What Happened to Ian Duncan in Community?
The British professor with questionable morals has been a huge part of the show since the very beginning, but why did he fall off the radar in later seasons?
John Oliver memorably portrayed Ian Duncan, a psychology professor who tricked Jeff into studying for real after he refused to give him the easy way out in the pilot episode.
Over the course of the first two seasons, Duncan was a psychology professor, a therapist, and a substitute anthropology professor.
He wasn't the nicest person on campus – though he claimed to have principles that kept him from giving Jeff all the answers, he later wasn't above using people for his own personal gain.
There was no sighting of Ian (and no explanation for it) in season 3. The show addressed his absence in season 4 when Troy asked the group if they had seen Duncan lately. These meta moments are exactly why Community is the best!
In season 5, Duncan came back after taking care of his sick mom for the past two years, but he was absent again in the show's final season. So what's up with that?
Actually, there was no bad blood between John Oliver and the creators of Community – he was even offered to become a series regular at one point!
The actor turned it down because he was too busy working on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he was a correspondent, host, and writer!
In 2010, he also launched John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, which ran for four seasons. It is truly a miracle that Oliver even returned for season 5!
In 2014, he got the opportunity to host his own show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which completely destroyed his chances of coming back for Community's season 6.
Seems like John did make the right call back then, seeing as season 6 turned out to be the show's last while his own project has been going strong for nearly a decade.
Well, at least we got that nice hint that Professor Duncan was still teaching when Abed was wiping the nameplate on his door in the season 6 premiere, Ladders.
Could've been worse!