Dan Harmon Talks COMMUNITY Movie and Reveals What Plotlines Fans Can Rule Out Seeing

One of the things fans loved most about the Community series was the non-stop pop-culture references throughout the show that were often infused into the plotlines. The series even created its own nostalgia within the show when it would make a memorable episode, and return to the same type of story in future episodes. This makes fans wonder what we can expect to see in the upcoming Community movie, and while creator Dan Harmon is keeping tight-lipped about what we will see, he has given us a good idea of what we won’t see in the movie.

In a recent interview on Six Seasons and a Podcast, Harmon explained:

“It’s a lot easier for me to rule stuff out than tell you what we’re pursuing. For instance, we go, ‘Do we really think it’d be a good idea to be a paintball episode?’ It’s one of the first things to rule out because it’s the first thing off the top of your head, and that’s an issue with the ‘Community’ movie concept. We did a lot of episodes where you are joyfully locked into a construct that isn’t a traditional sitcom narrative, but is rather through the lens of David Fincher or Martin Scorsese. There were a lot of special episodes that were kind of like genre homages. The paintball thing was one of them. We tried to do a bunch more paintballs, and they were all perfectly wonderful things to do, but would anything ever capture the joy of the original paintball episode?”

Harmon added that the rise of school shootings would also make it difficult to bring back the paintball fights, plus he ruled out the popular Dungeons & Dragons episodes that were highlights during Community’s lifetime.

“You’re running around with guns in a school, which was never a good idea on TV even back then. How can we do that in a way that’s acceptable? You sit down to write the movie and you’re like, ‘So, we’d do that right?’ Because it’s so emblematic of what made our show special and the triumphs we had, the things we contributed as a show. Or we’d play Dungeons & Dragons for 90 minutes. I kinda gotta rule that out — maybe a better writer wouldn’t.”

Also on the podcast, Harmon revealed that the Community movie won’t return to a shut-down Greendale in the time that’s passed since Season 6 ended in 2015. Nor will it take place during a one-night reunion between the characters.

“You’re not gonna do anything terribly clever with using the school’s demise or resurrection as a device because you don’t want too much of your movie to be spent unrecognizable,” he said. “It wouldn’t be outlandish to suggest that enough time has gone by in ‘Community’ that the world, and not these characters, has changed so significantly that there’s a lot to deal with. They haven’t been together in a long time, but it’s not because they swore each other off…there’s a reason to get together and there’s a reason they have to stay together.”

We don’t have word yet on when this movie will be shooting or releasing, but it’s so exiting that it’s official! We will keep you posted as the film develops. What storylines would you like to see in the Community movie?

via: Variety