Introduction To Film
Episode 1.3: Introduction To Film
Summary: Jeff struggles to prove that he can "seize the day" for a Dead Poet's Society wanna-be professor. Britta gets in the middle of Abed's strained relationship with his father when she agrees to pay for Abed to take a film class.
Directed By: Anthony Russo
Written By: Tim Hobert & Jon Pollack
Original US Air Date: October 1st, 2009.
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First Appearances
- Professor Whitman - Jeff takes his class because he heard its an easy A, then finds the prof to be unironically and obliviously mimicking Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society.
- Abed's Dad
- Coffee Delivery Guy - It's Badger from Breaking Bad!
Tag
The tag at the end of the episode features Troy, Abed, and Jeff attempting to krump.
Cultural References
- Dead Poet's Society - The 1989 Robin Williams film is a primary touchpoint for this episode as Jeff must prove to a John-Keating-like professor that he can seize the day.
- Aladdin / Jafar - In a discussion about Arab stereotypes in films, Troy suggests that Aladdin, and specifically Jafar, provide positive images of Arabs.
- American Idol - Abed's dad dismissively tells Jeff to go back to hosting American Idol; insinuating the he looks like host Ryan Seacrest. Joel McHale, as host of E's "The Soup", works with Ryan Seacrest and often makes fun of him on "The Soup".
- Mork & Mindy - In one of his attempts to prove he can seize the day, Jeff dresses in rainbow suspenders reminiscent of those worn by Robin Williams' character Mork on the late 70's / early 80's show Mork & Mindy.
Mork is never directly mentioned, but after the professor dismisses this behavior, Jeff responds with "Shazbatt", one of Mork's signature expressions.
This all makes for a subtle and nicely layered reference as Jeff is mimicking one character portrayed by Robin Williams in order to impress someone mimicking another character portrayed by Robin Williams.
