During Community season 1, Pierce Hawthorne's father is implied to be deceased, but he later appears in season 3, introducing a plot hole; however, the show offered an amusing explanation. Of the seven original members of Greendale's study group, Pierce (Chevy Chase) was always clearly intended to be both an odd man out and the least likable member. Pierce's most notable quality is his knack for casually saying racist, sexist, and other prejudiced things in front of everyone, sometimes seemingly not realizing he's displaying offensive behavior.
Pierce's failure to understand modern culture can partially be chalked up to his advanced age, but it's also clearly a product of his upbringing, as he's the heir to his father's moist towelette company, Hawthorne Wipes. Still, those explanations can only go so far, and there were many instances in which the other members of the Community study group grew so fed up with his antics that they took to avoiding or excluding him from activities. Naturally, this led to bouts of resentment between both sides.
Still, Pierce Hawthorne isn't completely heartless and has come through for his friends when they needed him to more than once. And when the show finally features Pierce's father Cornelius in a story during season 3, it's revealed that the even older man is so full of prejudice and wildly outdated opinions that he makes Pierce look positively harmless, making it a wonder Pierce didn't turn out worse. Yet, Cornelius showing up likely made many fans do a double-take, as prior episodes had said the man was dead.
In Community season 1 episode "Introduction to Statistics," Pierce, being technologically impaired, accidentally calls his mother Marian, and she ends up on speaker too. Thus, the rest of the study group overhears when Pierce's mom mentions the fact that she believes she saw her husband's ghost recently. Considering Pierce's age, the idea that his dad is dead isn't too hard to accept, and that's believed to be the case for the next couple of seasons.
Then, during Community season 3's "Advanced Gay", Cornelius Hawthorne, played by Deadwood actor Larry Cedar, appears in person, looking very much like KFC's Colonel Sanders, and leaving the study group perplexed. Clearly, Community creator Dan Harmon noticed the inconsistency and anticipated the show's diehard fans quickly and snidely pointing it out. So, he opted to head them off at the pass, having Pierce explain when questioned by his friends that his mother simply prefers to believe her husband is dead. It's a suitably funny explanation for what would otherwise be a pretty big plot hole, fits the Community spirit, and considering how awful a person Cornelius is, is entirely understandable. Ironically, Cornelius would genuinely be killed off later in that episode.
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