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The Film Nuts Podcast
Your host Taylor D. Adams talks to artists, musicians, writers and others about their favorite films and shows, and asks them to share how they have been inspired or affected. Hopefully we can get to the root of why we love what we watch, why we’re crazy about a movie or *nuts* about a show…get it?
The Film Nuts Podcast
COMMUNITY with Post Film Clarity's Mariquita Reese & Lindsey Strickland
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When a TV show becomes more than just entertainment, something magical happens. Community, with its band of misfits at Greendale Community College, created that magic by showing us how the weirdest, most broken, and most authentic versions of ourselves can find acceptance and belonging.
Mariquita Reese and Lindsey Strickland from the Post Film Clarity podcast join me to explore why this show continues to resonate nearly 15 years after its premiere. We dive into Abed's groundbreaking representation as one of television's first openly neurodivergent characters who wasn't relegated to being a punchline, but instead became the emotional heart of the series. As Lindsey notes, "Getting to see a character like Abed on TV and having still a community of people that still liked him and accepted him" made a profound impact on viewers who rarely saw themselves represented with such humanity.
The conversation takes us through Community's revolutionary format-breaking episodes—from paintball adventures to stop-motion Christmas specials—that changed what half-hour comedies could achieve. We discuss how these creative risks influenced modern television and even shaped blockbuster cinema, with the Russo Brothers leveraging their Community experience to eventually direct Marvel's biggest films. Mariquita puts it perfectly: "The paintball episodes directly changed film history."
Perhaps most touchingly, we explore how Community mirrors our own search for connection. Many of us found safe spaces in libraries growing up, just as the study group found their home in Greendale's library. The show reminds us that sometimes the most meaningful relationships form in unexpected places, between people who might never otherwise connect.
Whether you're a longtime fan who watched since the 2009 premiere or discovered the series during its pandemic Netflix renaissance, Community speaks to that universal desire to find your people. So join our conversation, reflect on your own unlikely friendships, and remember—we're all a little weird, and that's exactly how it should be.
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The show's gonna last three weeks, six seasons and a movie.
Lindsey Strickland:I think getting to see a character like Abed on TV and having still a community of people that still liked him like the first character, that clearly unmasks and everyone accepts him anyways.
Mariquita Reese:Like there's always these pairings or these kind of offbeat friendships and alliances that get built throughout stories that I just love A group of misfits who come together and it's like us against everybody else.
Taylor D. Adams:Greetings fellow human beings and welcome back to the Film Nuts podcast. I am your host storyteller and filmmaker, taylor Dean Adams, and I am so excited about today's episode because we are talking about one of my favorite shows of all time Community. What I love about Community is well everything the cast, chemistry, the jokes, the narrative risk-taking, the boldness to be weird. It was unlike any half-hour comedy I had ever seen before and it further inspired my creative journey. I had episodes recorded on my DVR to re-watch later. I recommended it to all of my friends and I used quotes and phrases from the show incessantly in everyday conversation. Yes, I was that guy and I couldn't help it. It became a part of my life. It deepened my love for television. And I'm not the only one who was touched by this show.
Taylor D. Adams:Marquita Reese and Lindsay Strickland are the women behind the Post Film Clarity podcast, which is described as two movie fangirlies chatting their way to epiphany. Their show is all about the shared love of cinema, and it was through a shared love of cinema at my local haunt just down the road at Night School Bar in Durham, that I met these wonderful people. Markita, lindsay and I chat about the challenges of making friends as adults, the importance of public libraries and how community shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So shut up, leonard. Here's Markita Reese and Lindsay Strickland talking about community on the Film Nuts podcast.
Lindsey Strickland:I think you're holding on to a lot of your past traumas from your old job.
Mariquita Reese:It was so traumatic, that's true. Yeah, I think I am carrying some residual stress from my last job and the way it ended.
Taylor D. Adams:What was your old job?
Clip:I was working at a lab and we all got, got like surprise laid off one day, like right before halloween, and they're fun.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, it was. I wasn't even there in person, so I got laid off on a um, like on a team's meeting. I was like I'm sick that is rude, yeah it was wild. I was like cool, um guess I'm just gonna hang out at my house for three months. So that's what I've been doing. Oh, my gosh and throw myself into our podcast having the time of your life honestly, for the most part I up until, like you know, the car accident and a few other things I was having the time of my life.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, but you're better now.
Mariquita Reese:I'm great I had acupuncture. Oh yes, yes, I told you I had acupuncture and you had to pee. And I did have to pee and y'all were making fun of me about my anxiety Because I thought I was going to pee on the table. I didn't, but I did have to pee, like immediately after Like after she pulled all the needles and I, like stood up.
Taylor D. Adams:I was like well you held onto your faculties for that long. That's good, that's good.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, so that's where I'm at.
Taylor D. Adams:Nice. Well, I'm so glad to be talking with you guys today. Um, I am really enjoying your podcast.
Lindsey Strickland:Wait, how are you?
Taylor D. Adams:How am I? Oh, we didn't ask you. I don't think a lot of people have asked me how I am on this podcast. I mean I don't want to say never, because I've done like 50 of these I've lost track.
Taylor D. Adams:But I'm good. I am really good now that I'm sitting here talking with y'all, because I like talking with people who love. I want to hear why people love the things that they love. That brings me a lot of joy. To hear Us too. Isn't that a great feeling, just seeing and hearing somebody kind of light up when they talk about something they love.
Lindsey Strickland:Yes, we just recently did an episode and someone was talking about how much she enjoys seeing people like us and it's such a warm feeling that's awesome.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, we've had some great guests on recently who have been like I love you, I love what you do, I love your like enthusiasm.
Mariquita Reese:And that's what we try to bring out of our guests as well when we have them on Cause. That's the question that we ask when we pitch to people is we want you to come on and talk about something that you love? Yeah, we don't do ratings. We don't do reviews. We don't really do anything that's currently in theaters. That's not quite our interest, like we're much more interested in, like what's the movie you've seen like a thousand times.
