One by one, they all just fade away, but let’s hope that’s not the case with the cast of Community.
If the intro to this article put the theme song for the six-seasons-and-no-movie show back in your head, well, that’s great! Community’s mantra, “Six seasons and a movie,” is almost definitely-maybe-possibly coming to fruition. With the recent announcement that the Community movie is once again in the works, we’ve got Greendale on the brain. Even as we go through a collective binge watching of the Dan Harmon classic from time to time, it’s good to check in on our beloved characters and the real-life people who livened up the screen.
It’s been seven years since that final season (on Yahoo! Screen, no less), so it feels like a perfect time to look back before looking forward. Let’s see just what the crew from Glendale Community College are up to these days.
Joel McHale (Jeff Winger)
The man who started the whole study group, and even after graduating, can’t quit Greendale. First off, even as a big Joel McHale fan as far back as the Talk Soup, sorry, The Soup, days, it was a bit startling to see that he’s now 50 years old — and was born in Paris, France!
While we keep waiting and hoping that Netflix will bring back The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale, it’s a sight to see that in just the past two years, since 2020, McHale has appeared in or been a part of 18 TV shows and five movies! Currently, McHale hosts the Fox game show, Crime Scene Kitchen, along with being part of the cast of the CW’s Stargirl. He’s set to star in a movie called California King, which is shooting and in production right now in Utah. Also this year, he starred in an episode of Love, Death & Robots as well as The Bear and a new show, Celebrity Beef.
Funny aside, McHale played Community costar Chevy Chase in the film A Futile and Stupid Gesture, which was about the rise and fall of National Lampoon and released on Netflix in early 2018.
Gillian Jacobs (Britta Perry)
After learning to not pull a Britta anymore, you may have seen Jacobs starring in the suave Netflix comedy Love, which ran for four seasons. This year, she graced the screen as Chris Riley in the controversial HBO show, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. She’s also appeared in two episodes of Minx, another show that also aired this year on HBO. Her 2022 schedule has been packed as she directed a documentary called More Than Robots and appeared in the films The Contractor and The Seven Faces of Jane.
Last year, she played the voices of three roles in the shows Invincible, 10-Year-Old Tom, and Aquaman: King of Atlantis. On the movie side in 2021, she was the adult version of Christine “Ziggy” Berman in the three-part Fear Street series. She also played roles in the movies North Hollywood and Mark, Mary & Some Other People. Oh, and toss in her voicing Harley Quinn for the DC animated film, Injustice, too.
Donald Glover (Troy Jones)
On temporary leave from his persona, Childish Gambino, for the time being, Glover as you may have noticed has done a bit of everything after he sailed off from Greendale.
Surely you’ve seen Glover changing the TV dynamic with the show he created and stars in, Atlanta, which airs on FX. There’s a new TV series or two in the works right now, with Glover saying he’s working on a show based on Lando Calrissian, whom he played in Solo: A Star Wars Story, in 2019.
Plus he’s set to direct a show he’s collaborating on with Malia Obama of all people, called Hive, after Obama worked on both Girls and the Halle Berry drama/sci-fi show Extant.
“I feel like she’s just somebody who’s gonna have really good things coming soon,” he said. “Her writing style is great,” Glover told Variety.
Alison Brie (Annie Edison)
Bringing a bit of youthful naivety to Community, Brie’s Annie Edison was a great portrayal of an overachiever who strives for perfection.
After starring in two hit series simultaneously — Mad Men and Community — actually scratch that, three, because we damn sure are including BoJack Horseman here, Brie went on to help carry the wildly successful GLOW until 2019.
In 2020 she appeared for feature films. This year, she already wrote and starred in the movie Spin Me Round. Then, the movie she cowrote with her husband, Dave Franco, with him also serving as director on the film, called Somebody I Used to Know, is slated to come out later in 2022 as well.
After that, her next movie, Freelance, which also features John Cena and Christian Slater, is in post-production but without a release date just yet.
