Joel McHale (from left), Marquette alum Danny Pudi and Donald Glover return as offbeat students at a peculiar community college in “Community,” created by Milwaukee native Dan Harmon. “Community” airs at 7 p.m. Thursday on NBC. Credit: NBC

In a medium where most shows are copies of something else, the dare-to-be-different originality of "Community," created by Milwaukee native Dan Harmon, stands alone. During its three years on the air, the show, about offbeat students at a peculiar community college, has developed a small but devoted audience that was too small for NBC, which took it off the air in December.

It returns Thursday with the first of 12 new episodes created during what Harmon called "a confusing time for me creatively."

"Community" stars Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs, Donald Glover and Danny Pudi, a Marquette University grad, who will perform on campus this month.

Although sounding downbeat about recent events during an interview last week, Harmon, a Brown Deer High School graduate, Marquette dropout and ComedySportz alum, was optimistic about the new episodes and the future of the show.

Q.Welcome back. What has life been like the last few months?

A.It was a confusing time for me creatively. I'd grown addicted to the feedback that came with being on a regular schedule. The constant "How am I doing?" and ability to adjust (to the response) gave way to working in a complete vacuum, in a medium that's fundamentally populist in the first place and even more so with me.

If I wanted to make something that was simply true to myself at the peril of everyone else, I could go do that on the sidewalk. But I like network TV. I like connecting to an audience and the goal of trying to please as many people as possible. So I tail-spinned emotionally when I was deprived this constant feedback.

Q. What do you mean that you were working in a vacuum?

A. We had the same schedule we regularly would . . . but we weren't broadcasting and there were no airdates. The people who pay for these things would have lost money if we said, "We don't have an airdate, so let's take a break." So instead of (viewers) saying . . . "This is the best show on TV," "My kid loves you," "My grandma loves you," it was "Keep doing that show, and do it right."

Q. So did you do it right?

A. A lot has changed. It had to. If it rains and I see rain out the window, it affects the script I'm working on. So this must have affected everything in profound ways. And I'll assume optimistically that it's neither for better or worse, but that it will be a differently flavored show (because it was written) by someone who questions his role in the scheme of things.

Q. Do the new episodes reflect network attempts to rein in the show's anarchic sensibility?

A. There has been a constant appeal to me to simmer down and ground the show and not have it be too dark or crazy. But I don't trust the people I work for because they don't watch TV like people watch TV. They watch with half an eye and three-quarters of a brain because they've got bigger fish to fry. But I do trust the audience. And if I make something I think sucks and they say it didn't suck, then it didn't suck. But if I make something I think is great and they hate it, I can't keep loving it.

Q. What is the tone of the new episodes?

A. There are stories about the study group kind of trashing the school and getting expelled, which is probably reflective emotionally of the experience of feeling disowned by NBC and lashing out in anger. And there are episodes that chronicle the falling out of Troy and Abed (played by Glover and Pudi), whose buddy relationship is one of the show's most sacred resources. And for that to be scrutinized and put under pressure is another expression of feeling like, "Oh, what are we doing?"

But I think all good stories have rocky parts, so a lot of interesting stuff is going to happen.

Q. How will the season end? Is there a cliffhanger or series finale episode?

A. I always write with the possibility that each episode will be our last. And that we'll be accountable for what happens in this episode for years to come. So this third season finale ends the season, but not the series. It promises if there is a fourth season, it'll be a great one. But it doesn't demand a fourth season. It wraps up all the stories we've been spinning in the third season.

Q. Will there be a fourth season?

A. If we get a zero rating, they'll cancel us. If we get a 5 rating, we'll be on the air forever. Everything in between is a continuum that's balanced by other factors, one of which is syndication. Each year you get closer to a magic number that makes the show profitable. And for all our shortcomings as a racehorse, we have the luxury of seniority. And picking us up for even 13 episodes of a fourth season would pay dividends. Because it would get us to 88 episodes and make a syndication package exponentially easier to sell, and everyone gets a piece of that pie. Which is why I am confident about a fourth season.

With people watching on Hulu and the cardiac arrest and fan drama (over the hiatus), NBC is promoting us at a level they haven't before. And maybe these factors will mean a tiny, measurable uptick in the ratings. If so, this could be the best thing that happened to us. While we were sitting on the bench, "30 Rock" got the exact same rating . . . scientifically proving there are other variables at play.

Q. Do you ever work Milwaukee references into the show?

A. I referenced Chumps Rusty Bucket in two seasons. I was surprised it cleared legally. Does that bar still exist? (It operates under a different name.) It is such a prototypical bar name. It's where members of the school board go to drink after work.

Q. Do you and Danny Pudi ever reminisce about Milwaukee?

A. I had talked to him about a bar I used to go to a lot (Libby's Lounge). And when he was in Milwaukee last year, he texted me a photo of himself standing outside Libby's. It was such an emotionally jarring experience. To see snow on the ground and Libby's sign coming through my cellphone, which is technology that didn't exist when I was drinking at that place.

Email: ddudek@journalsentinel.com