Clip:Right, and why do you love it so much?
Mariquita Reese:Or like in your case today. What's the TV show Like? What's your comfort watch TV show? And for us, it's definitely Community.
Clip:Oh, my God.
Clip:What is Community College? Well, you've heard all kinds of things. You've heard it's loser college for remedial teens, 20-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcees and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity. That's what you heard. However, I wish you luck.
Mariquita Reese:I've seen this series, I think, probably almost 10 times, all the way through.
Taylor D. Adams:Wow, yeah easily.
Mariquita Reese:Since it was originally airing, I've been watching it.
Lindsey Strickland:I didn't know that. Oh yeah, I know we both love Community, but I don't know anything else other than that. Yeah.
Mariquita Reese:Oh, I've been watching this show since the pilot, like back on NBC. Yeah, oh, I've been watching this show since the pilot like back on. Nbc. Yeah, I just came across it. It was probably after, like, parks and Rec maybe or something.
Taylor D. Adams:I don't remember it was a Thursday. It was usually a Thursday night show.
Mariquita Reese:It was definitely a Thursday comedy.
Taylor D. Adams:Maybe 8.30. I can't quite remember, but yeah, it was like back in 09.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, oh, my God, yeah, oh, my god, yeah, I was 21, yeah, yeah it was my first like adult TV show I was watching right isn't that cool.
Lindsey Strickland:I would have been 9. Oh my gosh.
Taylor D. Adams:I'm actually trying to picture not that you watched it when you were 9, but like a 9 year old sitting down to like watch Community. Like I wonder how that would go.
Mariquita Reese:I wanna, I wanna, meet the people. Well, there's a whole generation of people like your age who did watch it when they were kids like yeah, kate is the same age as you, and I know one of our best friends and she said that like her first sitcom, her big tv show that her parents like let her watch, that was like a little more grown up, was new girl oh, okay watching new girls and she was like 10 years old or something. She grew up on that show and I was like that makes so much sense.
Mariquita Reese:That's why you're so fun like it's like baked in to this next generation coming up. I think community is one of those shows that's really cool, yeah, when did you see it?
Lindsey Strickland:I first started watching community during the pandemic. That was my pandemic show.
Taylor D. Adams:Okay, oh, that's a good one to pick up. During the pandemic yeah, it was six seasons, so grateful, so grateful.
Lindsey Strickland:I found it in the pandemic.
Taylor D. Adams:Kind of for each of you. Why do you love it so much?
Lindsey Strickland:I think. For me it was seeing all the characters and I guess their friendship, but specifically Abed, how about?
Mariquita Reese:you Abed it's tomorrow.
Clip:Tomorrow they're showing all four Indiana Joneses at the Vista. I'm really looking forward to the first three. I bought a whip. This is really important to me, Abed. It's tomorrow. Tomorrow they're showing all four Indiana Joneses at the Vista. I'm really looking forward to the first three. I bought a whip.
Mariquita Reese:This is really important to me. Abed, could you please go as my friend, my really good friend.
Clip:Well, I didn't realize we were really good friends. I figured we were more like Chandler and Phoebe. They never really had stories together. Sure, I'll do it, Chandler.
Lindsey Strickland:Thank you, Abed. I think getting to see a character like Abed on TV and having still a community of people that still liked him- and accepted him, yeah, yeah, yeah, and accommodated him, yeah well, like, like the first.
Mariquita Reese:I don't know if you guys can think of anything but like the first character that clearly unmasks, and everyone accepts him anyways um, if I was going to go back a little further in tv history, I'd say kramer comes to mind, like from steinfeld, because he's very out there. He's out there unmasked for sure. Right still has, you know, a squad of best friends who are always hyping him up and going on their little adventures together. But it wasn't as common, I don't think before. Maybe Cheers, but I wasn't really watching Cheers like that.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, if, I, I mean.
Mariquita Reese:Again. All NBC shows yeah, a character specifically like Abed.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, I was trying to think about this too. A while ago I watched the Harmontown documentary. I don't know if you guys have watched that or not, but it was back when Dan Harmon had the Harmontown podcast and would go on tour and stuff like that. And the podcast was about or, excuse me, the documentary was about him touring all over the country with his podcast.
Taylor D. Adams:He was having fun with his friends, but a lot of people come up to him and say I uh, thank you so much for making community specifically for abed. And these are people that identified themselves as on the autism spectrum and they're like thank you so much for making this character like.
Taylor D. Adams:I see myself, I see that he has friends, I see that he's like accepted and so that I was like that's a because when I was watching it I didn't clock it. I was like, oh, it's just like a kooky character. Like I didn't clock that, there was this character, uh, like had had something going on in his life that I didn't under, that I couldn't grasp or understand so to see that I was like, oh shit, that makes so much sense.
Taylor D. Adams:And also really cool that people are identifying with this character, whether or not, that they also identify as being on the spectrum or not, like they can see like this character is very special and that's absolutely he has like basically a support system you know as a dysfunctional support system as the study group is Dysfunctional being the operative word there.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, I, yeah. I think my favorite aspect of community is definitely the, the relationships, the, the way.
Mariquita Reese:You see, I'm a big fan of um, like unlikely friendships and unlikely pairings and stories um some of the pairings throughout, like game of thrones, for example um aria and the hound and brienne and jamie like there's always these pairings or these kind of offbeat, uh friendships and alliances that get built throughout stories that I, I just love. I've always been really drawn to that, um kind of like a group of misfits who come together and kind of it's like us against everybody else. That really resonates with me as like a person within, I think, within my own friend friendships. Um, over time, I feel like I'm definitely giving some like some of that energy throughout my friendships. As far as, uh, yeah, it's something I relate to heavy.
