Reading The Community Movie Script Made Joel McHale Cry Like A Baby

For years, the rallying cry of "Community" fans was "six seasons and a movie!" The saying, reflective of creator Dan Harmon's idea of the ideal runtime of a television series, was more aspirational than realistic, as for most of its existence "Community" struggled just to survive. It went through losing its creator, getting him back, and being canceled by NBC and forced to find refuge on the short-lived streaming service Yahoo! Screen.

But years after the show ended with its sixth season, and after a surge in popularity following its move to Netflix, the Prophecy of Abed may finally be coming true. With Peacock recently confirming that a "Community" movie is in production, fans of the series everywhere are getting a bit emotional.

It's not just the fans, either. According to a recent interview he did with TheWrap, Joel McHale was actually brought to tears when he read the movie's script for the first time. Although he mixed in some of his trademark sarcasm along with his genuine emotionality, McHale seemed overjoyed about the upcoming project.

"I'm going to look a lot older. I'm not kidding, so you know that I'm sarcastic about literally f**king everything but um, there will be tears. We did that table read during the pandemic and I cried like a baby afterwards and I'm not joking."

It makes sense to feel so emotional when you realize that your dream, and the dream of your castmates and countless fans, is finally coming to fruition. But to McHale, it wasn't just about the idea of the movie itself, but the people he was doing it with.

The cast of "Community" has always appeared very close. McHale and Ken Jeong publicly got through their time in COVID-19 quarantine together, and even had a "Community" podcast. It seems natural that McHale was emotional about the idea of reuniting with his fellow co-stars, as he spoke about in the TheWrap interview.

"It really is like a family reunion but without a-holes. Because you know, you go to a family you and you're like, 'Ugh, there's that one cousin of mine. He smells.' So anyway, we're really – I can't wait."

McHale's barely contained excitement is shared by the show's legion of internet fans, who have all been inserting references to this show into casual conversation for years in preparation for this moment.

This isn't to say there aren't challenges that come with the creation of this movie. Former "Community" star Donald Glover, who left the show in its fifth season on his way to becoming one of the most popular rap artists in the world as Childish Gambino, isn't necessarily going to be involved. Of all of the show's cast, he's become the biggest star, so his busy schedule may not be as malleable as everyone else's. Despite this, creator Dan Harmon is optimistic that they will be able to get Glover back, so I think we all should be too. To see the entire cast back together (with the obvious exception of Chevy Chase, I'm afraid) would be a delight. Now that the movie we never thought would come is finally here to cap off the six seasons we barely even got, it's easy to be optimistic.