Community's Danny Pudi Said This Season 2 Scene Was A Dream Come True
There are many types of performances that leave an impression on their actors, but a particularly wacky one stood out for "Community" star Danny Pudi, who played pop culture-obsessed Abed Nadir. Doing a Reddit Ask Me Anything back in 2011, the actor was asked about his favorite scenes in the series. At that point, the series was still only in its second season, and he would still have plenty of ridiculous scenes to experience. But there was one that rose above the rest, from a very Abed-centric episode.
In season 2, episode 19, "Critical Film Studies," Abed asks his friend and fellow study group member Jeff (Joel McHale) out to a fancy dinner, while Jeff is trying to surprise Abed for his birthday by throwing him a "Pulp Fiction"-themed party. Abed explains to Jeff that he's trying to live a life more removed from pop culture references and that he's trying to grow up, which infuriates Jeff given everything he did to put together the surprise party. Where it went from there is absolutely magical, and it gave Pudi the chance to do some seriously fun acting and say some of his weirdest lines yet.
A little potty humor
When asked which scenes were his favorite, Danny Pudi was pretty excited about the scene, still fairly fresh in his memory because it had just aired:
"So many to choose from! Though it's gonna be hard to top the scene at the restaurant with Joel McHale from the last episode. The fact that I got to give a long, strange monologue that ends with "pooped my pants", is a dream come true. Anything with Star-Burns in it makes me laugh."
It's impossible to deny the hilarity of Star-Burns (Dino Stamatopoulos), but Abed's monologue is also a bit of comedic brilliance. Pudi plays it completely seriously, telling Jeff about his visit to the set of his favorite television series, "Cougar Town," to be an extra in an episode. He was so overwhelmed by what it meant to be a part of the machine of creating an episode of television that he pooped his pants when the director yelled cut and they moved on to the next scene. The monologue is passionate while still being told in Abed's unique cadence, and by the time Pudi gets to the "I pooped my pants" line, it's hard not to crack up laughing. Even Jeff seems completely unsure about what to say, telling Abed that his food is getting cold.
Some pop culture meta-humor
What makes the whole thing so brilliant, aside from the fact that most people enjoy a good poop joke, is that Abed's seriousness is actually a play on the film "My Dinner with Andre," in which director André Gregory and actor Wallace Shawn play exaggerated versions of themselves and have a long night of conversation. In pretending that he's abandoned his obsession with pop culture, he's actually leaning into it even harder, playing a character that doesn't care (when in reality he cares more than anything). It's a bit meta, but that's par for the course with "Community," which has meta in-jokes baked into episodes so well that it takes repeat viewings to catch them all, like Beetlejuice appearing in the background after his name is said over the course of three separate episodes, or Pudi actually appearing as Abed on "Cougar Town."
In the end, Abed ends up getting the study group to surprise Jeff with a party back at the original fancy restaurant, all in their "Pulp Fiction" costumes, and they all have a wonderful time. It's not exactly the birthday party that Jeff had planned, and it's not the perfect "My Dinner with Andre" that Abed planned, but it ends up being something even better because both of them learn something about one another, and become better friends along the way.