Joel McHale Says 'Community' Movie Will Shoot This Year; Peacock "Working Around" Donald Glover's Schedule To Set Start Date https://t.co/oXdrxZ94aV

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) March 4, 2024

I know by any considerable metric Glover is the bigger star, but McHale is such a workhorse on the cable TV front I'm surprised he's able to do this. It seems like he's on at least one game show / talk show ever night.

This made me want to rank the main cast's concurrent-with-the-show/post-show careers. Some of these are a close call, but as of now I'd say...

1. Donald Glover
- Huge music career
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Atlanta (FX)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Amazon)
- Voice work for The Lion King

2. Ken Jeong
- The Hangover Trilogy
- Crazy Rich Asians
- Dr. Ken (ABC)
- Numerous other appearances in film/TV

3. Gillian Jacobs
- The Bear (FX, her partner is the creator)
- Love (Netflix)
- Voice work for Invincible (Amazon)
- Stars in numerous indie movies
- Voice work for numerous other animated series

4. Alison Brie
- GLOW (Netflix)
- Mad Men (AMC)
- Stars in numerous indie movies

5. Joel McHale
- Animal Control (Fox)
- Numerous other appearances in film/TV
- Numerous hosting gigs

6. Yvette Nicole Brown
- Numerous appearances in film/TV (including Avengers: Endgame)
- Voice work for numerous animated series

7. Jim Rash
- Numerous appearances in film/TV
- Voice work for numerous animated series
- Won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Descendants
(though there's some controversy there)

8. Danny Pudi
- Voice work for DuckTales (Disney)
- Numerous other appearances in TV

9. Chevy Chase
- Next to nothing, save for a couple random movie appearances + voice work for a few animated series
- Though, arguably still the most famous of the bunch

Agree? Disagree? Anything of note that I left out?

Totally forgot Pudi was in Mythic Quest. In fact, that might even take him up a notch or two.

And yeah, The Masked Singer is a big one. Solidifies Jeong as number two for sure.

Good calls on both.

It was a good list, thanks for putting it together.

I'd put Brie in third if only based on sheer recognizability from anecdotal experience. It seems like most people know her even if they haven't watched a bunch of her work, while Jacobs may be less recognized by the masses.

Again, purely anecdotal and I could be exactly wrong but that's my perception.

Having said that, Jacobs was also in Winning Time. Which was awesome.

MASAXET said:

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I'd put Brie in third if only based on sheer recognizability from anecdotal experience. It seems like most people know her even if they haven't watched a bunch of her work, while Jacobs may be less recognized by the masses.

Again, purely anecdotal and I could be exactly wrong but that's my perception.

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I agree. I would bump Brie above Jacobs. Overall, the cast has put together pretty solid careers over the last decade.

It is kinda funny that the you're ranking post-Community career success, and the guy who won an Oscar is ranked 7th (maybe 8th if you put Pudi up a notch for Mythic Quest).

Not saying you're wrong but damn, if he's reading this he's probably think "What else do I have to do?"

TajMaballer said:

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Whats also fascinating is the behind the scenes talent the show also had:

Dan Harmon: Rick and Morty

Russo Bros: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame

Ludwig Gorranson: Oscar for Black Panther score and probably about to win his second for Oppenheimer. Personally I love his score for Tenet too.

I'm sure there's more in the writing department that I'm missing.

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This is a great point

TajMaballer said:

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Whats also fascinating is the behind the scenes talent the show also had:

Dan Harmon: Rick and Morty

Russo Bros: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame

Ludwig Gorranson: Oscar for Black Panther score and probably about to win his second for Oppenheimer. Personally I love his score for Tenet too.

I'm sure there's more in the writing department that I'm missing.

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Don't forget the mutual admiration of the crew and Vince Gilligan/Breaking Bad. There were some crossovers. Badger and Mike Ehrmantraut were on Community. Chang hugging a blue Chemistry book with Vince making a cameo in the same episode. They even had a subtle plot line where Starburns made really awesome chicken in the cafeteria, everyone was addicted to them, the gang gets him ousted, and then he wants to cook meth with one of the professors later on in the series.

Also Badger makes a quick appearance as the pizza delivery guy in like the 3rd or 4th episode of season 1 (the one where Abed is making a documentary)

Carlo4 said:

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TajMaballer said:

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Whats also fascinating is the behind the scenes talent the show also had:

Dan Harmon: Rick and Morty

Russo Bros: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame

Ludwig Gorranson: Oscar for Black Panther score and probably about to win his second for Oppenheimer. Personally I love his score for Tenet too.

I'm sure there's more in the writing department that I'm missing.

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Don't forget the mutual admiration of the crew and Vince Gilligan/Breaking Bad. There were some crossovers. Badger and Mike Ehrmantraut were on Community. Chang hugging a blue Chemistry book with Vince making a cameo in the same episode. They even had a subtle plot line where Starburns made really awesome chicken in the cafeteria, everyone was addicted to them, the gang gets him ousted, and then he wants to cook meth with one of the professors later on in the series.

