Basic Lupine Urology

"Basic Lupine Urology" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Community and the sixty-sixth episode overall. It was written by Megan Ganz and directed by Rob Schrab. It originally aired in the United States on April 26, 2012, on NBC. In the episode, the study group must figure out who killed the yam they were growing for a biology class project. Troy and Abed lead the investigation and track down suspects, while Jeff and Annie work to build a case against whoever did it. As they dig deeper, the group encounters several challenges that threaten to derail their case.

"Basic Lupine Urology"
Community episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 17
Directed byRob Schrab
Written byMegan Ganz
Production code317[1]
Original air dateApril 26, 2012 (2012-04-26)
Guest appearances

Overall, the episode parodies the television series Law & Order, with the main and supporting cast members representing the detectives, prosecutors, and other figures seen on the show. Many stylistic elements and plot points used in the episode take direct inspiration from the series. The episode also features guest appearances by Michael Ironside, Michael K. Williams, and Leslie Hendrix, among others. In its original broadcast, it was seen by 3.21 million viewers and received acclaim from critics, with much of the praise going to the show's execution of the format. It is often ranked among Community's best episodes.

Plot

The study group finds their yam for a biology project smashed on the ground. Annie (Alison Brie) seeks an A for their work; Professor Kane (Michael K. Williams) demands proof that someone "murdered" the yam. Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) question Pierce (Chevy Chase), who could not enter the biology room to water the yam because the door was locked. Pierce suggests Todd (David Neher) may have had a motive for killing the yam. Troy and Abed find Todd with a burn on his hand; Todd tries to show he also got to the room too late. Troy and Abed meet Neil (Charley Koontz), who handles the keys, and eventually trace the room's key to Star-Burns (Dino Stamatopoulos). However, interrogating Star-Burns yields little. Elsewhere, a botanist (Leslie Hendrix) indicates that someone likely stepped on the yam.

Seeking evidence, Jeff (Joel McHale) orders a search of Star-Burns's locker. Inside, Troy and Abed find biology lab equipment. They corner Star-Burns, who admits to stealing the equipment and leaving the door unlocked, allowing Todd to enter. Star-Burns agrees to testify against Todd in exchange for immunity regarding his theft. Todd is apprehended, and Jeff and Annie present the case against him to Kane. Lt. Col. Archwood (Michael Ironside), Todd's former commander, suddenly arrives and demands an explanation for Todd's predicament. Kane allows each side to present their case to the class. However, as Jeff and Annie prepare, they learn Archwood has scared off Star-Burns from testifying.

In class, Archwood presents Todd as a hero, but under Annie's cross-examination, Todd cracks. He reveals he picked up the yam to examine it and dropped it when the jar burned him. Jeff pulls Kane and Annie aside and asks for a C for Todd and the group, reasoning that Todd's confession does not show guilt. Before Kane announces the deal, though, Jeff realizes the class's yams were all given boiling water, killing them. He proves this by dropping the boiled yams, producing the appearance of being stepped on. When Vicki's (Danielle Kaplowitz) yam does not splatter, Neil suddenly confesses to killing the other yams to skew the grading curve, as Vicki was struggling and he wanted her to pass. Neil loses his status with the keys and agrees to retake biology. Afterwards, Jeff and Annie celebrate with Kane and Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) until they learn Star-Burns has died in a car crash.

Production
Writer Megan Ganz being interviewed at a panel at San Diego Comic-Con
Megan Ganz, writer of the episode

"Basic Lupine Urology" was written by Megan Ganz, her fourth writing credit for the show.[2] It was directed by Rob Schrab in his directing debut for Community; Schrab had worked with series creator Dan Harmon on several other projects before joining the series.[3]

In January 2012, while Community was on hiatus during its third season, it was announced that the series would feature an episode paying homage to the television series Law & Order.[4] The episode follows the general formula of a Law & Order episode, with a cold open leading into an investigation followed by a trial.[5] Within the episode, Troy and Abed fill the role of the cops or detectives and were likened to Lennie Briscoe and Mike Logan by some critics.[5][6][7] Jeff and Annie serve as the prosecutors, with Jeff compared to Jack McCoy and Annie as "the attractive deputy DA".[6][8] Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) was likened to Lt. Anita Van Buren,[5][6][8] while Pierce serves as a crooked informant.[9] Britta (Gillian Jacobs) makes a brief appearance as a crime technician, Chang (Ken Jeong) serves as the bailiff in the trial, and Dean Pelton represents the district attorney.[10]

