November 15th, 2011
05:46 PM ET
NBC puts 'Community' on hiatusThat sound you heard yesterday afternoon was countless "Community" fans furiously tweeting their outrage after NBC released its 2012 midseason schedule with the critically acclaimed comedy conspicuously absent. In its place, "30 Rock" will return on January 12. According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources with the network said it "will return at a later date," along with new series "Prime Suspect," which is being shelved in favor of "The Firm," starting on January 12. Some fans on Twitter immediately assumed the worst, fearing the show was canceled or at least on the verge of cancellation. Hashtags referencing lines from the show, like "#sixseasonsandamovie", "#savegreendale" and "#savecommunity" were also popular.
TV Guide writer Damian Holbrook tweeted to NBC, "you meant to shelve Whitney, not #Community, right?" ("Whitney" is switching timeslots with "Up All Night" in 2012.) Much of the cast and crew, being active on social media, posted their response to the news as well, mostly referencing lines from the show. Donald Glover, apparently referencing NBC, wrote, "Britta'd it!" while Alison Brie tweeted, "Troy & Abed in the...Summer?" Creator Dan Harmon posted "Streets ahold," a reference to Pierce's failed catchphrase "Streets ahead." Writers for the show chimed in as well, with Tim Saccardo tweeting in hopes that the network would "Chang" their mind (with the "#occupynbc" hashtag), while Megan Ganz said, "This... is by far the darkest timeline." On a more serious note, creator Dan Harmon tweeted that the Christmas episode would be the last one with a definite airdate, while New York Magazine's Vulture reported that the show will continue shooting episodes as planned. In the meantime, "Community" fans on social media and elsewhere will have to hope for the best. In other news from the NBC schedule, the newly retitled "Are You There, Chelsea?" - created by Chelsea Handler - will follow "Whitney" on Wednesday nights at 8:30 ET/PT, starting January 11. Also, "Chuck's" final episode will air on January 27, "Celebrity Apprentice" will return on February 12, and a new reality series, "Fashion Star," hosted by Elle McPherson, will premiere on March 13. (As previously announced, "The Voice" will return on Super Bowl Sunday, and settle into the Monday slot on February 6, followed by the premiere of "Smash.") What do you think of all these changes? Are you already missing "Community?" Post your iReport or comment below.
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Obviously Community has many fans. Matthew O., I wonder if you think Whitney is a better show than Community? I personally think it is better than The Office or Parks and Rec. They don't need to cancel it, that would be stupid because many people would be upset. They just need to make room! NBC, listen to your audience!
Community is one of my favorite shows on t.v. It is the only show where I put the volume louder then other shows and my wife knows what I am watching from another room. Funny characters with a mixture of all kinds of people. If it is cancel I will drop out of school myself and protest with the dean...
NBC must really be dumb. Community is by far the best show on NBC and pretty high up there for the best show on tv right now. I watched 5 minutes of Whitney and I couldn't take it. Possibly one of the dumbest, ugliest, non funny actresses I've ever had to sit and watch. I have absolutely no idea why they should put Community on a break. Maybe I should stop watching the channel altogether.
Yes, give Community to CBS and I won't have to watch any other channels all week. As it is, CBS has At least 8 of the top ten shows week after week so then they'll have 9. CBS knows good programming better than those NBC buffoons. The only reason I watched Community in the first place is because Joel McHale hosts the Soup and I watch that all the time so when I heard he had another show I tried it and fell in love with all the characters. And the Chevy Chase coming back to tv was just genius. I love him. Let losing Community be NBC's mistake and CBS's triumph over all others.
NBC must have been turned over the driver's seat to either the producers on their "who wants to ruin a network" program... Seriously with so much crap out there now, how can this show, which is a solid masterpiece of varying degrees of immortality every week, not be the very pinnacle of their roster with other offerings?!?
Six Seasons and a movie!!
SAVE COMMUNITY~! http://www.save-community.com
Community is simply too good for television. Think Freaks & Geeks, Party Down, Mr. Show, Arrested Development, and Firefly ("We're gonna get that show back on the air, buddy!"). Let's hope we don't have to add Community to that list for at least a few more seasons.
Say it isn't so!!!! How is "Whitney" staying on the air? This is a disappointing and saddening. To many good shows with loyal viewers get taken off the air in favor of...well to put it lightly, garbage. Community has such great writing and it truly is funny. It is television executive decisions like this that make fans furious and just so someone with deep pockets can get their terrible show on the air. Way to listen to the fans guys. Please don't forget that without viewers, there is no ad support and without ad support, there is no revenue, and without revenue...there are no jobs.
