It’s been about a year since Community (and Yahoo Screen) breathed its last, but fans have had more than three years to get used to the idea that Donald Glover wouldn’t be sitting with them in the cafeteria. Glover had a limited role in the penultimate season as he embarked on a new career as Childish Gambino. He still has some TV ties as the creator and star of Atlanta, which premieres September 6 on FX. But as far as he’s concerned, Troy Barnes is dead, just like we will all be one day—even Donald Trump.
Glover tolerated questions about his Community days at one of FX’s panels at the Television Critics Association summer press tour today by getting philosophical about the nature of endings. When asked why he didn’t return for the final season, Glover shrugged and said “I just like endings.” Perhaps realizing that no one was going to give up the ship that easy, he waxed philosophical about the ephemerality of existence.
I think everything should have death clauses in them. Humans have death clauses. Thank God, one day Trump is going to die. That’s guaranteed. That’s awesome.
Glover continued in this vein, telling critics that he’s “glad things end because it forces things to progress.” He presumably means that closing the door of one project opens a window to another opportunity, but just in case anyone doubts how much he enjoyed working with Dan Harmon, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, and the rest of the GCC crew, he says he “had so much fun on Community, and it wasn’t like I wanted to run away from that.” And, according to Glover, Harmon’s also a fan of finality: “[T]hat’s why [Harmon] ended that. He likes endings, too.” Let’s just hope that doesn’t apply to Rick And Morty just yet.
[Additional reporting by Erik Adams.]