When Donald Glover left “Community” in Season 5 to pursue music, the show’s writers hoped to fill the void of his beloved character Troy with John Oliver’s Professor Ian Duncan.

Creator Dan Harmon told Uproxx that he wanted to give Oliver more to do in the absence of Glover because the friendship between Duncan and Jeff (Joel McHale) hadn't been explored.

With the cute shenanigans of Troy and Abed (Danny Pudi) gone, there was a need for a new friendly duo, and Harmon believed Duncan and Jeff’s dynamic would be refreshing.

Harmon said, “You would lose that [...] adolescent Troy and Abed, ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ innocence, but in its place would grow [an] equally powerful older adult male friendship.”

Duncan and Jeff could've had a unique tie. Harmon said they would’ve been “drinking buddies whose friendship is the only one that actually predates the origin of the whole series.”

Harmon compared Duncan and Jeff’s friendship to Harold Ramis and Bill Murray’s friendship in “Stripes,” where they’re competitive with one another but still deeply love each other.

Unfortunately, Oliver had other commitments and couldn't do all 13 episodes of Season 5, so the writers filled Troy’s void with the characters of Hickey, Chang, and the Dean.