Merry Christmas from yet another lost viewer. At least now I can catch up on all of the stuff on my DVR since you have cancelled...sorry, "shelved"....one of the few entertaining shows on television.
This is my favorite show. It has so much wit, great actors/actresses, and comedy. But most of all, it has a lot of heart. I'm too saddened by this...
rob gronkowski jersey
The idea of axing 'Community' reminds me of 'Arrested Development'.
How can so many terrible shows remain year after year...but someone in scheduling and marketing can't get such a great show to get the numbers they need to stick around?
If I had a vote...'Whitney' would be axed...the show I mean. Axe 'Whitney,' move 'Community' around, freeing up a time slot and green light something not so obvious, poorly acted/written/lit and 3 walled, as 'Whitney'.
Seriously, a show I can watch over and over..or one that I can't watch 3 minutes of without praying for something to hit me in the head so I can find it funny. The funniest part of 'Whitney' is when she says "Whitney is taped in front of a live studio audience." There is no way they get people to laugh at this thing...
Wrong decision, NBC. The correct decsion is to keep Community and punt Whitney (awful show). Stop messing around! Keep Community on the air! Do it now.
Whitney is a stinker! everyone knows it. 30 rock has been going downhill for the last 2 years! The office was great, but it's time to end while they have their dignity! Don't get rid of the most original and well loved comedy show on tv! Community should replace all of these other shows! Don't do to community what you did to Conan! #sixseasonsandamovie!
I LOVE Community, I just finished watching the last episode, I am listening to Kiss from a Rose, and I had to find out on youtube comments about the hiatus?? I think NBC will see how many of us LOVE the show, the cast, the writing, I just loved the Annie moving episode! Save Community!
Hiatus? AAAAIIIIIIIUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!! Nononononononononoooooo!!! This always happens! Every freakin' TV show I actually LIKE gets either cancelled or put on an "indefinite hiatus" that always leads to a cancellation. It's why I stopped watching most TV shows in the first place!! Crap gets put on for all the drone Lemmings at home to cerebrally digest, while programs with actual substance and style (Like Community) are passed over in favor of TV shlock featuring genital humor and fart jokes!!! Please NBC doofs... Please, please, PLEASE bring back the show & hey... maybe try NOT to schedule it against that "Big Bang Theory" show on CBS. Y'know the one! It's the one that eats every other show alive in the ratings in that timeslot! The one that 30 to 60 year old viewers watch and think it's just SOOOO representative of modern "geek culture!" When instead, it's demeaning and insulting to all geeks everywhere-even the percentage of fringe geeks that only occasionally pick up a comic book or watch a sci-fi show. Seriously, Community is really losing to THAT? Just proves that most audiences have lowered expectations of entertainment. So yeah, NBC.... maybe we can find a better place for "Community"....this utter GEM of a show to be displayed?? Would ya do that for us, hmmm??? WOULD YA?? I mean, really now. Community is the smartest, well-conceived & superbly executed comedy that I've seen in at least the last 10 to 15 years. Yeah, I love this show THAT much. So please NBC... all cynicism aside... Bring my show back!!!
i am really sad about this..i am not exaggerating but Community is the only show that i look forward to every week
A couple years ago I saw Community and didn't think the show had much potential. I gave Community another try this season and I find that he show is quirky, fast-paced, and fun.
Whitney is a bit rough at times, but I've laughed harder during Whitney episodes than any comedy this Fall. Chris D'Elia is fantastic and if they start flushing out the 1 dimensional supporting cast characters the show has real potential.
As for 30 Rock, sometimes I watch it and try to figure out why it is possibly critically acclaimed when it strikes me as quite lowbrow.
Community is the best show! Are u nuts?
If Community gets canceled, I will never return to NBC.
This is one of the smartest shows on television right now, the only one I watch on NBC. I hope it continues to be supported and renewed! All the people I know who enjoy it love it fiercely, myself included!
Worst mistake CNN could make. This show is now better than How I Met Your Mother. It's just upsetting it's not getting the ratings.
This is one the stupiest decisions NBC has ever made. I'm glad it's getting the attention it deserves.
It has all been going downhill since they cancelled "Ironsides".
