EXCLUSIVE: Pierce Hawthorne is dropping out of Greendale Community College. After a tumultuous three-and-a-half-year relationship, Chevy Chase and the producers of NBC‘s cult comedy Community are parting ways by mutual agreement. Chase’s departure from the show is effective immediately. The bulk of Community‘s 13-episode fourth-season order have been filmed. Chase won’t appear in the one or two episodes that have not been shot yet.
The news of Chase’s exit from the Sony TV-produced Community hardly comes as a surprise. His return to the comedy series for Season 4 was somewhat surprising as he hinted multiple times last spring that he might leave. He has been vocal about his displeasure with the Community gig, telling The Huffington Post UK in an interview this fall, “It was a big mistake! I just sort of hung around because I have three daughters and a wife, and I figured out I might as well make some bread, every week, so I can take care of them in the way they want … The hours are hideous, and it’s still a sitcom on television, which is probably the lowest form of television.”
Then there was Chase’s public feud with show’s creator/former showrunner Dan Harmon last year, which escalated into a profanity-laced message Chase left on Harmon’s voice mail. (Harmon left the series after the end of last season.) There also have been on-set outbursts that have become a distraction for the rest of the cast and crew. They included a tirade last month, in which Chase used the N-word. The rant was reportedly prompted by lines of dialogue he found offensive. According to people close to the actor, Chase had been increasingly frustrated and uncomfortable with the direction of his character, Pierce, who is a bigot, and had felt that Pierce had run his course.
Chase’s departure likely won’t have as big of an impact on Community as Harmon’s exit because Pierce is a supporting character in an ensemble led by Joel McHale that has a number of standouts. The show recently got a February 7 Season 4 premiere date and is set to return to its regular Thursday 8 PM time slot. With a February start, Community is unlikely to go beyond the 13 ordered episodes this season. Chase will be in most of them, so his departure will be felt if the series gets a fifth season renewal.
It’s about damn time.
That the final nail in the coffin of this incredibly lame sitcom nobody watched has been delivered? I agree!
Go back to watching The Big Bang Theory. Might as well watch a show where you don’t have to think.
Writing a show that significantly depends on making references to other shows, while you pat yourself on the back for figuring it out, doesn’t mean it’s a great sitcom.
It means you’re a homebound semi-literate nerd, who likes to yell out “Dr. Who! That was from Dr. Who!!!!”
Harmon reemed NBC good. They have to pay him for the last season as if he was working there. He sold them a bill of goods, and they got stuck with it. He’ll never pull it again in his life. Word is out on him. In the end, he screwed the people he hated, and now he can self-destruct with style.
Point Harmon.
That’s ‘DOCTOR Who, Doctor Who. SHEESH!’ There, now I’ve saved you the ire of a fanboy.
And, so there’s no misunderstanding, I’ll state unequivocally that I agree with your comment.
Regardless of our differing opinions of the show, Community is still better than Big Bang Theory in every aspect. Community may not have the funniest jokes, but it has greatly written characters.
Unrelated opinion: Arrested Development is funny, but there is little development.
Wow… If all you get from this show are the references then you might want to consider watching something more dumbed down. I would recommend The Office or The Big Bang Theory or any live action show on the Disney Channel. I’m sure you’ll find a fart joke or awkward situation you can relate to on any of those shows.
For the rest of us, we’ll enjoy what’s left of the show after the suits surgically removed the heart so we can get another cookie cutter clone of whatever else is popular with the masses. The unfortunate reality is that these shows exist not to entertain, but to make money. And when your core demographic keeps show like The Office on the air, it’s no wonder a show like Community isn’t doing so hot in ratings. Heaven forbid I have to pay attention and actually digest some of the dialog!!! Clever writing?!?!? OH NO!!!!!
I agree with Ash, I laugh at you comment Elijah, you don even get the show at all!, even if it’s final is near, I’m gratefull that there where a show clever enough to be enjoyed the way that “Community” was, unfortunately, been that clever, most people (like James or CrystalFissure) won’t understand it and will hate it for making them realize how dumb they actually are.
I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t the comment section for the cancellation of Animal Practice.
I remember seeing earlier this week that they were filming the finale (out of order, with still a couple eps left besides.) Hopefully they filmed the whole thing before he decided this
I hope so too. I feel that the possibility of a 5th season is highly unlikely, so it would be nice if Pierce remained a part of the show through the end.
Hardcore fans of the show and fans of Harmon will rejoice, but the show never took advantage of Chevy’s abilities. He’s still funny, despite being a jerk, and the writing for Pierce was usually lazy at best.
From what I understand, most of the lazy writing was due to Chase interfering with the writing process. It sounds like he fought Harmon a lot over the dark places the writers took Pierce’s character, which was when he was it his best.
Hell, I remember in the “making of” featurettes on the DVDs, Chase would comment that his favorite Pierce jokes were the ones that most hardcore fans would call “lazy” (i.e. the fart and senility jokes).
