Joel McHale says Yahoo has cancelled cult comedy 'Community'

Has the final school bell tolled for "Community"? If you were to ask its star, Joel McHale, then yes.

The actor said that the show won't be returning to Yahoo for a seventh season.

"No. They wanted to," McHale told MetroWeekly when asked if the show would get another season. "But all of our contracts were up after six years. All the actors on the show, almost without exception - their stock has risen significantly and it's out of the pay rate that is affordable to make the show. So, you're not going to be able to get Alison Brie or Gillian Jacobs at a normal television salary anymore. There is just not enough money to be able to pay for the show."

That's McHale's take, though Yahoo isn't ready to officially throw in the towel yet.

"We've seen tremendous value in our partnership with Sony and are continuing to discuss future opportunities for 'Community,'" a Yahoo representative told Business Insider.

"Community," which follows the off-the-wall travails of the members of a community college study group, aired for five low-rated seasons on NBC. When the network decided to finally call it quits, Yahoo picked up the comedy for a fifth season amid a fan campaign to keep the show going.

"Yahoo paid tons of money for it, because they knew that people were watching it," McHale, who also hosts E!'s pop culture show, "The Soup," told the magazine.

He also said, "Our budget was decreased every year we were at NBC and Yahoo significantly increased it and gave us basically no notes, according to [show creator Dan Harmon]."