Dan Harmon is back with Community!

That's right, he's back for season 5. Here's the original article from IGN. Apparently, the cast wasn't very happy with the way season 4's scripts turned out and pushed for Dan's return.

How do you feel about this development. Does it make you excited for the 5th and most likely last season of Community?

Six seasons and a movie.

Thank God (and Joel McHale.) I know not everyone thought season 4 felt different, but I had to stop watching.

Shouldn't they all have graduated by then anyway?

Definitely more excited than I could have been. There hasn't been anything overly wrong with the last episodes of the show I've watched (I can't remember if I stopped with Season 3 or 4... saw a couple from 4), but it was showing fatigue. That could totally have been general fatigue from a show going on longer than the typical "two and done" pattern I tend to see. I'm also pointing at you, Castle.

The fourth season was really hit and miss. I ended up watching all of it and thought it was average, but there were a couple of good episodes mixed in there. One of which involved Muppets and was Super charming. I definitely recommend going back and watching it regardless of your feelings on the fourth season.

Seven seasons and two movies.

I have yet to see anything past season 2 (the DVD releases for US shows in the UK is very slow sadly, Parks and Recreation for example is only just started to be aired here and the first season of the DVD has only just got released on PAL region disk). However I heard that the show went downhill without him, so if this is true, it is good to see him return as I really enjoyed the first two seasons.

Big Community fan here. A lot of people give flack on Season 4's quality and blame Harmon's dismissal on it, but people forget that Season 3 was inconsistent at best. The Remedial Chaos Theory episode was brilliant, but the season had a mix of good episodes and really bad ones. It's also arguable that some of the development regressed for some of the main characters under Harmon's tenure. It's good to have him back, but fans of this show need to stop acting as if this guy is infallible.

It's all a bit irrelevant though. From what I've read, they went back to Harmon because the Season 4 showrunners didn't want to do season 5. Given the reason as to why Dan Harmon was fired in the first place, I'm guessing that they are only letting him come back because they know that this is the end for the entire series.

@andorski: That is a shame, I will still pick up Season 3 (if and when it gets a UK release). My understanding is he was fired due to differences between him and Chevy Chase, is this correct? (Listening to the cast commentary on the DVD's, Chevy Chase seems to act like it is beneath him, is this just an act or is this how he actually is?)

Great news, hopefully the show will find its groove again next season. Season 4 was pretty awful, most episodes couldn't really make me laugh. The episode written by Jim Rash was fantastic, though.

@johnlocke said:

Chevy Chase did get him fired in a sense. Dan Harmon was notorious for late scripts, for instance. Another major reason (perhaps the biggest) he was fired had to due with the overall low ratings for the show. All of that coupled with his very public, bile-filled slap fight with Chevy Chase was the final straw.

And yeah, Chevy Chase is a notorious douchebag. Google "Chevy Chase is an asshole" for a wealth of articles and anecdotes if you like.

I'll watch it until the very end, but it hasn't been the same since the second season. I feel like the characters are parodies of themselves now. I liked it when Britta wasn't such a Britta.

I saw this one and thought it was cute, but like the rest of season 4 (that I watched), I found it kind of aimless and not very funny. In general, I thought the more conceptual episodes that Community had done so well in the past felt really unfocused this time around.

10 Seasons, 3 Movies and a fucking Theme Park.

I've never seen seasons 1 and 2, just 3 and 4. I'm hoping 1 and 2 explain Chang's origin story and why the Pierce character was introduced to the show.

That is awesome news. Also, "In the name of Harmon."

Well this is good news. Season 4 was really hit-or-miss and I'd like the show to end on a higher note. Is Chevy Chase out? Is that why Harmon agreed to return?

@johnlocke: As someone who lives outside the US but is caught up on current Community, you could always just "acquire" Seasons Three and Four online.

Wait, I thought the series was over now? I thought that was the series finale...

I suppose they could make another season work, but to me, it feels like it has already been run rather dry. Maybe Harmon can bring back just enough magic for another final season.

About damn time. I really wasn’t a fan of season 4.

12 seasons, three movies, a gritty reboot movie, a fucking theme park, a Doom WAD, a novelization, a UK remake, and a tactical RTS/Boomblox clone hybrid game.

@spunkyhepanda: Sure. Most of season 4 contained promising elements that ultimately didn't pan out very well. Dan was able to keep the show's absurd (I mean that in a good way) direction on course and made sure the excess was shaken out. For example, the Inspector Spacetime convention should have been much better than it was, but was bogged down by the manufactured relationship drama.

The novelty of the Muppet episode was enough for me to enjoy, but I agree it wasn't very funny. I really hope Dan can bring a more focused, funny and creatively tight season 5.

It's frightful to know that season 4 was the show's low point, considering I felt that season 3 was awful.

Great news, potentially. Harmon's personality (and drinking) made him a highly unsuitable showrunner. Perhaps he'll have a but more guidance this time, and won;t have to put up with Chevy's crap.

And I do hope they ditch the whole 'Inspector Spacetime' thing. It was a cute gag at first but it soon took over the Abed/Troy dynamic.

And the less said about 'Changnesia' the better.

"Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that." -Michael Bluth (S01E03)

Well, that all perhaps played a part, as you say the biggest reason they let him walk was they were hoping if the show was taken in a slightly broader direction that it might get a larger audience, and they knew Dan Harmon wasn't about to do that, so they brought in new people. Then the show lost a chunk of it's audience instead of bringing in new people, yet somehow was still worthy of being renewed so they brought him back, likely for a last hurrah.

(NBC man, they make more shows than any other network in recent history that I really like but no one with a Nielsen box ever seems to watch... But season 2 of Hannibal is a go, so yay!)