It took Roseanne nine years before it could turn seemingly every episode into some sort of high-concept gag, but NBC’s Community achieved that milestone in its very first season, and this year is already shaping up to be even more fantastic—and unlike those final episodes of Roseanne, we actually mean that in every sense of the word. In addition to its already-announced Betty White stunt casting, a story involving the Community gang heading to outer space somehow, and an “extravagant and insane” Halloween episode helmed by True Blood director Anthony Hemingway, Dan Harmon recently revealed that the show will stage a “timeless Christmas classic” special using stop-motion animation a la Rankin/Bass. Harmon insists that the episode is “not a dream. It still exists within the reality of the show,” with the characters even referring to its events in later episodes. Danny Pudi added, “In true Community fashion, it’s also a little subversive and a little dark.” Joel McHale said, ““I can confirm that we are not yellow, and we do not have a talking dog in the episode.” And then Alison Brie said something adorable, and the Internet spent the rest of the day imagining her in a tiny elf costume.

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