What’s the best way to elbow your way into relevance in the streaming video industry? Resurrect someone else’s established show, of course. And that’s exactly what Yahoo has done (yes, Yahoo) with Community. Today, the long-awaited commencement of Community’s sixth season finally has an air date, set to premiere March 17 with two new episodes, followed by a new episode each week for a total of 13 leading up to the June 2 season finale.
The announcement was made during the Community panel at this week’s Television Critics Association press tour, with show creator Dan Harmon, Executive producer Chris McKenna, and cast members Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, and Ken Jeong. Yahoo has also produced a fairly hilarious new video featuring some of those same stars of the show to help stoke the hype:
For a light-hearted comedy, Community has had no shortage of drama. Show runner and creator Dan Harmon was fired from the show by NBC after season 3, then re-hired after a somewhat bumpy season 4, then fired again (in a matter of speaking) as the series finally got the hook thanks to ratings that never quite kept up with the show’s epic quotability.
Ratings or no, Community is near and dear to the hearts of many a quirky sitcom lover thanks to its fast pace, witty dialog, and goofy plots like an armageddon-style paintball war waged within the halls of Greendale, the show’s community college setting.
According to a post on Yahoo, the full cast will not be present for Community’s triumphant return, with the loss of major players like Donald Glover, Jonathan Banks, and John Oliver, all of whom have other high-profile projects to call home. In their place will be new stand-ins, including Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds), and Keith David (Enlisted).
Yahoo made a big play for Community in order to gain relevance in the streaming genre, which is quickly becoming a necessity for nearly any Web-based enterprise, from Google to Amazon. Whether or not Community will bring the web giant said relevance, or soar again in such a dark corner of the streaming landscape remains to be seen. However, for Community fans who just can’t get enough of their on-again/off-again comedic fling, March 17 will be a big day.
