Jeff Winger shouldn’t hang that law shingle just yet, but Dean Pelton can officially dust off his best cheerleader costume, because “Community” is back in session. Again. Again.
The little show that could has risen from the dead once more thanks to a last-minute stay-of-execution from Yahoo. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the whole gang will be back on board for the Yahoo reboot, including show runner Dan Harmon and stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong and Jim Rash.
The ratings-challenged sitcom canceled by NBC in May will join a few other original offerings on Yahoo from executive producers Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) and Mike Tollin (“Smallville”). At one point it looked like McHale and the gang might be headed to Hulu, but even Harmon seemed skeptical about its ninth life.
“I’m not going to be the guy that recancels cancelled ‘Community,’” he wrote in a blog post shortly after the NBC cancellation. “But there are lots of reasons a ‘Community’ resurrection could be difficult. So be prepared for that.”
But on Monday, Harmon was all smiles. “I am very pleased that ‘Community’ will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online. I vow to dominate our new competition.”
McHale was pretty pumped too, saying, “#SixSeasonsAndaMovie is real. Thank you Sony. Thank you Yahoo. Thank you Dan Harmon. And thank you to the greatest f%$#ing fans in the history of the human race. It’s the internet. We can swear now.”
Yahoo chief marketing officer Kathy Savitt told the Reporter that she was a huge fan of the show and explained why Yahoo is the perfect place for the series. “Yahoo has always been a place where people come every day to consume all kinds of content,” she said. “It’s [‘Community’] certainly the greatest example that I’ve seen in a long time of a story that has not only connected with an audience but deserves to have a huge platform to introduce new audience members to the power of the show… This is a fan base that has used digital channels to show their passion and advocacy for a program that’s really important to them on so many levels. We’ve been looking at it for a while.”
Savitt would not discuss the length of the company’s commitment, but said that all parties are interested in keeping “Community” a “world-class” show. Current plans call for 13 new episodes to launch in the fall.
Are you excited about “Community” returning?
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