Dan Harmon Is Still A Total Dick

42.59K

Anonymous

07/17/13 12:19PM

Filed to: Dan Harmon

Dan Harmon talks to The Hollywood Reporter in the latest issue and one thing is certain: he’s still a total dick. Fired in May 2012 as the showrunner for Community, Harmon went on a Tumblr rampage against NBC, seemingly burning every possible bridge in town. But he’s now been asked back for the fifth (and most likely final) season of the show, thanks to Harmon’s inexplicably large online fan base as well as star Joel McHale.

Why did Harmon get fired from Community in the first place?

Many say he regularly showed up hours late to work and on one occasion outright disappeared to San Francisco for a few days surrounding the SF Sketchfest comedy festival. A tug of war between his perfectionist tendencies and his procrastinator nature led to table reads being delayed — and, at least twice, canceled — and periodic all-nighters. […] There was his liquor intake, which was substantial enough for Harmon to label himself a "ninja of alcoholism," and his habit of falling asleep during the workday…

But with new writers in charge for the fourth season, the show’s already crummy ratings fell and NBC executives, desperate for viewers—any viewers—were forced to ask Harmon back. Like any alcohol ninja grateful for a second chance, he lovingly explains his current relationship to the show:

"Have you ever had a lover that breaks up with you for a year and then doesn't really tell you why, says that they're not ready for a relationship to make you feel better about getting dumped, and then you see them on Instagram hanging out at the same restaurants?" he says, adding: "When that person comes back and says, 'I miss you, I miss the way your hair smells,' how do you react to that? There's a slight feeling of vindication, but there's also a lot of 'Screw you.' "

This will surely be good for Harmon as he already pleased his bosses with his comment in May where he likened watching season four of the show to "being held down and watching your family get raped on a beach."

Surely he’ll be even sweeter at the Community Comic-Con panel this Sunday.

[Image via Getty]

The following replies are approved. To see additional replies that are pending approval, click Show Pending. Warning: These may contain graphic material.

17

Jeff Bercovici Anonymous 07/17/13 05:38PM

I knew Dan growing up in Milwaukee. He performed at the local improv theater and also coached high school improve "teams," including mine. He was a dick. He was also clearly the funniest person in the city of Milwaukee if not the state of Wisconsin, and the dickish feedback he gave us was dead on.

Yeah, every single episode of "Community" when Dan was running it wasn't a perfect gem. What 22-episode comedy has ever managed that for more than a season or two? Not "30 Rock." Not "Arrested Development." "Seinfeld," maybe? On the other hand, the "Community" episodes that have been on are among the funniest, smartest, most attention-rewarding things I've ever seen on TV. The paintball wars? The Christmas musical? Lordy.

My point being that comic genius is rare enough that I'm not gonna go disqualifying someone who possesses it on personality grounds. Steve Jobs was pretty difficult too from what I hear, you know? And from the interviews I've heard/read, Dan seems at least to be aware, to a painful degree, of his shit and how it affects the people around him.

Jeff Bercovici Jeff Bercovici 07/17/13 05:49PM

I should add that Dan probably came off as a dick in my experience at least in part because he didn't like me much. My friends and I were annoying high schoolers who thought we knew everything and he was a 20-year-old who just needed the paycheck.

4

Cherith Cutestory Jeff Bercovici 07/17/13 06:00PM

Yeah, every single episode of "Community" when Dan was running it wasn't a perfect gem. What 22-episode comedy has ever managed that for more than a season or two? Not "30 Rock." Not "Arrested Development." "Seinfeld," maybe?

It was only three seasons though. A sitcom should be consistently good for three seasons or more. Roseanne was doing amazing work until Season 5 and some of the best episodes in the history of television were in the fourth season (where they managed to make an episode about domestic violence hilarious). The Golden Girls had some of the sharpest dialogue to this day up through Season 4ish. Cheers was amazing for the first five seasons. The Simpsons was near perfection for what nine seasons? Mary Tyler Moore up until Season 5.

It is normal to have a decrease in quality over time but the wildly varying episodes, the over reliance on old gags, over reliance on sentimentality it was too young to be guilty of those things.

1

meommeom Cherith Cutestory 07/17/13 06:06PM

Yeah but by saying that sitcoms should only be 5 seasons is like implying there is some math to this. It just depends on how good your writers are and how much people care about the product which Harmon obviously does in spades.

Look at the Larry Sanders show, barely skipped a beat until the end where it soared into legend. Any show can be good as long as enough people who care about it put in enough work and love to make it good, it's that simple and it's no wonder why all of these executive's plans fall through for things like John Carter, Lone Ranger, and Season 4 of Community fail. None of the decisions were coming from an actual genuine place but rather simply from an instance of "what should be done in this situation".

