Why Community Was Canceled By NBC

Network president Bob Greenblatt admitted he's curious to see how the revived sitcom does on Yahoo at the 2014 Summer TCA Press Tour

NBC was totally fine with five seasons and no movie, Human Beings. 

Though Community lived on the cancellation bubble for the majority of its run on NBC, the network finally decided to cancel it, for good, at the end of its fifth season, making them the opposite of Batman in the eyes of the sitcom's small but fierce following. Come on, how could you cancel it when it was just one season and a movie away from making the #SixSeasonsandaMovie dream come true?!

"That six season thing was created by them," NBC boss Robert Greenblatt told reporters at the 2014 Summer TCA Press Tour of the fanbase's infamous battle cry. "I'm surprised they didn't say 10 seasons and a movie. [Laughs.] And it was before my time."

So why did Greenblatt and NBC decide to end Dan Harmon's little show that could? "It just didn't make sense for us to have another season of it at that level of audience," he explained.

While it didn't make sense for NBC to stay enrolled at Community, Yahoo Screen was willing to commit, saving the series and ordering a 13-episode sixth season of the Joel McHale-starrer. 

"I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online," Harmon said of the move. "I vow to dominate our new competition. Rest easy, Big Bang Theory. Look out, Bang Bus!"

And Greenblatt admitted he'll be paying attention to Community's online ratings, saying, "I'm curious to see if they can get a bigger audience than we did." 

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)