NBC has made yet another unwise decision by benching what seems to be the most original, outstanding, groundbreaking, hilarious and utterly entertaining show on television today, "Community". Not only is this show a fresh and new idea of the boundaries a sitcom can take, it is by far the best show NBC has on it's Thursday evening lineup. Frankly, "Whitney" is just awful television, formulaic and cliche, nothing new to a regular viewer (which trust me, after NBC kicks "Community" off, I won't be!) I hope NBC Executives can realize the potential for this show, and understand how important the show is to the rabid fans of this cultural phenomenon.
I have watched Community a few times...but prefer watching Big Bang Theory. As far as Whitney, I watched it a few times and found it quite funny....I like her character and her husband's character...the others, not so much. NBC have a history of making bad decisions, look at the Jay Leno fiasco....
NBC = Nothing But Cr@p
I'd like to know why and how executives came to this mind-boggling, exponentially-disappointing decision. I'd also like to beseech said executives to cease kowtowing to the idiots that don't appreciate/watch the quality television offered to them, yet seem to determine what remains or what gets put on "hiatus."
Whitney is horrible. Just... HORRIBLE. NBC effs it up once again (see SouthLAnd and Law & Order).
Calm down people. It's only a television show.
Now..the big story here is that 30-ROCK IS COMING BACK ON 12-JANUARY!!!!!
Are you serious?? That horror show trainwreck Whitney is still on, but Community gets put on the back burner???
Community OBVIOUSLY has a much bigger fan following, and a bigger hollywood following as well. Just look at all the big name guest stars!
On a promo for Whitney, they had to search so hard for a critic that liked it, that they quoted some random small town Tribune in Utah.
People... still... watch,,, TV???
"Community" and "Parks and Recreation" are the only live action TV shows I watch besides "Mad Men." This is a huge disappointment. It's "Arrested Development" all over again. "Big Bang Theory" seems to have won the timeslot and probably captures a similar audience, so why not just reshuffle the schedule? Hopefully this was just a publicity stunt by NBC to get more attention for the show.
Another bad NBC decision which is why they are at the bottom all the time. NBC only has 2 good shows – Community and The Office. Do people watch anything else on NBC??
And just when it was getting really good....such an awsome cast too. Shame on you NBC!.
It makes me changry!!
Fark you NBC
It seems I am doomed to love shows that get axed too soon: Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Firefly, Arrested Development and now seems Community. (Maybe it's me?)
Come on NBC, you're better than this.
If NBC lets Community go, please let another network pick it up and slot it in a better time.
Totally agree. Loved all those shows and Community.
REALLY? Cancelling "Community" shows why NBC is rating where it does. Change time slots if you can't get the audience away from their show, but don't cancel one of the few good shows you have. Nuff said.
If NBC is going to throw away this great show, how about Comedy Central picking it up? Or better yet, E!, so this will give them less time to fill with another stinking Kardashian show.
This show is liberal garbage, but then again, so is pretty much everything on NBC. Good riddence!
@Observer – can you explain liberal garbage to me? I don't understand what you mean. I love this show, but I think it demands too much of the average tv viewer – you have to pay attention every minute because it is so quick. For those who love schlock (sorry, Two and a Half Men) that is too much effort.
Or am I just spouting liberal garbage too? I MUST have that definition!
I am so sorry they cancelled Sarah Palin's Alaska Mr. Observer. I know that hurt you. You still have your blocks to play with. Remember that A comes bfore B in the alphabet. And F before O before X. There. Enjoy your sippy cup and try not to drool on the coffee table.
Community is incredible! This is such a poorly made decision. Whitney...I mean Whitney!?? Come on!
NBC sucks BIG TIME !
To all the programming executives there....YOU SUCK !
I love Community and it really isn't a good idea to put it opposite CBS's "THE BIG BANG THEORY", having to make us choose between one and the other. And why are you NBC IDIOTS putting "Whitney" ahead of Community's needs ? Whitney is terrible and I watched one episode and had to change the channel halfway thru.
KEEP COMMUNITY ON the AIR (at least long enough until 2013 when Jeff graduates and becomes a lawyer again !)
P.S. Annie Rules !
Seriously, NBC? That sounds like an attempt to pull a Fox. Community is argueably in its best season yet, and you're going to stifle it?
I really hope that they change this. I like 30 Rock, don't get me wrong, but they could easily remove Whitney and have plenty of room for Community. Just saying.
What am I gonna do without my twice a week Joel McHale fix?!
Axing "Community"? Really???? One of the few decent, funny, intelligent, clever shows?? How about not putting it opposite "Big Bang"? For those of us lucky enough to be able to record shows it's not a problem, but its viewership would increase in a different time slot.
What a waste. NBC, you suck. That's right. A 60 year old woman just wrote that.
