Though Community has gone through a ton of cast changes over the years, it’s impossible to imagine the show without Craig Pelton. The big-hearted Dean of Greendale Community College is always trying in vain to improve the school, get a piece of Joel McHale’s Jeff Winger, and get the students to pay attention to him via his always-outrageous costumes. Oscar-winning writer Jim Rash (who turns 44 today) does a great job of bringing the Dean to life, and today, we’re looking at some of his best moments across Community‘s six seasons (and…).
The Dean raps!
After Donald Glover left the cast, someone had to take over as the best rapper at Greendale. Starting out as a simple rap about paychecks not arriving on time, somewhere along the way, Dean Pelton gets *into* it, and things get a lot more serious. By the end, he’s stunned at how intense it gets. “I don’t know what that was,” he says. Neither do we, Dean.
The Dean sings!
This one’s a little easier to explain, as the Dean sings a tidy little song about his mundane actions. Try it next time you’re filing or cleaning the house. You might sound minorly insane, but time will fly.
Stealing from Archer here, but #phrasing.
Okay, we all can think about this logically and realize that he was just talking about the paintball tournament, but there has to be a better way to say that.
And this…
If we’re being fair, it’s nice that he’s encouraging people to come up with ideas, but he sure has a knack for phrasing things in the worst possible way.
Your daylight savings time reminder…
Anyone can pass on vital information to their students, but few are able to look that sharp while doing it.
There’s nothing wrong with having pride in what you do.
In season one, the Dean really wanted former star quarterback Troy Barnes to play football at Greendale and give the school some much-needed hype. When explaining his motivations to Jeff Winger, he reveals the one thing that drives him… getting back at his former therapist, who had evidently mocked his job in the past. If you ever wondered why the Dean is out there, this scene gives us some surprising insight.
Sometimes, the Dean takes his costuming a bit too far.
In one of his more elaborate costumes, Dean Pelton wanted to illustrate that he had “good news and bad news,” by wearing an outfit which is essentially half male and half female. When he comes in to get his “Puttin’ on the Ritz” cane (there has to be another name for it), he confides that he may have gone too far with this one. How will he explain this get-up to the people at the bank? Get your life together, Craig!
Sometimes, the Dean takes other things a bit too far.
Say what you will about the Dean’s obsessive creative vision while trying to create a new Greendale recruitment video, but it clearly inspired some students, and isn’t that what being an educator is all about?
He has endless love for Jeff Winger.
The Dean having a huge, huge crush on Jeff has been well-known pretty much since the beginning, but no scene encapsulates the intensity of that crush quite like this one. EVEN HIS SHADOW! LOOK AT HIS SHADOW!
Alright, maybe this one, too…
Words would only cheapen this moment, but I’ll simply close by saying, never leave, Deany Dean Dean.
