Jim Rash never brought his Oscar (for co-writing “The Descendants” with Nat Faxon) to the set of “Community” while shooting the Season 4 episode he recently penned, but in hindsight it might have been a good idea.
“I probably should have [brought it],” Rash told me on the red carpet at PaleyFest last week. “I got so disrespected, but I kept forgetting it.”
The upcoming episode, Rash’s first writing credit on the series, continues departed showrunner Dan Harmon’s penchant for wacky storylines by boasting as its hook a “body swap” between besties Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) – which led me to ask whether we’ll see a corresponding dynamic between any of the other characters.
“Sort of…you’ll have to see,” said Rash of the possibility. “[But] there’s a nice B-story with Annie and Shirley, and then [my character] obviously…Dean’s involved with Troy and Abed’s…body switching story.”
Also stopping by to chat was Rash’s co-star Yvette Nicole Brown, who said that while she as an actress is certainly thankful for the amount of time her character Shirley spends with her community college study group (“I’m glad she does, because the show’s called ‘Community,’ and if she did not I wouldn’t be on the show as much!” she exclaimed), Shirley herself may be starting to question where her commitments really lie.
“I do think Shirley is starting to wonder ‘whaatt?'” said Brown. “She made a comment at InSpecTiCon [in Season 4 episode ‘Conventions of Space and Time’] like, ‘This is why I’m not with you guys on the weekends, cause this is what you do? I could be home with my babies and my husband!’ So she’s starting to realize that her time is probably not spent the best way.”
To hear what else Rash and Brown had to say (further topics include the hole left by creator Dan Harmon’s departure and their hopes for a Season 5), you can check out the full interviews above and below.