Six seasons and a Zoom call. The cast of “Community” and creator Dan Harmon are reuniting for a virtual table read and Q&A, in order to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts.
Among the participants will be Donald Glover, who departed “Community” during its fifth season — marking the first time he’s been a part of a “Community” event since leaving the show. Stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Ken Jeong and Glover are all set to join the table read, along with Harmon.
The table read will be shown in its entirety, along with a Q&A of fan questions, on Monday, May 18, at 2 p.m. PT via Sony Pictures TV’s “Community” YouTube page. The cast is set to read “Cooperative Polygraphy,” the fourth episode of Season 5, which first aired January 16, 2014, on NBC.
For the Q&A, Fans can submit their questions on social media using #AskCommunity and tag @CommunityTV.
As part of the event, fans will be asked to contribute to two charities: José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen and Frontline Foods, both of which are involved in COVID-19 relief efforts to get fresh, nourishing meals to responders working on the frontlines and vulnerable communities across the country.
Sony Pictures Television will contribute to the charities on behalf of the “Community” family, while fans will also be asked to donate to the “Community” fund here: wck.org/community. Both charities have earned kudos for their work during these challenging times; McHale has partnered with Frontline Foods to help deliver foods to hospital workers around LA, NY and Detroit.
“Cooperative Polygraphy” was a “bottle episode,” taking place almost entirely in the Greendale Community College library where the show’s study group gathers after the funeral of Pierce (Chevy Chase). Waiting for them is Pierce’s estate executor, played by Walton Goggins (who will not be available to join the table read). One by one, the show’s characters are grilled by Goggins’ character and are bequeathed final gifts.
The reunion also comes as “Community” became available April 1 on Netflix (it also continues to run on Hulu). Internationally the show is also available on Amazon Prime in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Canada, UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and the Middle East, and on other platforms in various parts of the world.
“Community” ran for six seasons (five on NBC, one on Yahoo Screen) and 110 episodes between 2009 and 2015. Since then, fans have wondered whether a movie — fulfilling Abed’s (Pudi) “six seasons and a movie” prophecy — might happen. With “Community” receiving new attention via its Netflix streaming deal, McHale recently told Variety that he’s more optimistic than ever that it will happen.
“There’s way more rumblings than there used to be,” he said last month. “I think with the renewed interest, and I know the cast is interested, that it could happen.”