Taylor D. Adams:That's great so with I can both tell that you're you love this show not because that, not because you're on here to talk about it specifically, but when you're talking about, I can kind of see it, I can hear it, and kind of tie back a little bit to your podcast. Post film clarity. Why did y'all decide to start this podcast?
Mariquita Reese:well, basically we have been having these conversations. We basically got like 50 episodes that we should have had that are just in the ether of the alamo draft house parking lot.
Lindsey Strickland:Well, they're in my brain for when we do episodes on them.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, we, we had seen, lizzie and I started seeing movies together just the two of us probably like two years ago almost two years ago now yeah so that became like we were part of a bigger friend group, um a la community, you know. There's like six, seven of us, but then, like we paired off on our own and we're like let's go to the movies together.
Lindsey Strickland:I think about that so much because I I did not realize that we were like excluding ourselves and doing this like thing alone. I someone said that once.
Mariquita Reese:I was like, oh, I didn't realize I mean, y'all can come, but where is our? Thing going now it's like it's kind of our thing. It wasn't intentional at all. It was just us like relating to each other and finding our like niche within our friend group and just being two people who were willing to drive out there all the time and see movies and discuss them and learn about we do a lot of repertory screenings as well.
Mariquita Reese:So Lindsay was like I want to see old movies and I want to learn about all these movies I've missed or things that you know were before I was born, or I want to see more of a certain director, like that kind of thing. I was like, say less say less.
Lindsey Strickland:It pains me knowing there's so many movies that I probably will love, but I have not seen them yet yeah it's like it's a lifelong mission. It's like it's it's hard to find people that are committed to doing that too.
Mariquita Reese:It's me baby, it's me right here, it's Big Dog. We used to go when we had more time and different schedules.
Lindsey Strickland:Maybe two, three times a week sometimes. Wow, oh yeah, it was a blast At the movies, we created enemies at the Alamo Whoa.
Mariquita Reese:Shout out to our haters yeah what we have enemies, we have movie theater beef.
Lindsey Strickland:Yeah, why? What happened? Just because we go there, we would go there so often, and there's a lot of people that also go there often.
Mariquita Reese:We had our own, like Starburns, situation.
Lindsey Strickland:Ruined Marquita's shining experience.
Taylor D. Adams:I'm so sorry to hear that you look triggered.
Mariquita Reese:That shit just made me so mad thinking about it. He was like talking to himself the whole movie and like banging on the table and like kept getting up sitting back down getting up sitting back down Just like a lot of like frantic energy, and I was like are you all right, you're stressing me. The fuck out dude. He wouldn't stop Like two hours straight of him just like muttering to himself and like running out of the theater and then coming back in and I was like what are you?
Mariquita Reese:doing and like he kept like banging the armrest and like shaking the seat and I was like yo just sit still Like I'm a big like anti-fidget during a movie, like I'm a movie stickler and that's also. I think, a reason that lindsey and I like connect because we're both like let's just be fucking quiet and like I just movie.
Taylor D. Adams:Hush please, and sit still like we're, just like I'm the same way like the movie's on, like the movie's on.
Mariquita Reese:The movie is on that's. That's as simple as it should be no, and he was like just very frantically, just disruptive the whole time and I was like it's the first time I've seen the shining in movie theaters. And you're fucking killing me, dog you're killing me.
Lindsey Strickland:Every single time, I like felt the vibration of, however, like what the worst version, marquito was getting.
Mariquita Reese:I could just like feel that like rage and then we kept running into him at like every fucking movie for like a month after that.
Lindsey Strickland:I was like oh my, whoever got there first, we'd just be like he's here, like that guy is here again, god damn it yeah, so we had, uh, we have beef.
Mariquita Reese:We have, like, certain seats, we like to sit in certain favorite theaters third row.
Taylor D. Adams:Third row we have.
Mariquita Reese:Um, I do like the third row hey that's us, that's us uh, yeah, um and uh, we have like certain favorite waiters and waitresses that we were like tight with yeah, shout out to sky we love you, skyler. That's awesome. Yeah, so that's been our thing for like two years, and then, like a year of that year year and a half of that we were like, hey, we should start recording these, yeah.
Lindsey Strickland:Yeah, we would like talk outside after the movie for hours sometimes, and then eventually we were like, um, yeah, time to start getting this recorded, yeah.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, and then we started it. Uh, started working on it last August and then started releasing last November.
Taylor D. Adams:I think it's kind of interesting that the reasons that you guys talked about, about why you love community both characters and relationships I kind of want to know is there a part of you guys that loves this show because as kids you spent so much time in libraries actually yes, because the tables in a community remind me so
Lindsey Strickland:much of like classroom tables or library tables.
Mariquita Reese:Wow, yeah oh my god, this whole show takes place in a study room.
Lindsey Strickland:Slash like library and that's yes wow, mind is blown, I think I just glitched.
Mariquita Reese:Yes Wow, mind is blown, I think I just glitched.
Lindsey Strickland:Wow, when did you come together with that?
Taylor D. Adams:Well, I was listening to your podcast and it's the very first episode where you guys talk about a little bit of your backgrounds.
Lindsey Strickland:Oh my gosh.
Taylor D. Adams:But do you think that that's a part of it, or does it just happen to be coincidence?
Mariquita Reese:Absolutely no absolutely Subconsciously Okay that that's a part of it, or is it just happened to be coincidence? Absolutely, absolutely okay, subconsciously okay, I mean, now that you say yeah, I mean I think of where I spent most of my time like socializing, um, when I wasn't in and out of school, and it was definitely in, like study rooms, libraries, like wow yeah, no, I knew I was always weirdly fixated on the tables that they're in the study room in and I think that's why Interesting.
Mariquita Reese:Wow, that's crazy, that's interesting. You just unlocked something for us. Damn, that's journalism.
Taylor D. Adams:I always feel like it's a good response when they have to think about the answer to the question how do you know that?
