Motif

Guest-star reversibility

A one-episode guest is given an exit route that preserves the continuing character's canon rather than overwriting it.

Works this runs through

Appearances, in order

Date	Where	In what connection	State
1996-03-10	NewsRadio S02E16 “Houses of the Holy”	Reversible guest biography / acknowledged absence	Scene reading
1996-03-10	NewsRadio S02E16 “Houses of the Holy”	Theo, Jimmy’s magician nephew	Established interpretation
1996-03-24	NewsRadio S02E17 “Physical Graffiti”	Stewart, Lisa’s ex-boyfriend	Documented fact
1996-11-06	NewsRadio S03E06 “Awards Show”	Himself	Documented fact
1996-11-20	NewsRadio S03E08 “Movie Star”	Himself	Documented fact
1997-01-08	NewsRadio S03E12 “Rap”	Himself	Documented fact
1997-03-12	NewsRadio S03E18 “Twins”	Andrew, Matthew’s supposed twin	Documented fact
1998-01-13	NewsRadio S04E11 “Chock”	Bob, David, Brian; Dave’s old a cappella group	Scene reading
1998-11-04	NewsRadio S05E06 “Jail”	Johnny Johnson	Working hypothesis
1998-11-24	NewsRadio S05E08 “Clash of the Titans”	Himself	Documented fact
1999-02-16	NewsRadio S05E15 “Assistant”	Lisa’s assistant	Working hypothesis
2013-04-04	Community S04E08 “Herstory of Dance”	Reversible guest biography / acknowledged absence	Scene reading
2015-04-14	Community S06E06 “Basic Email Security”	Child cyber-crime officer partnered with Cackowski	Established interpretation

A direct callback and another appearance of the same inherited mechanism are different claims. The connection type in the table says which one each row is.