Community season 3
The third season of the television comedy series Community premiered on September 22, 2011, and concluded on May 17, 2012, on NBC. The season consists of 22 episodes and aired on Thursdays at 8:00 pm ET as part of the network's "Comedy Night Done Right" programming block.
Cast
Starring
- Joel McHale as Jeff Winger
- Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry
- Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir
- Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett
- Alison Brie as Annie Edison
- Donald Glover as Troy Barnes
- Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton
- Ken Jeong as Ben Chang
- Chevy Chase as Pierce Hawthorne
Recurring
- Richard Erdman as Leonard Briggs
- Erik Charles Nielsen as Garrett Lambert
- Dino Stamatopoulos as Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne
- John Goodman as Vice Dean Robert Laybourne
- Danielle Kaplowitz as Vicki Jenkins
- Luke Youngblood as Magnitude
- Dan Bakkedahl as Murray the AC Repairman
- Charley Koontz as Neil
- J. P. Manoux as Faux-by
- Mel Rodriguez as Sgt. Nunez
- Michael K. Williams as Biology Professor Marshall Kane
- Jerry Minor as Jerry the Janitor
- Eddie Pepitone as Crazy Schmidt
- David Neher as Todd Jacobson
- Larry Cedar as Cornelius Hawthorne
- Craig Cackowski as Officer Cackowski
- Wil Garret as Harry Jefferson
Guest stars
- Rob Corddry as Alan Connor
- Keith David as Narrator
- Giancarlo Esposito as Gilbert Lawson
- Kirk Fox as Blade, Britta's carnie ex-boyfriend
- Irene Choi as Annie Kim
- Jeff Garlin as himself
- Luis Guzmán as himself
- Leslie Hendrix as Botanist, a play on her role as a medical examiner in the Law & Order franchise the episode is styled upon
- John Hodgman as Dr. Heidi
- Michael Ironside as Colonel Archwood
- David St. James as Professor Albrecht
- Taran Killam as Cory "Mr. Rad" Radison
- Marcy McCusker as Quendra
- Meggie McFadden as Linda Greene
- Dominik Musiol as Pavel Iwaszkiewicz
- D.J. "Shangela" Pierce as Miss Urbana Champaign
- DC Pierson as Mark Millot
- Travis Schuldt as Subway / Rick
- Martin Starr as Professor Cligoris
- French Stewart as Vinnie, a former French Stewart look-alike
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Andre Bennett
Episodes
Production
The series was renewed for a third season on March 17, 2011. Filming for the season began on July 25, 2011. Jim Rash, who portrays Dean Pelton, was promoted to a series regular after having a recurring role throughout the first two seasons. Michael K. Williams was cast as the study group's new biology professor, who is described as a deeply intense character. John Goodman appears in a multi-episode arc as Vice Dean Laybourne, the head of Greendale's air conditioning repair school, and is a foe for Dean Pelton. Martin Starr guest starred in the second episode of the season as a political science professor and project advisor when the study group take a Model UN class; with Starr possibly returning later in the season. Larry Cedar appeared in the sixth episode as Cornelius Hawthorne, the patriarch of the Hawthorne family and Pierce's father. In the same episode, Jerry Minor returned as the Greendale custodian who previously appeared in "English as a Second Language" and "For a Few Paintballs More". The season's Christmas-themed episode is a musical featuring all original music, with the storyline being the study group having to fill in for the school's glee club. The episode also features a guest appearance by Saturday Night Live cast member Taran Killam. Giancarlo Esposito appeared in "Digital Estate Planning" as Gilbert, a man who Pierce is surprised to learn was a longtime employee for his late, very racist father, and the study group needs to work with Gilbert and Pierce on an issue regarding Cornelius' Hawthorne's last will and testament. The character of Star-Burns is killed off in episode 17 of the season, as portrayer of the character Dino Stamatopoulos simply asked for it to happen. Stamatopoulos also serves as a consulting producer and writer for the series, so he wanted to focus on his main job, as he explained "I'm not an actor". Series creator Dan Harmon explained Star-Burns' death is "not just thrown away", but "triggers the rest of the entire season. Filming of the season concluded in mid-February 2012.Dan Harmon planned on making the third season more cohesive than the previous, with more connectivity between the storylines of the episodes, as well as to make the show more grounded, with somewhat fewer themed episodes. Harmon also planned out the characters' storylines for the entire season. Explaining the theme of the third season, and Jeff's journey for the season, Harmon says, "Season 3 is about the price that you pay when you figure out that you love a group of people. That's it in a nutshell. It's about the high cost of valuing people other than yourself, and that's the path that Jeff has been on. The third chapter for him is going to be the toughest of all. When you love people, their pain is your pain. Nobody likes having to deal with hassles more than Jeff Winger, and nobody's going to have to deal with more this year."
On November 14, 2011, NBC announced that they were removing Community from their mid-season schedule to make room for 30 Rock, which returned to Thursday nights. On February 21, 2012, it was announced that the series would return on March 15, 2012.