Community (season 6)

Community (season 6)
Season 6 DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	Yahoo! Screen
Original release	March 17 – June 2, 2015

The sixth and final season of the television comedy series Community premiered on Yahoo! Screen on March 17, 2015, with a two-episode premiere, and concluded on June 2, 2015.^[1][2] The season consists of 13 episodes released weekly via Yahoo! Screen on Tuesdays. Yahoo! announced in June 2014 that it had picked up the series for a sixth season after NBC had canceled the series in May 2014.^[3][4]

Cast

Starring

• Joel McHale as Jeff Winger (13 episodes)
• Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry (13 episodes)
• Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir (13 episodes)
• Alison Brie as Annie Edison (13 episodes)
• Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton (13 episodes)
• Ken Jeong as Ben Chang (13 episodes)

Recurring Paget Brewster as Francesca "Frankie" Dart (13 episodes) Keith David as Elroy Patashnik (12 episodes) Erik Charles Nielsen as Garrett Lambert (8 episodes) Richard Erdman as Leonard Briggs (7 episodes) Danielle Kaplowitz as Vicki Jenkins (5 episodes) David Neher as Todd Jacobson (5 episodes) Darsan Solomon as Dave (4 episodes) Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett (2 episodes) Martin Mull as George Perry (2 episodes) Lesley Ann Warren as Deb Perry (2 episodes) Craig Cackowski as Officer Cackowski (2 episodes) Irene Choi as Annie Kim (1 episode) Jeremy Scott Johnson as Carl Bladt (1 episode) Charley Koontz as Neil (1 episode) Brady Novak as Richie Countee (1 episode) Dino Stamatopoulos as Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne (1 episode) David St. James as Professor Albrecht (1 episode) Luke Youngblood as Magnitude (1 episode)

Guest stars Steve Agee as David ("Modern Espionage") Matt Berry as Roger DeSalvo ("Grifting 101") Matt Besser as Blake ("Basic RV Repair and Palmistry") Brooke Burns as TV Host ("Intro to Recycled Cinema") Jay Chandrasekhar as Gupta Gupti Gupta ("Basic Email Security") Wayne Federman as The Dad ("Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television") Nathan Fillion as Bob Waite ("Ladders") Matt Gourley as Briggs Hatton ( "Wedding Videography" ) Seth Green as Scrunch ("Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television") Steve Guttenberg as Maury ("Intro to Recycled Cinema") Mitchell Hurwitz as Preston Koogler ("Modern Espionage") O-Lan Jones as Garrett's Mom ("Wedding Videography") Lisa Loeb as Julie ("Advanced Safety Features") Jason Mantzoukas as Matt Lundergard ("Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing") Kumail Nanjiani as Lapari ("Modern Espionage") Randall Park as himself ("Intro to Recycled Cinema") Justin Roiland as Ice Cube Head ("Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television") Danielle Schneider as Karen ("Basic RV Repair and Palmistry") Travis Schuldt as Rick/Subway ("Advanced Safety Features") Brian Van Holt as Willy Sebert Smith ("Laws of Robotics and Party Rights") Steven Weber as Detective Butcher ("Ladders") Billy Zane as Honda Boss ("Advanced Safety Features")

