Community shared a hilarious moment with Cougar Town through a clever crossover featuring Abed Nadir. Danny Pudi starred as Abed for all six seasons of Community, a series created by Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty). The series aired its first five seasons on NBC before moving to Yahoo Screen for the sixth and final season. Cougar Town, on the other hand, aired on the rival network ABC, making the crossover even more amusing.
Abed was one of the members of the study group at Greendale Community College alongside Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), Annie Edison (Alison Brie), Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase), Troy Barnes (Donald Glover), and Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs). Since a young age, Abed immersed himself in American pop culture, which imbued him with knowledge of movies and TV shows. His love of entertainment led to Abed wanting to study filmmaking. The character was also known for making references to pop culture and comparing his life to that of a formulaic TV series.
During the Community season 2 episode "Critical Film Studies", Jeff planned a Pulp Fiction-themed birthday party for Abed. Before attending, Abed set up a dinner based on the 1981 film, My Dinner with Andre. While at dinner with Jeff, Abed mentioned that he was invited to the set of Cougar Town, one of his favorite shows, after creating a popular Facebook fan page. He then added that the producers gave him the opportunity in being an extra for a scene. Abed was so nervous that his hands went numb and then he "pooped his pants" before the director yelled "cut." Abed's story was thought to be an amusing gag but it actually turned out to be a hilarious crossover opportunity.
Abed's Cougar Town Story Grew Into A Real Crossover
Abed's harrowing Cougar Town memory was brought up later by Jeff in a quick reference but the joke grew in the Community season 2 finale. In "For a Few Paintballs More", Cougar Town stars Busy Phillips and Dan Bryd could be seen making a cameo in a crowd reaction shot. The moment served as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance by the actors but it further set up an even funnier scene that would take place soon after.
A few weeks after Community's season 2 finale, Pudi had a cameo on Cougar Town's season 2 finale, "Something Good Coming, Part 2". Phillips and Byrd's characters could be seen sitting outside of a Subway while Abed sat behind them. Rather than pretend to be an extra, Abed directly paid attention to the characters' interaction. He then started to look uneasy before rushing off the screen which was when he presumably soiled his pants. Community was highly underrated when it came to the show's wit, and thanks to Cougar Town, one of Abed's best stories became truly unforgettable.