“Six seasons and a movie,” Abed (Danny Pudi) said in a Season 2 episode of Community, and now that prophecy is coming true. As Deadline reports and Jeff Winger himself (Joel McHale) confirms, Community: The Movie is in development at Peacock.
The new flick will be written by series creator Dan Harmon, and will return many of the original stars: McHale, Pudi, Alison Brie (Annie Eddison), Gillian Jacobs (Britta Perry), Jim Rash (Craig Pelton), and Ken Jeong (Ben Chang).
A few big names are unsurprisingly absent from that list. Donald Glover starred as Troy Barnes for the first five seasons, but even though his new show Atlanta is coming to an end, he still has more projects in development than Childish Gambino has bars. Granted, McHale did tag Glover in his tweet about the announcement, but he also tagged Gillian Anderson instead of Gillian Jacobs, and official Peacock press materials have given no mention of Glover’s name.
Yvette Nicole Brown also left after Season 5, and is currently part of the main cast on Disney+’s Big Shot. And Chevy Chase played Pierce Hawthrone for the first four seasons and part of Season 5, but exited after clashing with, well, everybody. In other words, even with a new movie, “Streets ahead” is never going to happen.
Community first aired in 2009 and ran for over 100 at times bumpy episodes. Harmon was fired after Season 3, but when critics panned Season 4 he was brought back for Season 5. Then NBC canceled the show, only for it to be revived on Yahoo Screen for its sixth and final season. But inconsistent ratings are less of an issue during the streaming age, and Community has a die-hard following that is happy to follow a series-long rewatch by pressing play on the pilot once again. With that audience in mind, Peacock has also acquired the non-exclusive rights to every episode of the show.
Jason Clodfelter, Co-President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, said in a statement, “Community was light years ahead of its time when it premiered on NBC in 2009, and we are thrilled to once again visit the brilliant minds of Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest and this impeccable cast.”
.@alisonbrie @kenjeong @dannypudi @YNB @donaldglover @GillianA @peacock @SonyTV @CommunityTV pic.twitter.com/ynVqgaPuQD
Advertisement— Joel McHale (@joelmchale) September 30, 2022
