Contemporary American Poultry (S1, E21 – April 22, 2010)
As the first season drew to a close, Dan Harmon was just finding his rhythm. One of the recurring strategies the show would use to great effect (and diminishing returns) in later seasons was that socially awkward film student Abed (Danny Pudi) could only process the world through film references. As such, a simple plan by Jeff to monopolize the chicken finger supply in the cafeteria (the only edible thing there) becomes an elaborate, episode-long tribute to Goodfellas. While this approach has been used by countless modern shows, it was Community’s ability to let the parodies build naturally and never have them detract from the plot (until they did) that marked it as brilliant.