Maybe Whitney is giving the execs knobbers and the cast of community isn't
Haha! That has to be it. That show is just awful.
Community has always been an awesome show, but recent episodes have forced my husband and me to dvr episodes so we could pause the show while we roar with laughter. I hope my 2 cents helps sway NBC to resume production of this excellent show. I already plan to purchase any series DVD box set to place next to my Wonderfalls and Firefly sets. I sometimes feel that if I like a show, I have personally doomed it! Please save my Community! It's the best ensemble cast this season.
Ahhh!!!!
I was a huge fan of Wonderfalls as well. My Wonderfalls DVDs are going to sit next to the Community DVDs and try to comfort them.
NBC is a terribly run network. NBC is drowning right now and whenever 30 Rock and the Office go, this network will not have any viable original programming whatsoever. Strange that its affiliate network, USA, is doing really well with its original programming. A show like Covert Affairs (mindless fluff with action) would really hit the spot for NBC right now.
However, I think the problem with Community is that it's too quirky and appeals to a niche market. This current season doesn't help matters either. Other than Chaos theory, every episode has not been on par with previous seasons. Also, the show has gotten away from its roots- students trying to survive at a dysfunctional community college. In this setting is where you get their best interactions and scenes- ie paint ball, dungeons and dragons, halloween episodes, even the bottle episode. It seems like when the characters leave this surrounding, that's when the sitcom is at its worst (last year's "unfunny" Troy's birthday episode, the most recent episode ie Annie's move, which was capped off by the Dean's face on the moon (?)).
Maybe I'm being naive but the hiatus may be good for Community as it can get back to its roots or at least re-organize itself to meet it's eventual end- May 23, 2013- at Mori's Steakhouse where Jeff celebrates his graduation from community college and becoming a lawyer again.
community is the only reason i watch nbc. will be extremely disappointed if i gotta go streets ahead without it
oh dear Lord – community is awesome and whitney sucks – please take that stink bomb off the air – she's so not funny – i have been a faithful NBC watcher for so many years – don't mess up your thursday night comedies – community; parks and rec; the office and 30 rock – there now was that so hard??????
What do Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, and Community have in Common?
They're all great shows with cult followings that were cancelled long before their time! It's NBC airing the show at 8pm on a Thursday night that is the problem.
SAVE COMMUNITY! Six Seasons and a movie!! (Cape status)
Realy NBC,You wonder why you're the 4th place network,only a matter of time before the CW surpasses you,I Caught Whitney,it's one of the worst shows i have ever seen,that show should've been a Paul Reiser Show,you know CANCELLED after 2 episodes...Community is not even a top 40 show but there is a loyal audience there,you are making a big mistake...
http://www.save-community.com
Who the hell are these NBC execs and what are they smoking? Community is by far one of the best shows they have on the air on this network. Whitney?? WHITNEY?? Really – shelve THAT show!!! The writing is terrible, she's out of her comfort zone and it shows all over every single wasted minute that show is on the air. She's a far better stand up comedian and writer than she is an actress. Go back to what you know and do well, Whitney. NBC – Keep Community on the air and stop changing up the schedule – will someone please pass the bong??
I love Community but I love The Big Bang Theory more. NBC needs to admit defeat at 8:00 and understand that not much can compete with Big Bang Theory. So there is no reason Whitney should stay and Community should leave. Having said that Community has had better seasons.
No. Each season has been better than the previous.
Community is NBC's best sitcom, bad choice since Whitney is awful.
I didn't start wathing Community until late last season, then I had to catch up on one of the most amazing shows on television. I can understand why it might have trouble finding a larger audience, the intelligence displayed in the program is just so immense that most of America probably can't understand it. Community is sick, big time. Long may it run.
Community is the only good on NBC besides Dateline. Another bad decision made by NBC.
Community is one of the best shows NBC has...horrible decision
That stinks! I love Community. And I agree with Damian Holbrook –Whitney's gotta go.
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Whitney sucks!!! The main actress chick is so ugly and NOT funny I can't stand to watch more than 10 minutes of an episode. [Stated again for emphasis] Whitney sucks!!! Bring Community back NOW nbc
Hey guys, help save Community <3
http://www.save-community.com
The jokes are recycled, and not funny. The show suffers from a lack of originality. I watched the first season last week and actually really liked it until near the end. In my opinion this is where the show started to go downhill. When compared to the other NBC comedies (The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation), it falls wayyyyy short of original comedic value. I hope that Community gets cancelled.