Lindsey Strickland:How'd you come up with?
Taylor D. Adams:that it's a public record. What are you talking about? We're public figures.
Mariquita Reese:Now people are just gonna come up to us and just know things about us now take me back.
Taylor D. Adams:Take me back to the libraries. You guys were in as kids like is there a tactile feel to the table like talk about? Is there smell?
Lindsey Strickland:No, it's that specific color of wood in the community table and like how they would always line up, but like one would be like a little uneven.
Mariquita Reese:So yeah, that like fake like particle board kind of wood.
Lindsey Strickland:And it'd be all like scratchy.
Mariquita Reese:All the like carvings.
Taylor D. Adams:Making notches in it.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I, I love and I love, I don't know. I mean, I'm sure they did this on purpose, but, like over time throughout the series, that table is constantly like changing there's like little marks rubbed into the tape like it ages over time. There's little you can see things from when they had that damn monkey yeah, like this, a lot happens on that table.
Taylor D. Adams:The monkey's name was andy's boobs. Let's call it.
Mariquita Reese:Oh right, the monkey has a name yes, yes, I'm sorry, andy's boobs yeah, great, great character, um. But yeah, for me it wasn't so much the the table, but it is that that space, like they're in kind of a fishbowl. But it is that space, they're in kind of a fishbowl, but also the blinds are drawn most of the time. So I felt like they really were in their own world, within that school, within their own classes. A lot of the characters comment, a lot of the secondary characters comment on that. They're like oh, you guys you're always off in your own little group.
Mariquita Reese:You're off in your own little world and it's like you're a part of the school and a part of this classroom, but you're not, Cause you've got Elitist study group. Yeah, I remember when they wouldn't like they won't let anybody in. Yeah, they had like auditions.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, Jack Black episode it's still one of my favorite episodes.
Lindsey Strickland:Yesterday. The group took a vote.
Clip:And you seem to have figured out the rest of it, was it the high kick, was it?
Taylor D. Adams:you go, girl. You guys think you're so cool.
Clip:No, we think we're cool at all. I put myself out there for you.
Mariquita Reese:I laid my soul bare.
Taylor D. Adams:I made you guys lemon squares with free-range eggs that I baked with my own hands.
Clip:Maybe a little less sugar next time.
Mariquita Reese:I think there's something about just being, because I remember that feeling as a kid of being in a room filled, filled with books, but then also windows and just it. Really I really did feel like I was in my own world, usually reading by myself somewhere just in a corner, just ugh. I love it. Oh, I love libraries. These are like, they're like kind of of you consider them almost like safe spaces. Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, that was like my place.
Mariquita Reese:I would go to like get out of my house for sure every day, and I would take my little sister with me too, um, so, yeah, we spent pretty much every day after school, um, we were within walking distance. When we moved back into town, I was like 17 and she was probably four, um, four or five, something like that, and she, um, I would walk down the library with her, um to like help her with homework, and she'd play her little web shopkins games and, uh, yeah, that was our space to like get out of the house, um, and our parents wouldn't let us have a computer, so that was the only place I could. I know interesting, I didn't have a computer growing up.
Mariquita Reese:Okay, yeah, I was not an online like kid really like I had social media but I would check it at the library like once a week. You know, like I feel like that's a healthy move. I'm nine minutes before my time because I don't know if you you had this right when, like if you use the computers at the library, you only have like a certain amount of internet time there were like some and it would just cut you off.
Lindsey Strickland:Oh really, oh yeah, the library that I go to, ours were one hour.
Mariquita Reese:For nothing. You send like three emails, yeah, 15 minutes.
Lindsey Strickland:That's diabolical. It was like they'd be on the end. It was so weird Because if they were all taking up, that was the only one. You'd go on.
Mariquita Reese:Oh my God, that's so sick. No, we would log in for an hour, but in that one hour a day it was like that's the only screen time I had for my entire adolescence. Was that one hour?
Taylor D. Adams:Um, yeah very important space. So with community. Um, it's kind of funny cause there's over a hundred episodes of the show you know we keep hoping for. 16 is in a movie.
Mariquita Reese:We're getting the movie.
Taylor D. Adams:We're getting the movie it's you know it's coming talked about kind of kind of develop it. Uh, we don't know the exact status of it. Um, but are there any kind of like? You both watch it completely different times?
Clip:are there any?
Taylor D. Adams:specific memories you have of, maybe like where you were, who you were with during you know the first time you watched it, or like a certain episode or something along the lines of how was how has community basically been in your life other than watching it?
Mariquita Reese:Wow, um, when I started it, uh, like I said, that was my first show that I would. I was watching that I was a fan of as an adult living out on my own in the world. That was my. So when I was living in my first apartment, I moved out of my parents house when I was 20, um 20 or 21, and I think the show started that same year. So that was my first kind of anchor into my adult space, into my first apartment. Come home, watch community, like cook my dinner. It was like my it was. It felt like at first it was definitely very like a solo fandom. A lot of my friends weren't, weren't, weren't. I had to put them on.
Lindsey Strickland:That's actually how I feel now. A lot of my friends have not seen community, so when I knew I had the opportunity to talk with people who had seen, I was like absolutely that's awesome yeah, we were both uh ambassadors 11 years apart.
Mariquita Reese:That's great yeah.
Taylor D. Adams:I. It was kind of a similar experience too. Yeah, it came out like it was the first year out for me out of college. Um, I was living by myself and I was just like I didn't really know what, exactly what I wanted to do. But I wanted to be like involved in television, and so community was one of the shows I had like paid attention to and it was just like it's a half hour comedy, a new. It's airing on nbc. I was like I'll watch it and I was like, oh, this is pretty fun. And I kept watching it and I was like, oh, this show is brilliant, this show is is hilarious. And I was trying to trying to turn all my friends onto it and I have succeeded almost like a hundred percent in getting everyone I know to watch it.
