External links
- "Cooperative Calligraphy" at NBC.com
- "Cooperative Calligraphy" at IMDb
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| "Cooperative Calligraphy" | |
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| Community episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Joe Russo |
| Written by | Megan Ganz |
| Production code | 208 |
| Original air date | November 11, 2010 |
| Guest appearance | |
"Cooperative Calligraphy" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community , and the 33rd episode of the series overall. A metafictional bottle episode, it aired in the United States on NBC on November 11, 2010. [1] [2]
The episode is notable for continuing the series' Beetlejuice gag, in a character uttering "Beetlejuice", a name previously uttered in "Communication Studies" and next uttered in "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps"; in the self-titled 1988 film, animated series, and musical, the character of Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice) would suddenly enter the scene whenever someone said his name three times, with Beetlejuice himself (portrayed by an uncredited extra) then cameoing in "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" immediately after the third utterance in the series' history. [3] [4]
While the study group finishes their diorama for their anthropology class, Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) invites everyone for a puppy parade. Annie (Alison Brie) notices that her purple gel grip pen is missing, but the others dismiss her concerns. Enraged, Annie claims she's tired of lending her stuff and not get it back, and demands everyone to stay to find the pen, as the television-savvy (occasionally metafictional) Abed (Danny Pudi) notes they are on the precipice of entering a bottle episode within the sitcom that encompasses their lives.
Unsuccessful in finding the pen, the group starts to leave, not before Annie accuses Britta (Gillian Jacobs) of being the one who stole it. This escalates to a full search of everyone's stuff, and everyone starts to accuse each other. Annie tries to get Jeff (Joel McHale) to take control of the situation, but when Jeff's advice to the group is taken as an admission of guilt, he institutes a lockdown ("I'm doing a bottle episode"), forcing everyone to stay in the room until the pen is found.
As they work through the bags, they discover disconcerting secrets about each member of the study group. Abed's journal is discovered to have been tracking the three women's menstrual cycles so that he knows the best days to talk to them. They discover a pregnancy test in Shirley's (Yvette Nicole Brown) bag; she claims that she rekindled her relationship with her ex-husband over Labor Day weekend, but Abed points out that his charts show that she was last ovulating during Halloween. Troy (Donald Glover), remembering that Shirley had sex with Chang on Halloween, realizes that Chang might be the father of her child. Shirley and Britta get into a heated argument about religion and sex before Jeff snaps and tears apart the room looking for the pen. The group proposes strip-searching each other to prove no one has taken it, dividing the room by gender to search themselves, to no avail. Eventually, they decide Pierce (Chevy Chase) must have stuck it down one of his leg casts. They cut the casts open, but the pen is not there.
The group sits around in regret and Jeff points out the bonds between them were so strong, it was impossible for anyone to have taken the pen and still not have confessed. Such an act was so unlikely, saying that a ghost took the pen would be more reasonable. Satisfied with this, the group leaves the destroyed study room, too late to join the puppy parade.
After the group leaves, Troy's monkey Annie's Boobs appears from a vent in the study room, snatching a spoon and taking it back to its cache of stolen objects, which includes all of Annie's missing pens.
In its original broadcast, "Cooperative Calligraphy" reached approximately 5.635 million households with a 2.0 rating/6% share in the 18-49 demographic. [5]
The episode received positive reviews from critics, with Michelle St. James of Daemon's TV writing, "From Annie’s primal scream to almost every single Troy line ('Do they find thoughts in our butts? I knew I should have read that book.'), “Cooperative Calligraphy” is packed with hilarity, character development, and puppies." [6]
Cory Barker of TVsurveillance wrote, "'Cooperative Calligraphy' is both the culmination of the last 15 episodes and the catalyst for a number of surely-awesome plots and episodes to come. It’s a reminder that Community can be just as hilarious when telling intensely personal and small-scale stories as it is when riffing on pop culture’s biggest genres and formats. And that’s why it is television’s best comedy." [7]
"Spanish 101" is the second episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on September 24, 2009. The episode features Jeff and Pierce working on a Spanish project as Annie and Shirley organize a protest. Receiving 5.39 million viewers upon its premiere, the episode was met with mostly positive critical reception. The end tag—the first of the series—shows Troy and Abed performing a nonsense rap in Spanish, an early interaction between the pair which was praised by reviewers.
"Epidemiology" is the sixth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 31st episode of the series overall. It originally premiered in the United States on NBC on October 28, 2010 as a special Halloween-themed episode. In the episode, the Dean throws a Halloween themed party on campus. During the party, a few of the partygoers become sick from eating a hazardous substance that the Dean mistook for taco meat bought at an army surplus store. The sickness causes those affected to turn into a violent, zombie-like state that can be passed on through bites. As the study group try to escape, the Dean locks the doors, trapping them inside with the infected.
