Community boasts some of the funniest and most inventive sitcom episodes of all time. There was Season 3, Episode 4, "Remedial Chaos Theory," widely regarded as the series' best episode, which introduced the idea of "The Darkest Timeline" as Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) rolled a die and split the world and created six alternate timelines. There was also Season 5, Episode 5, "Geothermal Escapism," where the group said goodbye to Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) with a game of Hot Lava, and it was then revealed that Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) actually saw lava because Troy was leaving.

With six seasons under its belt and a movie on the way, Community had many fantastic episodes. While there is a lot of appreciation and praise for its higher concept episodes, its lower concept episodes tend to fly under the radar, as do the episodes that were high concept, but more meta and absurd. However, there was a lot of value in those episodes as well. These are the 10 most underrated episodes of Community.

10 "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking"

Season 5, Episode 6

Season 5, Episode 6, "Analysis of Cork-Based" networking had the extremely difficult task of pulling the show back on track after Troy left. Because of this big hit to the show, the later episodes in Season 5 tend to get overlooked by fans. However, this one had a lot of merit to it. There was a silly, episode-long rivalry between Abed and Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) when Abed accidentally spoiled The Bloods of Conquest (Community's version of Game of Thrones) for her. Britta, in turn, kept trying to spoil the books for him, eventually causing her to go too far, which led to a meaningful moment that explored Abed's sadness. Meanwhile, the rest of the Save Greendale committee worked to prepare for an upcoming school dance.

The real highlight of this episode, though, was Ken Jeong's incredible performance as Ben Chang. As Annie fought to get a bulletin board put up in the cafeteria, the rest of the group worked to come up with a theme and decorate the dance. Chang approached the group with his theme, "Bear Down for Midterms," and they initially dismissed him, leading to an incredible speech where Chang voiced his frustrations about not being taken seriously, and not being able to leave his mistakes in the past. Later in the episode, Jeff, Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), and Ian Duncan (John Oliver) hilariously recreate a version of this speech along with Chang, in order to manipulate Annie Edison (Alison Brie).

9 "Home Economics"

Season 1, Episode 8

Community has a lot of gems in its earlier episodes that do not always get as much attention as they deserve. One of these is Season 1, Episode 8, "Home Economics," which showed Jeff living in his car after getting evicted from his apartment. After Jeff's car got towed, he moved in with Abed, which created some great Abed and Jeff moments as fans got to watch them build a close bond as a duo. This led to an endearing conversation at the end of the episode, where Jeff told Abed that he was really cool, and Abed affectionately told Jeff that he was a huge nerd.

The funniest part of this episode was the introduction of Greendale's resident reggae band, Some Worries. After a messy breakup with Britta several episodes before, Vaughn retaliated with a hilarious public diss track, "Gettin' Rid of Britta." Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) even joined the band, but soon left due to creative differences, leading to a diss track for Pierce, "Pierce is a B." Additionally, Annie got too involved in planning Troy's date, leading her to fake appendicitis and run out in front of the school in a hospital gown, before finally letting go of her feelings for him.

8 "Anthropology 101"

Season 2, Episode 1

After a strong but relatively grounded first season, Community really set a newer and even better tone with its Season 2 premiere, "Anthropology 101." Upon getting itself trapped into a bit of a corner with Jeff's love square at the end of the Season 1 finale, the show was left with the question of how to get out of it. The answer, of course, was for Jeff and Britta to have a rivalry of who could be the one true jiltee, that ended in an almost-wedding, complete with a George Clooney impersonator. Meanwhile, Troy made a Twitter account mocking Pierce, and Abed tried to figure out what was next for the study group this year.

The real highlight of the episode was how the show hilariously and wildly subverted expectations at the end. After an explosive moment in the study room where Annie told the group about her kiss with Jeff, Jeff was at odds with the rest of the study group. He then gave a lovely and heartfelt speech about respect in front of the entire class, making amends with them. If this were a typical sitcom, it would have ended at that, but Community took it up a notch. Professor June Bauer (Betty White) told Jeff that he was wrong, and then she attacked him with a massive weapon in front of the entire class. It was one of the best uses of physical comedy in the entire show.

