What are the best TV shows to watch this Halloween?

Community season 2 episode 6 — “Epidemiology”

This one’s for the horror movie fans. Famed for its referential humor throughout its run, in this episode, Community takes on the zombie movie.

This is a campus Halloween party that has everything: contagion, romance, sacrifice and of course, the classic “hiding the bite” scene.

It is laugh-out-loud funny from the start. Jeff does his classic no-costume costume as David Beckham. Troy and Abed are Ripley and the xenomorph from Aliens, not winning as many hearts as they deserve being the darling geeks they are.

Meanwhile, Chang takes it upon himself to be “the racist prover“. Everyone guesses his ice skating costume to be Michelle Kwan as opposed to who he really is: Peggy Fleming.

That’s part of what makes this episode so great. It’s remarkably self-aware. Yet it doesn’t rely on a simple reference to be funny. It makes tropes the butt of the joke and we’re all in on it.

My favourite line, in fact, comes when Abed says to Troy “Make me proud. Become the first black man to make it to the end.”

The ending, as always, makes sure that the show can reset to default mode for the next episode.

But don’t think that the crazed consequences won’t be felt long into the rest of the season. The beauty (or boo!ty) of Community  is its ability to put beloved characters in alternate universes, whilst never sacrificing its continuity. Well, only when it comes to Britta.