Community/Recap/S3/E10 Regional Holiday Music: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''It was almost like being on ecstasy, only instead of having pointless conversations and dancing like idiots--wait, it was '''exactly''' like being on ecstasy!''|'''Britta''', ''on [[Take That|being in Glee club]]''}}

 

 

Dean Pelton and Glee Club Director Mr. Radison (who prefers being called "Mr. Rad") try to get the study group to fill in for Glee Club at the Christmas Pageant, but the group (led by Jeff) declines. Concerned that the group is growing apart, Abed later goes to see Mr. Rad, who convinces him that joining Glee and doing the Pageant will stave off the [[Cerebus Syndrome|growing darkness]] and make everything brighter ('''"Glee"'''). Enthusiasm for Glee Club spreads like a virus, going first from Abed to Troy. Abed convinces him in rap that he can celebrate Christmas even though he's a Jehovah's Witness ('''"Jehovah's Secret Witness"''') and then Troy and Abed change the study room and get Pierce to join through his Baby Boomer vanity ('''"Baby Boomer Santa"'''). Pierce then gets Shirley via a group of cute children singing about not knowing the meaning of Christmas ('''"Happy Birthday, Jesus!"'''). Annie gets Jeff by singing a seductive song about not understanding Christmas ('''"Teach Me How to Understand Christmas"'''). Finally, only Britta is left until she finds Jeff and he starts [[Invasion of the Body Snatchers|singing at her]]. Within a day, the entire study group decides to do the Christmas pageant.

 

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* [[Accidental Public Confession]]: Mr. Rad admitting that {{spoiler|he killed the previous glee club}} is a classic type 1.

* [[Brainless Beauty]]: Annie's entire routine is a deconstruction of this mentality; she dresses in a [[Catholic School Girls Rule|short-skirted costume]] and begins her song with an affected [[Brainless Beauty|cutesy-dumb]] attitude remarkably unlike her usual intelligent, straight-A personality. This then devolves into increasingly childish behavior, until she's [[Up to Eleven|flopping on the ground spewing baby-talk.]] Even the insatiably horny Jeff is incredibly turned off by the number she intended to use to seduce him.

** Considering that the entire episode is an extended [[Take That]] to ''[[Glee]]'', the scene could arguably be interpreted as a criticism of [[The Ditz|Brittany's]] character in particular. She started out as vaguely ditzy, progressed to [[Cloudcuckoolander|amusingly airheaded]], and quickly crossed the line into being [[Adult Child|so childish]] that she could never possibly function in the real world. This doesn't preclude the series from portraying her in a very sexualized manner, which leads into mass [[Unfortunate Implications]].

*** Like the previous Christmas special, this one also ends with the study group sitting together happily watching a [[Christmas Special]] on TV.

*** Clockwise from the top the screenshots are shown chronologically, with each quarter of the circle marking one season. The empty quarter circle is for the anticipated fourth season.

* [[Christmas Episode]]

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]:

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: The [[Inspector Spacetime]] [[Christmas Special]] is apparently so bad the producer had his knighthood revoked.

* [[Eat the Camera]]: During Jeff's single, long note to Britta.

* [[Face Revealing Turn]]: How Jeff reveals to Britta that he has been assimilated, before assimilating her as well.

* [[False Reassurance]]: Mr. Rad tries to turn his [[Motive Rant]] into a hypothetical scenario.

* [[Fan Disservice]]: Annie in a [[Sexy Santa Dress]]? Hot. A dumb Annie talking in [[Baby Talk]] while wearing a [[Sexy Santa Dress]]? Not so much.

** Parodied / deconstructed to an extent with Annie, however, since her increasing [[Took a Level In Dumbass|Taking Levels In Dumbass]] and babyish performance ends up [[Squick|squicking]] Jeff out a bit despite the [[Fan Service]] on offer.

{{quote| '''Jeff:''' Look, eventually you [[Fetish Retardant|hit a point of diminishing returns on the sexiness.]]<br />

** During the Glee club's breakdown, Chang can be seen laughing at them.

** Towards the end of "Jehovah's Secret Witness", Annie can clearly be seen poking her head through the curtains and watching Troy and Abed rap.

* [[Glurge Addict]]: Mr. Rad is one of these. {{spoiler|A particularly psychotic and murderous one, as it turns out.}}

** Shirley, who is seduced into Glee Club by a choir of adorable orphans singing about how their public school education has left them with [[True Meaning of Christmas|no idea whose birth the Christmas season celebrates]] and no place to pray.

{{quote| ''You smart, me dumb/Help pwetty have fun!''}}

* [[Hypocritical Heartwarming]]: While the study group is often quick to poke fun and mock Britta, Mr. Rad quickly learns that they will not tolerate anyone else calling her "the worst."

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Shirley considers Troy's family's refusal to observe the Christmas holiday in accordance with their beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses as "severe"... then reveals that her holiday plans and 'gifts' apparently involve giving Annie (apparently among "the more persuadable of her Jewish friends") a surprise visit from her pastor to try and convert her.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]:

{{quote| '''Mr. Rad''': I thought I told you to call me 'Mr. Rad.' Or Cory. Just don't call me late to dinner. Unless you're serving Brussels sprouts.}}

* [[Invisible Backup Band]]: Lampshaded and played straight as part of the ''Glee'' parody. Abed asks how Mr. Rad's piano is [[Diegetic Switch|still playing after he starts dancing]], and Pierce nervously asks if anyone else can see the bearded stranger sitting behind the piano in the study room (and yes, he's the spitting image of the [[Living Prop]] pianist in ''Glee'').

* [[Jerkass]]: While the original Glee club is experiencing it's breakdown, Chang can be visibly seen ''laughing at them''.

* [[Phrase Catcher]]: Mr. Rad says to [[Butt Monkey|Britta]], "You are [[Running Gag|the worst]]!"

* [[Playing a Tree]]: Britta is cast a Christmas tree in the pageant.

* [[Running Gag]]: Pierce asking what regionals are.

* [[Serious Business]]: The Glee Club. Upon receiving a cease-and-desist order, the second Glee Club suffers a collective mental breakdown so severe that the study group's initial jubilation turns into anxiety at being caught. The study group gradually becomes obsessed with the Glee Club as each member is brainwashed, thanks to Mr. Rad's extreme devotion{{spoiler|, which extends to the point of murdering the first club}}. Lampshaded by Britta, who points out that the small-scale nature of things makes the fact that her friends are practically being brainwashed into joining the Glee Club somehow even more terrifying.

** "Baby Boomer Santa" homages / parodies songs like "[[We Didn't Start the Billy Joel Parodies|We Didn't Start The Fire]]" and "American Pie".

** On the festive appearance of the Human Being, which has been given a coating of icicles to celebrate the festive season (which of course just makes it look more terrifying):

** The opening number of the pageant features ParaParaParadise dance moves.

* [[So Bad It's Good]]: The ''[[Inspector Spacetime]]'' Christmas Special has this appeal to Troy and Abed in-universe:

* [[The Virus]]: Abed calls Glee Club recruitment this in the first song, and so it's played for the rest of the episode.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: [[Hypocritical Heartwarming|You don't get to call Britta the worst.]]

** Also, um...{{spoiler|why is nobody overly concerned that an admitted murderer just ran out of the cafeteria?}}

* [[A Wizard Did It]]: How does a piano [[Invisible Backup Band|keep playing with no musician]]? Glee of course.

* [[Whole-Plot Reference]]/[[X Meets Y]]: The plot is essentially ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' given the ''[[Glee]]'' treatment.

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: Annie's [[Sexy Santa Dress]] comes with this.