Summary

• Drama plagued Chevy Chase's time on Community, with his clashes with Dan Harmon leading to Harmon's firing.
• Chase's departure was abrupt, with his character Pierce being killed off to give Troy a proper exit.
• Despite rumors of a Community movie, Chase's involvement remains uncertain as most of the original cast is set to return.

After starring as Pierce Hawthorne since the show's beginning, Chevy Chase left Community in season 4, and his exit was notoriously not on good terms. Chevy Chase's Community character, Pierce, was a longtime student at Greendale Community College and the most antagonistic member of the core study group thanks to his offensive comments and malicious behavior. Chase, a Saturday Night Live veteran, was the biggest name in the cast, but his time on the show saw several issues. While he was not the only member of the original cast to leave the show, Chase's Community exit was the most controversial.

Chase's time on Community was not pleasant by many accounts. The actor would publicly complain about the show and his clashes with Dan Harmon led to Harmon being fired before Community season 4. Fittingly, Harmon's return to the show came after Chase's own exit after filming the episode "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking." The actor was frustrated with the direction of his character and used a racial slur during an angry rant. After a mutual agreement was struck with NBC, Chase officially left Community before the end of season 4. The on-set issues, however, started much earlier than in season 4.

Community is available to stream on Netflix.

Various On-Set Issues Led To Chevy Chase Leaving Community

Clashes With Dan Harmon And Racist Remarks Made For An Unpleasant Experience

The drama surrounding Chevy Chase on Community was an issue since the show began. Specifically, Chase had a history of leaving the set early before all of his scenes were completed. This added to the already tense working relationship shared by Chase and Dan Harmon that started before the show began with Harmon wanting other actors to play Pierce before NBC pressured the casting of Chase. According to Harmon (via Reddit), Chase refused to do a key scene during the season 3 episode, "Digital Estate Planning," the episode that transformed the Community cast into 8-bit video game characters.

There was supposed to be a touching scene between Pierce and Abed stemming from Pierce's father, but Chase refused to do the scene, believing it wasn't funny and walked off the set. It was the last day of shooting and the sets were being taken down so this was the only opportunity to film the scene.

Harmon was very upset about scrapping the scene and the way Chase reacted to the situation. According to reports (via Deadline), Harmon then made a speech calling out Chase during Community's wrap party and that didn't go over well with the actor. This ultimately led to Harmon being fired from Community when he chose to play an angry voice message from Chase in response to the speech that subsequently leaked online.

However, Harmon leaving the show clearly didn't improve matters with Chase on the Community set as it was in the following season that his on-set behavior led to him leaving. After Chase left Community, he told The Huffington Post UK in 2012 that doing the show was a "big mistake," but that he thought it was funny at the time.

Glover and Harmon have confirmed that Chase made racist comments toward the Atlanta actor...

Chase had a small guest appearance in the Community season 5 premiere when Pierce was shown as a Greendale hologram. Though Chase was not the only actor to leave Community during its run, his exit was one of the more abrupt as Pierce was killed off as a plot device to give Donald Glover's Troy a proper exit.

It's unclear where Chase stands in the eyes of most of his former co-stars at the moment. He's not present for any special reunions involving cast members or celebrated by the Community family, so it's likely he did more damage than what was made public. That said, Glover and Harmon have confirmed that Chase made racist comments toward the Atlanta actor, though Glover claims (via The New Yorker) he was not rattled by it:

“I just saw Chevy as fighting time — a true artist has to be O.K. with his reign being over. I can’t help him if he’s thrashing in the water. But I know there’s a human in there somewhere — he’s almost too human.”

Regardless, the cast of Community seems to have remained close since its end, except for Chevy Chase, which seems to be very telling.

Dan Harmon's original choices for Pierce included Fred Willard, John Cleese, and Patrick Stewart.

Will Chevy Chase Return For The Community Movie?

Joel McHale And Dan Harmon Have Commented On Chase In The Community Movie

Despite the drama behind Chevy Chase leaving Community, there is still the question of whether he'll return for the Community movie. After years of rumors, teases, and speculation, a Community movie seems to be on the horizon with it gearing up to start production only to be delayed by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. However, several of the main cast members are confirmed to be returning as the movie appears to be getting ready to finally shoot. However, Chase's involvement is still uncertain.

In discussing the upcoming movie before it was delayed, Joel McHale mentioned that most of the original cast would be back, confirming Donald Glover's involvement despite his hugely successful post-Community career. However, when asked about Chase's return (via ET Online), McHale simply said "Yeah, I don't think so," before jokingly reminding everyone that Pierce was technically killed off.

Dan Harmon also cast doubt on Chase appearing in the movie (via Variety):

I don’t even know if it’s legal for him to come back... That may be out of my hands. There may something I sign for with an insurance company.”

Whether Harmon is joking or avoiding the question, it seems unlikely that Chase would return as the actor once again claimed Community "wasn't funny" during a September 2023 interview. It seems all parties concerned would be content with leaving Chase out of the Community movie.