"Intro to Felt Surrogacy" is the 9th episode of the fourth season and 80th overall episode of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

'', which originally aired on April 11, 2013. The episode was written by

Gene Hong Gene Hong is an American writer and producer best known for his writing on TV series' '' Magnum P.I.'', ''Lethal Weapon'', '' Bones'' and ''Community''. As an actor, he may be best known for being in the original cast of MTV's ''Nick Cannon Pres ...

, and directed by

Tristram Shapeero Tristram Shapeero is an English television director and producer who has worked on both British and American comedy series. Early life Shapeero was born in Somerset and spent his childhood in Bath, where he attended St. Stephen's School and Beec ...

. The episode features the study group as puppets and several original musical numbers.

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe ...

guest-stars as a mountain man.

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles ( ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including ...

also guest-stars as a hot air balloon ride operator.

Plot

The study group sit in awkward silence in the study room. Dean Pelton (

Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He played Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best ...

), having dressed up as Pinocchio, helps the group communicate with each other through the use of puppets. The flashback shows that the group, bothered that they may be in a rut, decides to go on a hot air balloon ride. As they sing their way into the balloon, Pierce (

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

) does drugs, causing him to sever a rope and unmoor the basket, setting it off on an untethered course without its operator (

). Battling through storm and high winds, they eventually crash, although Jeff (

Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger, Jeffrey "Jeff" Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community (TV seri ...

) helps to soften the landing by increasing the flame, and land the balloon in the middle of the woods. There, they meet a mountain man (

) who feeds them berries, which cause a hallucinogenic reaction. As they sit by a fire, the group reveal personal secrets. Back in the study room, Shirley (

Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 reboot of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS, and as Dina Rose on the ABC sitcom '' The Mayor''. Br ...

) recounts the time she thought she saw her husband Andre with another woman at a supermarket and followed him for hours, only to find out it was not him. Meanwhile, she had left her children overnight back at the store. When the other members of the group tell her that it's the first time they've heard of this story, they realize the berries also caused them to forget most of the details of the night and have all been embarrassed by their own secrets. The group relaxes in the knowledge that their secrets are still secret, but Shirley alone feels ashamed at being a bad mother for leaving her kids. Jeff asks the group to share their secrets again to be fair to Shirley. Jeff dated a woman who was perfect for him, but left without notice after promising to attend her son's baseball game, reflecting the actions of his own father. Britta (

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for playing Britta Perry in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), Mickey Dobbs in the Netflix romantic comedy series '' Love'' (2016–2018), and Mar ...

) touts herself as a political activist but has actually never voted except for The Voice. Annie (

Alison Brie Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress, writer, and producer. She earned recognition for playing Trudy Campbell in the drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), and had her Breakthrough role, breakthrough starring ...

) let Professor Cornwallis rub her feet in exchange for answers to a history test she was struggling with. Troy (

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

) burnt an anthill and caused the Greendale Fire of 2003, affecting 55 acres. Pierce confesses to never actually having had sex with Eartha Kitt, only dry humping inside her tour bus. Abed (

Danny Pudi Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor and director. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supp ...

) states that he did not share anything that night; when he saw how everyone was acting weird around each other, he decided to mimic them to fit in. The group leave, now happier, as Dean Pelton laments being left behind after cleaning up the mess. He is then shocked to see Jeff's puppet lifting weights on the couch.

Production

The episode was written by co-producer

, his first writing credit for the series. It was directed by executive producer

, who directs the majority of the season 4 episodes. This was the last episode filmed of season four with

, who does not appear onscreen, only providing the voice of Pierce's puppet; however, he appears in the episode Advanced Introduction to Finality, which was produced prior to this episode but aired following it. The episode features an original song co-written by

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine ( ; born March 18, 1979) is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and sole continuous member of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, for ...

. The premiere airing did not use the original end tag (since they were shown the previous week as a teaser); instead, a collection of outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage set to music was used. Most of the footage can be found in several extras on the DVD, but not in the same format or in its entirety.

Reception

The episode was seen by approximately 2.84 million viewers when it premiered, and increased 22% in viewership from the previous episode.

References

External links

"Intro to Felt Surrogacy"
at

.com * {{Community (TV series) 2013 American television episodes Community season 4 episodes American television shows featuring puppetry