Every Community Halloween Costume Ranked Worst To Best

You might be surprised to learn that beloved sitcom "Community" only produced a few Halloween episodes during its six-season run. Between the various movie spoofs, paintball episodes, Troy and Abed's love of elaborate imaginary games, and the dean's penchant for extravagant costumes, it's basically Halloween several times a year at Greendale Community College. But in truth, only Season 1's "Introduction to Statistics," Season 2's "Epidemiology," and Season 4's "Paranormal Parentage" see the majority of the cast don actual Halloween costumes. A generous fan might also count Season 3's "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps," as Jeff and Dean Pelton appear in costume, but the rest of the characters merely tell scary stories in normal clothes.

Despite this relative dearth of Halloween-specific episodes, "Community" still manages to pack every single one with memorable looks — and we're here to celebrate them. This is our ranking of every Halloween costume worn on "Community," judged by effort, originality, and how well they capture a certain ineffable Halloween spirit.

In "Introduction to Statistics," Jeff is still making his journey from calculated cool guy to lovable member of the study group. Naturally, he's too jaded to dress in costume for Annie's Dia de los Muertos party.  However, when he is forced to wear a costume to get into the faculty party (which he wants to attend to hit on a teacher), he spontaneously produces a cowboy costume on the way there.  As Britta immediately figures out, he had a last-minute costume in his car. Not only is this costume low-effort and low-concept, keeping it in reserve shows an extra level of phony, superficial "spirit" that is against everything Halloween stands for.

You almost have to respect Jeff's dedication to putting in a lot of effort just to make it look like he put in very little. He appears in "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" as "one of the 'Fast and Furious' guys," though he doesn't even know which one, specifically. He claims he just picks "a costume girls will like," but you don't have to be all that familiar with the franchise to know that the leather jacket and distinctive cross necklace means he's definitely dressed as Vin Diesel's main character, Dom Toretto. So, not only does Jeff put in a lot of work and a decent amount of jacket money into a costume that's barely a costume, he won't even be upfront about it. Lame.

It's easy to forget that Dean Pelton doesn't really blossom as a character until Season 2 begins to explore his unconventional personal life and penchant for elaborate costumes.  As a result, it's shocking to rewatch "Introduction to Statistics" and see his very subdued attire for the faculty Halloween party. He's only in a tuxedo and mask! Is he a low-budget Phantom of the Opera? Is he a guest at the party in "Eyes Wide Shut"? In any case, it's not much of a costume, and definitely below the standard fans come to expect from him on a weekly basis.

After a couple other attempts at more specific costumes people fail to recognize, Shirley goes for a dependable Princess Leia costume in "Paranormal Parentage." It's not the most original idea in the world, but it's well-executed and the hair must've taken her a while. It's hard to blame Shirley for wanting to go with a recognizable choice after her past frustrations, but a main character from "Star Wars" isn't going to get you terribly high on a countdown of best-ever costumes.

Now this is closer to the Dean Pelton we know and love. He even announces his presence with a classic play on words, shouting "Trick or Dean!" when he first pops up dressed as a witch in "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps." His costume is decently color-coordinated, featuring a purple and yellow lace motif that wouldn't look out of place in the beloved musical "Wicked." But still, seasoned fans know a generic witch look is hardly the best he can do. That fact makes this a solidly middle-of-the-countdown entry.

Nostalgia is a strange and oddly cyclical thing. In "Epidemiology," Pierce dresses up as Captain Kirk from "Star Trek." This is a pretty obvious choice for him, and an easily recognizable look. Still, it's not actually something you see all the time these days (outside conventions, anyway), which makes it an unintentionally original choice. That, plus a semi-convincing wig equal a decently middling position in the countdown. Too bad Pierce only gets to enjoy the Halloween party for a short while before he gets zombified by military surplus "taco meat."

Though he turns out to have lied on his resume, Ben Chang is, at times, an oddly committed Spanish professor. This is never more true than in "Introduction to Statistics," when he sports an impressively ornate matador costume, complete with a drawn-on mustache. He even goes the extra mile to tamp down Annie's slightly too-intense Dia de los Muertos energy by loudly yelling, "You don't have to do that!" when she rolls her Rs for way too long. A relevant costume, executed with subtlety and panache — this is a rare look for a character who usually starts off the rails, then gets even crazier.

Alas, poor Shirley. In "Epidemiology," she attempts to prove she's learned from her vague Harry Potter costume by going all-out on a look combining a pink dress, tiara, and wand. She tells everyone she's dressed as a beloved figure from childhood, but that doesn't actually narrow things down that much. Unfortunately, Shirley's lilting, high-pitched voice makes everyone decide she's dressed as Miss Piggy from "The Muppet Show." Thus, she's slammed back into unwittingly ambiguous territory. But her effort and attention to detail are both top-notch, which means many viewers (along with Chang, surprisingly) naturally recognize her as Glinda the Good Witch from "The Wizard of Oz."

Initially, Abed's Batman costume from "Introduction to Statistics" doesn't seem worth writing home about. Although it is more detailed than most store-bought superhero numbers, Batman is pretty low-hanging fruit as far as Halloween costumes are concerned. But in a performance for the ages, Abed fully commits to the gravelly, portentous, over-the-top voice used by Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy. This easily elevates the costume to the top 10. Few things are funnier than Abed's growling voice, commenting on the snack table: "Chex Mix, pretzels, baby carrots ... predictable but appetizing!"

Britta's squirrel costume, seen in "Introduction to Statistics," is by far her most iconic Halloween look. It appears to be homemade, unlike her later choices, and is entirely adorable to boot. Not only that, it allows her to grandstand on patriarchal expectations regarding women's Halloween costumes. You don't see a ton of squirrel costumes every Halloween either, making this a unique look. All these factors, plus the effort expended by toting the tail around all night, help this costume earn a choice spot on the countdown.

Even though this costume is born out of a misunderstanding — Jeff, dressed a boxer, wants Annie to go as his "ring girl" — Annie's "Paranormal Parentage" look is a classic. As Samara, the legendarily terrifying girl from "The Ring," she also manages to scare a room full of people, something no other costume on this countdown accomplishes. It's not only completely accurate, she even nails the herky-jerky way Samara crawls forward when she first appears. All in all, it's a great costume, great performance, and a great reference to a classic horror film.

We have one minor complaint about Dean Pelton's Lady Gaga costume, seen in "Epidemiology": He doesn't lean all the way into it by including any Lady Gaga music on his Halloween playlist, which consists of ABBA songs and personal voice memos. Still, his hair, makeup, jacket, and occasional "P-P-P-Pokerface" references are all flawless. It's truly great to see Dean Pelton bring his unique skillset to bear on the most sartorial of holidays. Unfortunately, his poor decision making does lead to a zombie outbreak. Eventually, everyone's memory of the entire evening is wiped, but we'll remember this as a costume for the ages.