The other night, Paintball was the highlight of the show Community. On the show they played a game called “Assassin”, which was basically a massive free-for-all match that encompassed the entire university. The last man standing won “priority registration,” which granted them a first-in-line chance to register for classes. The show was filled with fantastical moves that included wall jumps, sliding, diving, a slow action shot sequence that captured 2 paintballs colliding amidst the air, and finally an epic paint filled explosion.
What Paintball Guns Were Used?
The paintball guns used on the show were brightly colored and almost toy-looking. It took a while for me to realize what they were, but behind the brightly colored paint were Tippmann TPX pistols.
These paintball pistols are normally black, and feature an 8 round magazine clip, integrated regulator, external velocity adjuster, removable barrel, and a very comfortable grip. The Tippmann TPX is powered by one 12 gram co2 cartridge that is inserted into the chamber directly underneath the barrel. You typically can get anywhere from 30 to 40 shots per 12 gram co2 cartridge. Lastly, how much do one of these fine pistols retail for? It can be had for about $219 at most online paintball stores.
The other marker used on the show was a orange tiger-striped BT-TM-15. This paintball gun was sported by Community character “Senor Chang”, who set out to stop the main characters from winning. This fast firing paintball marker is fully electronic, has multiple firing modes, and currently retails for $459. In this episode Senor Chang busts into a room rocking the TM-15 on full-auto to the sound of oriental music. Indeed one of the funniest moments of the show.
While many avid paintball players may deem the use of paintball in this episode as unsafe and damaging, please first note that this show is a farce. Yeah they aren’t wearing masks, and yes in all actuality getting shot in the forehead from 3 feet away would hurt like hell… but just remember, this isn’t real paintball, it’s just a wacky depiction of it. It’s merely using paintball in a way that works best for the show – a way that allows you to read into the funny expressions/reactions of characters. With that said, below is the “Modern Warfare” Episode conveniently embedded for your viewing pleasure. Below is also a collection of screen captures of the best moments of the episode.
Screen Captured Highlights of This Episode
For your reference, the episode is titled “Modern Warfare”, and a list of all episodes involving the game “Assassin” can be found here. It so happens the show went on to air 3 more episodes like it, with a few episodes featuring flashbacks of the game.
Attribution: Cast picture by Kieth Mcduffee via Flickr. Community originally aired on NBC. Screen captures via Hulu.