Despite NBC’s decision to cancel “Community” last week, there was hope that the series could find a home elsewhere and deliver on the “Six Seasons and a Movie” mantra.
However, Deadline through some cold water on that notion with a story over the weekend that was titled “Community Unlikely To Go Elsewhere.” The basic premise of the report was that series creator Dan Harmon was ready to move on from “Community,” which would have killed any attempt to bring back the show.
Last night, Harmon answered that report with a lengthy post on his blog as he explained his initial reluctance to embrace a sixth season of “Community.”
“I will confess, however, that when Sony called me on Friday with the news, there was brief discussion at the end of the call about the concept of the show living elsewhere, and I was definitely in the ‘eh’ column,” explained Harmon.”But it doesn’t matter right now WHY I’d be lukewarm or if my reasons would be valid, what matters is, I won’t be lukewarm. I’ll heat up. I said ‘eh’ on a Friday afternoon, I will change it to a ‘sure, let’s talk’ on Monday morning and Sony can do their thing. I’m not going to be the guy that recancels cancelled Community.”
Harmon added that “If you want to know the God’s honest truth, part of my ‘eh’ was coming from the unsettling thought of your passion for campaigns being once again exploited by this rather unfair, somewhat backward system, one that now treats you like it’s your responsibility to keep a show alive, like a corporation is doing you a favor by feeding you low grade opiate through a regulated tube. Like you owe them an apology when they can’t measure or monetize you to their satisfaction. You deserve better.”
As it stands now, Comedy Central and Hulu are seemingly the best options for any “Community” revival simply because they already have the broadcast and streaming rights for the first five seasons. Harmon also hinted that “there are lots of reasons a Community resurrection could be difficult,” but it’s not entirely clear what he means. Presumably getting the show back and running isn’t as simple as fans may wish it to be.
One thing to keep in mind for fans holding out hope for “Community’s” return. It took seven years for “Arrested Development” to get a fourth season that most observers believed would never happen. “Community” has beaten long odds before, and it can again as long as Harmon, the cast and key members of the creative team are willing to keep it alive.
For now, the Greendale Human Beings and their devoted fans will just have to wait and see how it plays out. Personally, I think it’s going to happen. In one shape or another, “Community” will be back. This show inspires too much passion in the fans to be gone forever.
