Keep fighting, champions of Greendale. The war is not over. Community (the winner of TV.com's Best of 2011 award for Best Overall Series) may have been bumped from NBC's midseason schedule, but it will be back to finish out Season 3, says NBC chieftain Bob Greenblatt.
"I want to dispel any notion that [Community is] just quietly disappearing from the schedule," Greenblatt told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour today. "I failed to explicitly say it will be back." It's true. When Community was unceremoniously shoved off NBC's plan in November, little was said about the show's fate except that it would return at a later time. But as anyone in the TV industry knows, the standard PR game is to calm fears now and worry about the truth later.
Greenblatt's promise should soothe fans of the NBC comedy, and he insists the show will return later this spring. But as for a Season 4? This is where it gets tricky. When asked, Greenblatt was non-committal: "Fourth season, I don't know. Those are really hard questions to answer at this point." That can be taken one of two ways. Either the new boss is learning that being honest sometimes means being vague, or he's intentionally being vague because he already knows the answer and doesn't want to start a sh*tstorm during what is his network's time in the limelight.
"I'm really curious to see what something else will do [in Community's time slot]," he added. "We have a really tight schedule with comedies."
So there you have it, Community fans. Good news: it's coming back. Bad news: Season 4 still is very much up in the air.
Additional reporting by Louis Peitzman.
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
Comments (67)
I used to look forward to my comedy Thursdays on NBC. Community was the kickoff. But now with Steve Carrell gone on the Office and Community gone and possibly about to be cancelled, it just feels depressing. I dont like 30Rock, sorry. I know its won many awards but it just doesnt make me laugh the way Parks and Rec, Community, and The Office used to. I think if NBC keeps trashing what works they are going to wind up with regrets.
six seasons and a movie!
to me, Community is the best comedy on TV right now and its a shame to see a show that good not to be appreciated. it happened once with Arrested Development and i really hope it doesnt happen with Community
One positive thought though: Sony owns Community, Sony has been known to sell shows to networks EXTREMELY cheap, as long as it gets them close to syndication. Community WOULD be at that if renewed for a fourth season, so it seems very possible that Sony gives NBC Community for pennies....
wasn't there a "if you had to cancel one of nbc's 5 thursday night comedies, which would it be?" post. considering what greenblatt's said, I myself feel like I should consider it. I am a fan of all 5 and i don't think community's the one i'd choose to see canceled.
I agree - not entirely happily - with the Arrested Development comparison, though you would hope tv "professionals" would recognize excellence and long-term value. But sadly, not many people are ever smart enough to recognize true genius in its lifetime anyway, witness 2010 elections! It's far easier to see the herd rushing to the big(ger) boobed blonde ditz and 4 geeks sniffing after her than to imagine large groups of American audience laughing out loud at thinly veiled references to schadenfreude:) But we can hope and shout and maybe enough people who want to think while thy laugh will ultimately come through... Maybe this is the beginning of a new model where people using new media actually get old school metrics and thinking to finally see to the changing landscape of viewership and it's worth. I can dream but [turns to Greenblatt], you're still the worst.moreless
Concerning the smoldering brunette and the smoking hot blonde. Been watching Community for 3 years because of them and still don't know either of their names on or off the show and don't care. They need to develop those two a LOT more. Remember the episode when the blonde was a Lesbian? The show is clever but I guarantee it only stayed on the air this long because of them. Develop them more or the show is dead. They should have moved in together a LONG time ago.
YOU'VE WATCHED A SHOW FOR THREE SEASONS TO STARE AT TWO WOMEN'S BODIES AND HAVEN'T EVEN LEARNT THEIR NAMES!!!???? That's what I find disturbing and crazy! Your like some half-animal, half-caveman that only follows his... animal urges... The fact that you don't know they're names suggests that if one of them did develop by your standards, you probably wouldn't notice unless they turned into a man or something! Creeeeeeppppppy!
lol you even sound like Britta
Please, please, please don't cancel Community!!!
Mr. Greenblatt I have your solution: cancel Whitney, Are You There Chelsea, The Apprentice, Grimm, and half of your failed dramas... That'll surely open up a timeslot for Community, which has a more loyal following/better critics reviews than any of the above shows do.
Mr. Greenblatt I have your solution: cancel Whitney, Are You There Chelsea, The Apprentice, Grimm, and half of your failed dramas... That'll surely open up a timeslot for Community, which has a more loyal following/better critics reviews than any of the above shows do.