"Asian Population Studies" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 37th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on NBC on January 20, 2011.
"Social Psychology" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on October 8, 2009. The episode shows Jeff bonding with Shirley through mockery of Britta's new romantic interest, Vaughn. Annie gets Abed to participate in a psychology experiment organized by Dr Ian Duncan. It received 4.87 million viewers in the United States and mixed critical reviews.
"Home Economics" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on November 5, 2009. The episode revolves around Jeff's living situation now that he no longer has the money he earned as a big-shot lawyer and the emotional aftermath of Britta and Vaughn's breakup. It garnered 5.45 million viewers on its premiere and received positive critical reception.
"Romantic Expressionism" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the U.S. television series Community. It was originally aired on February 4, 2010, on NBC.
"Communication Studies" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the U.S. television sitcom Community. It originally aired on February 11, 2010, on NBC.
"The Science of Illusion" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on March 25, 2010.
"Remedial Chaos Theory" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American television series Community. The episode was written by Chris McKenna and directed by Jeff Melman. It originally aired on October 13, 2011 on NBC. It follows a community college study group at a housewarming party for members Troy and Abed. When Jeff throws a die to determine who will go to collect the pizza delivery from downstairs, seven different timelines unfold, showing each member of the group leaving to collect it depending on the outcome of the die—including the canonical timeline, in which Abed catches it before it lands. The episode was intended to be the third episode of the season, but was delayed by a week due to filming, editing and visual effects overrunning. As a result, "Competitive Ecology", due to be fourth, was aired third.
"Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" is the fifth episode of the third season of the U.S. television series Community. It first aired on October 27, 2011 on NBC and is the series' 2011 Halloween episode.
"Studies in Modern Movement" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American sitcom Community. It was originally broadcast on November 10, 2011, on NBC.
"Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American television series Community. It originally aired on March 15, 2012 on NBC, with the series returning after a three-month hiatus. In the episode, Shirley's ex-husband Andre whom she has reconciled with proposes to her again. While planning her wedding, she also considers a business proposition from Pierce. The rest of the study group help Shirley plan the wedding, while Troy and Abed attempt to suppress their weirdness and act normal at the rehearsal to no avail.
"Digital Exploration of Interior Design" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American television series Community. It originally aired on March 29, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by Chris McKenna and directed by Dan Eckman.
"Introduction to Statistics" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community, airing on NBC on October 29, 2009. Annie hosts a Dia de los Muertos party, the success of which depends on Jeff attending. At the party, Pierce gets high, causing trouble for the other characters. Jeff pursues their statistics professor, Professor Michelle Slater. Finally, Shirley is distressed due to her ex-husband's behavior.
"Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Community, which originally aired on March 7, 2013 on NBC. Set at Thanksgiving, the episode shows Jeff meeting his father for the first time while other members of the group attend Shirley's Thanksgiving dinner with her family, in a parody of The Shawshank Redemption. The former storyline received mixed critical reception, whilst the latter was mostly criticized. The episode was watched by an estimated 3.29 million viewers upon its premiere.
"Basic Human Anatomy" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the NBC sitcom Community, which originally aired on April 25, 2013.
"Cooperative Polygraphy" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of Community, and its 88th episode overall. Written by Alex Rubens and directed by Tristram Shapeero, the episode originally aired on January 16, 2014 on NBC. In the episode, the study group takes a group polygraph test as requested in the will of Pierce Hawthorne. It quickly becomes apparent that the questions and their answers are intended to create tension among the members of the group. Walton Goggins guest stars as Mr. Stone, Pierce's executor who leads the polygraph test.
"Paranormal Parentage" is the second episode of the fourth season of Community. The episode was written by Megan Ganz and directed by Tristram Shapeero. Though a Halloween-themed episode—the fourth for the series—it premiered on February 14, 2013 on NBC. It shows the group searching Pierce's mansion for the code to his panic room, after he locks himself in there. It makes homage to Scooby-Doo. The episode was watched by 2.76 million viewers on its premiere and met with mixed critical reception.
"Conventions of Space and Time" is the third episode of the fourth season of the American comedy television series Community and the seventy-fourth episode overall. It was written by Maggie Bandur and directed by Michael Patrick Jann. It originally aired in the United States on NBC on February 21, 2013.
Starting with 'Cooperative Calligraphy' in season two, Community produced at least one bottle episode per season.
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