And Dan released a statement on his blog here.
Update:
Nov. '09 I joined my favorite show on TV and today leave my favorite anything ever. Thanks Community, fans, and @DanHarmon. E Pluribus Anus.
— Chris McKenna (@cpmckenna) May 19, 2012
Community - Dan Harmon fired as showrunner, new ones hired, two writers quit
19 May 2012
Community
Pop-Pop and Boom! Dan Harmon will not be returning as showrunner of NBC's Community, and whether he'll remain involved at all with the series he created at remains very much in doubt. Sony Pictures Television, which produces the series with Universal Television, has closed a deal with Happy Endings writers David Guarascio and Moses Port to join Community as showrunners and exec producers. The deal comes less than a week after Vulture broke the news that Harmon hadn't been signed on for season four and that no negotiations between him and Sony had taken place. Vulture hears that now that Sony made its deal with Guarascio and Port, it plans to ask Harmon to remain involved as a writer and consultant -- but not as the person in charge of the show. (He's expected to remain a "consulting producer" no matter what). Given Sony's decision to make a deal for Harmon's replacement without telling Harmon directly, it seems a longshot that Harmon will agree to a diminished role. This is a very dark timeline, but for people familiar with the situation, it is not at all a surprising development.
Um, wow.
ReplyDeleteThis bodes ill for a happy season!
ReplyDeleteVery unfortunate -- I can't see Community without Dan Harmon.
ReplyDeleteOne saving grace is that the incoming showrunners worked on Happy Endings which is genuinely very funny -- similar humour to Community as well, so hopefully they'll be able to carry on with Harmon's unique vision, but we'll see.
Wow, this is disappointing.
ReplyDelete:(Let's recap the bad news. There's a fourth season, sure, but : - Only 13 episodes (with a possibly for a back 9 or back 11, remember Chuck). As of now the show doesn't reach the 88-episode limit for syndication (I choose to believe that the bar has not been lowered).- On Fridays at 8:30 (instead of Thursdays) after a sitcom the show couldn't be less compatible with (Shitney).- Without (Fat) Neil Goldman and Garrett "we saved Garrett" Donovan, longtime exec producers who signed an exclusive deal with 20th Century Fox to develop new projects for them / work on one of their shows (it appears they will be the showrunners of FOX's new sitcom, Ben & Kate).- Without the Russo brothers, longtime exec producers/directors of the show, who are no longer part of Sony. Joe and Anthony Russo co-directed the pilot and then they respectively directed 18 and 13 episodes.- Without Dan Harmon, aka the creator, showrunner, exec producer and creative soul of Community since its inception in 2009, replaced by two guys who never had anything to do with the show until now.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS BAD. I hope the new showrunners are smart enough to let the writers that have not jumped ship / been walking the plank (Chris McKenna, Megan Ganz, Andy Bobrow, Adam Countee, Matt Murray, etc) do their thing like they did under Harmon. If I love Community it's first and foremost for its writing, without Harmon it won't be the same so let's not transform the show into something completely different.
PS : Klutzy, you really should look at the threads in development as you're about to post one yourself ^^ (we both care about Community and it seems that we follow the same people on Twitter :p).
This truly is the darkest timeline. :(
ReplyDeleteI still hope season 4 can be the show it was for three season, but since Harmon pretty much *was* Community, I have my doubts. Jeez. What a mess. And probably only 14 episodes left, seems so stupid to pull this stuff now. Anyway, good luck to those who'll work on the next season, I hope they succeed.
so, after firing Harmon, instead of promoting one of the existing writers or producers to showrunner, they are bringing in new people? To me, Season 3 finale was the series finale. I won't be watching anymore episodes. What a great show, so sad it had to end like this. :'(
ReplyDeleteWell..they just added another nail to the coffin before moving it to the graveyard...
ReplyDeleteThey should have just canceled it.
ReplyDeleteGod this is so upsetting :( I feel like we worked so hard trying to keep Community on the air especially after the extended haitus this year and now we've got hit hard in the stomach. I wanted a S4 but not at this expense...
ReplyDeleteDoes not bode well for S4, though I'll still watch. I wonder if any of the cast will leave.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that entire list is so depressing, so damn depressing
ReplyDeleteThis will Chang everything.
