The season consists of 22 episodes and aired on Thursdays at 8:00 pm ET as part of the network's "Comedy Night Done Right" programming block.

[25] Jim Rash, who portrays Dean Pelton, was promoted to a series regular after having a recurring role throughout the first two seasons.

Stamatopoulos also serves as a consulting producer and writer for the series, so he wanted to focus on his main job, as he explained "I'm not an actor".

Series creator Dan Harmon explained Star-Burns' death is "not just thrown away", but "triggers the rest of the entire season.

"[35] On November 14, 2011, NBC announced that they were removing Community from their mid-season schedule to make room for 30 Rock, which returned to Thursday nights.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Greendale study group take some of their boldest swings – though not all connect – in this freewheeling third season that nevertheless continues Community's streak as the gold standard for fiendishly clever television.