COMMUNITY, 3.17 – "Basic Lupine Urology"

Sometimes a spoof doesn't tickle your funnybone because you're unfamiliar with the target being lampooned. Confession time: I've never seen an episode of Law & Order, and I don't even know what a "yam" is (it's North American for "sweet potato"). These two things perhaps hampered my enjoyment of "Basic Lupine Urology", to an extent, but thankfully writer Megan Ganz's targets weren't wholly specific. If you've seen a police procedural or courtroom drama in your lifetime (and who hasn't?) then you'll have recognised many of the genre's tropes and clichés being ridiculed here.

Still, because I'm not especially interested in the targets this episode was mocking, I admired "Basic Lupine Urology" more than I enjoyed it. The look and feel of Community's spoof was very accurate, and there were amusing moments poking fun at the conventions of cop/lawyer shows (especially the hackneyed dialogue and predictable plot-twists), but I can't say I was very engaged. They even killed off a popular semi-recurring character, for real, but I barely raised an eyebrow. Maybe it worked better if you're a committed L&O fan, or haven't seen a comedy tease po-faced procedurals before... but I'm not and I have.

written by Megan Ganz / directed by Rob Schrab / 26 April 2012 / NBC