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The Chicken episode is a Goodfellas/Mob movie reference, not Breaking Bad. At least I didn't see it haha way.

But yeah, there was some shared respect for sure.

What's the controversy around Rash's Oscar? It was for The Descendants, right?

MASAXET said:

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I'd put Brie in third if only based on sheer recognizability from anecdotal experience. It seems like most people know her even if they haven't watched a bunch of her work, while Jacobs may be less recognized by the masses.

Again, purely anecdotal and I could be exactly wrong but that's my perception.

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I think you're right in that Brie is more recognizable for sure.

But in the industry, Jacobs is not only more of a staple in the comedy community, she's also considered the better, more "prestige" actor. Not to mention, I just compared their credits, and by my count, Jacobs has starred in (as number one or two on the call sheet) ten movies, whereas I only count three leading roles for Brie. And yes, TV-wise Mad Men is somewhat of a trump card for Brie, considering its popularity, but Jacobs has and continues to work way more, and in addition to the credits I mentioned, also had reoccurring roles on popular shows like Winning Time, Minx, and Girls.

Again, yeah, Brie probably wins in a popularity contest, but in terms of measurable "success," number of jobs, and money made, I think Jacobs is far ahead of Brie.

Quinn said:

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What's the controversy around Rash's Oscar? It was for The Descendants, right?

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Yeah, Rash and his writing partner wrote the first draft, adapted from the novel of the same name.

But then director Alexander Payne joined the project, who already had two writing nominations and one win to his name, rewrote the draft to his liking, with his expertise, got Clooney on board, produced it as well, and basically gave the movie that special, award-winning oomph he's known for.

Word is, Payne hardly consulted with Rash and his writing partner, if at all, but because enough of their structure was still there (because it was based on an already existing story), they got to keep their credits, and then got to ride Payne's coattails/accept the award with him on stage.

Then, while on stage, directly in front of her, Rash physically mocked Angelina Jolie, who had just presented his award (Rash mocked her stance/pose as she read the nominees), and it blew up into this whole thing.

Basically, he came across as not only somewhat undeserving, but also kind of an ass in the process, and pissed a lot of people off.

Was Rash's pose on stage actually poorly received? I distinctly remember it happening and thought it got a good natured laugh more than a "oh ****, I can't believe he did that." You would know the industry response better than I would, though.

Plenty of people found it funny, but there were also a number of finger-wagging think pieces, people who felt sorry for Jolie, thought Rash was being a brat, etc.

TCTTS said:

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Plenty of people found it funny, but there were also a number of finger-wagging think pieces, people who felt sorry for Jolie, thought Rash was being a brat, etc.

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I recall a lot more jokes at her expense (it was a pretty ridiculous pose, though her right leg is something to be proud of) than tutting at Rash.

Right. Again, I'm not saying most people didn't find it funny. I simply said it became a whole thing, and that it made *some* people mad. I'm not making a judgment call either way.

Abed's girlfriend has done alright for herself too.

Can't believe Star Burns hasn't blown up more.

TCTTS said:

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MASAXET said:

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I'd put Brie in third if only based on sheer recognizability from anecdotal experience. It seems like most people know her even if they haven't watched a bunch of her work, while Jacobs may be less recognized by the masses.

Again, purely anecdotal and I could be exactly wrong but that's my perception.

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I think you're right in that Brie is more recognizable for sure.

But in the industry, Jacobs is not only more of a staple in the comedy community, she's also considered the better, more "prestige" actor. Not to mention, I just compared their credits, and by my count, Jacobs has starred in (as number one or two on the call sheet) ten movies, whereas I only count three leading roles for Brie. And yes, TV-wise Mad Men is somewhat of a trump card for Brie, considering its popularity, but Jacobs has and continues to work way more, and in addition to the credits I mentioned, also had reoccurring roles on popular shows like Winning Time, Minx, and Girls.

Again, yeah, Brie probably wins in a popularity contest, but in terms of measurable "success," number of jobs, and money made, I think Jacobs is far ahead of Brie.

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Don't disagree with any of that.

I think Starburns got pretty big in the production side of things with his own animation studio. I remember reading that he and his company did the stop motion Christmas episode, and I think he does at least some portion of Rick and Morty. I know there has been a lot written about how he liked working on Community, but didn't like being in front of the camera.

Also, with the way he aged between seasons 4 and 6, I wouldnt be surprised if he's retired and done now. It looked like he aged 30 years between those 2 seasons. Dude was looking rough in the silver balls paintball episode...

The ‘COMMUNITY’ movie is slowly moving forward as they have now been granted tax credits to shoot the film in California soon.

(Source: Deadline) pic.twitter.com/2dUlLKvdlB

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 10, 2024