It might be time to leave Greendale behind for good, kids. Series regular Yvette Nicole Brown has announced she won’t be returning to the series for its much-celebrated sixth season on streaming service Yahoo!. Commence reacting accordingly.
The actress, who you all know played Shirley, has been granted a release from her contract on compassionate grounds, due to her father’s ailing health. The show’s intensive shooting schedule would have required an extended period of time away from her Dad, which the actress stated she could not afford. As she stated to TV Guide:
“My Dad needs daily care and he needs me. The idea of being away 16 hours a day for five months, I couldn’t do it. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I had to choose my Dad.”
The show’s parent company – Sony Pictures TV – has graciously allowed the actress to take up a role on the new CBS comedy The Odd Couple, which is a multi-camera comedy that has a much easier shooting schedule than that of Community.
Brown’s departure comes in the wake of both Chevy Chase and Donald Glover leaving the core ensemble cast, leaving the study group three down – with Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs and Danny Pudi remaining – heading into the sixth, and most likely final, season.
With other casting setbacks, such as the confirmed absence of both Jonathan Banks (will be busy with Better Call Saul) and John Oliver (who has a lot going on right now), the producers of the show are kind of scrambling to prop the cast up by looking to fill the roles of two new characters.
One of the characters is said to be a woman who is brought in to consult Greendale and bring the school up to scratch, whilst the other is a male retired salesman who comes to the school to reinvent himself.
The sixth season of Community will be going ahead, and will hit the internet via Yahoo! at some point next year. But with this many key players out of the lineup, it’s probably unreasonable to expect a win.
Proceed with caution.
Photo: Ethan Miller via Getty Images.
