I demand to the promotion of Magnitude or Leonard.
The Pierce move sounds like a mutiny by the cast. There were episodes left. Wasn't there a reported racist rant he had during the film of this season? I guess if the new showrunners could not even be on good graces with him that was enough for NBC to realize it was not a battle of egos with Harmon vs. Chevy.
I am looking forward to this season. The new showrunners had a previous connection to the Russo brothers, so hopefully-- when and if it ever airs-- it will not be the mainstreaming, middlebrow insertion of the show that people are scared about. In all likelihood, it will not be as weird and esoteric as Season 3, few shows get to that level (let alone in a really good way).
To be fair to Whitney, it got retooled and remodeled like nobody's business since about mid-season of last year and it actually has gotten good reviews or at least more positive feedback-- but no ratings. Whitney ain't my cup of tea, but I read its defenders who were also critical of moments in the first season of the show post-retool that felt like regression into the front-9 but were overall optimistic about the show getting better. It is now comfortably the best show with a Whitney Cummings credit at this point, faint praise since the other one is 2 Broke Girls, I know, but it appears to be completely innocuous filler that on another network could probably have a better shelf-life.
I think Community's most direct in-network competition is Up All Night, a show that also got retooled and unlike Whitney is not getting even good feedback on those changes. And also unlike Whitney, it has Lorne Michaels in the executive producers credits, so of course, it has lived this long for a reason.
BTW, is anybody looking around other network shows to fill the Community void? Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B**** in Apt. 23 back-to-back has been my go-to (both shows also have Community connections too) and unfortunately both of these shows are also in cancellation danger, especially Apt. 23.