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Release date	Production code[5]
98	1	"Ladders"	Rob Schrab	Dan Harmon & Chris McKenna	March 17, 2015	602
Dean Pelton hires Francesca "Frankie" Dart (Paget Brewster) as a consultant to help improve Greendale, but her tactics create tension on campus.
99	2	"Lawnmower Maintenance and Postnatal Care"	Jim Rash & Nat Faxon	Alex Rubens	March 17, 2015	601
Britta discovers that her parents have been helping her financially from behind the scenes, while the Dean becomes obsessed with an expensive virtual reality system and Jeff seeks out the inventor, Elroy Patashnik (Keith David), to get a refund.
100	3	"Basic Crisis Room Decorum"	Bobcat Goldthwait	Monica Padrick	March 24, 2015	605
When City College plans an attack ad asserting that Greendale gave a degree to a dog, the group clashes over the best way to handle it.
101	4	"Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing"	Jim Rash & Nat Faxon	Matt Lawton	March 31, 2015	603
The Dean is offered a position on the school board but only as a token homosexual, Chang auditions for a theater version of The Karate Kid, and Abed and Elroy attempt to fix the school's Wi-Fi connection.
102	5	"Laws of Robotics and Party Rights"	Rob Schrab	Dean Young	April 7, 2015	604
Prisoners attend Greendale via telepresence robots, and Britta uses Abed so she can have a party, breaking Annie's rules.
103	6	"Basic Email Security"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Matt Roller	April 14, 2015	606
A hacker threatens to publish emails unless a scheduled appearance by a racist comic (Jay Chandrasekhar) is cancelled.
104	7	"Advanced Safety Features"	Rob Schrab	Carol Kolb	April 21, 2015	607
The dean is highly susceptible to a guerrilla marketing campaign by Britta's ex-boyfriend, Rick, who now works for Honda. Meanwhile, the group tries to become closer friends with Elroy. Greendale hosts an alumni dance and hires the band Natalie is Freezing to perform, while Elroy reveals he once dated the band's lead singer Julie (Lisa Loeb).
105	8	"Intro to Recycled Cinema"	Victor Nelli, Jr.	Clay Lapari	April 28, 2015	608
When a commercial starring Chang goes viral, the group tries to cash in by converting footage of a cop drama starring him into a sci-fi film.
106	9	"Grifting 101"	Rob Schrab	Ryan Ridley	May 5, 2015	609
The group is cheated and tries to get back at a grifter (Matt Berry) now teaching at Greendale.
107	10	"Basic RV Repair and Palmistry"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Dan Guterman	May 12, 2015	610
The group takes a road trip in Elroy's RV to deliver a giant fiberglass hand that Frankie forces Dean Pelton to sell, while Abed imagines the trip as a flashback-filled movie.
108	11	"Modern Espionage"	Rob Schrab	Mark Stegemann	May 19, 2015	611
Frankie's "Cleaner Greendale" initiative drives the school's paintball game underground as the group tries to discover the identity of a mysterious assassin.
109	12	"Wedding Videography"	Adam Davidson	Briggs Hatton	May 26, 2015	612
The group attends Garrett's wedding while Abed films it for a new documentary.
110	13	"Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television"	Rob Schrab	Dan Harmon & Chris McKenna	June 2, 2015	613
With six years at Greendale completed, the group imagines what a hypothetical season seven would be like while discussing the uncertainty of life.

Production

On May 9, 2014, NBC announced that it had canceled Community. For several years prior to its cancelation, fans adopted the slogan "six seasons and a movie", a line from the episode "Paradigms of Human Memory" regarding Abed's hopeful legacy of NBC's short-lived series The Cape.^[6][7][8] Sony Pictures Television, the show's primary producer, was reported to have shopped the show to other networks and online distribution outlets, including Hulu and Comedy Central.^[9] Deadline.com reported the low chance of such an outcome, with a revival deal from one unnamed suitor not likely to happen and creator Dan Harmon's enthusiasm for continuing on the show uncertain.^[10] On May 28, Deadline.com reported that Hulu was in talks with Sony Pictures TV to produce a new season of Community, with Harmon having a change of heart about the revival, saying, "I'm not going to be the guy that re-cancels cancelled Community."^[11] On June 24, TVLine reported that Hulu had ended talks with Sony Pictures TV,^[12] although The Wrap stated the report was incorrect.^[13] On June 30, the day the cast's contracts were due to expire, Yahoo! announced it had ordered a 13-episode sixth season to stream on Yahoo! Screen. The main cast return along with executive producers Dan Harmon, Chris McKenna, Russ Krasnoff and Gary Foster. Harmon said, "I am very pleased that Community will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo ... I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online."^[3] For season six, the series moved shooting locations from Paramount Studios to CBS Radford, which is twice the size of the previous shooting set.^[14]

In August 2014, it was announced that the Russo brothers would direct the season premiere,^[15] however, this did not come to fruition. Writing began in September 2014, and filming began in November 2014.^[16] Episodes of the season were released weekly, as opposed to being released all at once.^[17] In September 2014, it was announced that Yvette Nicole Brown, who plays Shirley, would not return for season six due to a family emergency; however, Brown returned in guest appearances in "Ladders" and "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television".^[18][19] Paget Brewster and Keith David (Brewster previously guest-starred on the series as a different character and David provided a voice-over role) were cast as regulars for the season in November 2014; Brewster plays Francesca "Frankie" Dart, a consultant to help improve Greendale, and David plays Elroy Patashnik, a retired scientist who now searches to reinvent himself at Greendale.^[20] In November 2014, it was announced that Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren would guest star as Britta's parents, George and Deb Perry, in the second episode of the season.^[21] The cast and crew celebrated the making of their 100th episode on December 8, 2014.^[22]

