Dan Harmon, the creator of one of the best sitcoms on TV, “Community,” was notified Friday that he was no longer going to be running his own show. I felt really bad for Dan, who posted a well-written blog about it, owning up to his mistakes, which included bickering with Sony, who produces the show, and going public about an on-set fight with cast member Chevy Chase.
I don’t personally know how Dan operates as a showrunner, but I know he was nice enough to send me his thanks when I previously blogged about him. And I know that every great creative has to defend his work, which in this case is an amazingly unique sitcom that breaks a lot of rules, and the notion that it could maintain its distinct humor without Dan putting his foot down every now and then is a bridge too far. He created it, and his voice is in every character and storyline, so of course he did his best to keep execs from mucking it up, and in return he got the equivalent of being shivved in the prison laundry.
The show’s entire cast immediately tweeted about how much they loved him and owed him for giving them the roles of a lifetime. That’s a great boss. I don’t see Apple employees gushing about flaming asshole Steve Jobs.
So it’s really sad to see Dan’s baby, for which he struggled every season to keep on the air, yanked away and handed over to two producers he’s never even met. He’ll still get paid because his name’s on the show, but if I were in the same situation I’d very likely root for it to fail like crazy. But that’s me; Dan showed a lot of character by tweeting a link to a column by TV hall of famer Ken Levine, who was pretty harsh about what he thought Dan could have done differently.
Here’s hoping you create something new and great and perfect all over again, Dan. Make them eat their livers. I’m permanently reserving space on the DVR.
