10 Secret Subplots You Learn From Watching Community Deleted Scenes
Annie and Jeff went on a super-awkward date.
Though Community never scored the TV ratings that would reflect its brilliance, it has nevertheless endured over the years since its sixth season wrapped up as one of the smartest and most endearingly funny sitcoms of all time.
And like most TV sitcoms, Dan Harmon and co. ended up filming far more material than they could ever cram into any individual episode - especially with the strict 21-minute time limit that defined the NBC years.
Thankfully, Community's DVD releases have allowed countless fascinating deleted scenes to see the light of day, many of which clearly should've (somehow) made the final cut.
But beyond mere one-off gags, these 10 deleted scenes represent entire subplots in their own right, making considerable implications for the show's characters, or even hinting at wider story beats which evidently got the axe.
While fans can certainly debate the canon status of these scenes forever more, their preservation on home video at least ensures that fans can freely enjoy them, and consider all the incredible, hilarious, and even shocking storytelling left on the cutting room floor...
10. Fat Neil & Vicki Recorded An Accidental Sex Tape
In season four's "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking," Abed (Danny Pudi) is making a documentary about Chang (Ken Jeong) in order to receive a grant to study Changnesia, and during a talking head interview, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) reveals that Britta (Gillian Jacobs) left the camera running at Shirley's Sandwiches.
Shirley reviewed the footage and made numerous disturbing discoveries which she has shared with Abed: Chang playing with sharp instruments, Garrett (Erik Charles Nielsen) sneezing on the lettuce, a masked individual moving the camera, Jeff (Joel McHale) sniffing bread, and Fat Neil (Charley Koontz) and his girlfriend Vicki (Danielle Kaplowitz) getting frisky in the restaurant.
Vicki tells Neil to ditch the foreplay, to which he angrily retorts, "I'm not a machine!" before walking away.
But given that Shirley comments that she still sees the footage when she closes her eyes and hasn't slept in three days, it's pretty clear that Neil returned for an amorous, unintentionally on-camera hook-up.