'Community' Star Donald Glover Developing New NBC Series With ?30 Rock? Producer

By Tom Herrmann | September 14 2012 5:23 PM

Donald Glover, best known as an actor and stand-up comedian, as well as the rapper Childish Gambino, is developing a new situation comedy for NBC. After his four-year stint at Greendale Community College -- aren't such colleges usually two-year schools? -- the actor/rapper/writer will be adding a new television series to his resume.

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Donald Glover seems to be the overwhelming favorite to play Han Solo among "Star Wars" fans reacting to a new report that future spin-off films could include ones about the early lives of the iconic hero and the evil bounty hunter Boba Fett.

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Glover is developing the sitcom with "30 Rock" co-executive producer Matt Hubbard, TV Guide reported. Once he is finished portraying former high-school football star turned eccentric nerd and air-conditioner repairman messiah Troy in the fourth and final season of "Community," Glover will star in the new show he is developing.

Loosely based on Glover's life, the show has had the full support of NBC so far. The development team is close to creating a put pilot, which is unlike a traditional pilot in one key respect: If the initial episode isn't picked up for a season, Glover and others involved in the series will face a severe penalty fee from NBC, TV Guide noted.

This won't be the first time Hubbard and Glover have worked together; the comedic actor displayed his off-screen talents as an editor and writer for "30 Rock" during 2008 and 2009, according to Screen Rant. Glover made his way into a substantial on-screen role in 2009 when "Community" premiered, and the star has every intention of finishing out the show's last season.

The #SixSeasonAndAMovie hashtag might not have worked at the finale of season three, but there will be a season four despite Dan Harmon's unceremonious expulsion from NBC. Glover and the rest of the cast have all committed to finishing out the cult series, Screen Rant reported.

The new Glover sitcom could be getting so much support from NBC due to the fact that the network has announced that all four of its major comedies will be wrapping up this season. "The Office," "Parks and Recreation," and "30 Rock" are three of the flagship programs on NBC, and they'll all be coming to an end with "Community."

Those four shows make up the entire Thursday night lineup of NBC comedies, and dropping all four of them gives NBC room to break out new shows like Glover's sitcom and "The Office" spin-off "The Farm." The Dwight Schute (Rainn Wilson) series will focus on the beet farmer and his family.

With Glover's following and Hubbard's acclaim -- he won the Emmy for outstanding writing in a comedy series for "30 Rock" in 2009, and was nominated again the two following years -- the series will likely be picked up by NBC. Universal Television is the studio behind the project, and Peter Traugott ("Samantha Who?") and Rachel Kaplan ("Virtuality") are also executive producers.