"Asian Population Studies" is the twelfth episode of the
second season of the American comedy television series ''
Community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
'', and the 37th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
on January 20, 2011.
Plot
The study group regathers after the winter break. Annie (
Alison Brie
Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), which won her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition fo ...
) hints that she met someone she likes, and the others try to guess who it is. Shirley (
Yvette Nicole Brown
Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the AB ...
) tries and fails to interest them in the fact she is getting back with her ex-husband. Chang (
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
) again requests to join the group, but Jeff (
Joel McHale) flatly rejects him.
The group goes for their first class of the semester, Anthropology, taught by a now-sober Duncan. Troy (
Donald Glover) accidentally tells Pierce (
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
) that Shirley had sex with Chang at the
Halloween party no one can remember (
"Epidemiology"). Doctor Rich (Greg Cromer), Jeff's nemesis from pottery class ("
Beginner Pottery"), enters and sits with Annie. Jeff realizes that Rich is the one Annie has a crush on.
In the cafeteria, Britta (
Gillian Jacobs
Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (201 ...
) realizes a sober Duncan will make the class more difficult. Annie suggests they ask Rich to join the study group. When Jeff objects, Annie suggests they have a mixer and invite a number of people from class to pick one as the next study group member. Shirley's ex-husband Andre (
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'', which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series a ...
) shows up. When he goes for ice cream, Britta tells Shirley that she should reconsider her decision, to which Shirley blurts out that she is pregnant and 8 weeks along. Troy and Pierce realize that she might be carrying Chang's baby.
At the mixer, Troy tries to find out if Shirley had sex with Andre around Halloween, but fails. Pierce suggests that simply telling Shirley would be kinder to her. Jeff brings a pretty girl named Quendra (Marcy McCusker), hoping that will lure Pierce, Troy, and Abed to ask her to become a member instead of Rich, but something Pierce says makes her storm out. Rich brings
kettle corn
Kettle corn is a sweet variety of popcorn that is typically mixed or seasoned with a light-colored refined sugar, salt, and oil. It was traditionally made in cast iron kettles, hence the name, but in modern times other types of pots and pans ar ...
, instantly gaining popularity. Chang confronts Abed (
Danny Pudi
Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor i ...
) about the fact that he wasn't invited, but Abed just acts like a malfunctioning robot.
Eventually, Annie calls for a vote, pointing out that Rich is the only candidate who has stayed. Jeff, desperate to keep Rich out of the study group, agrees to sponsor Chang. Jeff tries to convince the group to pick Chang over Rich, pointing out that they know very little about Rich, and his perfect behavior is too good to be true.
The vote is evenly divided, with Jeff, Abed, and Britta voting for Chang, and Annie, Troy, and Pierce voting for Rich. Shirley breaks the tie by voting for Chang despite a threat from Pierce. Angry, Pierce callously reveals that Shirley had sex with Chang on Halloween and that the baby might be his. Chang says that explains the photos on his phone, which he shows to a horrified Shirley.
Later, Annie confronts Jeff in the men's room and demands an explanation for his apparent jealousy. Jeff can only say that relationships are complicated. Britta then asks Jeff to get Andre to fix things with Shirley. Jeff finds Andre, who blames himself for leaving her in the first place, and that he will raise the child whether it is his or Chang's. When Abed reports that Rich has rejected Annie for a date due to their age difference, Jeff rushes off dramatically in the rain to apologize and express his admiration to someone, eventually revealed to be Rich. Jeff confusedly explains his desire to learn Rich's "power" of being perfect so that he can abuse it. Explaining that he can't fake being good just to get away with bad things, Rich invites him in.
In the epilogue, Rich visits 'Troy and Abed in the Morning' to demonstrate how to make kettle corn, even though he knows it's not a real TV show.
Production
The episode was written by Emily Cutler and directed by
Anthony Russo.
Continuity
*Troy mentions the disturbing call he got from Chang on Halloween in the episode "
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evide ...
".
Cultural references
Pierce owns a
LaserDisc edition of ''
Emmanuelle in Space''.
At one point, Jeff compliments Andre on his garish woolen sweater; Andre replies, "My dad gave it to me." This is a reference to Malcolm-Jamal Warner's stint as
Theo Huxtable
Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable is a fictional character who appears in the American sitcom ''The Cosby Show'', portrayed by actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Conception
Theo Huxtable was based on Bill Cosby's only son Ennis Cosby. He also gave th ...
, son of
Cliff Huxtable
Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show,'' which aired from 1984 to 1992. He was portrayed by actor and comedian Bill Cosby and appeared in all 201 episodes of the show.
Cliff ...
(noted for his brightly-colored sweaters) on ''
The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
''.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Asian Population Studies" reached approximately 4.733 million households with a 2.2 rating/6% share in the 18–49 demographic.
This episode received positive review from the critics, with Samantha Urban of Dallas News writing, "You have to admire Community for being the only show on the Thursday night lineup that can get away with an ending that is sentimental without being saccharine, while still being funny and contributing to character development."
Kelsea Stahler of
Hollywood.com
Hollywood.com is an entertainment news website covering popular culture topics including movies, television, music and celebrities. Hollywood.com is principally owned by Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie S. Silvers, who previously founded Sci-Fi Ch ...
wrote, "We've come to expect a lot from Community, so it's not going to get a gold star every week. This is one of those weeks. This week's episode was solid (and to be honest I can't think of a time when an episode of Community wasn't), but my favorite aspect wasn't the plot or even the one-liners, which are always on-point, it's the element of incredible attention to detail."
'Community' Recap: Asian Population Studies
Hollywood.com
Hollywood.com is an entertainment news website covering popular culture topics including movies, television, music and celebrities. Hollywood.com is principally owned by Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie S. Silvers, who previously founded Sci-Fi Ch ...
(2011-01-21). Retrieved on 2012-04-19.
References
External links
"Asian Population Studies"
at NBC.com
*
{{Community (TV series)
2011 American television episodes
Community (season 2) episodes
Pregnancy-themed television episodes