In February 2015, Dan Harmon announced that Steve Guttenberg would guest star in an episode.^[23] In February 2015, it was confirmed that Billy Zane would play "a mysterious, nameless man scouting Britta for a unique talent" and that Travis Schuldt would return as Subway/Rick.^[24] In March 2015, the trailer for season 6 was released, and parodies the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer in its logo, theme and coloring.^[25]

On March 15, 2015, it was announced that the series began filming a new "paintball" episode, "Modern Espionage", following the season one episode "Modern Warfare" and season two episodes "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For a Few Paintballs More".^[26] Filming for season six ended on March 27, 2015.^[27]

On July 30, 2015, Joel McHale stated that Yahoo! "wanted to [make more seasons of Community], but all of [the actor's] contracts were up after six years."^[28] McHale later clarified his statement via Twitter, saying "Community is not canceled."^[29] Yahoo released a statement: "We've seen tremendous value in our partnership with Sony and are continuing to discuss future opportunities for Community."^[30] Harmon said he "could have said yes immediately" to season seven, but "given the actor's velocity and trajectory" decided in favor of "getting [the cast] back together for an awesome movie."^[31] On January 4, 2016, Yahoo announced it had shut down its Yahoo Screen service, after a $42 million write-down, with season 6 episodes being moved to Yahoo TV for continued public viewing.^[32]

Availability

Episodes are available to stream via Yahoo! Screen in the U.S., Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.^[33]

In the United Kingdom, the show airs on Sony Entertainment Television starting March 18, 2015.^[34] In Australia, the sixth season is available on Stan beginning March 17, 2015.^[35]

The sixth season was released on DVD in region 1 on March 8, 2016. Special features include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the finale, trivia with the cast and crew, and a gag reel.^[36]

Reception

Critical response

The sixth season has received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[37] On Rotten Tomatoes, season 6 currently holds an 87% "Certified Fresh" approval rating from critics with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10. The consensus reads, "Despite cast and broadcast changes, Community manages to remain at the top of its quirky class."^[38]

Ratings

On April 1, 2015, three weeks into the sixth season's run, Harmon detailed the series viewership on Yahoo! Screen. Exclaiming "Everybody in the world watches Community, now we know, now that we're not being measured by Nielsen [ . . . ] Surprise surprise you know, Yahoo knows how to count the clicks, and guess what? Holy shit! Jesus christ! Like you always knew!" Harmon stated he couldn't give specific numbers, saying "They have data, I'm not really asking, and they're not telling, but you know lips were loose at the drunken wrap party, enough for me to go 'holy shit. That's what I always would've guessed, times two or three'. I always knew there was like way more people watching this shit than what ever that .9 represented."^[39]

See also

• List of original programs distributed by Yahoo!