The show created a Law & Order-styled title sequence for the episode that incorporated still photographs of the show's characters.[5][11] The episode replaced its usual theme song with an electric piano-based version to create a similar sound to the Law & Order theme.[7][12] The episode includes several other references to Law & Order's format and style, including a one-liner or "zinger" to end the cold open and a last-second shock to leave a downer ending.[10][11] The title "Basic Lupine Urology" is itself a play on Dick Wolf, the creator of Law & Order.[10][13] Wolf is given a "special thanks" credit at the end of the episode.

Actor Michael K. Williams stands for a photo at the Tribeca Film Festival
Michael K. Williams makes his third guest appearance as Professor Kane in the episode.

Leslie Hendrix, who played medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers in Law & Order and several of its spin-offs, makes a cameo as a botanist in the episode.[5][14] Michael K. Williams makes his third appearance on the show as Professor Kane, who fills the role of the judge; Williams also guest-starred on Law & Order.[8][13] In the episode, Williams alludes to his role as Omar Little on The Wire when he remarks, "A man's gotta have a code."[5][8] Michael Ironside makes his sole appearance on the show as Colonel Archwood, a military lawyer.[15]

The death of Star-Burns was written into the show at actor Dino Stamatopoulos's request. Stamatopoulos, who also served as a consulting producer and writer for the show and did not particularly enjoy the challenges of acting, asked to be written off the show to allow him to focus on his behind-the-scenes roles.[16] The scene was not included in screeners sent to critics before the episode's airing to prevent spoilers from leaking.[13] Star-Burns's death would go on to play a major role in the events of the next episode, "Course Listing Unavailable".[17][18] The season finale, "Introduction to Finality", revealed that Star-Burns actually survived,[19] and the character made a full return in the fifth-season episode "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics".[20]

Reception

Ratings

In its initial broadcast, "Basic Lupine Urology" was seen by 3.21 million American viewers and received a 1.4 rating in the 18–49 demographic. This placed the show fourth in total viewership in its time slot, behind American Idol, The Big Bang Theory, and Missing,[21] but marked a slight uptick from the previous episode.[22] After factoring in seven-day DVR viewership, the episode rose to a 2.1 rating among adults 18–49.[23]

Reviews

The episode received critical acclaim upon its release, including a 10/10 rating from IGN,[10] an A− grade from The A.V. Club,[13] and a 9.2 rating from Paste.[24] Many critics praised the show for its execution of the format and for recreating the feel and rhythms of a Law & Order episode within the show's universe.[6][10][13] Bill Wyman of Slate went so far as to deem it a better police procedural than any Law & Order episode, commenting that it is "better plotted, more engrossing, has better surprises, cuts deeper, and says more about the human condition."[12] Despite this, several critics remarked that the episode still worked well even if the audience did not recognize many of the references.[24][25]

Another aspect of the episode that was praised was that it simply had fun with the characters and premise instead of taking itself too seriously.[13] Both Sean Gandert of Paste and Alan Sepinwall of HitFix remarked in their reviews that the episode lacked a serious emotional story or character arc, though neither thought that was a major problem.[24][8] Similarly, Joshua Kurp of Vulture appreciated that the show moved away from the overly sentimental plots of the previous few episodes while keeping the characters true to their personalities.[25] Other aspects of the episode that received praise were the appearances by Ironside and Williams[7][24] and the way the main and supporting cast members were able to aptly fill their new roles.[6][10] The show would go on to receive a nomination for Best Sitcom at the 2013 Banff Rockie Awards for the episode.[26]

The episode is frequently listed as one of the show's best in retrospective rankings.[27][28] Entertainment Weekly named it the fourth-best episode of the show and the second-best of the season behind "Remedial Chaos Theory", citing its commitment to the premise.[29] Screen Rant placed it sixth in their rankings,[30] while Uproxx placed it fifth in their rankings and noted its quality as a stand-alone episode.[31] Uproxx also named it as one of the ten funniest television episodes of 2012.[9]

