After a painfully long hiatus, Community will finally be returning next week, from what may have been the longest Christmas break any school has ever had.
We can already get a bit of our Community fill thanks to “Abed’s Master Key”, NBC’s promotional animated webseries that premiered today. The multi-part series features the voices of the regular cast, as Abed becomes Dean Pelton’s assistant and chaos unsurprisingly ensues. The first installment is now available on Hulu.
But in the live-action realm, we’ve still got a few more excruciating days to wait. Luckily, there’s been lots and lots of scoop on the final 12 episodes of season 3 during the hiatus. So from the earliest leaks to teases from the panel at PaleyFest 2012 last week, here’s what we know about what’s to come. Keep in mind that these are spoilers, but they’ve been confirmed by official sources; rumors that have floated around (like a potential Evil Troy and Evil Abed return) haven’t been confirmed and thus aren’t included.
Upcoming Episodes and Storylines
The show’s return on March 15 isn’t just a big comeback from the hiatus, but a big event for Shirley. In “Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts,” which was previewed at PaleyFest, Shirley gets (re)married to her ex-husband, Andre (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). According to BuddyTV, the return episode is more grounded and character-centric than meta, as it shows how the wedding impacts each member of the group individually, especially in relation to the ever-evolving ‘ships (romantic and otherwise).
Also upcoming is a crime-themed episode that pays homage to Law & Order (complete with the “dun-dun”). As first reported by TVLine, the hilariously-titled “Basic Lupine Urology” (a play on Law & Order‘s Dick Wolf) has the study group investigate their sabotaged science experiment, and Annie acts as the prosecutor of the alleged perp. That episode’s airdate has yet to be announced.
In addition to the Law & Order episode, it looks like we’re getting an even bigger share of courtroom drama spoofs this spring. Unlike the paintball action of last season, the season finale this time around will be in Greendale Summer Fun Court, according to Entertainment Weekly, as Jeff squares off with Alan Connor (Rob Corddry), Jeff’s lawyer friend who turned him into the state bar and last appeared in season 2. Pierce (represented by Alan) and Shirley (represented by Jeff) face-off in the court after some mishaps in a sandwich business they start together. We’ll also see the resurgence of the Greendale Air Conditioning Repair Annex and their attempts to get Troy on their side.
For fans of the two-episode paintball extravaganza last season, we’re getting another two-part action spoof by way of the much-anticipated epic blanket fort civil war. According to TVLine, Troy and Abed strive to beat the Guinness World Record for blanket forts, but the stakes continually rise until tension splits the study group (and Greendale as a whole) into two angry factions.
More storylines were teased at PaleyFest, such as Annie and Abed spending an entire episode in Troy and Abed’s “Dreamatorium.” We’ll also see the group spending an episode playing a video game, Abed attempting to act “normal”, and Chang somehow getting an entire “army.” Other storylines include Annie giving Britta advice on her ex-boyfriend, and an episode where the group is hired as “celebrity impersonators for a Bar Mitzvah,” according to TVLine.
New and Returning Faces
Breaking Bad villain and fan-favorite Giancarlo Esposito will be appearing as Gilbert, a longtime assistant to Pierce’s late father, according to TV Guide. Actor John Hodgeman, a correspondent on The Daily Show and perhaps best known as the “Mac” guy in those Mac vs. PC ads, will be appearing as an as-of-yet undisclosed character, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
We’ll of course be seeing plenty of our favorite Greendale students and staff again, too. Charley Koontz, who plays Fat Neil, revealed on a Reddit IAmA that he will appear in two more episodes in the season, including the blanket fort war episode, and episode 3.17, which he refers to as his “favorite”. Also, we’ll see more of the love story between Neil and Vicki. Koontz also noted that David Neher will return as Todd, the guy from “Competitive Ecology” that everyone said sucked (no offense, Todd).
John Goodman is also reportedly making at least two more appearances as Dean Labourne, one in a the blanket fort episode and another in the finale, according to Entertainment Weekly and TVLine. PaleyFest coverage also revealed we’d see some of the funniest Dean Pelton outfits yet, and more Inspector Spacetime (creator Dan Harmon compared it to how Itchy and Scratchy is used on The Simpsons). And according to BuddyTV, we’ll be seeing Annie’s Boobs again. The monkey, I mean.
Character Death and Series Life
Some surprising news was that some of these characters might not live to see the end of the season. At PaleyFest, Harmon teased a number of deaths in the upcoming season–three or four, in fact. One of these, Joel McHale told to TV Guide, is a character we’ve seen a lot, and “dies mid-afternoon.” Whether that’s a legitimate hint or a non-sequitur is up for debate.
Last but not least, will there be a season 4? Nothing is confirmed, and we likely won’t know until May, but Executive Producer Russ Krasnoff told the audience at PaleyFest that they’re feeling more confident that it will happen. Until then, fans can keep up with the campaigns and, most importantly, watch the show!
Community returns Thursday, March 15 at 8:00PM on NBC.