References

1. Mitovich, Matt Webb (January 13, 2015). "Community Season 6 Gets Premiere Date on Yahoo! Screen (Watch Promo)". TVLine. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
2. "Comic Con: Yahoo Won't Binge Release 'Community'". Deadline.com. July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
3. Hibberd, James (June 30, 2014). "'Community' saved! Yahoo orders sixth season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
4. Goldman, Eric (May 9, 2014). "Community Cancelled by NBC". IGN. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
5. Rubens, Alex (March 19, 2015). "@xandebrites 602. I believe it goes 602, 601. 605, 603, 604, and then back to normal ordering.". Twitter. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
6. O'Neal, Sean (March 26, 2014). "Talk has begun about making Community's six seasons and a movie a reality". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
7. Jagernauth, Kevin (May 9, 2014). "Six Seasons and a Movie? Nope- NBC Cancels Community". Indiewire. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
8. Evans, Bradford (March 26, 2014). "Amazingly, Community Might Actually Get Those Six Seasons and a Movie". Splitsider. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
9. Littleton, Cynthia (May 9, 2014). "'Community' Cancelled: NBC Ends Show After Five Seasons". Variety. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
10. Andreeva, Nellie (May 11, 2014). "'Community' Unlikely To Go Elsewhere, Creator Dan Harmon Reacts To Cancellation". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
11. Andreeva, Nellie (May 28, 2014). "Hulu Eyes New Season Of 'Community'". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
12. Ausiello, Michael (June 24, 2014). "Community Resurrection Hopes Dim as Hulu Talks Collapse". TVLine. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
13. Nededog, Jethro (June 24, 2014). "Insider: ‘Community’ Isn't Dead Yet, Hulu Still in Talks With Sony". The Wrap. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
14. Sepinwall, Alan (January 13, 2015). "'Community' stars and Dan Harmon on the move to Yahoo: Press Tour live-blog". HitFix. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
15. Goldman, Eric (August 26, 2014). "Community: The Russo Brothers Directing the Season 6 Premiere". IGN. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
16. Polowy, Kevin (August 29, 2014). "'Community' Season 6 Scoop: Dan Harmon on Making His Beloved Show Even Better". Yahoo TV. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
17. Hughes, Jason (July 24, 2014). "‘Community’ Season 6 on Yahoo TV Coming ‘After Christmas’ and Not All at Once". The Wrap. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
18. Schneider, Michael (September 30, 2014). "Exclusive: Yvette Nicole Brown Departs Community". TV Guide. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
19. Surette, Tim (June 1, 2015). "Community: Yvette Nicole Brown Is Returning for the Finale". TV.com. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
20. Schneider, Michael (November 10, 2014). "Exclusive: Community Hires Two New Series Regulars". TV Guide. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
21. Franich, Darren (November 17, 2014). "'Community' has cast Britta's parents". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
22. Chan, Robert (December 9, 2014). "6 Seasons and a Cake Cutting: 'Community' Celebrates 100 Episodes". Yahoo TV. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
23. Harmon, Dan (February 9, 2015). ".@SteveGuttbuck is doing a guest role...@bcgoldthwait was doing his director's cut...so Tim Kazurinsky JUST, LIKE, APPEARED. #AcademyMagic". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
24. Schneider, Michael (February 27, 2015). "Billy Zane, and His Thick Beard, to Guest Star on Community". TV Insider. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
25. Hipes, Patrick (March 3, 2015). "‘Community’ Trailer: Yahoo Joins Yahoos For Season 6". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
26. "Community - You want a new paintball episode? BECAUSE...". Facebook. March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
27. Rubens, Alex (March 27, 2015). "Last day of production on Community Season 6. WARNING: I am full of feelings, so there may be some earnest, unfunny tweets on the way.". Twitter. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
28. Shulman, Randy (July 30, 2015). "From Soup to Nuts: An interview with Joel McHale". Metro Weekly. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
29. McHale, Joel (August 4, 2015). "Easy sugar-bear, Community is not canceled. #QuestionMarkSeasonsAndaMovie". Twitter. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
30. Baysinger, Tim (August 6, 2015). "Joel McHale Sets the Record Straight About Community: It's Not Canceled". Adweek. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
31. "Dan Harmon Dishes Community Movie Prospects, Confirms Big-Screen Title". TVLine. July 10, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
32. Wallenstein, Andrew (January 4, 2016). "Yahoo Screen Shuttered: Video Service Hosted 'Community'; NFL Telecast". Variety. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
33. "Community Season Six Availability". Tumblr. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
34. Lee, Ben (February 25, 2015). "Community season 6 to air on broadcast TV in UK". Digital Spy. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
35. Stan.com.au (March 17, 2015). "HUMAN BEINGS OF AUSTRALIA: Season six of @CommunityTV is now streaming at http://Stan.com.au !". Twitter. Retrieved March 18, 2015. External link in |title= (help)
36. Lambert, David (January 28, 2016). "Community - Sony's Press Release for 'The Complete 6th (and Final?) Season'". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
37. "Community : Season 6". Metacritic. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
38. "Community: Season 6". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
39. "Episode: 141 – The Jews Abide". Harmontown. April 1, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.

External links

• Official website at Yahoo Screen!
• Official website at Yahoo.net
• Official website at Sony TV UK
• List of Community episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Community episodes at TV.com