Mariquita Reese:So it did become like a social yeah thing we would all talk about at work together and but at first, no, it's pretty much just me posting on, you know, facebook 2.0, like you guys gonna watch the show.
Taylor D. Adams:Oh, I was on tumblr posting reposting gifts no, not listen I've never been on tumblr in my life oh man, I, I used man, I used to love me some Tumblr. My love affair lasted for maybe like two years, that's pretty fast.
Mariquita Reese:That's pretty fast. I think people are still on there. I was like I couldn't believe this.
Lindsey Strickland:I never experienced Tumblr. I stayed away.
Mariquita Reese:Same. That's not for me.
Lindsey Strickland:That wasn't part of my screen time.
Mariquita Reese:You're an hour screen time. You had to. You're hours. You gotta make it, make it count. There wasn't time within that one hour to get on tumblr.
Taylor D. Adams:It wasn't happening um, markita, you're from New York. How do you say bagel? How do you pronounce bagel?
Lindsey Strickland:I don't come on, bagel.
Mariquita Reese:Ugh, you're the worst yo don't even get me started, britta is Britta the worst, britta the worst.
Taylor D. Adams:Britta is the worst, I really.
Lindsey Strickland:I really want to talk about Britta.
Mariquita Reese:Britta is actually she's man, oh man. The writing on that character is so ahead of its time as far as, like the, the virtue signaling like fake, woke white feminist Woo. They had an entire generation of white women like dead to rights, dead just like bullseye. Oh man, britta is the fucking worst and it's bagel, bagel it's, it's such a weird joke and it's.
Taylor D. Adams:It still sticks with me the fact that I like I'll like nicole and I will be like, hey, you want to go get a bagel? Yeah, we'll just say it.
Mariquita Reese:The joke has now become in the lexicon yeah, she that gif, that's always I mean, it's been what 15 years or something that gif where she's like I can excuse racism, but I draw the line at animal cruelty you can excuse racism.
Mariquita Reese:Oh my god, it's the way. Like you said, I am from new york. I'm from upstate new york, specifically like woodstock area, very like white, privileged, like hippie, but like millionaires type of community. Um, and the way there are so many Britas where I'm from, oh my God, I can think of one right now. Yo, there's so many Britas who are just in this, oblivious, like I'm helping, like do-gooder mentality, who are just, first of all, you ain't shit. Second of all, you're not helping. Thirdly, if you are, it's always at the expense of your black friends, of your other women friends like she, oh my god, yeah, her redemption arc is like slight, but I love that they never, ever fully go like oh, actually, britta's okay, she's right sometimes like nah, nah, they, they hold her to task and I think, especially in that, like early mid-2000s, I think, I think white women really needed that. I think they needed to be humbled a little bit.
Lindsey Strickland:I am so curious about her character because they I mean they start her off as like this woke, uh.
Mariquita Reese:Activist, and then it's like a quick turn, it's like, oh no, she's just a dumb blonde yeah, I think it was more so they they were like pointing out the fact that she wasn't really an activist yeah she just, she's a bandwagon, she wants she. She likes the idea of activism right and will participate to an extent she's a great character, though like the show doesn't work without her, that's for sure.
Taylor D. Adams:But she's just such an interesting figure in that friend dynamic is there a of the greendale seven and then chang and pelton kind of your main characters? Is there a particular character you guys identify with?
Lindsey Strickland:Hmm, Hmm, there's a character. I like to think that everyone can identify a little bit with everyone, but I think I'm definitely a mixture of Abed and Troy.
Clip:Troy and Abed in the morning, and we're back. Look who's here, jeff Winger. Jeff, how do you stay so fit?
Clip:Uh, diet exercise genetics. Oh, sure, back, look who's here, jeff winger. Jeff, how do you stay so fit? Uh, diet exercise genetics sure, sure, okay.
Taylor D. Adams:So it seems as though we have a clip. You want to set it up for us? Uh, I'd like to, but I don't know what you're talking about. Okay, we'll just roll it. Why is that?
Lindsey Strickland:um, well, I really relate to abed but but with Troy's maybe like playfulness.
Mariquita Reese:And being a good friend. I like that.
Lindsey Strickland:Not at first.
Taylor D. Adams:He comes around to being.
Lindsey Strickland:That's true, that's true.
Taylor D. Adams:I really love the evolution of their friendship.
Lindsey Strickland:Me too.
Taylor D. Adams:It's so beautiful you don't think that they would ever be best friends. And then, pretty early on into the show, they're like nope, these guys are going to be.
Mariquita Reese:They break up into their own little duo.
Lindsey Strickland:Yeah, I think Abed breaks down Troy's little jock image almost immediately.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, for sure. I think, oh man, who am I in the friend group? I think I have Jeff and Annie energy. Do something we're going to lose.
Taylor D. Adams:Guys. This is important to Annie. So whoever actually died a few months ago, fess up so we can put a stake through your heart, annie. I think the real lesson here is that a model you win much like the real you win quickly falls apart when faced with actually.
Mariquita Reese:I Fear I am a Jeff Annie, hi, but like just hyper competitive and like, okay, the leader. But also I don't want to be, but when I'm not, I'm annoyed the whole time. You will reluctantly accept it when it's thrust upon you, if I must, I think, but annie yeah, I think I have, like I'm like jeff in that sense, that like sometimes I come off like a little aloof, a little too cool, but then like I'm really deep down, just Annie, because I want everything to be perfect and I want to be the best.
Clip:And.
Mariquita Reese:I want things to be hyper organized and I want like I'm very driven, I'm very ambitious. I think, Annie's ambition, but Jeff's like I don't give a fuck. It's like that's me at war with myself Just every day.
Taylor D. Adams:That's interesting. I think that's what makes them kind of an interesting will. They won't be on the show Like they're kind of they get paired together a lot but they're not necessarily like supposed to, you know, be paired together, but I think they do end up. I think that works.
