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Pilot
00:00:02PELTON: Good morning.
00:00:05Many of you are halfway through your first week here at Greendale, and as your dean,
00:00:11I thought I would share a few thoughts of wisdom and inspiration.
00:00:16What is community college?
00:00:18Well, you've heard all kinds of things.
00:00:21You've heard it's loser college for remedial teens,
00:00:2520-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcees, and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity.
00:00:35That's what you've heard.
00:00:37However, I wish you luck.
00:00:45Okay, you know-- Uh-oh.
00:00:47There's more to this speech.
00:00:48There's a middle card that's missing.
00:00:50Can we look around our immediate areas?
00:00:51Because I really wanted to--
00:00:53I'm only half Arabic. My dad is Palestinian.
00:00:55He's a U.S. citizen, he's not a threat to national security.
00:00:57A lot of people wanna know that because he has an angry energy.
00:01:00But not angry at America, angry at my mom for leaving.
00:01:02She did leave because he was angry and he was angry because she's American.
00:01:05My name's Abed. Abed, nice to know you and then meet you, in that order.
00:01:10Now about that question that I had? Oh, uh--
00:01:13Five after 11 when you asked.
00:01:15Abed. Yeah.
00:01:16What's the deal with the hot girl from Spanish class? I can't find a road in there.
00:01:20I talked to her once while she was borrowing a pencil.
00:01:23But her name is Britta, 28, birthday in October.
00:01:26Has two older brothers. One works with children who have a disorder I might look up.
00:01:29She thinks she's gonna flunk tomorrow's test.
00:01:31She needs to focus. She's sorry if that makes her seem cold.
00:01:34Holy crap. Abed, I see your value now.
00:01:42That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
00:01:44DUNCAN: Jeff Winger, genius at law.
00:01:48You gotta stop saying that.
00:01:49I will never do that. Sit down. Sit down.
00:01:53So, what is my lawyer doing here?
00:01:55I'm a student.
00:01:56Well, that cannot be an inspiring journey.
00:02:00Uh, I am in a bit of a jam.
00:02:03The state bar has suspended my license.
00:02:05They found out my college degree was less than legitimate.
00:02:09You had a bachelor's from Columbia?
00:02:11Now I have to get one from America.
00:02:14It can't be an e-mail attachment.
00:02:15Well, you've picked a fine school.
00:02:17Yes. And I'm hoping that our friendship will yield certain advantages.
00:02:23You know, academic guidance. Yes.
00:02:24Moral support.
00:02:26Every answer to every test for every one of the classes that I'm taking.
00:02:31Here's my schedule. Now, Jeff, just by asking that you have insulted the integrity of this entire institution. Oi.
00:02:38Waster. Not a bathroom. Not a bathroom.
00:02:41Okay. Duncan, you did seem less into integrity the day that I convinced 12 of your peers that when you made that U-turn on the freeway and tried to order chalupas from the emergency call box that your only real crime was loving America.
00:02:56I'll look into it. Thank you.
00:02:59Duncan, you are a good man.
00:03:01Jeff, are you familiar with the adage
00:03:04"Cheaters never prosper"?
00:03:05No. And if I wanted to learn something,
00:03:08I wouldn't have come to community college.
00:03:10[♪♪♪]
00:03:41Oh, hey, Spanish. Yeah, don't hit on me, okay?
00:03:44Whoa. Uh, I wouldn't dream of it.
00:03:46I just wanted to let you know about my Spanish study group.
00:03:50Oh, whoa, whoa. The guy playing "Bejeweled" on his iPhone all class has a study group?
00:03:56Can I sign up twice?
00:03:57I'm taking the class as an easy credit.
00:03:59I'm actually a Spanish tutor. Board certified.
00:04:03Can you say that in Spanish now?
00:04:04[IN SPANISH]
00:04:12I really need help with Spanish.
00:04:13I was willing to bet. I'm Jeff.
00:04:15Or jefe.
00:04:17We meet at the library at 4.
00:04:18Yeah. Britta. Thanks.
00:04:21[♪♪♪]
00:04:26[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
00:04:28[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]
00:04:29Hey, all right, come on in.
00:04:31I rented the table.
00:04:33Yeah, here's the, uh, contact sheet.
00:04:36Just put your stuff there. That's--
00:04:38Man, the rest of the group is running late.
00:04:43But you and I can get acquainted.
00:04:44You may have noticed this morning, not so good at small talk. Yeah. I like big talk.
