Most episodes of NBC's crazytown-bananapants ingenious comedy are named after a hypothetical college course: ''Remedial Chaos Theory,'' ''Geography of Global Conflict,'' etc. But, really, all of Community's manically inventive third season, which riffed on Doctor Who, Glee, Law & Order, Ken Burns documentaries, and even eight-bit videogames, could have been called ''Introduction to Pop Culture.'' The amazing thing is that none of the referential humor ever overshadows Greendale's low-achieving study group itself, whose members — and even their more peripheral peers like Fat Neil, Garrett, Magnitude, and, sigh, Starburns — are among the most richly developed characters on TV. A show that's smart but never smug, Community's continued existence proves we live in the brightest timeline after all. —Christian Blauvelt