Yvette Nicole Brown leaving "Community"

The study group will be short one member when "Community" moves from NBC to Yahoo Screen for its sixth season.

Actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who has played Shirley on the comedy series since its 2009 debut, is departing the show for personal reasons.

"My dad needs daily care and he needs me," Brown told TV Guide. "The idea of being away 16 hours a day for five months, I couldn't do it. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I had to choose my dad."

She asked to be released from her contract and "Community" creator Dan Harmon and producer Sony Pictures TV honored her request.

"Yvette was an integral part of 'Community' and is irreplaceable. We are sad to see her go and wish her the very best," Harmon and executive producer Chris McKenna said in a statement.

Brown later took to Twitter to thank fans and the "Community" team for their support.

She's not the first Greendale student to depart "Community" -- Chevy Chase's character, Pierce Hawthorne, died early in season 5, and Donald Glover's Troy left in the middle of that same season. "Breaking Bad" star Jonathan Banks, who joined the show last season as a professor, also won't be back now that he's set for AMC's "Better Call Saul."

Per TV Guide, Brown will still have a recurring role on CBS' upcoming reboot of "The Odd Couple."