Despite its sudden, yet inevitable, cancellation by NBC, we might not have seen the last of Greendale Community College just yet. Speculation over the fate of much beloved sitcom Community has been rife since the Peacock mercifully ended the agonising suspense and brought the Sword of Damocles down on the show, ending its time on network TV. But now there seems to be – extremely primordial, I should stress – rumblings of life after cancellation for the Study Group.
Hulu has made it clear they’re making a big push into original programming over the course of the next couple of years. And it’s through the digital streaming giant that Community could yet find new life. Sony Pictures TV, which owns Community, has been in very preliminary talks with Hulu about giving Community its much vaunted, often dreamed about, but always just-out-of-reach sixth season.
For what it’s worth, show creator Dan Harmon isn’t entirely opposed to the idea, stating on his blog that he’s gone from being “eh” on the idea of more Community, to “sure, let’s talk.” For Dan Harmon, this is about as good an indication as you’re ever likely to get that at least a small part of him kind of digs the idea. “I’m not going to be the guy that re-cancels cancelled Community.”
Making any potential deal easier is the fact that Hulu already has a deal with Sony Pictures TV to stream all of Community’s episodes to its digital subscribers via Hulu Plus, which at last count has over 6 million subscribers. Community is precisely the kind of show that fits in well with the digital streaming model, and would attract much the same hype and buzz that Arrested Development‘s fourth season did for rival Netflix.
Though whether or not the deal comes to fruition is still up in the air, this is likely the best indication yet that we’ll be seeing Jeff, Annie, Britta, Abed, Shirley and (maybe) Troy again in the future.
Six seasons and a movie. The dream is still alive!
Photo: Frederick M. Brown via Getty Images.
