Say goodbye to Pierce Hawthorne.
After more than three seasons, Community is parting ways with Chevy Chase through mutual agreement, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. He will leave the NBC half-hour comedy effective immediately.
The majority of Community's episode order for season four has already been filmed, with one or two episodes yet to be produced. It is unclear if Chase's departure will be written into the show. No other cast departures are expected and Chase's exit is not believed to impact production.
The news doesn't come as a surprise as Chase has had a rollercoaster relationship with the NBC series as he grew fustrated with the direction his character was going. Most recently in October, the actor used an N-word on-set when questioning dialogue in a scene, apologizing "immediately" after to the cast.
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Chase also clashed with series creator Dan Harmon, who was replaced as showrunner with Moses Port and David Gaurascio weeks after leaking an angry voicemail from the 69-year-old actor that surfaced on the web last spring.
For Community, Chase's departure marks the latest in a string of speed bumps for the fourth season of the Joel McHale-led comedy. The perennial bubble show from Sony Pictures Television was renewed at the 11th hour in May and originally slotted for Fridays this fall. NBC, in a move to properly promote the show's return, pushed its original return date from Oct. 19 and slotted the cult favorite to its original home on Thursdays at 8 p.m. starting Feb. 7.
SPT and NBC declined comment.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
