Shirley Bennett

Shirley Bennett is a main character in the Sony/NBC television series Community. She is a graduate of Greendale Community College and also the proprietor of the campus eatery "Shirley's Sandwiches". She enrolled not long after her divorce from her husband Andre who had left her and their children for a stripper named Mysti. Her goal at school was to take business courses, which would help her market her baked goods to the masses. During her time at Greendale she became close friends with her study group. In her sophomore year she reconciled with her husband Andre and had another child with him. In her third year at school Shirley remarried Andre and also went into business with her fellow study group member Pierce Hawthorne. After four years, she graduated with honors, earning a business degree. Not long afterwards, she made a few bad financial decisions which hurt her family and led to another separation from her husband. An unexpected reunion with her study group made her decide to re-enroll at Greendale to become a better business women. Shirley also joined the "Save Greendale Committee" to improve life on campus and successfully reopened her sandwich shop in the cafeteria.
She is portrayed by Yvette Nicole Brown, who also played Helen Dubois in Drake & Josh.
== Character History ==
==== Season One: ====
Shirley is invited to a Spanish study group by Abed along with a few other classmates. Although she discovers it's fake, she and the rest of the members decide to form a real one. She spends the year struggling to accept the fact her marriage is over and trying to build a new life while balancing the responsibilities left over from her old one. She eventually manages to juggle both her academic life and personal life all while trying to fit in with her new friends in the study group. She becomes close to Britta but comes into conflict with Pierce on a few occasions. The end of the year sees her supporting Britta bid for Tranny Queen and trying to offer the younger woman some advice on her relationship with Jeff.
==== Season Two: ====
In Shirley's second year at Greendale she and the study group take Anthropology together. A crazy Halloween party at the beginning of the semester sees Shirley and Ben Chang having a one night stand although due to outside influences, though they have no memory of the incident. Shirley reconciles with her ex-husband Andre Bennett and they start dating. Her past history as an alcoholic is revealed when the study group celebrates Troy's birthday at a bar she used to frequent. She discovers she is pregnant and that due to evidence Troy presents to her, Ben Chang may be the father and not Andre. At the end of the year she gives birth in the Anthropology classroom and the baby's true parentage is revealed. She later takes a vote along with the rest of the study group on whether or not Pierce should be asked to rejoin them in the next semester. In the western themed end of the year school picnic, Shirley participates in what was to be a quick paintball game which turned into an all out war against Greendale's rival school City College. She successfully triggers a trap inside the school's library which eliminates a lot of the invaders. Later, she and Britta using the Campus security patrol cart launch a last ditch assault on the City College machine gun post and succeed in taking out but are unfortunately also eliminated themselves form the game.
==== Season Three: ====
In Shirley's third year at Greendale, she and the study group are taking Biology class together. She discovers a shared history she has with Jeff which had a profound impact on both of them. She later helps Abed out by participating in a celebrity impersonator Bar Mitzvah in order to cancel out his debt to Vinnie. Andre proposes to her and they get remarried in an impromptu ceremony while at the same time she becomes partners with Pierce in a proposed sandwich shop thanks to the encouragement of Britta. Towards the end of the year, she and the study group are expelled form school thanks to Ben Chang's machinations. Once she is reinstated, she and Pierce are given the go ahead by Dean Pelton to open up "Shirley's Sandwiches" in the school cafeteria. However, Pierce takes her to "Greendale Summer Court" in order to be named sole owner of the shop. Jeff represents her against his old colleague Alan Conner, who is representing Pierce. Jeff delivers a patented "Winger speech" that settles the dispute.
==== Season Four: ====
In Shirley's fourth year at Greendale, she is now running the Sandwich shop while finishing up her business studies at the school. She and the study group are taking History 101 after a registration snafu forces them to abandon their plans on taking another class called "History of Ice Cream". She invites the study group to attend her Thanksgiving Day dinner with her in-laws. After Ben Chang returns to the campus claiming to have amnesia, she hires him as a worker at Shirley's Sandwiches. It's later discovered that she and Annie are both in contention for valedictorian which causes some tension between the two of them. This is also shown when she and Annie compete to find the perfect date for Abed to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with. Although nervous about taking a P.E.E. class with Troy she soon finds her experience as a mother has made her a natural P.E. Coach. When Abed investigates the study group members interconnected origins he uncovers a connection between Jeff and Shirley. Back when Jeff was a lawyer he defended a stripper named Mysti who also happened to be the same woman Andre cheated on Shirley with. Towards the end of the school year Shirley, along with the rest of the study group, celebrates Jeff's graduation in a ceremony held inside Group Study Room F.
==== Season Five: ====
After graduation, Shirley focused too much on her failing business so Andre left her and took the kids. Once Jeff accepted a teaching job at Greendale, Shirley re-enrolled along with the study group intent on becoming a better business women. Shirley talked Abed through his latest mental breakdown and joined a special "Save Greendale Committee". She reopened "Shirley's Sandwiches" and profited during the "Ass Crack Bandit" crisis. Shirley passed the news of Pierce Hawthorne's death onto her friends and participated in a polygraph investigation into it led by a Mr. Stone. When the inquest finished, Shirley is bequeathed Pierce's time share in Florida along with a canister of his sperm. Shirley created a safe haven from a campus wide game of "Hot Lava" called "Shirley's Island" and says goodbye to a departing Troy. Afterwards, Shirley becomes a popular figure at school thanks to a status ranking app. Later, she and the committee try to move stolen merchandise and helped Buzz Hickey reconnect with his son Hank. When Greendale is about to be sold to the Subway corporation, Shirley and the committee tries to save the school. She helps distract Chang, Richie and Carl while the others continue the mission. She and Buzz are interrogated by a "psychic" Richie. When the school is saved, Shirley joined in on an impromptu celebration that broke out in the cafeteria.
==== Season Six: ====
Shirley was unable to re-enroll for another year at Greendale as her father had become ill and she had to relocate to Atlanta, Georgia to care for him. While she was away she left Britta in charge of her sandwich shop as accepted a new job as a personal chef for a private investigator named Mister Butcher. Although he was confined to a wheel chair Butcher was an accomplished local sleuth. Along with her cooking duties, Shirley also assisted him on a few of his cases. Despite his success, he was haunted by the one case he never solved involving his missing wife. Shirley had to deal with Butcher's constant depression over this, which even led him to attempting suicide several times. Shirley continually reminded him of all the good he's done in solving other cases. She also assured him she'd help him until he found his wife or regained the use of his legs. At the end of the school year at Greendale, uncertainty about the future had the Save Greendale committee thinking about what to expect for the next semester. In a few scenarios, each member imagined Shirley had rejoined the group. Abed thought she would resume her role as the sassy mother hen of the group. In Dean Pelton version, Shirley and Elroy Patashnik had stereotypical roles as the token African-Americans on the committee.
Category:Female
Category:Comedy Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Sitcom Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Parents
Category:Jerks
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:Optimists
Category:Determinators
Category:Rivals
Category:Selfless
Category:Arrogant
Category:Loyal
Category:Envious
Category:Wrathful
Category:Unwanted
Category:In Love
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Xenophobes
Category:Neutral Good
Category:Lawful Neutral