Lindsey Strickland:I actually really love their love interest like that little, because they don't ever really go anywhere with it, but they do kiss at the very end and I I love that, that scene I'll let you go annie with my hands my head, the heart, which cynics say is code for penis wants what?
Clip:it wants. But I let you go the others are coming.
Lindsey Strickland:I think you should kiss me goodbye or you might regret it for the rest of your life.
Clip:What about you?
Lindsey Strickland:I'll regret the kiss for a week. I'm in my twenties, who cares?
Mariquita Reese:I think I loved it at the time, but now that I'm older, it's a little gross.
Clip:I'm Jeff's age now and I'm like I would not be kissing on no, 18 year old.
Mariquita Reese:That's crazy, that's crazy.
Lindsey Strickland:Do you guys think that Jeff is actually a good guy? Ooh.
Taylor D. Adams:I think, I think he wants to be.
Mariquita Reese:I'd say by the end of the series. Yes, but it took six long years to get there. It took some work. It took a lot. It took some work.
Taylor D. Adams:I think he is someone who really wants to be a good person and to. You know he reluctantly accepts being in charge, taking care of it Like he does it, um. But yeah, it's kind of like his own past and preconceived notions like gets in the way you know everybody on the everybody in the in the study group like has their own, you know issues you know, issues.
Taylor D. Adams:You know sure, jeff's got father issues, you know, and he has a history of substance abuse, I'll bet has uh, um, abandonment issues, like everybody's got their own kind of thing going on and I think just to see a show trying like I I forget, I forget where I heard this or saw it, but dan harman talked about just sitcom. Tv in general is like, uh, you learn a lesson at the end of the 30 minutes, and in community that doesn't necessarily happen because that's like more like real life, like there's still usually like some kind of like general lesson learned, but it does have. It has a very minimal impact on how they evolve as characters, which is why it takes so long for them to like move an inch yes, yeah, and I love that, that specific scene where the that guy, the the science partner that calls them out todd todd.
Clip: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. I no longer care about grades or biology, or finally graduating from college, like I promised my dying father. I'm going home, I'm going to hold my wife and my child close and I am going to finally take my insulin shot.
Mariquita Reese:And he's holding a turtle while he's screaming, and it's so funny. Yes, when todd calls him out, he's like you guys are so toxic, you are so boring, you're mean I'm really glad you brought todd up and earlier you talked about star burns yes do you guys have a favorite secondary character chang? I think chang is primary. I think Chang's a primary character. Well, he does become a primary over time, for sure. Ooh, my favorite.
Taylor D. Adams:I mean, if they're ever in the opening credits, they're a main character to me.
Mariquita Reese:That's what I think. Oh, my God, my favorite. Second there's so many. Who's the one who? Oh, oh, what am I talking about? It's Magnitude.
Clip:Pop pop. This is not a party. Don't tell that to Magnitude. Who's Magnitude? Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, Pop, pop, Pop pop.
Lindsey Strickland:It's Magnitude I was hoping one of you would say Magnitude.
Taylor D. Adams:That's one of my favorites.
Lindsey Strickland:I couldn't even think of his name. I was just thinking Pop pop.
Mariquita Reese:Oh man, he's the best.
Taylor D. Adams:That's Luke Youngblood. I wonder. Oh man, he's the best. That's luke luke youngblood. I wonder where is he? Um, I don't know regularly, but he's in the first harry potter movie.
Mariquita Reese:Um yeah, oh my god, he's, he's british, yes, he's british.
Taylor D. Adams:And then there was this, uh, there was this show um called gallivant uh, which was lasted two seasons on abc was like a medieval musical comedy, had it had Vinnie Jones, tim Amundsen and Luke Youngblood was like the secondary character in it.
Mariquita Reese:I don't remember this at all.
Taylor D. Adams:I think if you, oh, if you've been to musicals, you were singing Wicked earlier. I think you guys would dig it if you liked it.
Mariquita Reese:Why are you outing me? I'm not outing, there's nothing wrong with liking a movie why are? You. I did not give my consent, outed as a brand new wicked fan as of 24 hours ago who's the professor that was like ex-cop or ex-military or something like that.
Taylor D. Adams:Oh, um jonathan banks's character, professor hickey oh, from breaking bad yeah, oh, I love him.
Mariquita Reese:Yes, I love him. That's a good one.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, I like that one, that one's good he does a really yeah, I think he comes in like season five or something and he's such a like serious like so intense dude, but he's so good like within the world of community for sure it makes so much sense.
Mariquita Reese:And in that same vein, um michael was it michael k williams?
Taylor D. Adams:from the wire. Yes, when I heard, when I read, they were bringing him on, I was like, oh, I am very excited about this wire omar like yeah, yo, he came in and just he killed it too so one of the things that I usually ask people on this show is usually somebody who's watching or listening to this episode has seen community. Um, if there's somebody you know who hasn't seen it, what is your pitch to them in order to get them to watch it?
Mariquita Reese:damn, I used to do this all the time.
Lindsey Strickland:I think it's the best casual fantasy. Hmm, like in a sitcom platform.
Taylor D. Adams:Okay.
Mariquita Reese:It's like approachable.
Lindsey Strickland:Yeah, but it's fantasy, but it's so subtle and genius, every single episode.
Mariquita Reese:Ooh, I like that answer. Um, well, there's like two different pitches, because back in the day I think, um, I would have pitched it completely differently than I do now. I think the biggest draw nowadays to get people to watch it is just to bring up donald glover okay I think I mean he's by far the biggest star out of that show and has probably the biggest career post community as far as music and movies and atlanta um and as a writer, producer, etc.
Mariquita Reese:Um, so yeah, I think the pitch I give nowadays just like do you want to see a really young donald glover? And like his first, one of his first acting roles yeah, just coming to his own and, um, just yeah, I think I would probably sell it based on just young donald glover killing it every week it's a good one, right? Yeah, l yeah.
