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At long last, it's the moment fans of the NBC sitcom Community have been waiting for.
The fandom's long-running call for "six seasons and a movie" is finally coming true as a movie version of the show has officially been ordered by streaming service Peacock and film studio Sony.
And in his excitement to get the word out, star Joel McHale made a rather exciting but head-scratching casting announcement. Actor Gillian Anderson will be appearing in the film, instead of the show's actual co-star, Gillian Jacobs.
Huh?
It was just a typo of course—Jacobs is definitely set to reprise her role. But she might have competition, because after being tagged in McHale's big announcement, Anderson confirmed she is locked and loaded to join the cast.
\u201cGillian Jacobs who? I\u2019m in @joelmchale \ud83d\ude09\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
Quote-tweeting McHale's announcement, Anderson quipped:
"Gillian Jacobs who? I’m in @joelmchale😉"
Uh oh. Gillian Jacobs better call her attorneys stat, because McHale responded by just giving the role away to Anderson, writing back to Anderson, "Perfect! Costume fitting and table read are next Tuesday."
\u201cPerfect! Costume fitting and table read are next Tuesday.\u201d— Joel McHale (@Joel McHale) 1664568485
Boy oh boy, is the first day on set gonna be awkward.
The whole thing was in jest of course, and in his trademark comedic way, McHale took the silliness one step further, tweeting a photo of he and Anderson acting together in The X-Files which he described as a still from a classic Community bit between him and Jacobs' character.
\u201cIn this scene I\u2019m asking her if she could move her car so I can get my tie from under the left front tire\u201d— Joel McHale (@Joel McHale) 1664647080
In reality, the entire cast of Community--the real cast--appears to be returning for the film, including Gillian Jacobs, along with fellow cast members Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong.
Community originally ran from 2009 to 2015 and centered on a group of students at the fictional Colorado school Greendale Community College. McHale and Jacobs played love interests--or love/hate interests, as it were--Jeff Winger and Britta Perry, while their costars played an array of eccentric fellow students who get into all sorts of absurd hijinx.
On Twitter, the already over-the-top excitement for the upcoming film was only intensified by McHale and Anderson's cheeky casting announcement.
\u201c@TheEricGoldman here for it\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale Gillan A show up as Brittany and only Abed notices she Gillian Anderson. Everyone just carries on as normal.\n\nThis writes itself.\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale Oh Scully is in this??\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale Don't tease us! \ud83d\ude43\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@joelmchale okay it would actually be so funny if Gillian Anderson is Britta in the movie and no one notices or cares except abed\u201d— Joel McHale (@Joel McHale) 1664568485
\u201c@joelmchale Will be very disappointed if Gillian Anderson isn't swapped in for Gillian Jacobs in a random shot in this now. Please make it happen \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe\u201d— Joel McHale (@Joel McHale) 1664568485
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale you really had me for a second there\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale Abed's going to have a field-day with this re-cast!\nCan't wait for his meta-acknowledgment that he knows it's @GillianA sitting across the table from him. \ud83d\ude05\ud83e\udd23\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale This is pretty much a written contract. You should at least get a cameo now!\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
\u201c@GillianA @joelmchale Special Agent dana skully comes to greendale to teach a 300 level forensic anthropology course\u201d— Gillian Anderson (@Gillian Anderson) 1664550092
Details on the Community movie are scant at this point, but it has been confirmed that creator and showrunner Dan Harmon, along with Andrew Guest, will write the script, and both will produce along with McHale and show producers Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff.