“Community” is a beloved modern TV comedy and its fandom is still faithfully revisiting the series. Some fans might not know that “Community” actually has a spinoff series they may have missed between all those rewatch sessions online. If that sounds cool, there’s even more intrigue for you as the “Community” spin-off stars Danny Pudi’s Abed in the lead role. How could a project like “Abed’s Master Key” slip under the radar for so many fans? Like many surprises of the streaming era, it’s a longer story than you might expect.
For those who haven’t taken the plunge yet, “Community” is a sitcom that originally debuted on NBC. Over the course of six seasons, and with a hopeful “Community” movie on the horizon, viewers follow the zany adventures of a study group at Greendale Community College. It might sound like a typical premise, but the sitcom packed more than 100 episodes with clever writing and pop-culture homages, including nods to “Pulp Fiction” and “Law & Order.”
Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, and Danny Pudi make up the main cast of students at Greendale. While all of them have moments to shine, Pudi’s Abed Nadir is a fan favorite and the central focus of “Abed’s Master Key.” The spinoff came to life around a hiatus during Season 3 of “Community” with one of Dan Harmon’s side projects stepping in to fill the gap.
Abed’s Master Key was an animated webisode
Season 3 of “Community” took a break in late 2011, mid-way through the show’s season. NBC was hard at work crafting its weekday lineup and wanted to try something different in the spot that “Community” used to hold.” They did not realize how large the online fandom around “Community” had grown, as fans organized flash mobs at NBC headquarters to lobby for the show’s return. Luckily for those viewers, their “Darkest Timeline” would end on March 15, 2012 with new episodes.
“Abed’s Master Key” was produced to tease the return of the show and give the fans a little treat for all that outside pressure to bring back the NBC favorite. Dan Harmon enlisted comedy writers Dave Seger and Tom Kauffman to write the three episodes. Animax Entertainment handled the animation for “Abed’s Master Key.” Produced in the early 2010s, the webisodes were released on Hulu, where many core “Community” fans already watched the show, and spread largely through word of mouth. The show had a simple premise: The Dean of Greendale deputizes Abed and trusts him with the “Master Key” to the school.
Can you stream Abed’s Master Key anywhere now?
Unfortunately for “Community” completionists, the spinoff is no longer available to stream on Hulu. However, all of the main series episodes are still available there. Peacock also has the entire run of “Community” available. If you’re looking for a free option, Tubi currently offers Seasons 1 and 2 for streaming.
With a lot of these shows from the previous decade, the restrictions and changing landscape of streaming television have made the idea of fun little surprises for fans harder to produce. It’s likely that when the streaming rights for “Community” began to ping-pong around, the webisodes were taken down and no one thought to replace them.
Luckily for most fans, you aren’t losing anything essential in their absence. If you want to see absolutely everything connected to “Community,” you will have to get creative, as the fanbase remains active on social media. Someone can tell you about the adventures of Abed the “Depu-Dean.” It feels fitting that such a strange little show continues to surprise new fans after all this time. But, that’s kind of the magic with “Community.”