The ‘Community’ Movie Is Finally Happening: Here’s Why Fans Should Be Excited

Ever since its second season, Community has had its own rallying cry: six seasons and a movie. In 2015, the now-defunct Yahoo! Screen made that hope for a sixth season come true. And now, in the year of our lord 2022, Peacock has announced every fan’s biggest dream. Human Beings, the Community movie is officially happening.

Joel McHale was the first star to tease the news on Friday morning (September 30). Optimistic tweets like this have cropped up in the past but have amounted to nothing. Not this time. Roughly 15 minutes after McHale’s tweet, Peacock’s official account dropped this gem:

At the moment, we have no idea when the Community movie will premiere on Peacock. But thanks to McHale’s original tweet, we have an idea of who will be returning. Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs, and the one and only Donald Glover were all tagged in that first tweet. Peacock also confirmed that Jim Rash will be returning for the movie. This is huge news, primarily because fans have long thought that one of the major holdups to the movie would be Glover’s schedule. But since this news dropped after Glover has retired as Childish Gambino and Atlanta‘s final season is currently airing, it seems that will no longer be a concern (though of note, Glover’s name was not included in Peacock’s official press release).

“‘Six seasons and a movie’ started out as a cheeky line from Community’s early seasons and quickly ignited a passionate fan movement for this iconic, hilarious and cool (cool, cool) NBC comedy,” said Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming in a press release. “We’re incredibly grateful that 15 years later, we are able to deliver fans this promised movie and can’t wait to get to work with Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest, Joel McHale, Sony and our partners at UTV to continue this epic comedy for Peacock audiences.”

The only main cast member who was excluded from McHale’s tweet was Chevy Chase. That’s not entirely surprising as Chase’s Piece was killed off in Season 5. The actor also caused stress behind the scenes and made “racist cracks” to Glover.

Also missing from this cast list are Paget Brewster and Keith David, who starred in Season 6, and Jonathan Banks and John Oliver, who starred in Season 5. It seems possible that all could for the movie. Rash and David have both appeared in Rick and Morty, and Brewster has praised her role on Community. But only time will tell who’s going to return.

As exciting as this movie is, it’s coming fairly late in the game. The first season of Community premiered on NBC in 2009, 13 years ago. But if any show can pull it off, it’s this one. Community was always about embracing mediocracy and learning to make the best out of pretty disappointing circumstances. In this bizarre universe, it makes sense that what’s left of the Greendale 7 would randomly return for one final adventure over a decade after they first met.

This is also a narrative gap that series creator Dan Harmon now seems capable of bridging. This is partially because few creators have had more experience writing finales, then turning around and starting another season. But as a creator, Harmon himself has grown. The executive producer we know today, who can step aside and let other people steer his shows, is a different creator than the man who gained a reputation for feuding with NBC. There’s a very high chance that this revival movie won’t just work… It could be great.

It just goes to show everyone that if you mobilize fans to annoyingly demand something for long enough, that thing can come true. Welcome back to Greendale, everyone.