Community is one of the most beloved shows of its generation, and Joe McHale’s new series perfectly ties back to it. Debuting in 2009 and created by Dan Harmon, Community‘s audience was far smaller than the likes of its established competitors such as The Office (2005-2013). The series focuses on a seven-person study group at Greendale Community College, with an array of characters that are portrayed by some huge stars. Part of the show’s mass appeal is the outstanding cast list throughout the series, which is in part in correspondence with its cancelation in 2014 after many of these Community actors left the project.
Portrayed by Joel McHale, Jeff Winger became one of the series’ most beloved characters in the series. Similar to many other iconic sitcom characters, Winger’s role became one of those characters that were defined by the actor who played them. It’s hardly surprising that the fan base McHale accumulated throughout his time on Community meant that audiences were able to pick up Winger-style tendencies within his other roles. The comedy series Animal Control is no exception to the Joel McHale rule, and this Community replacement hilariously linked his new character to Jeff Winger.
During Animal Control season 1, episode 8, “Hellhounds and Sturgeons,” McHale’s character Frank Shaw is working alongside Fred ‘Shred’ Taylor (Michael Rowland) in attempting to detain an aggressive dog that’s on the loose. Upon finding the notes that describe the dog’s attack and release words, Frank discovers “If you say ‘victory’ he attacks, if you say ‘tranquillo’, Dante should stand down.” When Shred challenges the pronunciation of the word, Frank corrects him to say “I took Spanish in community college.”
It’s a wonderful callback to his time on the sitcom, Community.Jeff forms a Spanish study group to impress a girl before that group ultimately becomes best friends who act as his found family. This line is one that all Community fans will have picked up on and could not have missed, and it felt extremely tremendously heartfelt that years after Community‘s season 5 cancelation, McHale still holds Jeff Winger in exceptionally high regard. The reference is streets ahead in Jeff Winger’s repertoire and made many sitcom fans extremely happy.
The Real Punchline Is That McHale’s Animal Control Character Isn’t Good At Spanish
Shred was correct to challenge Frank’s pronunciation of ‘tranquillo’ in episode 8, as he gets it comically wrong. It adds to the situation’s comedic strategy tenfold, seeing as one of the biggest quirks of Community is that Jeff’s character is, in fact, also terrible at Spanish. The conviction with which he delivers this Spanish phrasing in Animal Control is brilliant and contributes to the hilarity of the situation as his misaccentuation becomes a major plot point later in the episode. What’s certain is that this was a hilarious way of linking Joel McHale’s new character to Jeff Winger in Community.