Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Canceled 'Community' revived by Yahoo - The Star-Ledger


community-renewed


"Community," starring, from left, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie and Donald Glover, will have a sixth season -- but on Yahoo Screen, not network television. (Glover, who left in the middle of the fifth season, won't be back, however.) (NBC)




"Community," the cult comedy canceled by NBC after five season and much behind-the-scenes tsuris, will return for a 13-episode sixth season on Yahoo's streaming site Yahoo Screen.


"I am very pleased that Community will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo," showrunner Dan Harmon says in a statement. "I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online. I vow to dominate our new competition. Rest easy, Big Bang Theory. Look out, Bang Bus!"


Harmon, who was fired from the show and then brought back for the fifth season, will be at the helm, along with almost the entire cast, including star Joel McHale (who recently shot down rumors he'd be taking Craig Ferguson's spot at "The Late Late Show"). (Their contracts were set to expire Monday night, Hitfix.com reports.) Original cast member Donald Glover left the show in the fifth season and will not be returning, nor will Jonathan Banks, who will co-star in AMC's "Breaking Bad" prequel, "Better Call Saul."


The show's budget "won't be cut one dollar," Zack Van Amburg, Sony Pictures Television president of programming and production, tells Entertainment Weekly. "We didn't want to be producing the show at any less of the quality or production value that we had been producing. Yahoo came in with finances that were undeniable."


"Community" fans had been campaigning hard for another season anywhere (not to mention a movie, a la "Veronica Mars" and "Firefly"/"Serenity"). Hulu had reportedly been in talks to take on "Community" before Yahoo stepped in.


It's not the first time a critical darling has found a second life off network television. DirecTV gave a Hail Mary to "Friday Night Lights," and also extended "Damages," originally on FX, for two more seasons. Netflix resuscitated long-dead "Arrested Development" in 2012, and will bring back "The Killing," canceled last year by AMC, for a fourth season August 1.



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