Comic-Con 2012: New 'Community' Showrunners to Fans: 'We're Not Gonna Screw It Up' (Video)

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"Community"

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Set to a sizzle reel with a custom “Friday Night” tune, stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie  ,   Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown and new showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio took the stage to a boisterous Ballroom 20 crowd at Comic-Con.

But the question on everyone’s mind was: Will season four be different with new bosses at the helm instead of creator Dan Harmon, who was axed in May? (Harmon's name wasn't mentioned until near the end of the hourlong panel.)

“It’s all going to be OK,” Guarascio said when asked about how season four will look with the new regime. “We were just like you who thought it was best show on television, and all of a sudden, we’re here.” He added that they will keep the “weird, wonderful gem, and that’s not going to change.”

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Later in the panel, the new showrunners previewed season four – and if fans were worried about the change, they did their best to reassure.

“The easy part about it is that we’re fans of the show first and observed it from afar and thinking, 'How did they get away with that?' ” Guarascio said. “From that standpoint, we understand the show deeply, and we love it and want it to keep being the wonderful thing that it is. Like no other show, the fans influence what happens on the screen.”

He added, “In the writers room, we’re talking about what you’re going to like on a regular basis."

Said Port: “It’s also not us taking it in by ourselves. We have a lot of writers back from last season, and we hit autopilot -- what I’m saying is, we’re not gonna screw it up.”

Season four also is pivotal for the Community gang as it usually marks a community college student’s senior year – and the producers gave a small preview into what could be coming up.

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“It’s emotional for people, what’s going to happen next. That’ll give us a chance to explore some new relationships; one might have to do with the dean (Jim Rash) and Jeff.” Guarascio teases. “We’re going to see Pierce’s mansion and see the twisted world where he lives.

“We’re going to get to go to an Inspector Spacetime convention,” he added to cheers. “Everyone’s going to go.”

Writer Megan Ganz also revealed that the Germans, led by Nick Kroll, will be returning in the new season.

Continuing in the tradition of special themed episodes, Guarascio revealed that he’d like to “do a little [animation] in the first episode. We’ll see.” If viewers were worried that castmembers would be departing or not seen as they move on from Greendale, he says that “the show will keep going” even though not everyone will be students at the college.

THR's Full Coverage of Comic-Con 2012

During the panel, the cast took time to thank the fans; a fan video was even shown.

“We may not win Emmys or get nominated for them, but we win every online poll, and that’s because of you guys,” said Jacobs, who gave a shout-out to the fan art show, “Six Seasons and a Movie.”

McHale said at one point: “There wouldn’t have been a season four without you guys. … The flash mobs, the fake beards and the blood sacrifices … If we do get canceled after 13 episodes, I blame you.”

Some other highlights from the panel:

• “I really think Shirley has that purse because I always have my purse," Brown said. "I’m from the inner city, from Cleveland, and you don’t walk away from your purse."
• “I’m just composing texts, not necessarily [sending them]. He’s just texting his hairdresser,” McHale said of his cell phone-addicted character.
• “[Dick Wolf] gave his blessing to use the ‘chung-chung,’ ” Ganz said of the Law & Order episode from the previous season. “We actually got a Law & Order actor, Leslie Hendricks, who played the medical examiner.”

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com