Chevy Chase Doesn’t Mince Words Rehashing His Disdain for ‘Community’

Chevy Chase has never been shy about his disdain for Community, but he rehashed some of those feelings this week in a new interview with Marc Maron. Speaking on Maron’s WTF podcast, Chase said that he felt “constrained” on the cult-classic sitcom. His harsh retrospective raised a lot of eyebrows on social media, even among his former co-stars.

“I honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough for me, ultimately,” Chase said of Community. “I felt a bit constrained. Everybody had their bits, and I thought they were all good. It just wasn’t hard-hitting enough for me.” Chase, now 79, said that he “didn’t mind” his character, Pierce Hawthorn, but he didn’t care for the ensemble itself. He said: “I just didn’t want to be surrounded by that table, every day, with those people. It was too much.”

This comment earned him a tweet from former co-star Yvette Nicole Brown, who wrote: “He seems nice” with a crying-laughing emoji. Chase infamously left Community in 2012 after allegedly using a racist slur on set. At the time, reports said he apologized to his co-stars and bowed out. However, his exit is often mixed up in all the other drama on that show behind the scenes.

Back in 2009, Chase said that he accepted the role on Community because the writing seemed great, even though he was not usually a fan of sitcoms. Series creator and writer Dan Harmon was a lifelong fan of Chase, but the two began to butt heads more and more as the series went on. Harmon had other behind-the-scenes issues, however, and NBC fired him after Season 3. Chase left the show during Season 4 while Harmon was gone, and when Harmon was reinstated in Season 5, he killed off Chase’s character unceremoniously.

In his new interview this week, Chase admitted he doesn’t know where his relationship with Harmon stands. He said: “I have no idea if we’re okay. I’ve never not been okay. He’s kind of a pisser. He’s angry. He called and said he was sorry. I love him now.”

Community survived behind-the-scenes scandals, major casting changes, cancellations and venue changes because of its cult-classic status. Fans adopted the catchphrase “six seasons and a movie” in the hopes that the show would continue on, and it managed to make it to Season 6 against all odds. Since then, the cast and creators have often discussed the possibility of a movie which is now officially in the works. The movie was ordered by Peacock and is slated to begin filming next year – assuming the Hollywood labor strikes haven’t changed that timeline. In the meantime, all six seasons of the show are streaming on Netflix and Hulu in the U.S.