Who is Annie Edison in Community?

Show

Community

Played by

Alison Brie

First episode

“Pilot”Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 17, 2009

Role

Main cast

Network

NBC

Occupation

Overachieving Greendale student

Show run

2009 to 2015Its sixth and final season streamed on Yahoo! Screen.

Also known as

Annie

Annie Edison is the earnest, hyper-organized star student of the Greendale study group, and the one member who actually knows how to study. Played by Alison Brie, she grows from a nervous perfectionist into the confident leader of the effort to save her school.

On Community, Annie Edison's story runs through Jeff Winger (Love Interest), Troy Barnes (Roommate), Abed Nadir (Roommate), Britta Perry (Friend), Shirley Bennett (Friend), and Ben Chang (Former Teacher).

Who is Annie Edison?

In high school Annie was a shy, anxious overachiever who became addicted to Adderall, and the end of her senior year brought a very public breakdown. She chose rehab against her mother's wishes, which cost her the support of her family, so she arrives at Greendale living on her childhood savings and determined to make a fresh start.

She already knew Troy from high school, where she had a crush on him, and she joins the study group in the pilot. As the youngest member, she is often treated as the group's little sister, a role she alternately embraces and pushes against.

Personality and comedy

Annie is fiercely organized, competitive about grades, and devoted to keeping the group together. She records and transcribes her lectures, joins the debate team and the school paper, and plans campus events with frightening enthusiasm. When she wants something, she deploys her "Disney face," a wide-eyed look that makes saying no almost impossible.

Her sweetness can flip into intensity in an instant, and the show gets big laughs from Annie losing her composure when a plan falls apart. Over time she relaxes, especially after moving in with Troy and Abed, and she grows more confident in her own judgment.

Key storylines

Annie's connection with Jeff is one of the show's longest-running threads. She kisses him to win a debate competition in season one and again at the end of that season, and their mutual attraction simmers for years, complicated by their age difference. In "Virtual Systems Analysis," a session in Abed's Dreamatorium pushes her to look honestly at how she feels.

In season two Annie lives in a rough apartment above an adult store, until Troy and Abed invite her to move in with them in season three. After graduating she takes a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep, then returns to Greendale in season five and leads the Save Greendale Committee. The series ends with Annie heading to Washington, D.C., for an internship at the FBI.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Alison Brie plays Annie in all six seasons. Annie's arc, from an anxious student desperate for approval to the person holding Greendale together, is one of the clearest growth stories on the show, and her Disney face and her fondness for a good plan became fan favorites.

Peacock announced a Community movie in 2022, and in February 2023 Brie and Danny Pudi confirmed they would both return for it.

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