Dan Harmon Back As Showrunner

 
And just like that, Dan Harmon is back!

Community's beloved creator is returning as showrunner.  Harmon let slip a few weeks ago that Sony Pictures Television had reached out to him about the possibility of coming back to the show.  Today, he confirmed that season 5 will be produced with him in charge once again.

• Dan Harmon:

 

•  Gillian Jacobs:

• Danny Pudi:

 

• Jim Rash:

• Ken Jeong:

 

Season 4 producers Moses Port and David Guarascio did what they could to hold the line with the show - and they did a respectable job (particularly toward the end of that season) - but it takes Community's true original voice to tow that line.  Welcome back, Dan!

Also going around is that former Community writer/producer Chris McKenna will be coming back to the show as well.  And with Dino Stamatopoulos being such friends with Harmon, will we see the return of Starburns?

Community Renewed For Season 5

Great news, Community fans!  NBC has renewed the show for season 5!!  The darkest timeline has been held at bay once more!

The number of episodes to be ordered is still not clear at this point, and there is no word yet on exactly when the show will be premiering for the 2013-2014 TV season.  Regardless, the renewal should bring Community closer to the 100 episode mark which should make Sony Pictures Television happier as that would sweeten the future syndication pot.

As revealed with the season 4 finale, 'Advanced Introduction to Finality,' Pierce graduated and Jeff moved on as well.  However, we all discovered that Jeff's major at Greendale was education.  So with that degree, it can open the door for him to return to the school as, perhaps, a law professor or school legal consultant for continued shenanigans with the remaining characters who are still attending Greendale.

The show will, however, continue on without writer/producer Megan Ganz who had moved over to the Modern Family production staff shortly after Community finished filming season 4 some time back.  Hopefully the remaining writing staff can find the right groove to make the probable-final season 5 a good one.

Now go out and celebrate the news with a cup of frozen yogurt from Yogurts Burgh or a yard marg from Skeeper's!

[BONUS] Here are some Tweets from some of the cast and crew members regarding the news:

•  Joel McHale:

• Gillian Jacobs:

• Alison Brie:

• Yvette Nicole Brown:

• Danny Pudi:

 

•  Jim Rash:

 

• Ken Jeong:

• Tristram Shapeero:

• Andy Bobrow:

• Megan Ganz:

Get Your Puppet Version Of Daybreak Here

The upcoming season four 9th episode 'Intro to Felt Surrogacy' will feature everyone's favorite Greendale students as puppet characters.  It will have original songs including one written by Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and The Voice.

During the closing titles of the 8th episode that aired on NBC, however, a sneak peek of 'Intro to Felt Surrogacy' was given which featured a Community puppet version of the characters' favorite jazz song to hum - 'Daybreak.'  If anyone out there wants this version to add to their music play list or to make it a new ring tone, here it is:

• Daybreak - Community Puppet Version - .MP3

Cool, cool, cool!

Community Wins Hulu's 2013 Best In Show Competition

 
After winning Hulu's 'Best in Show' last year, Community has repeated and took the 2013 five-week bracket voting tournament as well:

• Week 1: Won, beating The Walking Dead
• Week 2: Won, beating Glee
• Week 3: Won, beating New Girl
• Week 4: Won, beating Sherlock
• Week 5: Won, beating Game of Thrones

Although the show has changed without creator Dan Harmon, this win once again proves how strong a voice Community's fan base continues to have.  Congratulations, fans!  Pop!  Pop!

The New October 19 Came...And It Was Fine

After a somewhat tumultuous break where NBC wanted to move the show to Fridays, setting the season 4 premiere date to October 19 only to push it out to February, and finally Chevy Chase quitting the show towards the end of production, Community is back again!

The 'History 101' premiere episode had plenty of nods to the audience addressing the subject of 'change,' but at the same time, the show felt more or less the same as always.  There was plenty of the meta-ness that has made Community so good in the past, and it was just fun to see the characters back again.

Some good news is that the episode got decent NBC ratings.  4-million viewers watched which garnered a 1.8 rating among the 18 to 49 crowd.  That's up 6% from last season's premiere, and it probably helped to boost Parks and Recreation's ratings as well where they reached season-high numbers.

Without The Voice, NBC's ratings have been dropping again with shows like Whitney, Guys With Kids, Deception, 1600 Pen, Do No Harm, and Smash all struggling while The New Normal and Go On are losing viewers as well.  Although Community might not be able to save others, let's hope it can continue to do well enough to save itself.

And if you need a couple of Community pick-me-ups, check out these videos to put a smile on your face and reassurance in your heart:

• Community Epic Trailer
• Thursday Night Remix