Cherith Cutestory meommeom 07/17/13 06:10PM

I never said there should only be five seasons, although my examples maxed out around there, nor that there is a math to it. Larry Sanders may have had a skip but it didn't have whiplash of quality that Community did (and I intentionally didn't include shows with short seasons like on cable or in the UK because that wouldn't have been fair). And Dan Harmon cares a lot about moments and specific scenes and images in his mind. Those are magnificent. It is why the big cinematic moments really stand out. But gets very lazy about plot development, consistent arcs, and concluding an episode. So after he gets the themetic scene he wants done he sprinkles on some disingenuous sentiment or a cheap over-used joke and calls it a day. That is a serious issue if we are genuinely suggesting that Community is up there with the greatest sitcoms of all time.

Jeff learns the same lesson about the group being his family every episode. He flirts with Annie, he flirts with Britta it doesn't really go anywhere. Because genuine character arcs don't concern him. Which is fine. Didn't concern The Simpsons either but they were consistently genius and genuinely revolutionary for many seasons.

ETA: And I am obviously a fan of the show. I have seen every episode of the first three seasons multiple times and all of the fourth. But the idea that no sitcom has ever really been able to maintain Community level quality for more than two seasons is just not true.

Smokemonk accidentallyamazing 08/12/14 01:20PM

Years ago I wrote a screenplay with Dan called "Divided Highway." I think he asked me to write with him because I knew a film producer who would read and possibly produce it. It was optioned and the optioned lapsed. From what I understand it was one of the scripts that helped him get an agent and start his writing career. But for me...nada. I'd be surprised if my name was even on the property. There's a dick for you.

Smokemonk accidentallyamazing 08/12/14 01:20PM

Years ago I wrote a screenplay with Dan called "Divided Highway." I think he asked me to write with him because I knew a film producer who would read and possibly produce it. It was optioned and the optioned lapsed. From what I understand it was one of the scripts that helped him get an agent and start his writing career. But for me...nada. I'd be surprised if my name was even on the property. There's a dick for you.

20

Cherith Cutestory Anonymous 07/17/13 04:54PM

He also wants to do a commentary on the DVDs for season 4 so he can just bash the episodes.

I like Community, a lot, but his ego is not justified.

1) Huge portions of Season 3 are unwatchable.

2) It is often lazy and overly sentimental (Jeff's speeches could be cut and paste and the fact that they have made fun of this doesn't mean shit if they don't fix it, continued attempts to redeem Pierce, the forced family dynamic).

3) There is the Arrested Development problem (which is a show I obviously love) of he crosses from giving fans continuity and returning to old gags to just being too lazy for new stuff pretty often.

4) A lot of stuff he tries to pass off as inventive were things that have been done before in shows like Golden Girls and Roseanne and Newsradio. (Faux clip show-yes, AU realities-yes, unapologetic racist old person who isn't meant to teach us a lesson-yes, family dynamic but with a real sharp edge-yes) This is not to say he has never done anything brilliant. I loved the Ken Burns episode and all of the documentaries format episodes, for instance.

In summation, I enjoy the show. I do not believe he is as good as he thinks he is.

1

ad infinitum Cherith Cutestory 07/17/13 05:11PM

Holy shit, I hadn't heard the commentary thing. Get the fuck over yourself, Dan Harmon.

3

BurnerPrepaidWireless ad infinitum 07/17/13 05:27PM

The way Cherith Cutestory worded it is kind of misleading. Harmon joked about doing a commentary track of his reaction to watching Season 4 for the first time, then clarified that he wasn't actually going to do it. It was never meant to be taken seriously.

46

rapidpimpsmack Anonymous 07/17/13 04:46PM

SHUT THE FUCK UP ANY POST BUT THIS

2

lemonyfreshdoom rapidpimpsmack 07/17/13 05:20PM

You might be OK with this one too:

http://www.esquire.com/women/women-we…

1

rapidpimpsmack lemonyfreshdoom 07/17/13 05:21PM

If I wasn't ok with it I wouldn't have immediately ejaculated... or would I....

PeggyBabcock rapidpimpsmack 07/17/13 07:25PM

you win

Morecornelthankanyewest lemonyfreshdoom 07/17/13 07:40PM

In a couple of those I swear I can almost see Annie's Boobs- and I don't mean the monkey!

badumdum(rimshot)

4

teroterotero Anonymous 07/17/13 04:56PM

I think the quality of the first three seasons gives him the right to act like a nasty, irresponsible, out of control bully. The show was magical. There were episodes that stayed with me for months after I watched them. It was a journey of discovery, a glorious cycle of song, a medley of extemporanea. If he can recapture 30% of this in the fifth season, I'll give him a pass for being a grade B monster.

JukeboxHobo teroterotero 07/17/13 05:05PM

Hi, Dan.