A week or two ago, I reported that there was an Inspector Spacetime web-series in the works by Travis Richey, the actor who plays the Inspector in mini-segments on the TV show Community. Richey said he was going to raise the money and produce the series himself, just for the sheer kicks and giggles of it.

Well that’s not going to happen for the most obvious of reasons: he doesn’t own the character!

NBC owns the character, and once Richey’s project started making the rounds on the Internet, the NBC legal department told him ‘no way, jose!’ and pulled the plug on his project. Richey posted this on his Kickstarter page:

Lawyers from Sony and NBC have contacted me demanding that I cease production on an Inspector Spacetime web series.

Though I firmly believe the law would be on my side in producing this parody, I have no wish or ability to fight a show that I love as much as “Community.”  I had hoped that they would embrace what is essentially a fan film and appreciate the value it adds to the character, and the audience that we would bring who are finding “Community” for the first time through this character, but alas, that’s not the case.  So, I will be removing all references to Inspector Spacetime from this series (it only happened in the title anyway), and altering the appearance of the Inspector so that he does not look like Inspector Spacetime.  What remains is 100% the creation of myself, my writing partner, and you, the fans.

If you would still be interesting in seeing the series that would have been Inspector Spacetime, I appreciate your support.

Richey said he will still go forward with the project, only now it will be called ‘Untitled Web Series About a Spacetraveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time’. So good for him and his creativity.

I kind of hope this doesn’t cost Richey his role as the Inspector on Community. But who am I kidding? Replacing the lead actor is a main part of the Doctor Who mythology, so replacing Richey would be perfectly in line for Inspector Spacetime.

Farewell, Inspector

We might not have Community back on the air just yet, but we’re going to get the next best thing: Inspector Spacetime! There’s going to be a web-series about the Inspector produced by the actor who plays him, Travis Richey. At least this is all according to IO9, with the news coming out of the Gallifrey One convention.

For anyone who doesn’t watch Community, Inspector Spacetime is a parody of Doctor Who, and has been a running gag throughout the third season. It’s all about the time-traveling Inspector, his companion Constable Reginald and their battles against the villainous Blorgons! Community characters Abed and Troy have fallen in love with the show, and are often seen wearing Inspector and Reginald costumes.

See for yourself:

This is brilliant. The Inspector Spacetime segments of Community are just hilarious, and to think that the guy playing the Inspector is just going to go ahead and make his own webseries about it is exactly the sort of creativity I love.

Of course, Richey is apparently doing it without the OK of the execs at Community or NBC.

Dan Harmon, Community, NBC and Sony have nothing to do with this web series. I pitched it to them after my first episode of Community, but never heard back from them one way or another. So I’m going to do it myself, with the help of fans. I’m launching a Kickstarter campaign in a matter of hours for an equipment budget, and the complete story can be read there.

So take that for what you will. Maybe they’ll shut him down. Maybe things will be cool and this web-series will get made. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and be on the lookout for Blorgons!