Contemporary American Poultry

During one of their meetings, the study group leaves early for lunch to get chicken fingers, the only food served by the Greendale cafeteria that they enjoy; however, the cafeteria runs out before they can get any, as they are widely popular among students. Jeff (Joel McHale) gets angry when he notices Star-Burns (Dino Stamatopoulos), the fry cook, skimming chicken fingers for his friends. He convinces the rest of the study group to help him gain control of the kitchen. They work to get Star-Burns fired and Abed (Danny Pudi) hired as the new fry cook. Abed skims chicken for his friends as planned but also starts giving Señor Chang (Ken Jeong) chicken. This concerns everyone until he reveals that Chang is giving them higher Spanish grades in return, at which point the group (except for Jeff) enthusiastically supports the deal.

Under Abed, the group works out a system to redistribute the skimmed chicken. Abed begins to use favors from other students to provide spoils to the rest of the study group. Irritated by this, Jeff attempts to talk to the group, but he realizes they no longer listen to him, as Abed has been providing the study group with things that they enjoy, using his newfound power. He leaves to find Abed taking more requests for chicken from other students. Jeff argues the ploy has gone on long enough, but Abed counters by arguing Jeff misses the control he once had. Jeff then tries to convince the rest of the group to stop following Abed. When they refuse to listen, he threatens to leave, but nobody stops him.

The next day, Jeff is approached by Star-Burns. He gives Jeff a key to the kitchen and tells him there is a valve on the fryer that if removed, would break the fryer permanently. Jeff reluctantly takes the key. Abed notices that the remaining members of the study group are growing greedier and pettier from their spoils, so he sends the group a message by taking away or ruining the things he had given them, including letting Troy's monkey, named "Annie's Boobs," out of his cage. Panicked, they track down Jeff, who accepts their apology after pointing out he was right about what would happen. He agrees to help stop Abed.

That evening, Jeff sneaks into the kitchen, where he finds Abed frying new foods. Abed explains that people grew tired of chicken but that he'll find something new to replace it. Jeff realizes that skimming and giving out chicken had helped Abed connect to others. Ashamed, he admits to Abed that he had planned to sabotage the fryer and had indeed just been jealous about losing control. Jeff agrees to help Abed connect with people in return for Abed helping Jeff treat them better. Abed quits as fry cook, and things return to normal for the study group.

The episode was written by Emily Cutler and Karey Dornetto; it is Cutler's first and Dornetto's second writing credit for the show.^[1][2] It was directed by Tristram Shapeero in his first directing credit for the show.^[3]

As a whole, the episode is an homage to Goodfellas, with Abed's narration of the study group's story mirroring Henry Hill telling the story of the Lucchese crime family's rise and fall.^[4] Several moments in the episode, such as the usage of "Layla" and the inclusion of freeze frames, are references to specific scenes in the movie.^[5] The chicken has been seen as a stand-in for either the cocaine^[5] or the cigarettes, liquor, and other drugs^[4] dealt in the film.

Abed remarks that Shirley's attempts to attract a man remind him of the Predator.^[6] A newspaper heading in one scene reads "Star-Gate", with clarification underneath that the reference is to the Watergate scandal, not the 1994 film Stargate.^[5] Shirley cites Tyler Perry's films when arguing why Abed needs to be stopped.^[6] Toward the middle of the episode, Pierce kisses Abed’s hand and Jeff glares and Troy closes the door, mirroring the final scene of The Godfather. Near the end of the episode, Abed and Jeff recreate a scene from Sixteen Candles by dining on a table.^[4][6] The episode also references the concept of a "very special episode".^[5]