After being “saved” by Yahoo Screen following its cancellation by NBC earlier this year, fan favorite comedy Community might not be returning for a 7th season, reports Variety. Or, maybe it will?
The show’s star, Joel McHale, told Metro Weekly quite candidly that the cast’s contracts were only effective for six years, and, with many of the actors having become breakout stars in the time the show has run, it would simply be far too expensive to keep it going. Translation: they’ll want big paychecks that Community just can’t cash.
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This could, however, simply be a negotiating tactic, since Sony has not officially confirmed the show’s cancellation, and Yahoo, according to Deadline, has confirmed that it isn’t quite ready to close the Community doors completely. “[We] are continuing to discuss future opportunities for Community,” Yahoo said in a prepared statement. What’s more, at Comic-con, creator Dan Harmon actually boasted of many of the cast member’s new-found spotlights as a draw for a potential seventh season.
Several big names appear in Community, including Alison Brie, who also had a role on Mad Men and was the voice of Unikitty for the mega-hit animated movie The Lego Movie. Gillian Jacobs had a guest role on HBO series Girls and is planned to star in Love, a series by Judd Apatow set to appear on Netflix next year. Ken Jeong already gained major attention for his hilarious role in the Hangover movies, is working on a movie titled Killing Hasselhoff (yes, that Hasselhoff) and is set to star as the title character in an upcoming ABC TV series called Dr. Ken. (Fun fact: Jeong is actually a trained medical doctor.) Jeong has expressed his interest, however, in participating in a seventh season should there be one, or even a Community movie.
McHale, meanwhile, will appear in the X-Files reboot on Fox, and continues as host of his comedy program The Soup that humorously highlights the week in television on E!
Bottom line: there’s nothing definitive just yet, so there’s still hope, fans.