00:04:49What's your deal? That's not small talk?
00:04:50What's your deal, and is God dead?
00:04:53All right, you wanna know my deal?
00:04:55Mm. My deal is, above all else, honesty.
00:04:58Honesty. Yeah.
00:05:00You tell the truth, I'll like you.
00:05:02You lie to me, I will never talk to you again.
00:05:04That's a good deal. So, what's your deal?
00:05:07Uh-- I would have to go--
00:05:09I would have to say, um, honesty.
00:05:14Because I would say anything to get what I want, and I want you to like me. So, uh...
00:05:21Well, that's a very honest answer.
00:05:24For now, I like you fine.
00:05:25Really? Wow. You're easy. Hell, yeah.
00:05:29Abed. In the house.
00:05:31Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!
00:05:32Whoo. Why?
00:05:35Britta invited me. Is that cool?
00:05:37Oh, I can't think of a single logical reason why not.
00:05:40ABED: Cool. JEFF: There you go.
00:05:42Put your info down right there.
00:05:44Cool, cool, cool. Cool, cool, cool.
00:05:47Hey, this is kind of like Breakfast Club, huh?
00:05:50We are in a library.
00:05:52I'm sure we've each got an issue balled up inside that would make us cry if we talked about it.
00:05:55Do you have something balled up inside you?
00:05:58I got doozy in the chamber if things get emotional.
00:06:02[CELL PHONE CHIMES]
00:06:03Hey, text message.
00:06:05Let's give this bad boy a read.
00:06:07Uh, er, it's probably-- It's just for your eyes.
00:06:09"Say you have to pee. I need to talk to you."
00:06:11"Say you have to pee." That is weird.
00:06:14Do you have to pee?
00:06:15No. That's so weird. Hmm.
00:06:17Well, I'm stumped. That's very creepy.
00:06:19[CELL PHONE CHIMES] That makes two of us.
00:06:20BRITTA: What's that?
00:06:22ABED: Does it say you have to pee?
00:06:24It's just someone with misguided grasp of abbreviation.
00:06:27I just need five minutes.
00:06:28So go ahead and study all the verbs in Spanish.
00:06:34[WHISPERS] Spanish.
00:06:35[♪♪♪]
00:06:36Suppose I was to say to you it was possible to get those test answers.
00:06:40I would say go for that.
00:06:42And could have said so in a text.
00:06:43I'm asking if you know the difference between right and wrong.
00:06:47I discovered at a very early age that if I talked long enough,
00:06:50I could make anything right or wrong.
00:06:52So either I'm God or truth is relative, and in either case, booyah. Oh. Interesting.
00:06:58It's just, the average person has harder time saying booyah to moral relativism.
00:07:03You don't have to play shrink to protect your pride.
00:07:05I accept you're chicken.
00:07:07I'm a professor. You can't talk to me that way.
00:07:09A 6-year-old girl could talk to you that way.
00:07:11Yes, because that would be adorable.
00:07:12No, because you're a 5-year-old girl, and there's a pecking order.
00:07:16Fine, I'll do it. Thank you.
00:07:18Yeah, with pleasure. Bye.
00:07:21Yes, good.
00:07:23Why am I still shouting? I'm drawing attention to myself.
00:07:26You guys aren't gonna believe this, but the rest of the group--
00:07:31Is here.
00:07:32Are you the board-certified tutor?
00:07:34That means you do my homework, right, Seacrest?
00:07:36I need to call my babysitter if we gonna be late.
00:07:38What board certifies a tutor? Where's Britta?
00:07:41Not sure. I invited people from Spanish class.
00:07:43Is that cool? It's the coolest.
00:07:46I'm gonna go to the bathroom.
00:07:50And bring my jacket, wallet and keys with me in case there's a fire.
00:07:57Should we go with him?
00:07:58Gonna leave my homework with Slumdog Millionaire.
00:08:00SHIRLEY: That's borderline racist.
00:08:02[♪♪♪]
00:08:07And busted.
00:08:08Listen.
00:08:09Now you know. I'm a smoker.
00:08:12Yeah, but they're filtered, so that makes them safe.
00:08:14You ready to get started? Looks like your group showed up.
00:08:17Not mine. I think Abed took out a page on Craigslist.
00:08:20And I was trained never to say this, but I think that group may be untutorable.
00:08:25Oh, really?
00:08:27Why don't you and I go study over--
00:08:29Dinner? Or drinks.
