NBC’s ‘Community’ season 5 spoilers: Donald Glover to appear in only five episodes

While we managed to get over the exit of Chevy Chase on “Community” pretty easily (thanks largely in part to some of the things that he reportedly said and did when cameras were not rolling), this one stings a little bit more: According to Vulture, Donald Glover (Troy) is going to only be appearing in five episodes of the show’s fifth season.

While we wish that we could say that we were enormously surprised by this news, we’re really not. Why’s that? The answer comes courtesy of the fact that Glover has never been the most-active cast member out there. He rarely makes appearances promoting the show (we haven’t spoken with him since the second season), and that includes going to conventions like Comic-Con and TCA events.

So what is the reason given for him taking time away from the show? Sources say that he wants to spend more time on his rap career as Childish Gambino, which ironically started to pick up a following thanks in part to support from “Community” fans (in addition to those in the rap world). There were signs last year that he was already planning to move on from the show, as he was at one point developing a script of his own with NBC; however, nothing ever materialized of the project. He has a long history with the network, dating back to when he was a writer on “30 Rock.”

Glover’s reduced role comes at a time when Dan Harmon is returning to the show, which means that there could be some great Troy-and-Abed moments … at least for the amount of time that we have with Troy.

What is your reaction to this news? If you want to read some more scoop related to “Community” season 5 and their Comic-Con panel, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: NBC