okay, swap an ep out for the 8-bit video game ep and/or the shirley/jeff fuzeball ep

I know claymation episode is special, but the first season Christmas episode is funnier and would be friendlier to newbies. It's one of my personal faves anyway, so that's my vote. (Anthony Michael Hall and the cast of Breakin'! Troy's Forrest Whitaker face! The fight montage to Florence Welch!)

I would also put in a plug for one of the show's most perfect non-event episodes, "Cooperative Calligraphy" or the Bottle Episode.

My picks:

Introduction to Statistics
Comparative Religion
Physical Education
Modern Warfare
Epidemiology
Cooperative Calligraphy
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

The second season two-part paintball eps are awesome but requires too much backstory and less fab without knowing all the stuff that came before. Ditto the clip episode.

okay, swap an ep out for the 8-bit video game ep and/or the shirley/jeff fuzeball ep

Those are after "Remedial Chaos Theory," though.

The two-parter is pretty relevant for the group dynamics, though, now that I think about it.

The second season two-part paintball eps are awesome but requires too much backstory and less fab without knowing all the stuff that came before. Ditto the clip episode.

Hm.

Those are after "Remedial Chaos Theory,"

oh shit! of course.

okay, then you need "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"

"You can't disappoint a picture!"

I asked over on Mark Spoils too, and it's really interesting and fun to see people's lists and justifications. A few episodes do keep popping up (I'm glad pretty much everyone has "Contemporary American Poultry" on their list, because I want to show that one). And I like this justification of "Cooperative Calligraphy":

This episode is like a one-timeline test run of "Remedial Chaos Theory." It's pretty much essential.

Before they watch Chaos Theory, they should know that Troy and Pierce lived together, so maybe Pascal's Triangle Revisited (which also has Jeff/Annie) and/or The Psychology of Letting Go. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design for Annie saying she has a gun because she lives in a bad neighborhood. Or Celebrity Pharmacology.

Paradigms of Human Memory is good for backstory in a nutshell, I think.

Though, honestly, you can watch RCT cold and it's pretty great. It was among the first episodes I saw, and I enjoyed it more after I'd seen everything that led up to it, but I enjoyed it a hell of a lot that first time.

Though, honestly, you can watch RCT cold and it's pretty great. It was among the first episodes I saw, and I enjoyed it more after I'd seen everything that led up to it, but I enjoyed it a hell of a lot that first time.

Precisely this.

I think I'm looking at this list right now tentatively:

Introduction to Statistics
Debate 109
Comparative Religion
Contemporary American Poultry
Modern Warfare
Epidemiology
Cooperative Calligraphy
Mixology Certification
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking
Paradigms of Human Memory
Remedial Chaos Theory

It's 12 episodes, but it's a good mix of "regular" episodes and out-of-the-box episodes. I don't want to just have all the weird episodes. "Comparative Religion" is also a Christmas episode, so that works out (they have a tree-trimming party every year, so it's appropriate). Plus I saw that it has Troy's "fiiiiiigh-ting" moment.

Those are good choices

I agree.