00:08:31I think, actually, we should prioritize here and study first and then go to dinner.
00:08:38And if they really prove to be untutorable, we'll slip out early.
00:08:42Oh, they will be untutorable.
00:08:46[♪♪♪]
00:08:50[♪♪♪]
00:08:54JEFF: All right. Look at this crew.
00:08:58All ready to study all night.
00:09:01I can stay till 10.
00:09:02But who studies with strangers, right?
00:09:05My name is Jeff.
00:09:06Jeff, it's a pleasure. My name is Pierce Hawthorne.
00:09:09And, yes, that is Hawthorne as in Hawthorne Wipes, the award-winning moist towelette.
00:09:14I was just gonna ask.
00:09:15I'm a Toastmaster. I should do the introductions.
00:09:17JEFF: Definitely. You know Brittles.
00:09:19Britta. Abed. Abed the Arab.
00:09:21Is that inappropriate? Sure.
00:09:23Roy, Roy, the wonder boy-- Troy.
00:09:25Little princess Elizabeth-- Annie.
00:09:26And this beautiful creature is named Shirley.
00:09:30Is that even close?
00:09:32ANNIE: I'd like to know why I had to find out about this group on accident.
00:09:35Way more like Breakfast Club.
00:09:37There's breakfast? We should get started--
00:09:40I've been a part of a lot of study groups that fell apart because of unresolved tension.
00:09:44Shouldn't we address Annie's concern? Did we not invite her?
00:09:47Well, Annie, sweetie, it's not behind your back.
00:09:49Can we stop with the "pumpkins" and the "sweeties"?
00:09:52Being younger does not make me inferior. if anything, your age indicates that you've made bad life decisions.
00:09:57Shirley has a response. No, no, no. Don't.
00:09:59It looks like you do. Shirley, go ahead.
00:10:02Okay, okay.
00:10:04I'm sure I've made some bad life decisions.
00:10:07And maybe Annie's decisions will be better.
00:10:10I think she needs to decide whether she wants to be considered a child or an adult, because children get pity, but not respect, and adults, they get respect.
00:10:19They also get their head grabbed and pushed through jukeboxes.
00:10:21Okay. Why don't we try learning "jukebox" in Spanish?
00:10:25What are you doing? JEFF: Pierce.
00:10:27Let's discuss this creepiness. Pardon you?
00:10:29What are you doing? I'm certified.
00:10:31Are you unaware that Shirley finds your advances inappropriate?
00:10:35What advances?
00:10:37You have been sexually harassing me since the very first day of class.
00:10:41Sexually harassing?
00:10:43What--? That makes no sense to me.
00:10:45Why would I harass somebody who turns me on?
00:10:47Saying she turns you on is the harassment, dude.
00:10:51Hey.
00:10:53I am a prominent business leader and a highly sought-after dinner guest.
00:10:56And I will not take courting advice from some teenage boy.
00:11:00This teenage boy is a quarterback and prom king.
00:11:04You're not prom king anymore, Troy.
00:11:06This isn't Riverside High. How'd you know I went there?
00:11:08Because you're still wearing your stupid letter jacket,
00:11:12Were you that girl that got hooked on pills and dropped out?
00:11:15You're little Annie Adderall.
00:11:17And you're a stupid jock who lost his scholarship by dislocating both shoulders in a keg stand.
00:11:23Keg flip. Very hard to pull off.
00:11:25ANNIE: Don't talk to me. You don't know-- I'm a legend.
00:11:28[GROUP ARGUING]
00:11:32You know what I got for Christmas?
00:11:35It was a banner year at the Bender family.
00:11:39I got a carton of cigarettes.
00:11:41The old man grabbed me. He said,
00:11:43"Hey, smoke up, Johnny."
00:11:46No, Dad, what about you?
00:11:52Well, that actually was from The Breakfast Club.
00:11:57Nobody puts Baby in the corner.
00:11:59[CELL PHONE RINGING]
00:12:00Dirty Dancing. Hello?
00:12:02DUNCAN [IN DEEP VOICE]: It's Professor Duncan.
00:12:04Come to the parking lot now.
00:12:06What's wrong with your voice?
00:12:08I'm disguising it. [PHONE BEEPS]
00:12:11I'll be right back. But while I'm gone, you guys need to hash this stuff out.
00:12:15No stone unturned. Go.
00:12:19[GROUP CHATTERING]
00:12:21[♪♪♪]
00:12:24Every answer to every test in your curriculum this semester.
