Yahoo Screen is Dead, So COMMUNITY's Fate is Even More Grim
When Dan Harmon's meta-sitcom Community was at its peak, it was one of my favorite shows on television. The way he constantly played with TV tropes through his crazy group of lovable characters was nothing short of brilliant, and the laughs and enjoyment I got from picking out all of the pop culture references on that show haven't been replicated by anything else. At one point there was talk that the show's sixth season may not be its last, but considering its poor reception when it was rescued from cancellation by Yahoo Screen, it doesn't seem like its die-hard fans made time to seek it out at its new home.
Frankly, as much as it pains me to say this, they didn't miss much. The sixth season wasn't very good and never came close to achieving the brilliance of any of the previous Harmon-led seasons, and after that season ended, Harmon himself called the future of the show "bleak." Now there's yet another reason to think that we've seen the end of Greendale as we know it: Yahoo Screen is dead. Variety confirms that the company has shut down that site and folded its video back into the company's digital magazines, following a $42 million write-down last year when they just couldn't figure out how to properly monetize the content of its original series (Community, Other Space, Sin City Saints).
“At Yahoo, we’re constantly reviewing and iterating on our products as we strive to create the best user experience,” said a Yahoo rep Monday, who confirmed the brand was shuttered last week. “With that in mind, video content from Yahoo as well as our partners has been transitioned from Yahoo Screen to our Digital Magazine properties so users can discover complementary content in one place.”
With the departure of one of the top executives who was a big supporter of Community months prior to this shake-up, the hopes for more episodes of the show were already pretty grim, but now it's almost certainly going to be the final nail in the coffin of the once-beloved series. Maybe in a few years, Harmon will be able to get the original cast back together to complete the fan mantra of "six seasons and a movie."