Another one bites the dust. Following the departures of Chevy Chase in season 4 and Donald Glover in season 5, Community is losing a third member of the original study group in season 6. Yvette Nicole Brown, who plays Shirley Bennett, will not be a series regular when Community makes its debut on Yahoo next year. In fact, her exit will take place off screen. Her father isn’t doing so well, and so she made the decision not to participate in the new episodes.
“My dad needs daily care and he needs me,” Brown tells TV Guide. “The idea of being away 16 hours a day for five months, I couldn’t do it. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I had to choose my dad.”
She may, however, return to guest star at some point in the future. “I am totally open to whatever Dan decides,” she says. “I’m glad it won’t be hard for them to explain where she is. She has three kids, a degree and a business. There are a lot of ways to explain her [departure].” That’s true.
She goes on to assure fans the show will continue to delight in its quirky ways, even without Shirley’s presence. “I’m still Community’s biggest fan and I’ll still live Tweet episodes,” she says. “It’s very bittersweet. I can take care of my dad but won’t be with my TV family. I don’t want the fans to worry; it’s going to be fine. Greendale is the heart of the show, not any particular character. Even if characters come and go, the heart of Greendale remains.”
Brown will go on to star in CBS’ reboot The Odd Couple with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon. “A multi-camera sitcom is a better fit for the life I have now,” she says. “I can’t say enough how much I respect [producer] Sony and [Community leader] Dan [Harmon] for how they handled this profound change in my life.”
[Via TV Guide]