You “understand” wrong. Chevy was rarely involved with the writing process, if only because he, as well as everyone else, didn’t get a script until the last minute.
Lambaste Chevy if that’s what makes you happy, but don’t lie.
As a serious professional thespian he cannot….no, will not compromise his principles. Three words; “Las Vegas Vacation”.
As a serious writer, Harmon will never compromise on his principals. You only need to remember two words: Harmontown podcast.
Good riddance. Sort of. There are GREAT Pierce-moments in the show, but all the extraneous shit seemed like it must make for an awful workplace environment.
He sounds like a joy to be around :(
He sounds like Pierce Hawthorne.
Raise your hand if you saw this coming from a mile away!
Ya it was only a matter of time. Too bad he didn’t leave earlier, maybe Harmon would have stuck around.
Keep dreaming. If Harmon “stuck around” the show would be in the red, and cancelled, because Harmon too often couldn’t get scripts ready for shooting on time.
You try being on a crew that has to start shooting on a script delivered hours before. You want tension, anxiety and chaos? Harmon delivered more of that than Chevy could on his worst day.
So Chevy goes back to shooting occasional movies, Harmon goes to making drunken podcasts to entertain his aimless sycophants, and the world keeps rolling.
You are the worst.
He Brita’d it
GOOD. I love Community, but the way he has treated the writers, cast, and crew just completely disgusts me. He’s just a washed up old SNL coke head now.
None of this will probably matter, as Community is not likely to get a fifth season.
Not surprised but still disappointed. The Greendale Six is no more.
Greendale Six is still there, it would be the Greendale Seven that is no more.
I guess Harmon was right – f*** Chevy.
I guess everyone that’s ever worked with Chevy Chase throughout his entire career was right – f*** Chevy.
Do your homework. The person who torpedoed the show was Harmon. Chevy got fed up with the last minute scripts, chaos on the set, and he was the only one in the cast with the clout to complain openly about it. If anyone else in the cast had said anything, they would be branded an ingrate, and a loose cannon just like you and your cabal of losers are doing now.
If anyone attempted to save Community, oddly enough it was actually Chevy. If the show had been run professionally, Chevy never would have been an issue.
Harmon shouldn’t be cast as the evil one of this story either. The fact is, just because you can come up with a pilot, and can write, doesn’t in any way mean you have the ability to manage a sitcom. That requires a whole different set of skills. Drinking your breakfast, and smoking pot, and showing up for work in your pajamas doesn’t lend to sharpening those skills, I might add.
Harmon’s a decent writer, but incompetent as a show runner. If you’re an incompetent show runner, the show you created turns into a monster that destroys you. If it wasn’t Chevy complaining, something else would have sunk the show.
It’s like if I dropped you in the middle of the Pacific ocean with a brand new sailboat, and you had no sailing skills. Unless you were very lucky, you’d die out there. Not because the jib was stuck. Not because there was a storm. It’s because you’re not competent as a sailer.
Don’t blame the ocean, or the boat because you sunk.
The problem with your theory is that Harmon isn’t involved. New showrunners were brought in – which should have been the change he was lobbying for. His departure and subsequent outburst this season just show how difficult he is to work with. That said, he was great in his segments. I’ll be sad to see Pierce go, but if they get a season 5 I’ll still be watching.
If it was all Harmon’s fault, then why was Chevy the only one complaining? There were 8 “main characters” on the show, the only one who seemed to have a problem was Chevy.
I’d believe that Harmon was incompetent if the show sucked. (Instead Community has been one of the only creative sitcoms on television in many years.) It’s a show where you can sit and watch and rewatch the same episode and the laughs only get louder. It’s not lazy comedy like all of the other laugh-track-driven-droll out there.
So maybe he wasn’t organized, but if that’s the price for something GOOD, then I think the audience is willing to pay it. It’s a shame that it was a hectic filming event, however, how can that compare with the lame jokes that every other sitcom shits out?? (I’m sure it takes a bit more time to be original and good, than to rewrite a formulaic sitcom plot over and over again. For instance, several seasons (and Emmy’s) into TBBT we still get “Raj is Indian and has an accent!” jokes. That’s something that’s truly bad, but I guess the script is out on time, so no worries. #sarcasm)
Oh well. Maybe Shirley can finally get some more screentime then.
I wonder if there will be an episode that handles with Pierce’s departure. I never liked Chevy Chase, but Pierce Hawthorne is one of TV’s funniest characters in my opinion. I’m sad to see the character go, but Chase is probably right – he’d run his course.
I love Community! I am sad that Chevy Chase will be leaving, as he represents my age group in the cast. I wish it hadn’t turned out this way, but you can’t do your creative best in an environment you hate, so this is good for his health and well-being and everyone else’s. I will miss Pierce, even though some of his comments made my hair stand on end. Having more Shirley air time is very good. I would also like to see more of the Dean and Chang. I won’t apologize, I love the show! And I’m also a huge Big Bang Theory fan. Like The Neighbors too!
