Joel McHale hinted at such back when he appeared on Conan at the start of the month ahead of the Community season finale, but now it appears to be true. The show is likely finished as a television program. McHale repeated his thoughts in a recent interview with Esquire and noted that costs would be very high to keep the sitcom going as a series, but that doesn’t mean a movie is out of the question:
Now that Community ended its sixth season on Yahoo!, is it actually over?All of our contracts ended this season. They would have to significantly increase some of the pay of some of the actors, I think. For so long, we were on NBC against The Big Bang Theory and we would get some numbers, which were actually very helpful to the Thursday night numbers, but they canceled us. And thank God for Yahoo! Screen. I really do think there’ll be a movie.
I’ve seen Yahoo insinuate that on Twitter.
I think what has to happen is that Dan [Harmon, creator] needs to write the script. It’s a tall order for someone. “Go write a brilliant movie script on a beloved show that you’ve been writing for six years. Go! Just go ahead and do that!” I don’t think that is something that’s like, “Let me just have a long weekend.” The cast would do it. We would all do it.
None of that means Community IS over as a series, but it does cast some hefty shade on the notion. Now we play the waiting game with Dan Harmon and his procrastination skills (finely tuned if you listen to the Harmontown podcast or watch the documentary of the same name). Hopefully it goes a little better than it did when we were all waiting for Mitchel Hurwitz to get on with making a new season of Arrested Development (and its movie).
McHale made the perfect comparison to the film happening, just hopefully not to the extreme effect as the folks he’s referencing:
You think there’s one more story to tell?
Much like a Japanese general in World War II, or any war before that, the only option is success. If there isn’t, then it’s suicide. I really do think there’ll be a movie. It might be false optimism, but I really think there will be. The more people read and talk about it, the more it gets stirred up. I think it’ll be bigger than Pitch Perfect 2.
By ‘folks’ I meant Pitch Perfect fans. They make a banzai charge look like a country barn dance. Wait, does this mean the Community movie is going to take place in World War II? With a capella singing? And how about a vampire?
Please, make it so.
(Via Esquire)