References

Sources
  1. "Community. Basic Lupine Urology". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  2. "Community". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  3. Collins, Brian (April 27, 2012). "TV Review: Community 3.17 - "Basic Lupine Urology"". Birth. Movies. Death. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  4. Masters, Megan (January 10, 2012). "Exclusive: Community Pays Homage to Law & Order With Crime-Themed Episode". TVLine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  5. Blauvelt, Christian (April 27, 2012). "Community recap: Law and Order". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  6. Willmore, Alison (April 27, 2012). "'Community' Does a Dead-On 'Law & Order' Parody". IndieWire. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  7. Vonder Haar, Pete (April 27, 2012). "Community: "Basic Lupine Urology"". Houston Press. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  8. Sepinwall, Alan (April 26, 2012). "'Community' – 'Basic Lupine Urology': Law & Order: Special Biology Unit". HitFix. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  9. Kurp, Josh (December 20, 2012). "The 10 Funniest Television Episodes Of 2012". Uproxx. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  10. Canning, Robert (April 27, 2012). "Community: "Basic Lupine Urology" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  11. Masters, Megan (April 25, 2012). "Exclusive: Watch Community's Take on the Iconic Law & Order Theme Song and 'Zinger'!". TVLine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  12. Wyman, Bill (April 26, 2012). "Community Nails Law & Order". Slate. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  13. VanDerWerff, Emily (April 26, 2012). "Community: "Basic Lupine Urology"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  14. "'Community': 'Law And Order' Tribute Episode First Look (PHOTOS)". HuffPost. April 20, 2012. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  15. Long, Christian (June 2, 2015). "Here Are All The 'Community' Guest Stars You May Have Forgotten". Uproxx. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  16. Snierson, Dan (April 27, 2012). "'Community' mourns the death of a character". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  17. Canning, Robert (May 4, 2012). "Community: "Course Listing Unavailable" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  18. Kurp, Joshua (May 4, 2012). "'Community' Recap: 'Course Listing Unavailable'". Vulture. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  19. Sepinwall, Alan (May 17, 2012). "Season finale review: 'Community' - 'Digital Estate Planning/The First Chang Dynasty/Introduction to Finality': Cruel cruel cruel". HitFix. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  20. Hayes, Britt (January 9, 2014). "'Community' Review: "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics"". ScreenCrush. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  21. "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Idol', 'Big Bang Theory', 'Grey's', 'The Vampire Diaries', 'Mentalist' & 'Missing' Adjusted Up; 'Scandal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. April 27, 2012. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  22. "Community: Ratings for the 2011-12 TV Season". TV Series Finale. May 19, 2012. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  23. "Live+7 DVR Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' Tops Absolute Ratings, 'Fringe' Tops % Gains, 'The Mentalist' Tops Total Viewer Gains in Week 32". TV by the Numbers. May 14, 2012. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  24. Gandert, Sean (April 27, 2012). "Community Review: "Basic Lupine Urology" (3.17)". Paste. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  25. Kurp, Joshua (April 27, 2012). "Community Recap: 'Basic Lupine Urology'". Vulture. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  26. "2013 Rockies Nominees". Banff World Media Festival. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  27. Matar, Joe (April 18, 2020). "The Best Episodes of Community". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  28. Schwartz, Ryan (September 17, 2019). "Community: 10 Best Concept Episodes". TVLine. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  29. Holub, Christian; Franich, Darren; Agard, Chancellor (April 3, 2020). "The 15 best episodes of Community". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  30. Wakayama, Lena (April 27, 2020). "14 Best Community Episodes Of All Time". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  31. Rowles, Dustin (April 15, 2020). "The Best 'Community' Episodes Of All Time, Ranked". Uproxx. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

Further reading
  • Cook, Jeremy W. & Murphy, Robin M. (2014). "Parody as Civic Discourse in "Basic Lupine Urology": The Law and Order Episode". In Lee, Ann-Gee (ed.). A Sense of Community: Essays on the Television Series and Its Fandom. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 111–124. ISBN 9780786475902.
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