During their PaleyFest panel in Los Angeles on March 5, the Community cast announced an upcoming episode by showing the audience their puppet doppelgangers.
Set to air in April, the episode will find the study group on a balloon ride which crash lands in the woods. There they encounter a sociable mountain man, played by guest star Jason Alexander (Seinfeld). After their adventures, they’re encouraged by Dean Pelton to talk about their experiences using hand puppets.
Made of foam and felt, the puppets are designed and operated by Scott Johnson and Drew Massey, who most recently worked on "Muppets Wizard of Oz" for the Jim Henson Company.
This foray into puppet-dom adds to the list of uniquely themed episodes in the series’ run, including a stop-motion Christmas special and an 8-bit video game inspired episode.
Although Community continues to try and find its voice since creator Dan Harmon departed at the end of last season, things seem to be on an upswing as the show has generated week-to-week gains in the 18-49 ratings over the past two weeks.
