single nanosecond so if you guys haven't watched this episode of long time go back and watch it cuz there's there's jokes on the walls there's people walking by that are jokes it's not just what we're saying it's like jokes on top of jokes on top of jokes I love this episode that was your no this was a gang rig my names on it but is that this was gang written because we ran out of time you as you I know you're shocked to hear and so this was gang written this Dan and always wanted to do a clip show that was not a real clip show which is then the opposite reason why you do it the whole reason why you do a clip show is like we're so exhausted oh and your shows just have people sitting on the living room couch and go remember that time you know jr. fell over the dog but no this was so everyone thought we were insane for doing this but the crew Tricia Pierrot directed it we had this crew it was like an army we marched through Universal all day long and God was fine but also the Russos right didn't we have like three crews going I think there's like no I try to remember if they picked up some of this I remember Joe like you know doing that thing where he like seems like a little like mafia character he's like I tell you what we're gonna do we're gonna head we're gonna go to the universal back that we're gonna run in gun guerrilla style I'm gonna be over here and he's gonna be acting like he wasn't just looking at a laptop the whole time typing on it yeah that's great did you watch me yeah it was great we got he would do again go and do it again louder really needs to get his together he's gonna fail bail I do remember when we were we were there that day the war of the world set you know were you Charlie and then the things go off so we were shooting that thing where they supposedly did Habitat for Humanity and it burned down and I was scolding them so every now and then the ride would just go off so we be in the middle of a take and you'd hear the car go let's hold say it fast one of the funniest bits that I remember it is was a we were the world what the were the world's set when all the exploded things and then it was the it was this dumb bit it was you right like like McKenna I like it was a sort of like everybody lined up and then the team going like who did this and then likes the idea that Britta and Jeff like in particular it's like step forwards like who did this habitat would for Humanity yeah it's there's little moments like did I just do the dad thing where I repeated your story yeah and I was sitting in front of a house what did we just do Groundhog Day is one answer I was the War of the Worlds bit and you're like yeah but like the detail that win it because I remember like the whole montage I think is probably one of the best like probably my favorite secret something a whole show is the Dean's montage of coming in but we they were told well yeah it's too hard we can't because we wanted to do changes about we wanted to actually have everyone in the foreground like you know change and like and what's nice things like how are we gonna do that but it would but to quick changes and it was me Churchill yeah yes yeah we had we had like a 1/2 afternoon off cuz you guys just sat there as he changed they just left it off and then I do one and then run and they change everything and those who just sat around there had multiple yeah I think Joe and the Anthony had to come in and then you know oversee it we had a like by the end of the week there were definitely like three differing by the DGA did call the the real that the core of why the episode succeeds is because we were smart enough to go we can't just do stylistic masturbation we can't just send the audience the signal that we're bored with our show and we're gonna like make fun of TV because then they're like what what am I doing here and that's not for the Cape and I was talking about that was like we need there needs to be something as major here as this is empty and Emily Cutler was like Britta and Jeff yeah that was the episode where we learned that and it's like you you could easily forget that where you're like it's like oh it's the fake clip show she only pitched up because she thought she got money for it sends paintball they right she thought it was a good character payment oh it's right I got conflated stories Emily Cutler did that for the paintball episode Britta Jeff the this is the episode where someone decided this is about everyone finding out I just can't believe Donald didn't choose this image for one of his album covers look at a vet it's great so good the rakish angle to the hat down we really ended to the side you look like the one that saw totally she metrics hats [Applause] [Music] Korg Joerg he's in 3 episode 4 yo chaos theory Gillian see season 3 was good I will note you almost all Pixies in two moments this is my favorite episode this nearly killed us we were shooting this until the weekend aired I remember one night we are shooting a completely different episode and they said event Gillian go put on this trio and I think we cried yeah I cried I was just it I I just think that it's brilliant and this is just use me to spray your face one more time with fake blood I show guys was this the beginning of toilet olives was that the injection yeah as a thing that's existed for time immemorial since toilets this was just the first time had been mentioned on our show I remember that was an issue too because they did want to put a blood on my face again I remember thinking we're still filming another episode and I told them how long it would take to redo my makeup and then you guys didn't do it I remember that because it takes a long time to do my makeup look at me yeah but with my kids my kids going me so hungee me so pizza dance Meghan you do it the Meghan Gans do well you do a little of this song you don't do the damn Wow those cute shoes to Pizza Pizza [Applause] Gillian Jacobs amazing so humiliated but you guys seem to like it I remember McKenna's face and the whiteboard behind him that was one story circle for every single character in every single time right so 36 circles it looked like a serial killers lair and he was that when you got scratched by the cat no maybe well later rounds they or maybe after yeah where are you looking at you really go get some rest you like but then you're gonna rewrite it no baby no that's cool chain got scratched by a cat I got bit by my wife's cat when we were moving at yeah so it was right around there and then it was like I was sitting in the room for about a day and a half and and it just started getting bigger and bigger and then it got really painful and I had to keep on holding over my head and a certain point I think everyone was like you have to go to the hospital like all these fingers were the same length six that's how big his hand was and I also loved that it was it was supposed to air as 3:03 in an air does 304 and this the show opens with us knocking on the door and it says 303 is the apartment number cuz it was a good show it's an amazing song [Applause] [Laughter] so season four happens okay so season five Dan's back we're you know in terms so much as you know it was like a couple that broke up that got back together were there sort of commitments like we're gonna do it better this time in terms of working I don't even remember well hence the promise in the opening musical number yeah cuz that was still for Greenblatt so it was like why am i back what back-alley deal did they do to like pick up Pan Am for more episodes or what was the I don't know what how I got my job back I have no idea that was Joel McHale right there now with Joel McHale seriously that was all Joel it's also amazing time to publicity for firing the creator and then guess what get a ton of publicity for hiring him back out of the frying pan at the fryer Donald this is the