Top TV Memes: The Best Meme Formats From 'Community'

Community is an American sitcom by Dan Harmon that aired between 2009 and 2015. It follows Joel McHale’s character Jeff Winger, a lawyer who is forced to go back to school after faking his credentials. He enrolls at Greendale Community College and forms a fake study group to impress Britta, a fellow student who seems to want nothing to do with him. Community received both immediate and posthumous popularity and currently remains one of the most bingeable shows on Netflix.

With overwhelmingly favorable critical reception, Community is the product of known comedians and famous actors creating a down-to-earth story about trying to pass the next class while navigating all the drama of a less-than-ideal college environment. It's also famous in the meme community, but arguably not as famous as it deserves to be. Here are some of the best episodes for memes you might've missed.

Most Popular Memes: Season 6, Episode 4: "Remedial Chaos Theory"

This episode introduces the concept of "The Darkest Timeline," which has been quoted ever since. This refers to the reality where the worst-case scenario occurs, which the episode replicates through six separate timelines. This phrase has been memed to describe anything from 2020 to political elections and gains popularity every time the world falls into a worse state than it already is, which seems to happen every few weeks or so nowadays.

Perhaps the most famous meme format from Community is created in this episode, where Donald Glover’s Troy appears in a doorway with pizza, smiling before he realizes that the floor in front of him is on fire and another of his friends is dying on the floor from a gunshot wound. While you may want to ruin the perfect moment of Troy’s confusion with context, there really isn’t much of it already due to the quickly escalating nature of this reality (which is, of course, The Darkest Timeline).

Most Meme Potential: Season 1, Episode 2: "Spanish 101"

Ken Jeong’s Benjamin Franklin Chang (AKA Senor Chang, or later "Kevin") is the embodiment of the overzealous Spanish teacher so many of us had to endure in early high school, and "Spanish 101" has some moments that allow his more disturbing side to shine. He’s already responsible for many recognizable formats, from "I’ll allow it" to "Ha, gay!" to him dramatically squinting at a tiny piece of paper.

Senor Chang is probably the most widely memed character from the show, and he’s first introduced in this episode. Here, Jeong gives one of his best performances in which he calls himself "El Tigre Chino" and threatens to bite the faces off people who ask why he teaches Spanish, all while leaning within inches of his terrified students. It’s perfectly overdramatic and is filled with bizarre lines to quote and there’s no reason this scene shouldn’t be memed as much as others that have already evolved into Advice Animals and other formats. If you’re looking for something new but guaranteed to get appreciation online for incorporating a familiar legend, this is the best episode to visit.

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