Next up in my interviews with the cast of Community is Jim Rash, who oh-so memorably plays Dean Craig Pelton. With Season 5 about to debut, Rash and I discussed Dan Harmon’s return to the series and the Dean’s reaction to Jeff Winger coming back to Greendale, now as a member of the faculty.

Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton in Community.

Loading

Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) is very happy to see Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) in Community: Season 5.

Oh, I should go the opposite about it, because I'm sure they all said, "Terrible!" and I'll say, "It's wonderful!" No, it's been great. I'm sure they've all said the same thing, and it stands to reason, because it's the same answer. You knew what was missing the minute we read the first episode, you knew what we didn't have last year, which is just something that can only come from Dan's brain. I feel like there was a depth that returned to all the scripts that only he brings, because it's, like, layers that make you want to watch it again. You're like, "Did I miss that?" That goes to the credit of Chris McKenna as well, and the whole relatively new writing team, so it's been great.Well, even when we meet the Dean in the beginning [of the season], basically everyone's already left and graduated and moved on. Because of some legal incidents, they all come back, and obviously his first reaction to [seeing] Jeff is what you might expect: very elated of his return. As far as Troy leaving, I think it obviously affects the study group as a whole. Maybe because the Dean dealt with it once already, he can deal with the departure; he's seen it before. But Troy's sendoff in particular is epic in scale.He is. I mean, that's where his mind is. It's actually the Dean who pitches it to him, and he's very resistant until his hand is forced in his own life. I think, from the minute we first see him becoming a teacher, the Dean sort of graduates him in his mind to that new thing, only to find out that once Jeff meets Jonathan Banks's character Buzz Hickey, all of that crumbles for the Dean, because Buzz hates the Dean and hate authority and pretty much singlehandedly is able to say that the teacher's union doesn't allow me in the teacher's lounge. Subsequently, now they won't allow me in the study group. So he pretty much cuts the Dean off of everything that could be great about having Jeff as a teacher. So it's a very quick celebration.It is! I mean, that's the first time I think he's said it, in this script. So yeah, that's new.It is! The Dean instigates this, say, Greendale Committee, which they take on. The committee includes Hickey, Professor Duncan and even Chang, so the study table is now full, which is great, and a whole other reason to be around the study table. So again, the Dean, although I do come in there to tell them a few things -- you know, I'm not really allowed in there [Laughs] -- I feel like right now he's been sort of on the outskirts.

Community: Season 4 premieres Thursday, January 2nd at 8pm on NBC.Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN , IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman