Why Chevy Chase Left Community
More than 15 years on from its 2009 premiere on NBC, Dan Harmon's "Community" remains one of the biggest comedies of the modern era. The show's blend of meta storytelling and traditional sitcom tropes made it a hit, and while it never quite became mainstream, it significantly elevated the profiles of stars like Donald Glover, Joel McHale, and Alison Brie. The series launched Harmon to fame, leading to his even more successful Adult Swim animated sci-fi saga "Rick and Morty." Even "Avengers: Infinity War" directors Joe and Anthony Russo played major roles behind the scenes.
Of course, not everyone affiliated with the show was an up-and-comer when it started. Comedy legend and SNL alum Chevy Chase played bigoted moist towelette mogul Pierce Hawthorne across the show's first four seasons, and he left under less-than-amiable circumstances. After years of reported clashes with Harmon and the rest of the cast, things came to a head at the end of 2012, after a particularly aggressive on-set tirade from Chase, which included the use of the N-word while complaining about elements of Pierce's character. He and the rest of the team parted ways, and Pierce was subsequently killed off early in the show's fifth season, leading to one of the greatest "Community" moments ever written. In the years since, Chase has taken occasional stabs at "Community," telling Marc Maron on a 2023 episode of the WTF podcast that it "wasn't funny enough for me," and that he felt he needed more "hard-hitting" material.
Chevy Chase has had a difficult reputation for years
The "Community" set isn't the only place where Chevy Chase has had public blow-ups. Ever since his days on "Saturday Night Live," he's had a reputation as a volatile personality behind the scenes, famously almost coming to blows with Bill Murray on the show in 1978. In more recent years, Chase has leveled heavy criticism at the modern incarnation of "SNL," calling it "the worst f***ing humor in the world" in a 2018 interview with The Washington Post.
On "Community," that attitude created a somewhat hostile atmosphere, specifically with Dan Harmon but also with Chase's castmates. As detailed in a 2018 profile of Donald Glover in The New Yorker, Chase would frequently make racial comments toward the actor between takes, making statements such as "People think you're funnier because you're black."
"Chevy was the first to realize how immensely gifted Donald was, and the way he expressed his jealousy was to try to throw Donald off," Dan Harmon told the publication. Glover, by all accounts, let the comments roll off his back, stating, "I just saw Chevy as fighting time," adding, "A true artist has to be okay with his reign being over. I can't help him if he's thrashing in the water. But I know there's a human in there somewhere."
Chevy Chase wouldn't be back for the Community movie, even if Pierce were alive
The "six seasons and a movie" mantra of "Community" fandom (taken from an early episode) is still meant to come true. The long-awaited "Community" film, following up on the events of the show's final season, was set to shoot some time in 2025. However, during the promotional tour for "Together," Alison Brie mentioned that while the cast was enthusiastic to return, there were no updates regarding actual production.
Most of the original cast will return — with the notable exception of Chevy Chase. Of course, you wouldn't expect a dead character to come back to life, even if his actor were on great terms with the creative team. Still, a flashback cameo of some sort could easily be envisioned, but that certainly won't be happening at this point. When asked in 2024 by the New York Post about the possibility of Chase coming back, Joe McHale said, "I don't think he's allowed to. I don't think it would happen." Dan Harmon has expressed similar sentiments, saying in a 2022 New York Comic Con panel, "I don't even know if it's legal for him to come back." (via Variety)