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Dan Harmon just can’t shut up

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

When it was announced a few weeks ago that Dan Harmon would be returning to “Community,” the show he created and had been fired from, it looked like a feel-good story. A wronged auteur has his creation stolen away from him by forces that care more about money, ratings and professionalism than art, only to be vindicated when that creation flounders in his absence, and the same forces have to return his work, admitting it is nothing without him. The genius triumphed over the suits, talent over money, fans over ratings. It’s a happy ending, right? Absolutely — except for the part where, as this story unfolded, the genius auteur got more and more insufferable, a man using his self-proclaimed emotional neediness to behave like an exhausting, smug prat. Is Dan Harmon really great at making “Community”? He sure is, but boy is he getting tiresome.

Dan Harmon apologizes for comparing “Community’s” season 4 to rape

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:37:00 +0000

Followers of Dan Harmon's podcast, "Harmontown," got an earful last night when the "Community" creator and recently reinstated showrunner trashed season 4 of the NBC show, which was produced without his leadership.

He described the season as "not my cup of tea" and compared the viewing experience to “flipping through Instagram just watching your girlfriend blow everyone” and seeing a friend “Like” a photo of your ex-girlfriend with her new boyfriend on Facebook. But Harmon's rant went into the distinctively unfunny territory when he made a rape joke, saying: "There's something awesome about having all of those preconceived notions ripped away from you. It's exciting. There's something exciting about being held down and watching your family get raped on a beach. It's liberating. It makes you focus on what's important."

Harmon has since apologized to "Community" fans, the season 4 cast and crew -- but not before former "Community" writer Megan Ganz responded to Harmon's rape comment:

Dan Harmon tweets that he’s returning to “Community”

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 18:45:00 +0000

"Community" creator Dan Harmon, who was unceremoniously ousted from his position as show-runner at the beginning of the ailing fourth season, is reportedly returning. Harmon was discussing the possibility with Sony executives earlier this week, and today told a fan that he is, indeed, coming back:

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He joked about the news with "Community" cast members:

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There's a chance, however, that Harmon is trolling fans, too, as yesterday he tweeted the following:

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For the sake of the show, let's hope that Harmon isn't still drunk-tweeting.

Dan Harmon may return to “Community”

Tue, 28 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

"Community" creator and former showrunner Dan Harmon was booted at the beginning of the fourth season -- but the production studio execs may want him back.

THR reports:

The creator of NBC's Community is in talks with studio Sony Pictures Television to return in some capacity for the series' upcoming fifth season, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Details on just what role the former showrunner would have with the series remain unclear.

Harmon broke the news during his Harmontown podcast on Sunday, according to HollyWookiee.com, which had a reporter present for the taping. According to the site, Harmon told the audience that he has been asked to return to Community, and later asked that it be edited out of the podcast -- which has not yet been released online.

“Community’s” new season is a no-win situation

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:23:00 +0000

“Community” returns tonight for its fourth season and its first without series creator Dan Harmon. Harmon, for better and for crazy, was one of the more essential showrunners on TV: “Community” reflected and refracted his very singular, trippy, pop-culture-soaked worldview and genre-bending and -busting instincts. For three seasons he oversaw a series that was supremely ambitious, usually impressive, occasionally exhausting and like nothing else on television. He appears to have been extremely difficult to work with as he did so. NBC fired him at the end of last season instead of canceling the show, a good number of the show’s staff writers left soon after, and David Guarascio and Moses Port, two writers and producers with excellent credits ("Happy Endings,” “Aliens in America”), were given the unenviable task of carrying on “Community,” post-Harmon. The new episodes are such a good-faith effort to continue Harmon’s legacy it’s a shame that they don’t really work at all.