Summary
- Chevy Chase’s departure from “Community” was not just a personal decision, but also due to on-set issues and clashes with show creator Dan Harmon.
- Chase had a history of leaving the set early and refusing to do key scenes, which added to the tension between him and Harmon.
- Despite rumors of a “Community” movie, Chase’s return is uncertain, as cast members have cast doubt on his participation and Harmon suggested it may not be legal for him to come back.
After starring as Pierce Hawthorne since the show’s beginning, fans are still wondering, “Why did Chevy Chase leave Community” toward the end of the show’s fourth season? As it turns out, his departure wasn’t just a personal decision. 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, an original Saturday Night Live veteran, was the biggest name in the cast but his time on the show saw several issues leading to his early Chevy Chase Community exit.
Chase’s time on the series 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, Chevy Chase officially left Community before the end of season 4. The on-set issues, however, started much earlier than in season 4.
The Chevy Chase Community drama was a behind-the-scenes 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, as fans will remember, transformed the 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. 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. Regardless, the cast of Community seems to have remained close since its end with the exception of Chase which seems to be very telling.
Despite the drama behind the Chevy Chase Community exit, 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, the movie still remains very much a possibility and several of the main cast members are confirmed to be returning. However, a Chevy Chase Community appearance 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. Dane Harmon also cast doubt on Chase appearing in the movie and suggested (via Variety) that the decision was out of his hands. He claimed, “I don’t even know if it’s legal for him to come back.” Whether or not Harmon is joking, it doesn’t sound like Chase’s participation in the Community movie is likely.