‘Community’ Is Leaving Netflix

Community is leaving Netflix on Sunday, March 31, so be sure to binge-watch it one more time while you can. The acclaimed sitcom has always led fans on a wild chase as it moved time slots, faced cancellation and even became a streaming exclusive in its final season. It looks like that won’t change as it leaves Netflix amid reports of a new reunion movie in the works.

Community premiered in 2009 on NBC, and it has never been drama-free since then. Even after the series finale, that hasn’t stopped – plans for a Community movie are finally coming to fruition this year, but at the same time it is leaving Netflix. Thankfully, the show is available to stream on Hulu as well, and as far as we know it won’t be leaving that service. If you prefer to watch it on Netflix, you only have until Sunday, March 31.

Community centers around a group of misfits at Greendale Community College all looking to define themselves in a world that sometimes seems to be stacked against them, and at other times seems to be absurdly indifferent to them. It stars Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase, among others. Although it originally aired on NBC, the show is a perfect fit for binge-watching and has found many of its dedicants since the advent of streaming.

In its time on the air, Community had one of the strangest journeys through the changing media landscape of any show on record. It went three seasons under creator and showrunner Dan Harmon before he was fired by NBC and replaced with other writers. However, fans nearly revolted at the change, and Harmon was recalled for Season 5. After that, NBC canceled the show.

Not to be counted out, however, Community got one more season in the streaming world, on a short-lived service called Yahoo! Screen. It was the platform’s biggest hit but still not enough to keep it afloat.

In interviews and convention appearances, Harmon and the cast of Community often expressed the wish to go for “six seasons and a movie,” which became a mantra among fans. Now, nearly nine years after the conclusion of Season 6, many fans are still calling for a Community movie, and the revival is finally taking shape.

NBC’s in-house streaming service Peacock officially ordered the Community movie in September of 2022, with reports indicating that Harmon had already been working on the script. All of the main cast members were confirmed to be reprising their roles except for Chase, who was not interested. The movie was set to begin filming in June of 2023 but was delayed due to the Hollywood labor strikes over the summer. During an interview with Kelly Ripa on her podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera, McHale said that filming will now take place over the summer of 2024.

Just this month, Glover gave more details on the project during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He said that he had read the script and was excited about the storyline, explaining: “It’s a college reunion, but Abed (Pudi) is like this big director now, and basically this is his magnum opus. I’m like, ‘This sounds f-ing tight.’”

There’s no telling when fans will see this meta magnum opus for themselves, but it is finally taking shape. In the meantime, Community leaves Netflix on Sunday, March 31 but will still be available to stream on Hulu. The show is also available on DVD.