Brow Beat

Syndicated Community Is All About Annie’s Boobs

Alison Brie as Annie in a still from the Community syndication teaser

Sony Pictures

Despite struggling in the ratings, Community has held on long enough to earn itself syndication rights in the U.S. starting this fall. (It began airing in Canada last year.) The show will air five nights a week on Comedy Central, but it seems like whoever put together this trailer for the occasion is probably one of the many, many (unfortunate) people who have never seen an episode. As an astute Reddit user has pointed out, the video—which takes pains to emphasize the female characters’ physical attributes—cares far less about what Community fans have come to love about the show than appealing to its male, heterosexual fanbase.

While most of the leading male characters get their own distinct descriptions from the (male) voiceover—the slacker (Jeff), the jock (Troy), and “this guy” (Pierce)—the three leading ladies are relegated to being “the girls,” one monochromatic entity of hypersexuality. The narrator gushes over the women’s “competitive” spirit and “provocative” natures while taking moments from Community completely out of their subversive context. (Narrator: “And they drive the guys wild.” Britta: “You know what else is sexy? Annie.”) Annie’s boobs (not the monkey) get an especially notable amount of screen time, and rather than feeling like the jab at sexism that it is on the show, it just feels gross. 

It’s as egregious as watching a watered-down, censor-pleasing episode of Sex and the City; the true nature of the show is lost. And it’s as if Community had suddenly become everything it’s ever rebelled against, with the frattiest of heterosexual bros taking over for Dan Harmon. It’s also likely the show NBC has always wished Community would be.