Contemporary Impressionists

"Contemporary Impressionists" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the American television series Community. It originally aired on March 22, 2012 on NBC.

This episode was intended to air as the eleventh episode, before "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts", but was aired as the twelfth episode because, according to Dan Harmon, "coming out of hiatus they wanted to air an episode that was more accessible to a general audience".^[1] It also creates a small continuity error as a small thread of the Troy and Abed story from this episode continues in "Urban Matrimony".^[2]

Plot[]

Jeff (Joel McHale) has started seeing a new therapist and has been prescribed anti-anxiety medication. Britta (Gillian Jacobs) worries that, without anxiety to keep his ego in check, Jeff's narcissism will grow out of control.

Abed (Danny Pudi) has been hiring celebrity impersonators to reenact scenes from his favorite movies. Everyone wonders how he is getting the money to pay for it, but Troy (Donald Glover) chastises them for disloyalty and reminds them that Abed has made all of their lives easier and more fun. In fact, Abed owes $3,000 to the impersonators' agency, and unless Abed's friends appear at a bar mitzvah dressed as famous celebrities, Vinnie (French Stewart), a French Stewart impersonator, will have impersonators of Ving Rhames and Michael Chiklis break Abed's legs.

At the ceremony, many women flirt with Jeff, saying he looks like Ryan Seacrest. Jeff's ego slowly expands through the night until Howie Schwartz, whose bar mitzvah the group is attending, wins an award for "Most Handsome Young Man." Jeff explodes in an Incredible Hulk–like rage and storms out of the party. He later apologizes to Britta, asking if he can be her test subject for psychology class. Britta declines, saying she wants someone more normal, like Abed.

Despite Jeff's outburst, Vinnie cancels Abed's debt, but when Troy gets home, he finds Abed has hired more impersonators. Troy kicks them out, and Abed asks if Troy is mad at him. Troy equivocates, but confesses that he is mad, and insists that Abed trust his judgement in the future. Abed reluctantly agrees, and leaves to play alone in the Dreamatorium, where Evil Abed appears and encourages him to embrace his darker side.

Cultural references[]

The line in which Abed mentions that he and Troy agreed that friends never lie to each other is a reference to episode 5 of season 1 when Troy was "messing" with Abed. This is proven by Abed who mentions the air date of the episode "Advanced Criminal Law" as the day that they made the deal, October 15, 2009.

A portion of "The Lonely Man," the theme from the television series The Incredible Hulk is heard after Jeff wakes up shirtless on the side of the road after being shot with a tranquilizer dart for "Hulking-out" during the party.

Reception[]

The episode was watched by 3.87 million American viewers with a 1.7/6 rating/share among adults 18-49, placing third in its timeslot.^[3]

References[]

External links[]

• "Contemporary Impressionists" at NBC.com
• "Contemporary Impressionists" at IMDb