Dino Stamatopoulos, who plays Star-Burns, is actually a consulting producer and writer on Community, and he requested that his character meet his maker so he could focus on his main job.
He may be dead, but he’s not gone just yet. In next week’s episode, the study group attends his funeral, and we will see him in some sort of “video” form.
“His legacy in season 3 will be gigantic,” hints Harmon, noting that the study group gets kicked out of Greendale as an indirect result of his demise. “Star-Burns’ death triggers the rest of the entire season in a strange daisy chain of events. It’s not just thrown away.”