time where I open the floor for stories or feelings about Donald why why can't you be a worse rapper I was just worried we were never gonna see levar burton again i've said this a thousand times before i think he's one of the most talented human beings I've ever met never said that I didn't meet Prince I didn't meet Michael Jackson so I'm not trying to say that but he's so talented in every creative endeavor I mean he can bake he can crochet he can dance I'm not kidding he can bake in crochet he can dance he can do comedy he's funny with physical he's just can do everything and he's also a kind man which a lot of people that are super talented they're not always nice and Donald's nice so I just wish him every success and you know and here he is you guys right back there Donald is so funny on the show and also I think I would put him as the number person who behind-the-scenes how does crying laughter so hard it was a bit I could tell you he would but I don't think we can really but his bits were funny like over and over you would do it guys individually they're saying no talk about on your text chain will text each other I'll text you can I thought I was just gonna say that also would be forever really special to me that like we we would hear his music before anyone you know it was like I I I will remember always him coming to set being like I'm gonna make a mixtape and us being like you make music let's hear it like oh that's good real it sounds good a real efficient use of time to like I jerked about this like I when we when they would say you could I would go to craft services and eat donuts that's how I know with diabetes Donald would write like a TV show or you know write an album like really used his time efficiently every time they said cut and then I would use time between takes to try to memorize all the lyrics to thank you so Donald Lee's in the next episode let's go well what should have showed up is Ken's favorite scene which is bear down for midterms yeah again click it again oh my gosh that explained God what hedge I remember the person episode where I'm eating a pinecone sandwich I think actually I think it's so poorly performed they cut it from the episode and then I remember like it's just getting burned out maybe it was me just kind of believing my own hype or everything else I remember sending an email to Dan and I just said is there a world where we're Chan could be more grounded because you know you know I used to be a doctor and then I used to I don't mind if Chang is I don't mind if I feel like there's an arc where Chang could pay his dues because I think he's he's been jailed he's been doing all it and you try to murder he tried to murder the study group but I think that he's I think that he's paid his dues no matter how pathetic he is he deserves a second chance and I sent this as an email to Dan and then Dan and then Dan sent me an email back and I still have it to this day and it gets me emotional where he said he said just please pretty because we're dealing with Donald's exit just please pretty please eat if I go sandwich for Uncle Dan and uncle Chris and I swear to God in the hot lava episode and I swear to god I'm gonna write you a monologue that you'll do your best acting and even your daughter's will say well this guy has range and I'm like well I'm not that good an actor I'm not that good I'm not that good I don't know how to cry on scene and then the next episode which was the bear down for midterms episode after the hot lava episode it literally is all of my email is in that script in that monologue and I was it was really describing just what Chang has gone through and it moved me it moved me to tears and and when when the director was Tristram when it went heal when he said action I just couldn't stop crying and it's literally it's the best moment of my acting career so it's the best moment and every time I've had to be emotional in a movie since I always think a bear down for midterms and it's because of it's because of Dan's email as well give to be eating a pinecone sandwich in a scene now I know I think that would help my career even the pinecone say it was a chi was up with the chalk it was chocolate it was they look like if it was not a pinecone also a little it was actually shot the first five out of order ghal at the fifth episode we shot was actually the ass crack bandit episode that's what we get before their damn think your final straw was walk backwards with the fake churro up my ass and Bob Rowe is mad at me because I'm not hitting my marks and I'm walking back but seriously bear down there's one other thing from season five we're gonna go over so so we just printed out it's gonna play a clip I do have the lyrics printed out [Applause] oh I should say before this fun fact cuz and no one needs to chime in after I say this and I got this in one take no one needs to chime in will Alpena bar and I'm here to say your chicks will arrive on another day another day another time another rhyme another dollar another stuffed shirt with another white-collar criminals Wall Street taking the pie all the black man gets is a plate of white lies prisons recruiting them police be shooting them rap artists nude number labels all delude number rock obama me for free let me clear my [Applause] boom Oh Oh [Applause] [Music] Jim made me laugh so hard that I looked directly into the lens laughs laughing into the cut Gillian laughing during the scene yeah we had she'd be laughing that's a funny situation that was Jonathan in there son thank you thanks in between Jonathan going like I will tear your throat out so we are over time so I will ask the bachelor nation are they coming in extra zing we had I asked for audience questions and almost everyone with the exact same question to which is a movie just movie question mark I will add preparing for this I've read you each five thousand times answer like sure I'd love to do it so I imagine you still feel you'd love to do it but let's talk about realistically what would need to do it like twenty million dollars for Donald's yeah that would do it is it but are is you know are you thinking about or you're like oh well Allison's wrapping glow and then maybe if we get Mike my cardshark schedule I'll check to see by the way it is a weird Ouija board thing where it's like I were you supposed to who's supposed to say everyone do this I don't know it just that's what I've always said I'm like I don't I don't know how to how does it happen thank you right I don't think it starts with you Dan yeah do it do it do it yeah and then I write it and then and then half of the people are like yeah I want to do it everyone that showed up for the Volturi reunion will do the movie what a shot you know who I'm talking about talking about Jonathan banks how are we gonna get him if there were to be a movie what would you want from it regardless of the plot but like what would you hope from it anyway in terms of very payday that'd be great I just would I just would love to have everybody back together again I think that would be really me you know we had a lot of fun it's a lot of long hours but we had a lot of fun on set and you know it's a family so that would be fun for me to come back and do that I mean you look back it's just like well the reason why we're all here is because it's you know for me personally it's I think it's the best thing I've ever done been a part of something I'm very I'm very grateful very now for it for all of you all it is the best thing you've ever done don't don't tell me that every day how dare you f you Joel how dare you I had a moment but but for all of you regardless I'd fill up super busy careers where does this stack up as you look back in your career over the last 15 20 years I mean at a certain point when the fans started organizing their own convention for the show commuter Cod