‘Community’ season 6 spoilers: Nathan Fillion to return; plus, other surprises

For those excited to see the return of “Community” this week, know this: There is so much more than you may have bargained for coming up during the sixth season. For example, be prepared for some returning guest stars!

One name explicitly announced by creator Dan Harmon and the cast at SXSW this week was Nathan Fillion. He first surfaced during season 5 as a janitor at Greendale Community College; Fillion is a longtime fan of the series, and the fact that he managed to fit this in to his “Castle” / planning “Con Man” schedule is proof of his love for it in itself. Ironically, Fillion appeared in the same episode that Paget Brewster did, and she is a major player this season as a different character. There are some other guest stars coming aboard, but Harmon would not give much away. All we can say for sure is that there is a “surprise” coming at some point at the tail end of the first episode.

One thing that Harmon did make clear at the event is that while there is an “open window” that the show could use to completely change the show now that they are in a digital format, they are really not going to jump through it. Why? In his own words, “it wouldn’t be Community anymore” if they started to change the show.

Also, there’s going to be another paintball episode. Given that the season 1 episode about this, coupled with the season 2 finale featuring Josh Holloway, are some of the most memorable ones to date, expectations are through Greendale’s roof.

We’re going to be covering this show every week, so be sure to check back every Tuesday for the latest reviews!