Peacock's 'Community' Movie: Will Yvette Nicole Brown Be In It?

"Six seasons and a movie" went from amorphous dream to reality on September 30, when Peacock announced that the beloved TV series Community, which ran for six seasons, would finally be getting its movie. Who from the series' beloved band of misfits, the Greendale Community College study group, would be a part of it remained somewhat of a mystery.

Cast member and executive producer Joel McHale was first to tweet the news, tagging most of the original cast, including Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown, who were not part of Peacock's official announcement. (McHale also hilariously, and it seems accidentally, tagged Gillian Anderson instead of actual cast member Gillian Jacobs. Anderson tweeted back, "Gillian Jacobs who? I'm in, Joel McHale," with a winky-face emoji.)

"'Six seasons and a movie' started out as a cheeky line from Community's early seasons and quickly ignited a passionate fan movement for this iconic, hilarious and cool (cool, cool) NBC comedy," Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming told Newsweek in a statement on September 30. "We're incredibly grateful that 15 years later, we are able to deliver fans this promised movie and can't wait to get to work with Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest, Joel McHale, Sony and our partners at UTV to continue this epic comedy for Peacock audiences."

Listed on the official press release were original cast members McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong. Notably absent were Donald Glover, who left the series in season 5, and Yvette Nicole Brown, who made appearances in just two of season 6's final 13 episodes.

When Brown departed the show, it was to take care of her father, who has dementia and for whom she is a still a caregiver. "I just knew the hours for Community and couldn't properly care for him," she told Newsweek on September 22.

In that same interview, eight days before the official Community movie announcement, when asked about the possibility of a film, she said, "I don't know anyone that is a part of Community that would not come back in a heartbeat to do a film. And that truth has been true when we were still shooting the show, it's been true ever since we stopped shooting the show."

In recent weeks, both series creator Harmon and cast member Brie told Newsweek separately that the long-prophesied movie did finally seem like a real possibility. Harmon went so far as to say, "How about this for a concrete thing? There is an outline for it. There's a product put together and pitched out in the world. I guess that's how real it is."

A week later, that concrete thing had an official press release. But it's still unclear whether Brown, who played Shirley Bennett, will be a part of it.

"The bugger has always been the scheduling of it," she said, "because Donald Glover and Joel and Alison and Danny and Jim Rash and Gillian and Ken. Everyone I just named is ridiculously busy. Even Paget [Brewster] and Keith [David]. How are you going to get all of these super-duper famous and award-winning talented people together in one space. The scheduling of it has always been the issue, it's never been the desire."

Brown herself has been incredibly busy. She currently stars in season two of Disney's Big Shot and will soon appear in Disenchanted, the super-hyped sequel to the Amy Adams–Patrick Dempsey 2007 film Enchanted.

"I do know that Dan did not lie," she said about the possibility of a Community movie a week before it was announced. "There are plans, there are talks, there may even be ideas for scripts—that part is beyond my pay grade—but everybody...it would be a gift not just to us, but it would be a gift to the fans to be able to do it. I can't imagine how we could have the opportunity to fulfill that #sixseasonsandamovie prophecy and it just never happen. I just don't see that that's how it would work. I think everybody who is able, schedule-wise to be there would be there."

Whether her schedule—or that of Atlanta's Glover, and season six cast members Brewster and David—will permit is still a question. Fans have assumed that original cast member Chevy Chase, who famously feuded with Harmon and whose character, Pierce Hawthorne, died in season five, would not be a part of the film.

Brown also lamentedabout her continued awe about just how loved the show has remained since its last episode aired in 2015.

"I have not re-watched the whole series ever. I've watched different episodes, but I've never sat down and watched the entire series the whole way through," she said. "Danny and Ken have done it for sure, because their kids watch it now. They each have sets of twins, so as their kids are getting older their kids are now discovering the show. Probably Joel as well, because he has kids. But I don't know if anyone else has sat down and done a full binge.

"So at this point, the fans of the show know it better than we do. We'll get tweets that are like, 'Remember when you were holding your purse in your left hand and you moved it to your right hand?' And I'm like, 'I have no idea why I did that!' But they've seen it and they have all these memes and write songs and draw pictures. I can't believe we're as beloved as we are; it's such a gift."

Newsweek has reached out to Brown and Glover for comment.