7 "Physical Education"

Season 1, Episode 17

In Season 1, Episode 17, "Physical Education," Jeff took a P.E. class, but he was dismayed when the coach wanted him to play pool in shorts. This may sound like an odd premise, but having a stubborn Greendale coach conflict with Jeff's vanity was absolutely hilarious. Meanwhile, Troy found a drawing of Abed in his Spanish textbook, so the group set out to set Abed up with his secret admirer, and to give him a personality makeover in order to win her over.

This was such a fun episode. Jeff worked hard to beat his coach at pool, so that he could prove that he did not have to wear shorts to be good at the game. This led to an extremely bizarre strip pool match between Jeff and Coach Bogner at the end of the episode. Abed was confident in himself the whole time, leading to him playing characters for the group when they wanted him to change, such as the hilarious Vampire Abed, an impression of Mad Men's Don Draper, and an impression of Jeff. Abed taught the group an invaluable lesson, and everyone learned that Britta pronounced "bagel" in a very odd way.

6 "Competitive Ecology"

Season 3, Episode 3

"What is wrong with you people? Huh? I thought you were supposed to be friends! I thought you were supposed to love each other! Your love is weird. And toxic. And it destroys everything it touches!" Season 3, Episode 3, "Competitive Ecology" is just a phenomenal episode. It had Professor Kane's iconic Lego speech, the introduction of Todd Jacobson (David Neher), and the beginning of what would later become Chang's descent into becoming a dictator. This episode tends to get overlooked, because it came right before "Remedial Chaos Theory." However, it is a hilarious and clever episode.

Although this was not a full bottle episode, a significant part of it had the study group locked up in the study room with Todd, trying to sort out lab partners. This led to a huge fight between the group, as well as Todd snapping and giving an angry and impassioned speech. Chang, on the other hand, investigated a problem that was not there, leading to a fire, and to him being made Head of Security at Greendale.

5 "Environmental Science"

Season 1, Episode 10

In many ways, Season 1, Episode 10, "Environmental Science" was a turning point for Community. The study group had certainly been established for a while before this episode, but by the end of it, something had shifted at the heart of the group. In this episode, Chang was being especially harsh in his teaching, so the group chose Jeff to talk to him. From there, Chang ended up giving Jeff good grades and letting him miss assignments in exchange for going out and drinking together. This caused Jeff to become isolated from the group, as they thought he was leaving them in the dust. Meanwhile, Troy and Abed had an assignment teaching a mouse to respond to a song, and Pierce helped Shirley prepare for a presentation.

"Environmental Science" may just be the perfect gateway episode for viewers who are new to Community. The episode took all of these separate and seemingly innocuous plot lines, then brought them all together in the end for a strange and lovely montage. The episode's climax cuts between Troy and Abed singing "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail, Chang and his wife salsa dancing to Irish folk music, and Shirley giving a presentation using Pierce's advice. Despite the weirdness of it all, this whole sequence was incredibly moving and memorable. Abed sweetly thanked Troy once they got Fievel back, Chang and Alessandra reunited in the middle of the dance floor, and Shirley threw in a "Here's brownie!" in the style of The Shining as a proud Pierce watched.

4 "Basic Crisis Room Decorum"

Season 6, Episode 3

Season 6 is definitely the most underrated season of Community. Although the show's later seasons were not quite the same, Season 6 brought a new sort of magic and sharp comedy back to the show through new characters and shifted dynamics. Frankie Dart (Paget Brewster) and Elroy Patashnik (Keith David) were hilarious, and they fit really well into the group. Additionally, this was the best use of Chang since Season 1, and everyone was at their comedic best. Season 6, Episode 3, "Basic Crisis Room Decorum" showed the group dealing with a central question: Did Greendale give a degree to a dog? More importantly to Jeff, was did Greendale give a degree to a dog in a way that could be proven?

This episode was very funny, as the group was stuck on campus together in the middle of the night, trying to uncover information that would save them before City College was set to launch their attack ad in the morning. There was something especially hilarious about all the characters being sleep-deprived and on campus at night. Britta launched into an elaborate rendition of "Pillar of Garbage" by Natalie Is Freezing in Elroy's trailer. Additionally, it turned out that Ruffles did not graduate from Greendale, due to outstanding library fees. There was also a hilarious bit throughout the episode, where it turned out that Jeff had given Dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash) a fake phone number. All this time, the Dean had been texting a kid who was always telling him to bring Jeff olives.