community on which a vet and I attended every year yes I think I realized that there was no guarantee that anything I would do going forward would have this kind of impact on people and that's not that's separate from success but the level of impact and the depth of feeling that people had about it I I recognized at the time that there was no guarantee that anything I would ever do would mean as much to people so that is truly extraordinary and I'm glad that I had the ability to see that in the moment and appreciate it and not just in retrospect but for that alone I think it has to be up there for me number one and I'm so grateful for it I mean it changed you know think I think for a lot of us had also changed our careers to his actors in terms of like our where our careers had been and so it mean it changed everything about my life so it has to be number one I'm echoing that definitely number one the moment I read the script that was like trembling because my agent said this is the role you were meant to play and they've never said that before or after okay and then I read and I was like this is unbelievable the writing is just so rich it's so specific the cast is obviously incredible and they're just amazing so on set it was just such a joy always unpredictable and exciting and we'd read the script it was funny we get on set it became funnier we'd watch it and do we'd still laugh and that to me was just so joyful and then yeah connecting to people I get reactions all the time people saying that you're just like me and my best friend or they'll quote stuff to me from Farscape that I have no idea what they're talking about or people be like hey Parks and Rec and I'll be like no or hug silver that's fine we'll take it but truly I'm I feel so lucky so fortunate to laugh every day like this it was it's the best so for me number one number one I think what is unparalleled is is the amount of laughs that we had behind the scenes I don't there will never be another job where I cry cry laughing every day like the the silliness level was at an all-time high and we were so close and still remain close and are such a family sometimes Betty Gilpin who I work with on glow will be like I've watched the outtakes from community and you don't do that here I'm being professional now cuz you don't do side of my career I'm an adult you don't do taco taco taco I don't do taco taco taco and I don't do get that googan I also just cherish the amount of like languages and voices and characters that we created backstage backstage behind the scenes that when people would come in to play like a guest star role I always felt for them because we were very warm and inviting but we would be making jokes that didn't make it to air I we had shirts made that said don't eat the crab dip because the version that we've so it was don't eat the crab dip what because that's what we thought was the quote and said it for a full calendar year at or however long and then we watched the episode we were like don't eat the crab dip why with that one that's interesting so yes I feel like the fun that was had it just it could never be matched for me the greatest gift of community for me has been getting to watch all of these people at the beginning some of them at the beginning of their greatness you know I just you you all of you it's like they were starting out when Gillian talks about it change their life she was living in New York and this was you know she moved she moved to LA for this job you know it was everybody blossomed on this set and we got to watch each other become everything that we're doing now that you guys love we got to watch the seeds of that in every one so I you know I talk about Donald but it's true for each one of them we got to see each of them be great and become great and that's something that I cherish as that's why I don't know if you guys know this like I'm like a huge celebrator of people so whenever one of them does anything if you see my Twitter feed I blow it up because I'm so proud of everything you guys do and I ran into Allison at the Golden Globes and I'm like I'm like I'm seeing Allison at the Golden Globes and she's nominated like this is it's just huge for me so just that that I got to see these amazing performers at their beginning some of them some you know some had already made it but at the beginning is the greatest blessing for me I feel bad because mine's gonna be exactly the opposite from me I couldn't get out faster enough no I mean it's to just keep it brief in the sense that you know I can't they had already started shooting the pilot and I walked in to audition for the for the gene where they were shooting and so closed bank in the valley on Capitol in there Rousseau's and everybody just came out to Chatsworth I was sort of playing catch-up to this experience a little bit and then I was sort of like you never know if you're gonna be recurring what that really means and I ended up coming back quite a bit and and I think about the siege act quite a bit every episode and you had all that but I think with season 3 when Jules started making eye contact with me where I felt like my heart it was it was for adaptation not a ridge down here down here someone else doesn't work no real quick it's just like it's you it's so hard when you're in something like this or anything in your life to be completely present in it and it's really when you're sitting on stage here reflecting on this thing that you really and you see these clips that you realize oh that's what it was doing was tugging at my heart when I was there and I really do appreciate every moment we had on there long hours the creativity the fact that we were living in a bubble where we were fighting as these underdogs creatively I'll be not creatively underdogs but I'm just saying we could do things an experiment if he were like what are you what are you doing and then a handful a giant handful of people got us and I think that there's such a reward in knowing that you were telling stories that challenges some people you're breaking molds you're doing something that's not on TV you're doing epic things you're doing small things you're doing character things and you never lose sight of your characters and Dan's exactly right we were saying lines that were connected to character and I thought that was such a gift so I would say in conclusion of this as I said let me just briefly said so let me in by saying Jim shut the up and God Danny Joel I'll keep it brief the greatest thing that's ever happened to me I guess for me what was so powerful anyway I wanted to say this one thing so we were on the world of the wall set and this how I have a story - okay I mean look live-action doesn't move as much merchandise but it's fair I have 15% of an emotional back-end on this that pays dividends every day in the swimming pool at Rick and Morty paid for it I know III the this this is absolutely the most be the most proud of I mean I'll it's like network TV isn't necessarily dead but it's turned into a different thing I mean they're all becoming streaming platforms now we were there with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and liked it with like we were we were there at the end of this crazy era this is like the end of must-see TV the end we were the tar pit that we were the barn we were the barn that had the shot but he starts here and BK and we got to work with it he was earning a hundred and fifty of the people that were like they were a list the guy that hauled the cable I've never knew his name but the best at hauling Billy cable he was that's how what cable was his name was Eva but-but-but John Goodman showed up to do the show multiple times it is yeah hands-down absolutely the most proud that the proudest what how do you talk is the thing of which I am most proud forever and ever yeah community [Applause]

