Yvette Nicole Brown’s Journey in Community Comes to an End

Yvette Nicole Brown, is departing from Community after 5 seasons as Shirley. Since the inception of Community, Brown has played the role of Shirley Bennett. She confirmed her bowing out of the show due to personal reasons. Her request has been honored by Sony TV and executive producers Chris McKenna and Dan Harmon.

Brown clarified in an interview that her father is ill and needs her. She also added that she could not take being 16 hours away from him. She added that it was a difficult decision indeed, but she picked her father. This news was confirmed and Brown will no longer be a part of her fans favorite comedy show.

In a joint interview, Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna said that Brown was an integral part of Community, her presence will be missed, and that they were sad to see her go.

The actress in an interview thanked Sony and the producers of the show. Brown added that Dan Harmon has been wonderful about the entire situation, and is praying for her father. She added that she cannot thank SONY and Dan Harmon enough for the way they have handled her situation. She added that SONY is letting her take on a recurring role on a mid season reboot of The Odd Couple.

The Odd Couple is more suitable for Brown since the show is a multi-camera sitcom, which is a better fit for her life now, since it has a flexible schedule. Community is a single camera show that has a fixed schedule, which meant she had to be away from her dad for 5 months. Besides The Odd Couple, Brown will also be seen in an upcoming comedy on the USA’s Network titled Benched.

Brown is leaving the door open behind her and might appear for guest appearances. She added that she will be happy with any decision taken by Dan Harmon, and she is glad that there are a lot of ways to explain her departure. Shirley was a Business degree holder with 3 kids. After her husband divorced her and left her and their kids, she started teaching.

It is still unclear how her departure will be handled on the show, but she is certain the producers will make the right decision. With Brown’s and Jonathan Banks’ exit, the producers are now casting two new members. They have decided to bring in a woman, who will help shape up the school as a consultant. The other actor will be a retired salesman who moves to Greendale to reinvent himself.

Writing for Community is already underway, and the Cast members who are returning to set are: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong. For season 6 the production has moved from the stage at Paramount to The CBS Studio Centre in Studio City, California.

Brown said she will still be the biggest fan of Community, and still live tweets episodes. She added that it is a bittersweet decision, as she has to take care of her dad, and leave her TV family behind. She concluded by saying, Greendale is the heart of Community and not any particular character, so the show will go on no matter how the cast changes over time.

Source: Seattlepi