Dan Harmon Officially Leaves ‘Community’

The creator of the cult-favorite comedy, Community, is leaving his little show—but not by choice.

NBC did not renew Dan Harmon’s contract for the fourth season of the sitcom about a group of misfits in the same study group at Greendale Community College. Harmon announced on his blog that he had been fired.

NBC has not confirmed Harmon’s statements, but network president Robert Greenblatt said the creator would still have some production role.

“I’m just not sure if that means him running it day to day or consulting on it,” Greenblatt said.

Greenblatt remained vague on his statements, but Harmon was quick to clarify.

“You may have read that I am technically ‘signed on,’ by default, to be an executive consulting something or other—which is a relatively standard protective clause for a creator in my position,” Harmon wrote on his blog. “However, if I actually chose to go to the office, I wouldn’t have any power there. Nobody would have to do anything I said, ever. I would be ‘offering’ thoughts on other people’s scripts, not allowed to rewrite them, not allowed to ask anyone else to rewrite them, not allowed to say whether a single joke was funny or go near the edit bay, etc.”

Community star Joe McHale recently said that he was “literally praying” that Harmon would return for the upcoming season.

“Dan’s the creator of the show, so to lose his voice would be pretty crazy,” McHale told TVLine.com. “He gave me the role of a lifetime, so it would be a very weird scenario [to continue] without him.”

McHale also said on Twitter that Harmon is a “true genius” and Harmon gave him the “three of the best years of my life.

McHale’s fellow Greendale cohorts posted their mournful thoughts, as well.

“@danharmon So many thoughts. So little room. I guess, ‘I heart you’ and ‘Thank you to INFINITY’ will have to do for now.#Community #Love,” Yvette Nicole Brown posted.

“I wholeheartedly agree with @joelmchale. I’m so grateful to@danharmon for my role, the show and everything else. Thank you, Dan. Thank you,” Jillian Jacobs wrote.

“I’m in creative debt to @danharmon who let us ride the coattails of his integrity, pushing boundaries & making f’ing awesome tv. Thanks Dan,” Alison Brie said.

“I owe the last 3 amazing years 2 Dan Harmon’s brain. Bless ur dementedly awesome brain, @danharmon. U r #Community,” Jim Rash posted.

Chevy Chase has yet to disclose his feelings of Harmon’s departure; however, the two men often feuded on the show… Chase’s future on the show is also in question, but he has not been fired from his role.

Community returns for a fourth season this fall and moves to Friday at 8:30 p.m./7:30 p.m. CST.

This article was originally published on AllMediaNY.com