It was recently announced that on May 18th, the classic Community lineup of Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong and Donald Glover, along with writer-creator Dan Harmon, will reunite over a virtual table read for coronavirus relief.
Now, Harmon has stated “that there are conversations happening that people would want to be happening and that I’m very, very excited about the coming months” in conversation with TheWrap, who have interpreted this as all but confirmation that a feature-length instalment of Community is under discussion.
Harmon’s comments are effusive: “I can tell people for sure that the enthusiasm for ‘Community,’ both for all of this time and the resurgence of it, there’s always an aspect of that affects the marketplace. And when the marketplace gets affected, conversations happen. And when conversations happen, things happen.”
Perhaps most tellingly, he added “I mean, when you’re part of the ‘Community’ family, you learn never to raise expectations, keep ‘em nice and low and then be pleasantly surprised” – which suggests something more in the pipeline than the already-announced reunion, albeit something currently still hypothetical.
McHale offered similar sentiments in a recent interview with Variety, saying “There’s way more rumblings than there used to be…I think with the renewed interest, and I know the cast is interested, that it could happen.” This ‘renewed interest’ refers to Community being added to Netflix’s formidable library early this April, and finding its way to a sizable new audience.
The virtual table read is set to take place on the Community YouTube page on May 18th at 2 p.m. Pacific time, and will also include a fan Q&A session. Fans will be able to submit questions on social media using the tags #AskCommunity and @communitytv. The event is to benefit two charities, José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen and Frontline Foods, both of which are involved in distributing food to first responders and vulnerable communities.
The table read will see the cast re-enact the season 5 episode “Cooperative Polygraphy”, a.k.a. the one where they read Pierce’s will, with a guest appearance from Pedro Pascal as the executor of Pierce’s estate. Given that Chevy Chase, who played Pierce, is absent from the reunion, the choice of episode could be seen as a fairly pointed comment on just how many bridges Chevy burned with Harmon and the rest of the cast.
Community itself once saw Abed (Danny Pudi) leaning on the fourth wall by insisting that an in-universe show would last for “six seasons and a movie” – a phrase which has since become a rallying cry for the fanbase. Its television run did indeed last for six seasons, so as that movie goes, the fans have been champing at the bit since 2015.
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