Community didn’t always bring in the viewer numbers for NBC, but as far as comedy television shows go, it ranks up near the top for many longtime fans. The critical darling won a bevy of awards during its six seasons, including Favorite New TV Comedy and Best Comedy Series, and has gone on to become a cult classic story of a community college study group and their non-stop drama and hijinks.
After NBC cancelled the series in 2014, Yahoo! picked it up for a 13-episode sixth season before eventually dropping it as well. Coincidentally, things lined up perfectly with the fan-adopted slogan of “six season and a movie,” leaving many to wait and wonder when the elusive Community film might finally see the light of day. News has cropped up from time to time that seemed to indicate movement from creator Dan Harmon and the original cast, but things have never seemed to get off the ground, despite most of them expressing continued interest in capping off the story of the close-knit study group.
However, if Joel McHale – who played Jeff Winger on the show – is to be believed, the film may be inching ever closer to reality. The star recently made an appearance on an Instagram live-stream with Variety to discuss his work on Netflix’s popular docu-series Tiger King. During the discussion, McHale seemed very optimistic about the future of the movie, going so far as to state that he feels that they’re closer than ever to making it happen.
There are way more grumblings than there used to be. I know that Alison [Brie] Instagrammed or tweeted that she got a phone call from Sony. And they still haven’t called me, maybe Matthew Lillard will take over.
There’s a better chance than there’s ever been, and Donald [Glover] will be very available and totally affordable. I would say, for a long time I was like, ‘Never gonna happen,’ and now with the renewed interest, and I know the cast is interested, that it could happen. And if we could finally get Steve Carell than we’re gonna be thrilled.
Dan Harmon has yet to verify whether he’s completed a script for a Community film, nor has any information leaked regarding potential story ideas or character returns. It’s safe to say, however, that we’re all going to keep our fingers crossed. Six seasons and a movie, dammit!