00:12:29I knew you could do it, buddy. Thank you.
00:12:31Whoa, there, grabby grabby.
00:12:33What do I get?
00:12:35The satisfaction of being even.
00:12:37Even, fairness, right, wrong. There is no God.
00:12:40Booyah, booyah. What do you want from me?
00:12:41Your Lexus.
00:12:43My car for a semester's worth of answers?
00:12:46Will it be just a semester, though, Jeff?
00:12:48Won't you be taking the easy way out for the next four years?
00:12:51I want payment in advance.
00:12:53I want leather seats with built-in ball warmers.
00:12:56You know, bluffs this weak are how your people lost the colonies.
00:13:00Have a nice disbarment hearing.
00:13:04What am I supposed to drive?
00:13:05Take this car. It's good for the Earth.
00:13:06So is wiping your butt with a leaf, but it's not how a man gets around.
00:13:16JEFF: Golf cart.
00:13:18[GROUP ARGUING]
00:13:24It is a disaster in there.
00:13:25Yeah. Untutorable.
00:13:27You like Thai food? I love Thai food.
00:13:29Wait. So this is a game to you?
00:13:31You put human beings into a state of emotional shambles for a shot at getting in my pants?
00:13:37Why can't you see that for the compliment that it is?
00:13:39You're unbelievable. What do you want me to do?
00:13:41Maybe one decent thing could be to go in there and clean up your mess.
00:13:45TROY: I'm the Barack Obama of this room.
00:13:48Okay, if I do that, then dinner, right?
00:13:51[SCOFFS]
00:13:54Yeah, fine, whatever. As if there's a dinner on earth that could make me forget you are a shallow douche bag.
00:13:59Oh, you're gonna eat those words when you see my new car.
00:14:02[♪♪♪]
00:14:07[GROUP ARGUING] All right, everybody!
00:14:09I wanna say something. Sit down.
00:14:12Well, you don't have to yell.
00:14:16What makes humans different from other animals?
00:14:19Feet.
00:14:20No, no. Come on, bears have feet.
00:14:22We're the only species on earth that observes "Shark Week."
00:14:27Sharks don't even observe "Shark Week," but we do.
00:14:30For the same reason I can pick up this pencil, tell you it's name is Steve and go like this. Oh.
00:14:36JEFF: And part of you dies just a little bit on the inside.
00:14:40Because people can connect with anything.
00:14:43We can sympathize with a pencil, we can forgive a shark, and we can give Ben Affleck an Academy Award for screenwriting.
00:14:49PIERCE: Big mistake.
00:14:50People can find the good in just about anything but themselves.
00:14:55Look at me. It's clear to all of you that I am awesome.
00:14:58But I could never admit that. That would make me an ass.
00:15:01But what I can do is see what makes Annie awesome.
00:15:04She's driven.
00:15:05We need driven people, or the lights go out and the ice cream melts.
00:15:09And Pierce, we need guys like Pierce.
00:15:11This guy has wisdom to offer. The Dalai Lama and I--
00:15:15JEFF: We should listen to him. We wouldn't regret it.
00:15:18And Shirley, Shirley has earned our respect.
00:15:21Not as a wife, not as a mother, but as a woman.
00:15:24Don't test her on that, because that thing about the jukebox was too specific to be improvised.
00:15:29And Troy.
00:15:31Who cares if Troy thinks he's all that?
00:15:33Maybe he is.
00:15:35And Abed. Abed's a shaman.
00:15:38You ask him to pass the salt, he gives you a bowl of soup.
00:15:42Because you know what, soup is better.
00:15:44Abed is better.
00:15:46You are all better than you think you are.
00:15:48You are just designed not to believe it when you hear it from yourself.
00:15:52Soup?
00:15:53Look to the person to your left.
00:15:57Sorry. Look at the person sitting next to you.
00:15:59SHIRLEY: Look at her. Okay.
00:16:01This--? JEFF: Yeah.
00:16:02I want you to extend to that person the same compassion you extend to sharks, pencils and Ben Affleck.
00:16:09I want you to say to that person,
00:16:11"I forgive you."
00:16:13BOTH: I forgive you.
00:16:15I forgive you. I forgive you.
00:16:16You little twerp.
00:16:18JEFF: Pierce, I'd like you to say, "I forgive you."
00:16:20He didn't say it? I forgive you.
00:16:23You've just stopped being a study group.
