Community didn’t earn rousing reviews when it hit the schedule last spring sans Dan Harmon. The show squeaked its way through the ratings enough to earn a fifth season renewal at NBC, which was a miracle in a year where nearly every comedy series on the network (thankfully sans Parks and Rec) was scrapped. The show isn’t expected to return to NBC’s schedule until this winter (probably), but fans of the series will be happy to learn that the show is casting for the new season, signing on Rob Corddry and Jonathan Banks.
Corddry has been on Community prior to the new season. The Warm Bodies and Hot Tub Time Machine actor has popped up in the past as Jeff’s former law firm colleague Alan Connor. According to TV Line, the character will pop up in the Season 5 premiere, which means we won’t have long to wait to see the actor delve back into Jeff Winger’s life, much to his chagrin, I'm sure. Since Winger finally graduated from Greendale, there’s no doubt he’ll be looking to get back into the professional world and assumedly Connor will tie in.
Breaking Bad actor Jonathan Banks is also joining Community in Season 5, and unlike Corddry, he’ll have a pretty huge role in the series. EW first reported the news, noting that Banks is signed on for eleven episodes of the new season. Like Betty White and some other big actors who came before him, Banks will play Pat Nichols, a teacher at Greendale Community College. Nichols is a criminology professor at the university who will pop up in the series after Alison Brie’s Annie enrolls in the class in the second episode. The role will likely be a far cry from the one he played in Breaking Bad, but I can't wait to see what he'll do with the character.
NBC’s half-hour comedy appeared at Comic-Con this year, with Dan Harmon again at the helm to talk about the new season. Even though fans are getting the familiar showrunner back this season, the makeup of Community is bound to look a little different. Graduations have happened, characters have come and gone (including Pierce), and notably, Troy and Abed’s bromance will have to be toned down some, thanks to Donald Glover only signing on for like half of the episodes in Season 5.
That’s a lot to overcome moving into the new season, but hopefully Harmon and co. are up to the challenge. Six seasons and a movie is getting so close that I can almost begin taste it. We’ll let you know as soon as NBC decides on an official Community premiere date.
