Community star Ken Jeong celebrates the 14th anniversary of the show’s most iconic episode, posting a clip of the episode online while calling it a highlight for his career. Jeong portrayed Ben Chang, who starts as a Spanish teacher at Greendale Community College trying to fit in with the rest of the characters. His role is considered one of the most memorable in the series, especially because of the many wild experiences he was involved with.
Now, Jeong has posted a clip of Community‘s first paintball episode, “Modern Warfare,” celebrating the iconic episode’s 14th anniversary.
Jeong thanks writer Emily Cutler and director Justin Lin for making the episode, calling it “absolute cinema.” The clip shows Jeong’s Ben firing paintballs around a room, cornering Jeff (Joel Winger) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs). While Jeff is able to get the upper hand after Britta is shot with paintballs, Ben reveals a paint bomb that explodes as Jeff jumps out of the room.
The clip Jeong posted is one of the most iconic of the episode, featuring a mock action scene full of the type of comedy the series is known for. The episode parodied plenty of action films in its presentation, including Die Hard and Predator. It also established the annual game of Paintball Assassin on Greendale’s campus, an event that made a return in almost every season of the show. Season 5 was the only season not to feature a paintball-themed episode, while seasons 3 and 4 used the game in different ways.
The episode also included Jeff and Britta admitting their feelings for one another, resolving their romantic subplot quickly without making it the main focus. While their relationship doesn’t last through the entire show, the way it was resolved added to the hilarity of the episode, establishing how the show was willing to break the norms of romantic tension in comedies. With a combination of memorable sequences and funny moments parodying action films, “Modern Warfare” laid the groundwork for a lot of what came after in the series.
Although the upcoming Community movie will no doubt feature plenty of references to the show, creator Dan Harmon already revealed it won’t contain a match of Paintball Assassin. While this means the series won’t be returning to some of its more iconic roots in the film, there could still be mention of the tournaments as characters catch up with one another. No matter how little paintball shows up in the movie, though, Jeong is right in calling “Modern Warfare” one of the most iconic episodes in the entire show.
Source: Ken Jeong/Twitter