By Season 4, "Community's" initial slide toward its first cancellation had already begun. Dan Harmon had already been fired (don't worry, he'd be back for Season 5). The Russo Brothers had made their migration over to the MCU to direct "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," and Chevy Chase was in the midst of leaving the show. The season was also truncated, and its scheduling was changed so that its "holiday" episode aired in April of the following year.
Add it up, and it's no surprise that Season 4's tenth episode, "Intro to Knots," comes in last on our "Community" Christmas episode rankings. The offbeat bottle episode takes place in Jeff Winger's (Joel McHale) apartment, where the study group hosts history professor Noel Cornwallis (Malcolm McDowell in his last appearance on the show) in an attempt to convince him to boost a recent bad grade.
The episode is rife with typical intergroup arguing as Jeff reveals that he tanked his part of the project while Annie (Alison Brie) and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) spar in their race for valedictorian. The intensity is cranked up a notch when Chang (Ken Jeong) kidnaps Professor Cornwallis, who amuses himself by offering an A to whoever lets him go while everyone else gets an F. In the end, it turns out that Cornwallis is bluffing. He tied himself up since he was bored and wanted to entertain himself by antagonizing the group.
All of this is quality "Community" stuff, but if you're ranking Christmas episodes, well, there just isn't that much in the way of holiday frivolities. Sure, the group exchanges gifts — although Pierce (Chevy Chase) is in sensitivity training and notably missing — and there's a Christmas tree in the background. But that's about it.
