In the movie Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton’s titular character showed up when people said “Beetlejuice” three times in a row. In “Community,” characters have said the word “Beetlejuice” once in each of the show’s three seasons. And on the third utterance (in 305, “Horror Fiction In Seven Spooky Steps”), Beetlejuice walks behind Annie (Alison Brie) in the background (video below via Reddit).
This is the kind of Easter egg that’s become common in the show — remember when Abed delivered a baby in background scenes last year? — and makes fans of the show swoon while non-watchers shrug. Idiots dismiss it with, “What’s the big deal? I don’t see what’s funny about this.” Well, it’s not funny, you clod — it’s a sign that the show, not satisfied with merely telling a story punctuated with jokes, is operating at a different frequency than your average set-up/punchline sitcom. It’s TV’s first comedy for an internet-savvy audience, and it deserves every bit of fawning fanboy worship it gets — regardless of what NBC does with it.
