10 Secret Subplots You Learn From Watching Community Deleted Scenes
4. Why The Dean Stole Shirley's Sandwich Shop Idea
One of the show's more demented subplots involves the Dean stealing Shirley's idea for opening a sandwich shop on campus and using it to open up a branch of Subway instead.
But a deleted scene in "Course Listing Unavailable" explains precisely why Dean felt the need to lift Shirley's idea: the Air Conditioning Repair School ended up taking most of Greendale's budget, forcing Dean to get creative with generating a new revenue stream.
And so, he not only sold out to Subway, but also admitted to integrating product placement into the school's curriculum, prompting Troy to realise that "Mountain Dew Appreciation" wasn't a real class. Incredible.
Though Dean's inability to balance the books is hardly a revelation, and it's stated in the series that the A/C Repair School brings in 80% of Greendale's revenue, this scene confirms that they also soak up most of the outgoing expenses too.
Check out the scene for yourself at 0:58 here.