Posted in: NBC, TV, YouTube | Tagged: community, dan harmon, inside of you, joel mchale, michael rosenbaum, nbc

Community Star Joel McHale Says Reunion Possible "Now More Than Ever"

Earlier this week, we had a chance to check in with Community star Joel McHale and his appearance on Michael Rosenbaum's (Smallville, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) Inside of You podcast (a personal favorite of ours). In the clip, McHale discussed what it was like working with Chevy Chase (dearly-departed Pierce) and those reported rumblings the production had with him. But this time around, the subject isn't about the past but about the future, with McHale asked what he thought the chances were of Gillian Jacobs (Britta), Danny Pudi (Abed), Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley), Alison Brie (Annie), Donald Glover (Troy), and the rest of the fam getting back together to make something "official." His answer? About as close to the textbook definition of "cautious optimism" as you'll find.

Admitting that his feelings on a reunion were different last year, McHale credits last year's table read reunion with Pedro Pascal as beginning to change his mind on the topics- saying, "now more than ever, it's possible." That said, McHale did note that financing and scheduling are still major obstacles. That said, McHale says that getting the band back together is "more likely" now than a year ago:

And here's a look at the episode in its entirety, with McHale and Rosenbaum covering a wide range of topics beyond Community, from his eternal battle with inanimate objects and his time on The Soup to how he manages his dyslexia and overly harsh critics:

During an interview with Vulture's Good One podcast, series creator Dan Harmon revealed that he thinks about the movie "at least once a week" and that "locks are coming away," explaining that "the only problems are becoming the creative ones, which is great because I love those problems. I love having these conversations, and they're being had." But that said, moving forward with a big-screen take on a beloved series that's been off the air for a while (and honestly, didn't have Game of Thrones-level numbers of viewers) raises some questions for Harmon- here are some of the highlights.

Should It Cater to New Viewers or the "Community" Faithful?: "Here's the biggest philosophical question: Are you supposed to service a mythical new viewer? The obvious, dogmatic, practical, off-the-street answer is like, no, you don't. It's fan service. Why would there be a 'Community' movie? Who do you think is going to walk in off the street and buy popcorn and sit and watch a 'Community' movie like that?

Saying that that person doesn't exist is a lot different from asking yourself structurally if you're supposed to design the movie for them because there's a new viewer inside of all of us. If every Marvel movie started with inside references to all 90 other Marvel movies, even if you had seen all of them — even if on one level you'd be like, 'This is the greatest Marvel movie ever because all of the movies are in here'. I think that a part of your brain would be going, Yeah, but it's kind of not a good movie for this reason. It's just speaking in gibberish. What does this mean? I exist in that camp like you?

Formalistically, you owe a movie that I think the fans can not only enjoy, but they can stand back and go, 'You know, the crazy thing about this 'Community' movie is that if you didn't know there was a show, this is an insanely good movie'. There's a reason to watch it and then definitely watch the series because now you're like, 'Holy crap'. I don't know if that's arrogance, pretentiousness, responsibility, self-deprecation, torture. I can't get myself out of that camp.

Finding a Storyline That Would Fit A Six-Years-Later Timeline: "Do you want to see these people play dress-up in their old outfits and come in and go, 'Look at me. Meep meep, moop moop. Look what I used to do'? Yes, to some degree; no, to some degree. And contrary to that, do you want to see these people not doing that and coming in in pantsuits and going, 'I'm an adult now. Meep-meep, moop-moop. Remember when we did this?' Is there a way to provide a little bit of all of it for everybody and come out on the other side, with everybody going, 'Wow, that is like everything I didn't even know I wanted from a Community reunion?' If history is any teacher, what I will try to do is solve all those problems, and I'll end up making a big plate of self-indulgent spaghetti that only five people love."

Previously, Harmon took to Instagram to weigh in on the sitcom debate over which show is funnier, Friends or The Office. Well, let's just say that Harmon's going off the grid with his choice- a very personal one that should make Community fans happy. And not just because Harmon was making the case for their beloved series but also for the teasingly optimistic way he wrapped his post that's reignited all of the recent movie talks: "#sixseasonsandasteadybutcautiousbuildofincreasinglyexcitingspeculation":

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