9 Characters Who Saved Failing TV Shows

"Six seasons and a movie." That was the rallying cry of Community's fanbase pretty much from the beginning. Initially just a throwaway line by Abed, the catchphrase became a beacon of hope for fans to cling to as NBC executives constantly toyed with cancelling the show.

Once it started hemorrhaging cast members -- Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, Yvette Nicole Brown, John Oliver, and Jonathan Banks (who left after one season) -- it seemed highly unlikely NBC would help fulfill the "six seasons" portion of that prophecy. And they didn't.

But to the rescue came an unlikely trio of heroes: Paget Brewster, Keith David...and Yahoo! Screen. Yes, the show transitioned from an actual network to little-known Yahoo! Screen for its sixth season. But more importantly, Brewster was added to the tight-knit ensemble as efficiency expert Frankie Dart.

Truth is, the show had gotten too kooky for its own good. The characters and the environment had become too weird to be taken seriously, and the only way to get any sense of sanity back was to bring in an outsider who would call them on all their crap. Frankie became a much-needed barometer for what "normal" looks like inside Greendale's bizarro campus. It made Community feel more like the classic show of old more than any genre episode ever could. And Frankie helped the cult classic achieve at least one of its goals.