I know that these networks are businesses, and are in it to get money. That being said, the more I hear about great and/or promising shows getting cancelled before their time, the more jaded I become about all of them. Of course, there are shows that get the chance they deserve, including some shows which seem doomed to be cancelled for low ratings (Fringe getting a 4th season comes to mind), but those exceptions seem to be in the small minority, as the networks tend to favor what is safe over what is good. With Community, if I'm being honest, I'm not really hoping for "six seasons and a movie." If they can make it happen, and not make it seem like they're stretching the series out too long, then I certainly wouldn't complain, but I'd be more than happy if they simply let it live out to its natural end, at the end of a 4th season. That way, it (hopefully, and arguably) would not get stale, and would give the writers enough time to plan out a satisfying ending for the characters we love. And, as has been mentioned, getting renewed for a 4th season would let the show be syndicated, so it would be win-win. Anyway, it's this kind of thing which has gotten me more tired of the networks' BS, and over the last year or so, I've actually put more faith into Netflix, and other potential alternatives to regular TV. Even before the announcement that they were planning to get into original programming, I felt that there was potential there, to side-step all the garbage that happens on network TV these days. And that feeling has increased with each new announcement about a new show they're making, especially with the announcement of Arrested Development coming back. If it's popular enough, who knows what else can happen later on. If Community gets cancelled, I'd love it to be picked up by Netflix, or some other alternative which will give it the chance it deserves. But I'd rather not have it cancelled in the first place.moreless
I wouldn't be too sad if Community doesn't get a third season. I think this season has already been pretty weak compared to the outstanding first and second seasons. I wouldn't blame NBC as well, cause they gave it a third season despite bad ratings. The NBC of today is pretty sensible when it comes to decisions, they try to give everything the benefit of the doubt. Community needs to get back on its track which is pure comedy. This season has seen too much drama already.
Streets Behind. You can't be that bigger fan if you've given up on the show when I think the season looks great and is great from the clips I've seen of it (wish the third season was in my country). Abed is ashamed of you.
I don't understand why people don't get that the third season has been amazing? They've put so much character development and hilarity into episodes that were already hard to make.
I agree with the comments comparing this show to Arrested Development. Arrested would fit perfectly with today's comedies but it was too far ahead of its time when it aired. Community is a very smart comedy. It is pushing new boundaries and unfortunately for those who enjoy it, it is pushing them too soon for the majority of the population to catch on. NBC, you would be idiots if you cancelled this show, it is amazing.
Community is an amazing show to anyone who has seen it, except for those less intelligent people. NBC doesnt have much going for it right now. I sure hope they wouldnt cancel their best comedy.
I have a feeling Community is going to become the next Arrested Development. Too smart for the average viewer but it's going to be cherished as a cult favorite for a long time. At least some day we'll have an Arrested Development movie. Still crossing my fingers - Six Seasons and a Movie!
I'm glad that it's not getting shafted. If it goes down, then it goes down in a blaze of glory.
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How much of her clothes does your roommate's aunt have to remove in front of her laptop webcam?
On the plus side, as much as we love Community, if NBC kills it off, it will free up Mr. Harmon's production team to turn around and produce a quality show for another network. (See, for example, what happened when NBC cancelled "My Name is Earl"... we got "Raising Hope".
I doubt it gets better than Community though!
We shouldn't have to hear this news, because we shouldn't have had to see the news saying "Community shelved".
Honestly after NBC cancelled Outsourced I lost alot of faith in them, now they are talking about booting Community? Well if they do then I'm out and that's it. Maybe the problem with NBC is that they have so many good ideas and want to try them all. Well guess what NBC, I would rather see two seasons of a show that I like than one season of two shows I like. So stick with what you got, don't screw with perfection.
no wonder they wanted to cancel it...all the freakin cast look like clowns
If you don't like the show then why read the story, honestly are you just trying to start a fight? Fans love their show, how dare we!
who cares...enough with this show already
Obviously you like soppy hospital dramas. If you're going to make fun of a show I like then I'll make fun of shows you like that I don't follow because you have the time to complain on an article about a show you probably know nothing about. I don't like Justin Bieber, doesn't mean I go onto EVERY article about him and say how much I dislike him, in fact I don't go onto any articles in the first place because I'd rather read about people I actually respect, like this cast. The cast is not ugly, I mean if you have eyes you can see that. And if you think they're ugly you probably look like a hairy swollen wart that covered in puss. Just saying.
Also you're streets behind.
I watch a lot of TV. Community is one of my top five favorite shows. I hope NBC gives it another season.
I'm still mad at NBC for cancelling Andy Barker, P.I. It only made it for 6 episodes. In the TV biz fans don't matter much. It's how much the network can charge for advert time.
6 seasons and a movie guys
Nothing weird survives on primetime TV. We're lucky we got three seasons of this amazing show. The only hope we have is if one of the cable channels decides to snag Community, because I can't imagine the show is that expensive to make.
