Can Community Actually Get Six Seasons and a Movie?

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When Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) did all he could to save The Cape in Season 2 of Community, no one could have known that one line he had — “Six seasons and a movie!” — would turn into a rallying cry for Community itself as the show moved forward. Yet here we are with Community, against the odds, in the home stretch of its fifth season and fans are anxious to find out... will the show get that sixth season? And could a movie, in some form, actually be possible?

Earlier this week, TV Guide reported that not only are insiders at Sony (who produce the series) and NBC optimistic about a Season 6, but that there has been some talk of a movie - and even a possible director. That director is Justin Lin, who did the third through sixth Fast and the Furious movies and has directed several Community episodes, including the first paintball episode in Season 1. TV Guide also notes that these days “a movie” could mean many different things, from a TV movie to something released via video on demand, such as the recent Veronica Mars film (which also had a small theatrical release).

Yvette Nicole Brown shows her love for Harmon at PaleyFest.

Yvette Nicole Brown shows her love for Dan Harmon at PaleyFest.

At PaleyFest this week, where Community was returning for a record fifth appearance to an audience of adoring fans, I asked series creator Dan Harmon about the show’s potential future, starting with a possible Season 6. Said Harmon of the possibility of renewal vs. cancellation, “It’s a win/win, right? Now it's going to be equally historical whether we get it or don't. That's the weirdest thing about it. Can you think of anything weirder than getting the sixth season? Yes, one weirder thing... Not getting it! Either way, it's going to be the most incredible story ever. Because you can still call the book about Community 'Six Seasons and a Movie,' if the story ends at Season 5. It will just be a story of this thing that never got to happen.”

There are three more Community episodes set to air this season, including an ambitious animated homage to G.I. Joe, which is still being worked on, a week before it airs. Harmon’s fellow executive producer and showrunner, Chris McKenna, told me, “I really never try to count the show out. It's insane that even though we wrapped in December, we’re still producing these last few episodes. That's really what I'm focusing on right now. I don't know. I keep on hearing threatened rumors of a sixth season. It's got to be something that people feel... that the gods that be, who are the money guys, must determine that they can ring some more money out of the show that way, then fine. But it would be exciting to have this sort of thrown off joke in the second season, which fans embraced, turn into this reality.”

Click through the gallery of photos from Community's G.I. Joe episode:

Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) becomes Wingman in Community's animated "G.I. Jeff" episode, airing April 3rd.

Annie (Alison Brie) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) are Tight Ship and Buzzkill in Community's animated "G.I. Jeff" episode, airing April 3rd.

Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) becomes Three Kids in Community's animated "G.I. Jeff" episode, airing April 3rd.

Noted Jim Rash (“Dean Pelton”) of Community’s uncertain status, “It's the same thing every year. Except for Season 1 to 2, it was never a sure thing. And I feel like the best news we have is the sense that this season there was sort of this renewed energy and I felt like it was showing what Community has and the stories it still has left. At the same time, I love the proclamation of six seasons and a movie. I'd do it until the end of days, but it's so nice to hold that realization that we can really finish it and there's something about Community ending with a movie which just seems right, because it deserves something epic, because that's sort of its voice. So that's all we can do, is wait and hope.”

Jim Rash at PaleyFest.

Jim Rash at PaleyFest.

Said Yvette Nicole Brown (“Shirley Bennet”), “We're very close to six seasons and a movie, and if NBC at all cares about that then they will probably give us a short season and maybe a TV movie to make everybody happy. I really have no idea. I can't call it!”

When it came to the TV Guide report of the movie becoming more likely, Harmon said, “I don't really have any insight into that”, while McKenna remarked, “I've heard that it's been kicked around in the corridors of power. It would be ridiculous if we actually did it all. But yeah, it would be fun.”

The creators of Community work notoriously long hours and McKenna joked, “I think Dan and I, if we're going back for another season, would probably have to be talking to divorce lawyers or maybe Dan [who is currently engaged] could do a quickie marriage and then talk to a divorce lawyer. It's an all-consuming show, but we love it. If we can land this baby with another season and a movie, then I think yeah, it would be the kind of karma that the fans have created. That's pretty exciting.”

Rash noted that when it came to a movie, “There's always talk. The Justin Lin stuff, that started in the first season. We were shooting the first paintball episode and I think Justin said, 'I'd love to shoot an action movie.' And I think 'Okay!' I have no idea when that main six seasons and a movie started, but that I remember quite visibly.”

Danny Pudi, Jacobs and a lurking Dan Harmon at PaleyFest.

Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs and a lurking Dan Harmon at PaleyFest.

I asked Pudi what it was like to be the guy who said the line that became such a focal point and he replied, “Unfortunately it didn’t happen for The Cape! I truly never thought… I remember saying that line and then when it became this message on Twitter, and the fans embraced it, secretly, I was like, ‘That will never happen for our show! This show is too bananas! It’s too ruthless out there in the TV landscape.’ But yet here we are. So I think it is possible! I think it’s just like the show. It's been this really wild ride. It’s up and down. We never know what’s gonna happen, on or off camera and I’m thankful for that. I like that. I think it’s a great way to keep the comedy fresh, to keep our show spontaneous and original. So if it happens, I’ll be super thankful. I still don’t know. But I’ll be like, ‘Yes, why not?!’”

Brown said she’s learned to accept Community’s always-uncertain future. “This is the business. Our fans are great but they don't have nielsen boxes. They've never had them. They will get the offer when we are canceled. So we understand that. We've always been on borrowed time, so any extra season we get, it's like, 'Thanks! Thanks, NBC! Thanks, fans!' None of it is guaranteed.”

The most optimistic of the bunch was Gillian Jacobs (“Britta”), who proclaimed to me, “I believe that the prophecy of six seasons and a movie must come true at this point. Just karmically, the universe wants it, we're all shifting towards it. It must happen. That’s my belief.”

When I brought up how it’s funny how this campaign all came from that single line of dialogue, she remarked, “Yeah, I know, right? It resonated with the universe. It's part of the zeitgeist at this point… and you can't mess with the zeitgeist! So I think we should make it happen.”

The final three episodes of Community: Season 5 begin airing on Thursday, April 3rd on NBC.

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