00:16:26You have become something unstoppable.
00:16:30I hereby pronounce you a community.
00:16:33Oh, that's nice. I like that.
00:16:36[♪♪♪]
00:16:37This isn't like Breakfast Club anymore.
00:16:39It's Stripes or Meatballs. Anything with Bill Murray.
00:16:41I agree with Abed that tonight has been very special.
00:16:45And now, if you'll excuse me,
00:16:47I have a dinner engagement with Britta.
00:16:50Britta? I lied.
00:16:53Thanks for calming everyone down.
00:16:54But since you're not a Spanish tutor, just a lying creep who purposely upset everyone in an attempt to get with me, I'd appreciate it if you left and stopped wasting all of our time.
00:17:04Everybody ready? Fine.
00:17:08And I'm happy to report that one of the benefits of being a lying creep is having all the answers to tomorrow's test.
00:17:15And I'm happy to share them with anyone whose time I wasted more than they wasted mine.
00:17:22Jeff, if you have all the answers, why the hell did you start this study group?
00:17:26I don't have a study group. I made it up.
00:17:28What about the speech? JEFF: That's what I do.
00:17:30I make things up.
00:17:32And I got paid a lot of money to do it.
00:17:34Before I came to this school-shaped toilet,
00:17:36I was a lawyer. [ALL GROAN]
00:17:38SHIRLEY: Oh, man, this ruins everything.
00:17:41I thought you're like Bill Murray.
00:17:43But you're more like Michael Douglas.
00:17:45Yeah? Well, you have Asperger's.
00:17:47[ANNIE GASPS]
00:17:48What does that mean?
00:17:49Ha, ha. Ass burger.
00:17:52It's a serious disorder. It really is.
00:17:54If it's so serious, why don't they call it meningitis?
00:17:57Heh, heh. Yeah. Heh, heh.
00:17:59Ass burger. Burger for your ass.
00:18:07[♪♪♪]
00:18:20[CHUCKLES]
00:18:22Before you say anything, you might wanna think about the gift you've given.
00:18:26An excuse to punch a hippy? No. No, not that.
00:18:29An important lesson.
00:18:30You see, the tools you acquired to survive out there will not help you here at Greendale.
00:18:36What you have, my friend, is a second chance at an honest life.
00:18:40Give me my keys.
00:18:41No, I have to keep your car for the lesson.
00:18:43Please don't hit me.
00:18:45Jeffrey? Jeffrey?
00:18:46Are we cool? Are we cool?
00:18:53PIERCE: I like you, Jeffrey.
00:18:56You remind me of myself at your age.
00:19:00I deserve that.
00:19:02You know I've been divorced seven times?
00:19:08Sometimes I think I'm doing something wrong.
00:19:16You keep getting married.
00:19:19I never looked at it that way.
00:19:24Shouldn't you guys be studying?
00:19:26Yeah, things got kind of boring after you left.
00:19:29Shouldn't you be rolling around on a bed covered in test answers?
00:19:38I don't have any of the answers. I'm gonna flunk the test.
00:19:42If you just, like, study for an hour, it's not that hard.
00:19:45You seem pretty smart. You got a sports coat.
00:19:47Well, the funny thing about being smart is you can get through most of life without having to do work.
00:19:53So I'm not really sure how to do that.
00:20:00[MOUTHING WORDS]
00:20:03[MOUTHING] Please? So sad?
00:20:05[MOUTHING] He makes me wanna:
00:20:10What's going on?
00:20:11Can you guys hear me? Am I deaf?
00:20:13Can you hear me talking right now? Yes.
00:20:15That's good.
00:20:18You know what? Jeff, actually, we didn't get that far without you.
00:20:22So if you wanna come back upstairs--
00:20:28Really?
00:20:29Well, it is your study group, so--
00:20:32Come on, let's study. Sounds good.
00:20:34SHIRLEY: Come on. Pressure.
00:20:36[THE 88'S "DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME" PLAYING]
00:20:41♪ Will you walk on by? ♪
00:20:45I'm sorry I called you Michael Douglas.
00:20:47And I see your value now.
00:20:49♪ Come on, call my name ♪
00:20:51That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
00:20:57♪ I say, la La la la ♪
00:21:00♪ La, la, la, la ♪
00:21:02♪ La, la, la, la, la La, la, la ♪
00:21:05♪ La, la, la, la, la ♪
00:21:08♪ La, la, la, la ♪
00:21:10[♪♪♪]