‘Community’: Joel McHale Says Chevy Chase Isn’t Returning For Upcoming Peacock Film: “I Don’t Think He’s Allowed To”

With a “Community” movie on the way, fans of the NBC show have one major question: will Chevy Chase be involved? IndieWire (via The Post) has an answer, and those with knowledge of the comedic actor’s departure from the show won’t be surprised.

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“I don’t think he’s allowed to,” Joel McHale told The Post when asked about a potential Chase return for the upcoming film. “I don’t think it would happen. I don’t think it is a thing. Obviously his unceremonious departure in Season 4 pretty much did that in.” And as far as McHale is concerned, Chevy wouldn’t want to come back anyway: “I’m guessing if you asked him, he wouldn’t be interested.”

Chevy’s firing from “Community” in 2013 is the stuff of modern TV legends. The comic-turned-actor exited the series after four seasons on the NBC series after allegedly calling co-star Donald Glover a racist slur. This was after years of butting heads with series creator Dan Harmon, with Chase often chastizing Harmon for not seeing eye to eye with him comedically. Needless to say, Chase is persona non grata with the “Community” cast and crew, and bringing him back for the upcoming Peacock film would flirt with disaster.

And according to McHale, the film is still a go, although the timetable for it isn’t set yet. “I know that we’ve been saying stuff about it. But we have a budget. We are going to do it — it’s just getting the date and lining everybody up. It’s going to happen” he told The Post. “I was 50/50, less than 50/50 a couple years ago. But now, it’s real. So we just have to get the dates down.” Peacock ordered a feature film of “Community” in September 2022, but since then, there’s been no updates about the project until McHale’s comments.

Debuting in 2009, “Community” ran five seasons on NBC before moving over to Yahoo! Screen for a sixth and final season. Since then, fans of the series have taken to social media to rally for the “and a movie” of Harmon’s intended destiny for the series, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Peacock finally gave that wish the green light. Once it did, it wasn’t long before fans began to ask if Chase would be involved.

Shortly after Peacock announced the “Community” movie, a fan asked Harmon about a potential Chase return at the 2022 New York Comic Con. Said Harmon, “I don’t even know if it’s legal for him to come back. That may be out of my hands. There may be something I sign for with an insurance company.”

So, no, McCale’s update about Chase not being involved with Peacock’s “Community” movie should surprise no one.