Community’s 7 Funniest Characters, Ranked

Dan Harmon’s Community was always a Little Engine That Could. Perpetually under threat of cancellation (and, after Season 5, it actually was cancelled by NBC) and riddled with animosity behind the scenes while Chevy Chase was involved, it was not a show that enjoyed smooth sailing. But it is wholly unique, charming, and chock-full of examples of spot-on casting. There has never really been anything like Community, outside of shows that embrace pop culture references. It was always comfortable changing genres in episodes while remaining true to the characters it had spent time developing. After all, what other sitcom could make not one, but two paintball-focused episodes play like war movies and have that make sense? But what truly makes Community so great is the same thing that makes Greendale Community College so great: its oddball students and faculty. And, today, we’re going to go through the funniest of the bunch.

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Just missing the cut were Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), Leonard (Richard Erdman), Professor Ian Duncan (John Oliver), and Magnitude (Luke Youngblood). For the sake of clarity, that’s the guy who always yells out “Pop! Pop!”

7) Star-Burns

Alex “Star-Burns” Osbourne was played by Dino Stamatopoulos, who also worked on Community as a producer and consulting writer. And as a character, his “Star-Burns” manages to be both memorable and one-note. But that’s kind of the point.

He’s a one joke character, but it’s a good joke. He clearly wants to fit in and be an average joe, but he has facial hair intentionally shaped to be like a star on both sides of his face. And that is a feature he just loves to show off, which directly contradicts his innate desire for relative anonymity.

6) Annie

Alison Brie is such a gifted performer and comedian that of course her Community character makes the list, even if Annie Edison is more charming and lovable than outright hysterical. That said, she has the best freakouts of anyone on the show.

Even still, besides the freakouts, it’s the little moments that make Annie such a winner. She’s smart, but she doesn’t always think things through, and earnestness combined with a silly action is always funny. For instance, when she’s acting as a cop alongside Shirley and she pursues a suspect while spraying pepper spray which, naturally, goes right back into her eyes.

5) Pierce Hawthorne

Obviously, Chevy Chase made Community a living hell for his co-stars, Dan Harmon, and the crew. But his Pierce Hawthorne is still a funny character, and a lot of that is owed to Chase’s quirky line readings.

We’re not fond of how Chase treats others, but we can also separate the art from the artist. And, in this case, the way he sings “Greendale! Greendale!” like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star means he deserves a spot here. The same applies for the way he blushes, smiles, and says thank you when Jeff says “I wish you were dead” solely because it was said to Pierce’s face.

4) Troy Barnes (& Abed Nadir)

You don’t get Troy without Abed, and you don’t get Abed without Troy. Well, not until Donald Glover left the show, anyway.

These two aren’t laugh out loud individually, and on his own Abed’s quirks can honestly be as grating to the viewer as his peers tell him they are, but together they make for the best dynamic on Community. Their opposites attract vibe isn’t just endearing though, it’s often quite funny. They’re so close that it’s not unusual to see one run through the halls of Greendale giving the other a piggyback ride. They’re adults who bring the kid out of one another, and that’s silly fun.

3) Garrett Lambert

Erik Charles Nielsen’s Garrett Lambert is one of sitcom history’s ultimate nerd characters. He always looks and sounds disheveled and confused as to where he is and why he’s there. He’s just a big question mark of a human being.

From his panicked screaming of “Crisis alert!” or “It’s a bear dance!” to playing a motion capture alien, Garrett has plenty of standout moments. But the best of them all may be how the show has him fall in love with a woman only to learn that she’s his cousin. As Troy said of him, Garrett is “like God spilled a person.”

2) Ben Chang

In the hands of anyone other than Ken Jeong Benjamin Franklin Chang aka Señor Chang would be insufferable. The point of his character is that he’s unbalanced, and that only gets more blatantly noticeable as the series progresses.

But Jeong takes that unhinged meanness and makes it lovable to a degree. Not likable in terms of human behavior, but oddly lovable. Chang is a mess, and when his life gets even messier than it already is he takes that out on his students. Then there are developments that could only happen to Chang, not any other characters. For instance, a case of (not fully believable) amnesia and becoming a star only to rip on Steven Spielberg while Spielberg is listening and lose that shot at stardom.

1) Dean Pelton

It was always going to be Jim Rash’s Dean Pelton. He doesn’t have any scenes that aren’t at least a little funny, and he’s in 96 out of the total 110 episodes.

Highlights of the Dean include his constant fawning over Jeff, his inexplicable need to wear a different costume to work a few times each week, and his watching a YouTube video of a man in a dalmatian costume and saying to himself “I hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me.” Rash plays him with such an enthusiasm that it’s impossible not to fall in love with the goofball.