NBC Cancels Community

NBC has cancelled Community after five seasons of the troubled but beloved comedy.

Community, a a cult classic and a critical darling, was never able to bring in big ratings. Viewership has declined each season, and the most recent 13-episode season brought in only 3.8 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The show stars Joel McHale, Alison Brie and, until recently, Donald Glover, as students at a community college in Colorado.

Fans had been hoping for a miracle after the network brought creator Dan Harmon back for the fifth season after firing him two seasons before. The cancellation means Community will fall just short of 100 episodes and won’t reach its goal of six seasons and a movie.

Community already nearly died when NBC excluded it from its 2011 mid-season lineup. But since the show has already been sold in syndication to Comedy Central and Hulu owns the digital rights, it’s possible that we may not have seen the end of our favorite gang of rag-tag community college students.

[EW]