Taylor D. Adams:Lindsay, when you were um, when you were studying biology, how many terrariums or dioramas did you have to do?
Lindsey Strickland:I didn't have to do any of those, but I had to do a lot of insect collections.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, lindsay's a big bug girl.
Lindsey Strickland:I am a big bug girl.
Taylor D. Adams:Is there? Are there any bugs that you're like? No, that's gross.
Lindsey Strickland:No, okay cool. When I was younger I would get scared if I had to deal with spiders inside. But anything else is game.
Taylor D. Adams:Okay, that's good. I'm similar to you. I'm like oh, cool, a bug. If it's a roach in my house I'll kill it, but everything else I'm like okay yeah, I actually love roaches.
Lindsey Strickland:Really, I really like roaches.
Taylor D. Adams:There are people I think that, markeeta, are you, okay? No?
Lindsey Strickland:This is something that I discovered recently when we went and saw Rocky Horror.
Taylor D. Adams:But, people with like rock hard abs look like cockroaches to me so, so, like have since this realization, have you like gone back and watched like the original men in black? Is that like a? Maybe? Is that a? Is that an underlying kink that needs?
Lindsey Strickland:to be awoken.
Taylor D. Adams:Oh my gosh, wow, yeah I mean, the dean has his dalmatians maybe this is better not awaken anything in me. Oh my god, I'm not in like a kinky way, but right okay, you look like a cockroach now I don't think I don't know any person that would take that as a compliment yeah, well, I guess. But if you find someone that takes it as a compliment.
Lindsey Strickland:Maybe that's meant to be anti-abs washboard abs, because you look like a cockroach, wow.
Mariquita Reese:The reverse body shaming is why it is reverse body shaming.
Taylor D. Adams:Ew.
Clip:No, ew, no no.
Mariquita Reese:I'm also anti-abs. I think that's just out of jealousy.
Taylor D. Adams:Maybe this is our. If I can't have them, no one can yes If I can't have them no one can, is that?
Lindsey Strickland:yes, if I can't have them, then you look like a bug.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, yeah I did not think we would end up in the situation on this episode, but this is great.
Lindsey Strickland:I love it I'm glad I got to share that because have that been weighing on you? I feel like the first time I saw rocky horn. He looks like a cockroach.
Mariquita Reese:Thank you for giving Lindsay this platform.
Taylor D. Adams:This is why the show's here. This is why I have.
Mariquita Reese:This show is for people to express their opinions. See, now you see why I put a microphone in front of her. I was like this is fucking gold. And literally no one knows how funny you are, because you're so quiet and won't talk to anybody.
Lindsey Strickland:Oh my god, lindsay, I didn't think you were gonna find that that funny jesus christ.
Taylor D. Adams:Okay, so kind of a like. Last question I guess I have for you guys is do you have a favorite moment, scene or episode from the show? Yes to everything you just said okay, do you know what it is?
Lindsey Strickland:my favorite episode is when they um have the dinner party and then they mess up the timelines. One Troy, damn it, I'm gonna go as fast as I can so I don't miss anything, and then they mess up the timelines.
Taylor D. Adams:One Troy, damn it. I'm gonna go as fast as I can so I don't miss anything.
Clip:You know who I used to call Miss Anything Eartha Kitt? Oh yeah, he totally set me up.
Clilp:I'm checking on my pies. Rock set no Bathroom.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, over here, jeff, tell us about, about your father.
Lindsey Strickland:I'm gonna get a drink oh my god, are you okay, I barely felt it let me look at it in the bathroom.
Taylor D. Adams:That is my favorite yeah, remedial chaos theory, that's one that's that sticks with a lot of people.
Mariquita Reese:I think it's one of their highest rated episodes. We're in the worst timeline We've been in it since, I think about that every passing second.
Lindsey Strickland:Well, we're in the worst timeline, so what can we do?
Mariquita Reese:Oh, my God, Um, wow, that's a really good one. I watched that one a lot. Um the uh, I would say it's funny because it didn't used to be one of my favorites, but I've gotten a little soft in my old age.
Clip:I've gotten a little sentimental.
Mariquita Reese:The Abed stop-motion Christmas episode.
Clip:What do you care about Christmas, abed? You're Muslim, don't your people spend this season writing angry letters to TV?
Clip:Guide. It's true, religiously I'm Muslim, but I've always been a big fan of Christmas, and this is the most important Christmas in the history of the universe. I'm assuming that's why we're all stop motion animated.
Mariquita Reese:I like cry every time I watch it now, just like, oh my god, he just misses his mother. Yeah, that one's so touching. We didn't talk about it really, but just that aspect, like you said, lindsay, of the fantasy and bringing it into just like a traditional 30 minute sitcom, the fact that they were one of those the first shows in America to be doing the like big themes and like, oh, we're going to do an episode where we're a video game, we're stop motion, we're doing musicals, we're paintball, we're Dungeons and dragons episode, like they were so ahead of so ahead of the curve on their, their concepts, um yeah, and as like theme party people and like people who love to dress up and have, uh like costume parties and things.
Mariquita Reese:Oh God, that's been one of my favorite aspects as well, just the themes and how they fit into those motifs throughout the series.
Lindsey Strickland:In like 30 minutes. Yeah, 30 minutes. I also love any of the paintball episodes and any of the lava, Like any type of fantasy. Troy and Abed center chose. Those are my favorite.
Mariquita Reese:The blanket versus pillows fort. Yes, oh my gosh.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah.
Mariquita Reese:The way. The Ken Burns episode. The Ken Burns episode.
Taylor D. Adams:That's a really good one.
Mariquita Reese:I love that one Genius, yeah, genius. Oh my God, I love that episode.