3 "Origins of Vampire Mythology"

Season 3, Episode 15

When the Dean announced that a traveling carnival was coming to Greendale, Britta expressed concerns that her ex-boyfriend, Blade, might be there. Such was the start of Season 3, Episode 15, "Origins of Vampire Mythology." Annie was tasked with being in charge of Britta to make sure that she did not contact Blade, and Annie took it extremely seriously. Troy and Abed try to watch the movie Blade while Annie fought to keep Britta's phone away from her, and Britta tries to trick Annie. Meanwhile, Jeff convinces Shirley to go with him to the carnival to see what all the fuss was about with Blade, and Pierce and Chang briefly become best friends. After being threatened by Vice Dean Laybourne, the Dean tries to convince Troy to join the Air Conditioning Repair School.

"Origins of Vampire Mythology" tends to get overlooked as the episode where Community regretfully decided to pair Troy and Britta together romantically. However, the episode is hilarious. Britta and Annie's dynamic in this episode was fantastic, and the whole carnival setting made for some silliness as well. Additionally, Jeff's jealousy of Blade was perfect, as was Blade's goofy but profound "Won't change the way mustard tastes." The contrast between the contained plot within Troy, Abed, and Annie's apartment, and the separate carnival plot, was hilarious and wonderful.

2 "Basic RV Repair and Palmistry"

Season 6, Episode 10

Although it tends to get overlooked as one of Community's funniest episodes, Season 6, Episode 10, "Basic RV Repair and Palmistry" is absolute comedy gold. It started with the Save Greendale Committee already on the road in Elroy's RV, on a journey to sell a giant hand that the Dean had impulsively bought. This episode is absolutely hilarious, due mainly to the tension and frustration that arose when all of these strong personalities got stuck in a small space together. There was Elroy distributing blankets that were proportionately sized to match how much power a person used, and poor Britta getting a washcloth. Additionally, the Dean was acting like a child and fighting with the whole group.

The Dean got everyone into a panic when the gas gauge was a little low, and he locked them out of the RV when he was angry. They were all fighting with each other and causing issues. Except for Jeff's horrible and out-of-character slap at Abed, the episode was absolutely fantastic, as was Abed's touching speech at the end. "I have discovered the meaning of the giant hand. A hand has two functions: to grip and release. But without both of these powers, it is useless. Like newborn infants, we grab what comes near us, hoping to control it, taste it, jam it into another child's eye. But the time we spend in control of our world is the time we spend letting go of others... The giant hand was sent to all of us as an invitation to increase our mastery over the power to hold on... and let go."

1 "Virtual Systems Analysis"

Season 3, Episode 16

One of Community's most inventive concepts was Troy and Abed's Dreamatorium, and Season 3, Episode 16, "Virtual Systems Analysis" utilized it extremely well. The episode started off relatively casual, with an extended lunch period, and Annie encouraging Troy and Britta to use that time to go on a date. Annie agreed to replace Troy in the Dreamatorium with Abed, and they initially played Inspector Spacetime, Community's version of Doctor Who. However, when Abed realized that Annie was not taking it seriously, he expressed frustration with her and they both hurt each other's feelings. From there, the episode engaged in the most fascinating and introspective character examinations that Community ever had.

Abed then used the Dreamatorium to act out different members of the study group (and a "half-accurate Chang"), showing what it would look like for Troy and Britta to be on a date, and giving Annie what he thought she wanted to see, from a fake medical school drama in the vein of Grey's Anatomy, to a reenactment of her kiss with Jeff outside the Transfer Dance. Abed then locked himself away in a locker, citing Annie's own criticisms of him as to why he was there. This led to Annie and Abed finally getting real with each other, in which both of them connected over their fears of being alone. They each came to a very important realization for their characters. Annie realized that she did not actually love Jeff, and instead that she just loved the idea of being loved. Abed realized that his fears were not unique to him, and that he was not as alone as he thought.

Community is available to stream on Peacock.

WATCH ON PEACOCK

KEEP READING: Remember When 'Community' Had Its Own 'Doctor Who?'