We had six seasons of Community on TV, now we’re getting that long-promised movie too. 

(Updated 06/11/22): Dan Harmon confirms the involvement of Donald Glover.

It’s been over a month since our joy at the announcement of a Community movie… and while we were indeed thrilled, there were a couple of notable names missing from the project’s cast list.

This weekend, the show’s creator Dan Harmon has allayed concerns about one of those missing – Donald Glover.

During a keynote conversation at Variety‘s Business Managers Breakfast, Harmon spoke at length about the Community movie and said:

“For lack of a better word, there was a ball fumbled… [Glover] is down to clown. Man, I would not want to think about making [the movie] without Donald.”

Glover starred as Troy Barnes in the series, a former high school quarterback who ended up at Greendale Community College after losing his scholarship. Paired with Dani Pudi’s Abed, the duo’s fast friendship fueled some of the show’s highlights.

However, Glover left the show early in it’s fifth season. Since Greendale, he’s enjoyed success on both big and small screens, as well as a rap career as Childish Gambino.

Previously, Dan Harmon stressed that the previous announcement, which also didn’t include Yvette Nicole Brown, shouldn’t be seen as confirmation of those not participating:

“I think if there are names missing from a list, it’s because the names that are on the list, their deals are agreed upon enough that it’s OK to say they are on the list, and anybody that’s not on a list, it’s just not the case yet. So there is nothing official about anybody being out.”

A matter of passion

At that same event, Dan Harmon also talked about the process which decided which streamer would take the project. The choice apparently coming down to either Amazon or (the eventual winner) Peacock. He spoke about it coming down to a matter of passion, rather than finance, with NBC’s streamer winning out with thanks to their emphasis on marketing.

“Is it smart as a creative to go with the place that you think is more solvent? That’s not how a creative should think, you’re supposed to go with your passion, and ultimately, that is what we did.”

How refreshing, how very Greendale!

Original article continues…

Community – the movie is a go!

In a move guaranteed to thrill fans of Community, news has broken (Variety) that a movie follow-up to the beloved sitcom is really happening.

The show originally ran for 110 episode across six seasons (2009 – 2015); five on NBC, with a further one on the now defunct Yahoo Screen. It followed the increasingly bizarre exploits of a group of students at the Greendale Community College. Though inspired flights of fancy, the study group took on the world with wit, charm and increasingly meta humour.

Hailing back to a gag in an early episode, its fans have long been hoping for “six season and a movie” and we’ve known for a while that the show’s original creator Dan Harmon was working on a script More recently, positive comments from various cast members, and then Harmon himself, suggested that progress was being made.

Peacock

In what’s described as a “heavily competitive” deal, the NBC streamer Peacock have secured the project, jointly announcing with Sony Pictures Television. Their deal also includes non-exclusive rights to the full six-season back catalogue of the television show too. Currently, it streams on Netflix and Hulu in the US, and on Netflix UK.

Most of the show’s main cast are returning; Joel McHale (Jeff), Danny Pudi (Abed), Alison Brie (Annie), Gillian Jacobs (Britta), Jim Rash (Dean Pelton) and Ken Jeong (Ben Chang) will all reprise their roles.

However, there’s no mention of Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley) or Donald Glover (Troy). Or indeed Chevy Chase, although that’s deeply unlikely after his exit from the show and his character’s subsequent off-screen death.

As well as writing, Dan Harmon will executive produce, along with Andrew Guest, Joel McHale, Russ Krasnoff and Gary Foster. Sony Pictures Television and Universal Television are producing.

Naturally, there are precious few other details at the moment.

If you need to catch up on the show, check out our guide to 10 of the best ever episodes.

We’ll keep you posted on the Community movie. #sixseasonsandamovie