Earlier this year she also appeared in an episode of the Apple TV series Roar, and last year she voiced characters for Rick and Morty and Star Wars: Visions.
Danny Pudi (Abed Nadir)
After Abed, Pudi has stayed pretty busy. This year he appeared in two films, Corner Office and American Dreamer, and he’s also scheduled to be in the aforementioned Somebody I Used to Know with Brie.
Pudi is also the voice of Bumblebee in the Transformers: Earth Spark animated series that will debut on Paramount Plus in November of this year. That’s not the only well-known IP streamer he’s set to have a role in, as he will play The Mechanist in the upcoming Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley Bennett)
The well-meaning voice of reason, Brown’s Shirley always had the best interests of the group in mind.
Since the show ended, Brown’s also appeared in quite a few roles spanning both movies and series. Over 2020-21 she got a credit in a whopping 22 different television programs, as well as her main role in the series Big Shot, which is still airing.
This year, she was in two episodes of Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, and the TV movie Blind Psychosis.
On the movie side of things, she played Patty, the owner of the animal shelter, in this year’s DC League of Super-Pets, and she has a part in the live-action film Disenchanted, which is a sequel to the 2007 movie starring Amy Adams, Enchanted.
Ken Jeong (Ben Chang)
The incredibly zany and crazy Chang lives on in memes and clips across the internet.
And you knew Jeong would keep busy after Community came to a close. You probably see him the most as a panelist on the ultra-successful The Masked Singer, bringing his patented charm and comedic timing. He’s also the host of the show I Can See Your Voice, and picked up a gig on The Masked Dancer as well. This year he played himself in the show Murderville, and had a role in The Pentaverte. Jeong has two more shows on the horizon — Adventures in Wonder Park, as well as The Emperor of Malibu.
On top of all that, he had a part in five films in 2021, and will show up in two unreleased as of now movies, All-Star Weekend, and El Tonto.
Jim Rash (Craig Pelton)
The lean dean who could never be mean who absolutely loved to dress up for any occasion (and as we know, was quite in love with Jeff, too) brought a different kind of comic relief to an already comedic show.
Rash has a role in the movie Bros, which is in post-production currently, after taking part in two movies in 2021.
Earlier this year he had a part in the Netflix series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. Last year he was in three shows, including four episodes of Impeachment: American Crime Story.
Chevy Chase (Pierce Hawthorne)
Since Community came to a close, Chase hasn’t been as busy as his fellow castmates, but that could be do to his age or his standing and reputation from the show (and preceding it, to be fair).
The last time he appeared in a show was in 2016, in A Christmas in Vermont, a TV movie. In 2020 he played Chevy (basically himself) in The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, and last year he voiced a character in the direct-to-DVD film Panda vs. Aliens.
Let’s do some quick hitters on the members that played a large role, but weren’t quite the main cast.
Jonathan Banks (Buzz Hickey)
Banks came on board once Glover and Chase left the show in season five, appearing in 11 episodes as a persnickety yet sincere addition to the crew.
You may have seen him in a little show called Better Call Saul most recently.
John Oliver (Professor Duncan)
Oliver brought a great level of levity with his character in the show, both early on and in the season five. Very regularly, you can catch the witty and extremely insightful Oliver as the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO.
Paget Brewster (Debra Chambers/Francesca “Frankie” Dart)
Brewster popped up in 14 episodes over the last two seasons of the show. This year she’s had spots in How I Met Your Father and Tuca & Bertie, and also has a role in the movie Hypochondriac.
Keith David (Elroy Patashnik)
Another later seasons addition as the original cast atrophied, the very recognizable David has been in three shows this year — American Dad, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, and Entergalactic, on top of his recurring role in Stargirl.
He had a major, but limited, role in this year’s Jordan Peele release, Nope, as Otis Haywood Sr., and also was in DC League of Super-Pets. In 2022 he was also in Catwoman: Hunted, The Prank, and Unplugging.
David will also be in 2023’s Shelby Oaks, and two films with release dates as TBA, a documentary called The Gettysburg Address, and All Fun and Games.