Channel: Vulture

Views: 1,432,496

Rating: 4.9621968 out of 5

Keywords: Vulture, Community, gillian jacobs, donald glover, donald glover community, alison brie, alison brie community, chevy chase, chevy chase community, chevy chase community rant, chevy chase voicemail, danny pudi, yvette nicole brown, yvette nicole brown community, yvette nicole brown community interview, community cast, community cast interview, ken jeong, troy and abed in the morning, joel mchale, jeff winger, britta perry, best of community, community nbc

Id: Z-HvpKCMe5U

Length: 66min 31sec (3991 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 19 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Smocke55]

Thank god this wasn’t hidden behind some paywall bullshit like the Parks and Rec paleyfest one was.

[u/Monster_Dong]

Just watched this on my lunch break. It's amazing. Everyone on the panel is awesome and no one talks over each other. Dan Harmon is hilarious and everyone is genuinely happy to be there.

[u/econoboxrocks]

I miss this show every day.

[u/Megwen]

This was beautiful. They're still my favorite cast of all time, and that's going up against the folks from B99, 30 Rock, and Parks and Rec.

[u/KYGC2160]

This was great and I like the format of choosing their favourite episodes. They really went in on Chevy, wow. The others all looked pretty uncomfortable during that tbh. I only wish we had more time with Jim! The Dean is one of my favourite TV characters of all time and he did such an incredible job with him.

[u/Slurp_Lord]

"And since then I called the show Commonkety" is such a Britta thing to say.

[u/bdicks37]

Dan Harmon has no qualms about ripping on Chevy and you can just see everyone else trying not to join in too much lol

[u/OmniSzron]

I love these rascals. Their chemistry is irrefutable. So many cool behind-the-scenes stories, too. Great panel.

[u/wyler17]

Does anyone else feel weird doing this without.... Magnitude?