‘Community’ Canceled: Dan Harmon Responds, Plus Netflix Comments on Pickup Potential
We weren't quite so devastated by 'Community''s recent cancellation as with others in passing, given that we'd expect a number of outlets to jump at the chance to help fulfill the "Six Seasons and a Movie" mantra, but it seems we can officially cross Netflix off the list. What's more, series creator, showrunner and savior Dan Harmon has opened up with a more public statement on the cancellation of the eternally bubbled comedy.
Naturally, many have looked to Netflix as a viable outlet with which to save 'Community' from NBC's recent cancellation, given their past rescues of both 'Arrested Development' and 'The Killing,' though both at least had some precedent. Given Hulu's streaming rights to the prior 5 seasons of 'Community,' we hadn't necessarily expected Netflix to legally work out any potential to host new episodes, but following a popular Reddit thread that rallied fans to flood Netflix's customer service chats with 'Community' renewal requests, Variety reports that a Netflix official has denied any potential negotiations to save the show.
Meanwhile, Dan Harmon recently opened up about the cancellation in his regular Harmontown podcast, explaining that while it would take several weeks for the gravity of the show's end to sink in, he expected fans to be more affected than he himself:
We all know what happened yesterday, we all got drunk. I was in a place of grief...I was on my way to LAX, and somebody from Sony called me. Listen, the fans of that show have more reason to be upset than I do. I can go create another show. And also I got paid. The people that are most devastated are people that put unpaid labor into the show. Like, 'I'm hash-tagging this, I'm getting a tattoo of this, I love this show,' they didn't get compensated for it. They had a relationship with the show.
If nothing else, season 5 finale "Basic Sandwich" essentially goaded NBC into canceling the series, with the notably meta Abed (Danny Pudi) telling the audience that we could consider that an asteroid had canonically obliterated the 'Community' universe's human civilization if the Greendale gang didn't return for another season. Hulu remains a possibility, perhaps co-financing with Comedy Central for their respective streaming and syndication arrangements, but we'd still be surprised if 'Community' never reformed in some manner to fulfill its season-movie mantra.
Well, what do you think? Even if Netflix was a remote possibility at best, do you think 'Community' is canceled for good?