Exclusive: "Community" Hires Two New Series Regulars
Nov 10, 2014
by Michael Schneider


Two new Human Beings are on their way to Greendale. Paget Brewster and Keith David will join "Community" full time as the comedy enters Season 6 and moves to its new home on Yahoo! Screen.

Brewster plays Francesca "Frankie" Dart, a consultant hired to help shape things up at the underachieving school.

David will appear as Elroy Patashnik, a retired scientist who comes to Greendale to reinvent himself.





Brewster is no stranger to "Community" fans, having played a different character, IT department staffer Debra Chambers, in the Season 5 episode 'Analysis of Cork-Based Networking'.

David is also familiar to "Community" die-hards: He narrated the faux Ken Burns-style documentary at the center of the Season 3 episode 'Pillows and Blankets'.





Brewster and David fill the void left by several departing cast members, including Yvette Nicole Brown, who has exited the fan favorite comedy after five seasons for personal reasons.

Also gone is Jonathan Banks, who is committed to AMC's "Better Call Saul", while John Oliver, who played a larger role last season, is now focused on his HBO talk show.





Executive producers Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna have been busy at work on "Community" for several months now. Production on the Sony Pictures TV series' 13-episode sixth season begins on Nov. 17, and it will premiere exclusively on Yahoo in early 2015.

Cast members set to return for Season 6 include Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Community-Paget-Brewster-Keith-David-1088992.aspx

This looks to be great news. I love Paget Brewster from "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" and that's one of my favorite shows. Now she'll appear in one of my other favorite shows. Now I'm more excited about season six!

Welcome to the "Community" family Paget and Keith!

First Look: "Community's" Paget Brewster and David Keith on Their New Roles
Dec 4, 2014
by Michael Schneider


When Season 6 of "Community" debuts on Yahoo! Screen next year, the comedy will be without Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley) and Jonathan Banks (Professor Hickey).

As he worked to fill the cast openings, executive producer Dan Harmon was inspired by how another sitcom handled its own transitions. "I looked at Cheers losing Coach and going to Woody as the example of thinking laterally," he says. "The real job is how to fill the character vacuum, rather than replace the person."





To embody the moral center held by Shirley, Harmon and executive producer Chris McKenna brought on "Criminal Minds'" Paget Brewster as Francesca "Frankie" Dart, a consultant hired to help shape things up at the underachieving Greendale Community College.

She immediately butts heads with other characters and runs up against the school's dysfunctional Dean Pelton (Jim Rash). "We wanted to have a female character that represented the threat of disappointment," Harmon says. "Someone who, if you make the wrong move, you could let them down."





Keith David (Enlisted) steps in as Elroy Patashnik, a washed-up inventor who enrolls at Greendale to reinvent himself.

"We needed someone of this age range because the human experience comes in stages," Harmon says of including a character in the over-50 demographic. That position was previously filled by Banks, and before him by Chevy Chase's Pierce.





Both actors are familiar to "Community" and Harmon isn't too concerned about using the same actors in different roles:

"Deadwood's David Milch does it, so we can do it," he quips.





David says he was already a "Community" fan because he's pals with Brown, who turned him on to the show.

"I like the show because I think it's smart. It's not just slapstick and silly, it's based in something," says David, who connects with Elroy: "I'm the guy who did all these wonderful ideas that didn't pan out. I'm interested to see how we explore that. I understand something about being a dinosaur in a way."





Brewster previously worked with Harmon on his popular Los Angeles stage show Channel 101.

"I'm still watching and re-watching every episode," she says of "Community". "There's so much nuance, so much stuff going on that you do not realize or catch the first time."

The actress says she's game for anything. "Whatever they want I'll do," she says — with one caveat. "I hope I don't have to run around campus naked at some point. I shouldn't even say that. Maybe that's how it happens."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Community-Paget-Brewster-David-Keith-First-Look-1090395.aspx