Chevy continues to confirm being The Angriest Guy in Hollywood. I’m sure most studios will think twice (make that thrice) before casting him in anything. The good thing is the he can now spend 24/7 at home with the wife & kids. I’d hate to be his dog….
You are right. And prior to Community, Chase had alienated so many people in Hollywood that he had difficulty finding any work. I remember when the first season of Community premiered, at least one article I read talked about how contrite Chase was and how he appreciated the opportunity that was given him to work again, after a lengthy blacklisting. Seems that contriteness didn’t last long.
I smell a hit show….. bring back Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase for there own sitcom
If that happened, the show would be second only to RuPaul’s Drag Race in the use of cheesecloth-covered lenses.
“The hours are hideous, and it’s still a sitcom on television, which is probably the lowest form of television.”
No Chevy the “Lowest” form of television was that hideous talk show you hosted. If you’re waiting for Lorne Michaels to call you back, rest assured, the moment SNL needs a ratings boost via an “Original Cast Reunion” you’ll be the LAST person he calls. BTW, Bill Murray didn’t lose your number, he merely knows a failing career when he sees one. Happy Trails Chevy!
I still don’t understand. Chevy Chase is an actor that found regular work, on a now cult-favorite, prime time TV show. He’s an actor that is upset because the character he’s playing isn’t really him? Can anyone else see where I’m going with this? Why is Chevy Chase angry?
The articles I’ve read have yet to elude to any wrong doing on the part of cast, writers, producers, or directors. I must be missing something.
All the press on this show and Chase is framed in a very anti-Chevy manner. He had issues with how his character was written, and he’s not wrong to have them. When the character was very mean spirited, it made no sense. They were also not clever in trying to have Pierce be “shocking” with his racial comments.
If it is the show’s press that is framing Chevy Chase in a negative manner, then they must have started this thirty years before the show was launched. That is how long he has been getting bad press for his behavior.
He is obviously enraged that the show is not about him. I mean, it is “the lowest form of television” so a person as full of himself as Chevy would probably expect to become the king of everything there.
It’s true — once he bought into the hype after one season on SNL, the idea of being part of an ensemble was summarily drilled out of his head. Whether he was already wired that way or his handlers programmed him that way, it’s shaped his career for better or for worse.
Alan Swann said it best: “I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star!”
An actor has the right to take or not take a role based in the script (and a few other things, salary, etc.) but when the scripts arrive at the last minute without the actor being able to react, the problem of the actor’s integrity are compromised. An actor’s persona is determined by the body of his work and choices. Chevy had the integrity to understand that and had principles about his work. From he information at hand, it appears that he had legitimate concerns about the integrity of the work and finally did what he had to do. He was truthful about the work and his reasons and that is rare.
Good riddance.
He is expendable and Pierce had become pretty unfunny and/or boring. Any chance of getting Harmon back now?
Chevy thinks a sitcom is the lowest form of television. So now he’s free to go produce more high art like his classic films Man of The House and Nothing But Trouble.
Oblivion has been waiting for your return, Chevy.
Bye Bye Chevy…your career was nice while it lasted…but you pissed off too many people over the years…and now you’ve screwed your chance at redemption in Hollywood. You are not the star you were in the 70’s and 80’s, the world has moved on and you’re an expendable has been who is now being shown the door for possibly the last time.
Don’t Let It Hit You On The Way Out.
Chevy Chase has always been the worst actor on the show. You can tell his heart is not in it…although it can’t be fun playing a bigot for years.
Yeah, that Carroll O’Connor had a miserable time playing a bigot for all those years.
O’Conner’s bigot was a cleverly written bigot.
Nothing in Community ever approached the originality or brilliance of that series. As a matter of fact, while Community’s cast is very talented, nothing on that show ever actually made me laugh. I found the writing lazy and uninspired all around.
Gave the show several tries over the years. It just never clicked.
Say what you want about Chevy, but he’s in this business a long time, and he knows when he’s doing schlock for the money and something of real quality. (Well, save for his “Memoirs of An Invisible Man”…I recall him being SO certain that was going to change his career. Oops.)
Chevy sucked from day one – no offense, b/c the guy has been great elsewhere. But he never fit the tone of the show, as far I am concerned. There was always one thing that bothered my about the show, and it was always Chevy’s character. Never worked. Sorry it took this long.
He was funny for 5 minutes – 35 years ago.
Sad to see Chase remains a bitter, cynical grouch. He was brilliant in the 70s and 80s but seemed to grow jaded after his joke of a talk show failed in the early 90s. Too bad. Get a grip, Chevy!
Shame, the dynamics of the show will be chang’d and chang is always bad.
Maybe he got an offer to make Snow Days 2: Electric Boogaloo.
What about a moratorium on the “something something 2: Electric Boogaloo”jokes? That is truly the lowest form of humor.