The hit TV show Community aired its last episode in 2016, but that doesn’t mean fans have forgotten about it or given up hope about more stories in the universe. That pipe dream recently inched closer to reality, with creator Dan Harmon confirming that there’s actually an outline for the long-hoped-for movie.
The movie idea isn’t new and has been teased for the last eight years, so take this news with a grain of salt, but we’ve never actually heard Harmon say it was this close before.
“There is an outline for it,” Harmon said to Newsweek. “There’s a product put together and pitched out in the world. I guess that’s how real it is.”
Ever self-aware, Harmon added a hedged concession to his statement, knowing that the news would titillate fans but could also potentially lead them down the path of disappointment once again.
“That’s probably enough that’ll make people mad when [there’s nothing] a year from now. It still doesn’t mean there’s going to be a movie tomorrow. It means there is definitely going to be one.”
He said there was no easy way to tell fans the news. For example, the fans that Instagram every day about the show, he said, are the hardest to tell.
“… how can you tell them, ‘Yes, it’s definitely going to happen, but it may be between one and eight years from now’ — which is how the industry works, especially when you factor in pandemics and whatnot.”
He understands that waiting so long for something you really want is its own kind of strain.
“It just feels like psychological torture, from a fan’s perspective, to keep looking into the backseat of a station wagon and saying, ‘Who wants McDonald’s?’ And to just keep driving down the freeway. I don’t want to be guilty of causing that sensation. It just takes so long sometimes.”
Community is currently streaming on Netflix (minus one episode from Season 2).