Clilp:A healthcare administration student who turned a storage room into a sanctuary for soldiers with broken glasses and lightly grazed testicles. A high school dropout and amateur photographer whose borrowed camera would capture some of the war's blurriest, most poorly framed moments. A disgraced former lawyer whose words would inspire tens of students to take up pillows and fight, most likely to avoid an upcoming test.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, there's so many good ones, but I think any time they're creatively out of the box a little bit more that's something. I'm always going to gravitate to. So yeah, stop motion, 8-bit, all of those.
Lindsey Strickland:So creative.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, like playing with the format, just like something you don't really think about that a half-hour comedy can do. It embraces the absurdity like. One of my favorites is the Law Order episode. That just cracks me up every time I found that backpack. Hey idiot, guess what. We don't care about the backpack Dead yam, big deal, order some ketchup. That doesn't make sense. You don't order ketchup. Backpack Dead yam, big deal, order some ketchup. That doesn't make sense. You don't order ketchup, it's a condiment.
Clip:Troy. Hey, walk it off, Troy, walk it off. Sorry, my friend, he's a bad cop. Yeah, I'm a good cop. Okay, you can trust me.
Taylor D. Adams:Okay, well, hey, I'm not falling for that. The fact that they were almost allowed to do that too like it just really I think. I think that's kind of cool when, uh, the styles, um, that the the show takes on get almost like a blessing from the people that they're like, trying to either uh mock or pay homage to like it doesn't matter, it's just they're having a good time, which I think is really cool.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, that's. That's such a good point, and I love how the paintball episodes basically led us to the mcu. They did because the russo brothers directed those episodes or wrote them or something. They started out on community.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah and ended up doing all the fucking marvel movies. That's why the russo brothers got uh, the avengers, because they were so good with ensembles.
Lindsey Strickland:Because of the paintball episodes they were so good with ensembles.
Mariquita Reese:I believe it. The paintball episodes directly changed film history. That is community's influence.
Clip:Don't even get me started, don't even get me started.
Mariquita Reese:Yeah, oh, there's so much lore, so much impact. The fact that it's what? 15 plus years and we're still talking about it as if it just aired. Yeah, 15 plus years and we're still talking about it as if it just aired. Yeah, that show. I know that's when you started watching it, but I know it was blowing up on netflix during the pandemic, um when, with good reason.
Lindsey Strickland:It's timeless yeah, I want to ask if either of you have gotten to experience like a community type thing in life, like having a group of people like that, oh for sure.
Taylor D. Adams:Yeah, I mean outside of, like I think, general friendships that you develop in, uh, college. Um, I have something similar to that right now where we all have different kinds of personalities and stuff like that, but nothing quite as escapist and outlandish as Greendale, I would say.
Lindsey Strickland:I just have to talk about this. But at my old job it was like me and a bunch of just really silly coworkers and every single lunch and we had our two breaks, we would just sit in there around the table, just like community. And when I left and I was thinking about it and then I realized that I had community and I didn't even realize it. But now we play Dungeons Dragons and they all listen to the podcast, which is awesome.
Taylor D. Adams:That is so cool. What a good support system that's beautiful.
Mariquita Reese:I think we have community. We have community at home. It's called night school bar yes, that is very true um, that's my, that's my version, that's my most recent iteration of the community experience, especially because we're all like adults.
Mariquita Reese:Pretty much everyone there is in their like yeah 30s, yeah and up, um, I'd say going to night school bar film classes and I've made so many friends there, um, like I just yeah, I think that's my version of that, like all the kooky characters and all our little side quests and the silly videos we shoot yeah um, we're all friends like outside of that space now and do like movie nights and things like that.
Taylor D. Adams:So, um, yeah, I think I have my, my new cast of community characters yeah, isn't it so weird and rewarding to make new friends as adults?
Mariquita Reese:yeah, it's so strange it's.
Taylor D. Adams:It's great, it's awesome.
Lindsey Strickland:I didn't. I was not good at making friends when I was younger and I'm getting better at it as an adult. So that's yeah, it's awesome.
Taylor D. Adams:We're never done growing yeah. On that note, Something has changed within me and we're back to that song man. Thank you guys so much for coming over and talking about community. I was so excited to talk about this show and I'm very much. I was not disappointed in our chat.
Mariquita Reese:So thank you guys, Thank you so much for having us. This is so much fun.
Taylor D. Adams:Our presence and behavior affect those around us and vice versa. If we pretend to be, say, a Spanish tutor in order to get in bed with a hot blonde, we end up deceiving several other innocent people. If we dress up in elegant ladies' pantsuits in order to protect classmates of ours, we are seen as worthy of true friendship. The communities throughout our lives shape us as much as we shape them, and I am incredibly grateful for the communities that I am a part of, including the one I share with Markita and Lindsay, and I hope all of you can find a community amongst those you love. So how do y'all find community? Is it through TV and movies? Is it through sports, food, whatever? Let me know in the comments.
Taylor D. Adams:A huge thanks to Markita and Lindsay for joining me today, and a KFC space simulator size. Thank you to you for joining us. Please check out the Post Film Clarity podcast wherever you get podcasts. You can find links to the show in the show notes. I also want to extend an extra special thank you to our latest patrons, santos, kelly and Jorge.
Taylor D. Adams:Thank you guys so much for backing us on Patreon. The cost of the show comes out of my own pocket and I do this for fun. So if you want to help support me and the show grow, please consider becoming a patron. You can check out more information at patreoncom slash film nuts or check out the links below. Our theme this season is brought to us by J Mac, our artwork is designed by Madungwa Sipahudi, our head of production is Keaton Lusk, and all episodes of the Film Nuts podcast are produced and edited by me, taylor D Adams. If you want to get in touch, you can email filmnutspodcast at gmailcom or follow us on Instagram and TikTok at filmnutspodcast. And don't forget to join the Nuthouse Discord community absolutely free by checking out the link in the show notes. Thank you all again. So much for joining us today and until next time, beware of the ass crack bandit.