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At some point during the most recent episode of Community – probably after Abed had mentioned “bottle episode” for the second or third time – I broke away to zone out about how far the series had come since its humble beginnings.

I mean, consider for a moment the show Community was when it premiered on NBC in fall 2009. Its biggest star was probably Chevy Chase. It got by on a tired formula of guy likes girl, but girl isn’t into guy. (Or, in Annie’s case, the opposite). And yeah, it was topical and funny, but there wasn’t a hook that made it stand out from other comedy on the air – even on the same network.

Watch an episode of Community today, and none of that’s true. Its characters aren’t bettering themselves through a community college education nor pursuing each other like they’re the last remaining people on earth. Heck, you’d be hard pressed to know they were students at all were it not for the dean making announcements on school pride and puppy drives.

Community, really, has morphed into something unlike anything else on the air. Or, maybe, ever on the air. I mean, what was the last show that reinvented itself week after week? Neglected story for style, and made Halloween-themed episodes with more zombies than Dawn of the Dead?

It’s amazing, really, to map out Community’s reinvention from witty sitcom to parody king. It all started, actually, when Community did Halloween the first time. The hero – in all senses of the word – was Abed. He was Christian Bale’s Batman to a T. He not only had the voice, but the Dark Knight’s escape tactics, too. Hell, had Abed not been enrolled at Greendale at the time, Jeff would still be under a pile of school chairs.

It was here, I think, that Dan Harmon realized he’d created something bigger than a silly comedy sans laugh track. He’d developed a setting, and characters, that on a whim could be transformed into just about anything he pleased.

Cue the paintball episode that spoofed action movies, or the Goodfellas episode with cafeteria chicken. Or, this season, when the gang stormed space – without leaving the parking lot. It was like a briefer, funnier version of Apollo 13.

This past week, the characters begin in the Greendale conference room, and then never leave. A pen gets lost, and Annie – and then most everyone else – insists on finding it. It’s what industry (and Abed) call a bottle episode. And Community did it about as well (and as self aware) as a great episode of 30 Rock.

Clearly, Dan forgot whatever inspired Community in the first place. And thank god for that. It’s hard to think of the show even taking itself seriously anymore. Jeff and his crushes? A thing of the past. It’s comparable to The Office being like, “Eh, that Jim and Pam thing is really not that interesting. Let’s do another booze cruise, only this time make it play out in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie.”

Stunning.