Yahoo Saves Greendale in 'Community' Rescue

Yahoo may find that its efforts to save Community will help it save itself. Yahoo has been searching for an identity as it attempts to turn its very large ship around, and embracing a show with a built-in avid fan base could give it some credibility as a distributor of premium video content online. Yahoo also has a couple of brand new original comedy series in the works.
Fans of the sitcom Community have cause to celebrate after Yahoo renewed the show for a sixth season.


Creator and showrunner Dan Harmon has signed on, along with seven core cast members. The season will have at least 13 episodes and will air weekly starting this fall.

Ken Jeong as Señor Chang, Jim Rash as Dean Pelton, Jonathan Banks as Professor Hickey, Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry, Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett, Alison Brie as Annie Edison (Photo by Vivian Zink/NBC)

NBC ran the show, which centers on the fictional Greendale Community College, for five seasons before canceling it earlier this year. Since then, rumors abounded that other networks or online services might keep Community alive.

Hulu, which has the rights to show Community online, was rumored to be in discussions with producer Sony TV, but those talks reportedly fell through. However, just as cast members contracts were about to expire on June 30, Yahoo swooped in to ink a deal for another season.

Exclusive Show

"I believe that Community offers Yahoo the opportunity to pick up a modestly successful show as an exclusive," Erik Brannon, senior U.S. television analyst at IHS, told TechNewsWorld.

"The interesting thing about Community is it's a great example of a show that's sort of run it's course on broadcast television," Colin Dixon, founder and principal analyst at nScreen Media, told TechNewsWorld.

"The prime time audience has moved on to other shows, but it still has a wide, broad following," he noted. "I think it can help bring a new audience to Yahoo that maybe hasn't been there before. The other thing it can do is it's a wonderful spot to place freemium ads. It could be a good revenue earner for them as well."