Community fans are a devoted bunch, if not plentiful enough to give the series the ratings it deserves. But are we optimistic? Between losing its creator and more recently, one of its stars, not to mention the delay of the Season 4 premiere, if we're being realistic, the prospect of a fifth season doesn't look especially good for the show. But NBC isn't counting it out just yet.
Deadline reported the update from the NBC executive session at the TCA, quoting NBC's Bob Greenblatt as saying:
“We’re absolutely hopeful it will lead to a fifth season,” Greenblatt said. “I’d love nothing more than to see it continue.”
Of course, that is by no means a guarantee that we'll see a Season 5. With Dan Harmon's departure last year, and then Chevy Chase's reported exit before Season 4 finished up production, added to NBC moving the comedy to Fridays and then shifting it back to Thursdays but delaying the Season 4 premiere until February, it's difficult to feel especially hopeful that the network will bring it back for Season 5. So I'm not going to hold my breath for now. But on the other hand, I really do want to believe that Community will get an official "final season" so the writers have the opportunity to close out the show properly and give these characters the graduation they've all been working toward. So, I guess there is some part of me that's too much of a fan to give up hope just yet.
As for Season 4, Greenblatt says, "I think you’ll see relatively the same show that you did before, maybe with a little bit more heart built into it. But we didn’t fundamentally change it."
Today marks the one-month-to-go mark for Community's return, which is set for February 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