I'm sorry but you're acting out the, "the glass is half empty" perspective. I'd rather be a, "the glass is half full," in that I believe this show has a good chance of coming back. Even better still, "the glass is too big". Maybe we're expecting too much of an amazing and underrated show that has been constantly battling to get even a tiny share of it's terribly competitive time-slot. If we have to talk gloom and doom we have to at least see it in a better time-slot where it has a chance to make better ratings. :)
Well I guess we have to be happy that he said as much as he did. But we MUST get a fourth season and I still want it to be full length. That would be enough. I mean it was always going to require some creative plotting to explain a fifth season anyway,...Unless...they could switch the structure from one school year per season to one school day per episode - like Lost. Then we could have many more seasons. But it's probably the worst time for me to be speculating on that. For the moment I'm thankful for small favours.
happy, happy happy!
the one and only thing I find hard to understand is that: eeeeeeverybody is tellin how good this show is, claim that they watch it religiously, follow it in almost every social media pool to make it a straigthforward winner, and yet the ratings of the show is pretty low (that they suspend it over whitney.. really this must be even more pissing off, I still dont know how that thing is still running); there is something wrong in this math.. how does the rating system work in USA?
It's an archaic system that involves either having a meter that monitors your viewing habits or you get a diary in which you record your viewing habits. If you don't have one you don't count. Instead they use statistics from those who do either of the above to calculate what everyone else watches.
With all kinds of different avenues for watching a show (DVR, Hulu, etc.), you would think they would keep up with what is current and going to be the future. The failure is on the networks' part of not realizing this and demanding a better product to measure what shows are being watched.
Sorry if this is a rant but I'm fed up with how technology is sweeping through our country yet the ratings people, Nielsen, can't properly measure viewership.moreless
Don't forget that a few hundred Neilson boxes makes a million viewers. So basically if you went and paid a couple hundred people with these boxes to watch the show you'd get at least another million viewers. It's total rubbish! 25, 000 boxes representing (as far as I know, I'm not American you see) millions upon millions. It's complete rubbish and makes no sense!
E. Pluribus "Anus"
We need a season 4! C'mon Greenblatt! You saw the plan for the show just like the rest of us during Abed/Troy's rap scene in the Christmas episode! We want a season 4!
Hooray!!! ...well....sort of.....
I mean seriously though, why do we need a 4th season of Community--after all, we can always watch the comic stylings of 'Are You There, Chelsea?' (starring Chelsea Handler, winner of Tramp Magazine's "whore of the year award") and 'Whitney' (Gollum's little sister and orc rights activist)
Are you serious? Community, is by far better than anything Are You There Chelsea will churn out. It's smart, funny, and at the very least it deserves a fourth season to finish out the school storyline. It's the funniest show I have ever watched, and that's saying a fair bit. I love sitcoms.
And saying we can watch Whitney really demotes from your credibly to recommend shows. Most people think it's one of the dumbest things they've ever watched, Myself included. I gave it a chance, and it's just now funny, plain and simple.
With Community, I laugh hard every episode, and it's got a lot more heart than anything Whitney or Are You There Chelsea could compete with.
you couldn't tell that they were kidding by the fact that they called whitney gollum's little sister/an orc rights activist? or by the fact that they said whitney and are you there chelsea were better than community?
it should comeback , if not .. fans will turn their peacock into pussycat ..
if anyone catch what i am saying
I don't get it. Loyal (albeit not huge) following. Critical darling. Continuously winning reader polls (here and TV Guide). Yet NBC is still hemming and hawing over the fate of this show. The way NBC treats this show is reminiscent of how they treated "Scrubs". My prediction? "Whitney" is out and NBC falls in behind "Community". Well, until their next "sure thing" pilot...
There's also the inexplicable Emmy shutout.
The "not huge" is what does it. I'd hate to think this will join the graveyard of beloved cult shows cut short too soon, but if it does it will still retain a legendary status and street cred, like My So-Called Life, Strangers With Candy and Arrested Development .
NBC really needs to figure out if they want to foster a great show or dump it in another feeble attempt to find a cheap, popular show. And if it's the latter, they may as well kiss their network goodbye, as you can only circle the drain for so long.
When I saw this headline I was about to rejoice to the heavens and sing a heartfelt rendition of "Hallelujah". But my elation soon dissipated after reading Greenblatt's bullsh*t quote of intentional vagueness. (sigh) NBC doesn't deserve a show of Community's caliber. All we can do is spread the word to every man, woman and child (above 12 . . . unless you're a really precocious 12 year old) to watch Community when it comes back.
SIXSEASONSANDAMOVIE!