John Oliver memorably portrayed Dr. Ian Duncan throughout Community, but the character disappeared multiple times on the comedy series. Created by Dan Harmon, Community originally aired on NBC before moving to Yahoo! Screen for the sixth and final season. Oliver served as a recurring figure as the psychology professor at Greendale Community College for the series’ first two seasons. He later returned in season 5 for a brief time before exiting the series altogether. Due to Community‘s availability on both Netflix and Hulu, the show has found a resurgence of interest, which has resulted in a greater hope for the much-rumored sequel movie.

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Born in England, Ian relocated to the United States with his grandfather before becoming the head of the psychology department at Greendale. Due to his alcoholism and addiction problems, Ian ran into legal problems, which was how he first met Jeff Winger (Joel McHale). Ian often interacted with the study group at the focus of Community, particularly Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), but his unprofessional behavior eventually led to his suspension. When Greendale needed a replacement for an anthropology professor, Ian filled in despite his lack of knowledge in the subject. The professor was absent for seasons 3 and 4 even though Britta was enrolled in his psychology class.

During Oliver’s absence, the series didn’t provide an explanation, but Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) did make a reference to Ian’s mysterious whereabouts. The character then returned in season 5, which happened to be when Harmon was rehired as showrunner after a brief firing. Ian explained that he took a leave of absence to take care of his ill mother before claiming he put in enough of his time. After assisting in the investigation of the “Ass Crack Bandit,” Ian went back to stalking Britta. The character helped save the school from being sold to Subway by season’s end, but he didn’t appear in the final season. The reason being that Oliver was busy serving as the full-time host for The Daily Show.

John Oliver Decided To Focus On The Daily Show After Season 3

Between 2006 and 2013, Oliver worked as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For two months in 2013, Oliver filled in as the show’s host while Stewart took time off to direct a film. Oliver’s time on the series then led to the creation of his own show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which premiered in 2014 on HBO. Oliver was offered a larger role in Community in the past, but his commitment to The Daily Show prevented the actor to accept anything except a recurring part. With his own show, Oliver gave up playing Ian permanently.

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Last Week Tonight has been a hit for Oliver and HBO, winning numerous awards, including 19 Emmys to date. The satirical talk show is currently in its seventh season, and it’s renewed since 2023. Despite Ian’s absence in Community‘s final season, his nameplate was still present on his office door, suggesting he still taught at Greendale. If that’s the case, the character could easily appear in the sequel film if it comes to fruition.

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Kara Hedash
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Kara Hedash is a features editor and writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world’s most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara’s not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty.

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