ReplyDeleteAfter all the effort the fan went to during the unplanned hiatus, all the love we gave the cast and crew and they gave back to us, the complete joy at getting the remaining episodes of S3 to air and then the wonderful S4 renewal and now it comes to this. I feel so bad for everyone involved and for the show itself.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine any of the creative spark and weird yet wonderful ideas that the show had will stay and it will become another standard sitcom.
WTF is this shit? Not cool cool cool. :(
ReplyDeleteCruel. Cruel, cruel, cruel!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's sad. I would far rather not have Chevy Chase on the show.
ReplyDeleteVery sad indeed but on a a happy note, Community is already in syndication on Comedy Central.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind Dan Harmon getting fired, but Chris McKenna was perhaps the best writer. The second half of season 3 felt like a different show, hopefully the new guys get that old Community feeling back.
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless. I'm so sad. My favourite comedy is no more without Dan Harmon. I don't understand why they have renewed Community if they planed to destroy this unique show. I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAnd they do exactly the same with Cougar Town...
This blows....
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly confident DH is very hard to work with but really for a show like Community losing the guy behind the scenes is gonna totally britta it!
And truth? I get why he's upset...
It is somewhat comforting that the new guys they brought on are from HE though. The people on that show would probably work well on Communty too... but still, it will not be the same Community that's for sure.
I've been so bummed about this, kind of a major day-ruiner. I hope Sony saw the response on twitter and genuinely fear they've made a terrible decision (because they HAVE). I feel horrible for Dan, literally having his creation taken from him, something we all know he cared so much for. I wish they had just hired someone else to handle the management parts that Dan wasn't great at, and let him continue to be the creative force. Community won't be the same without him. As sad as it seems, I believe the Community I know and love is dead. I will watch season four, but with a healthy dose of skepticism and wariness. Even if it turns out to be a decent season, I know in my heart it can never be as amazing as it would be under Dan. I will always be wondering, "what if?".
ReplyDeleteWhat is this fuckery? WHAT IS THIS FUCKERY? What are they trying to do, run this show into the ground next season so it gets cancelled? WHAT IS THIS FUCKERY?!??!?!!
ReplyDeletevery upsetting. i don't want community to change
ReplyDeleteThis just sucks so much.:-( Why even bring the show back when you want to change it completely? The suits are fucking morons!
ReplyDeleteI expect this to be like post-Sorkin West Wing. Good, entertaining, but not the transcendently amazing show it was before. I'll watch, and I'll laugh (not nearly as much as before, but some), and on the surface I'll be happy that we get to watch more Community, all the while dying a little inside because of what they're wasting....
ReplyDeleteFor every good decision that NBC makes, they make 10 more HORRIBLE ones. Damnit. I've seen this network fuck up too many great shows. I'm always like one step away from wanting to never watch the channel again. GRRR.
ReplyDeleteThis is just a major middle finger to Dan Harmon. "for people familiar with the situation, it is not at all a surprising development." erm...yes it is!!
ReplyDeleteCommunity is now a sinking ship. New showrunners look like they were brought in to produce cheaper episodes to fulfill the syndication contract. Other writers have now gone and the show has moved to the death slot. They should have just cancelled it...
...cause then we could have hoped for an Arrested Development type resurgence. Not this hell. Season three was the series finale for me.
Probably looking at a featureless season 3 dvd set :(
That's not good. I love Community and hope that these new writers are true to the show and its characters ... but man, I'm a bit worried now about it. Here's hoping that the show is still good
ReplyDeleteDamn you NBC ... damn you all who make these God awful decisions.
The images of the NBC peacock and the Sony logo wearing the "dark goatee" from the darkest timeline are springing to mind... This is pretty bleak news and my hope is that the incoming showrunners from Happy Endings (another great show) wont try to change things and try to run and expand on the creative vision that Harmon had. Granted, I figure that Harmon is probably a bear to work with at times, but you can't deny the dude is awesomely creative... way to Britta things, NBC/Sony. This is just curel. cruel,cruel,cruel....
ReplyDeleteSadly, it's true.
ReplyDeleteYou couldn't have said it better. It is just sad.
ReplyDeleteKill Pierce!!
ReplyDeleteWOW. I can't believe this actually happened... I honestly can't imagine the show without him. I'm really mourning the loss of Chris McKenna, too. Man, I can't see things going well at all after this.
ReplyDeleteI hope the show continues to be funny, yet am pretty sure it will lose a lot of it's elan with Harmon's departure. I just hope the Happy Endings people are a positive addition.
ReplyDeleteSony, not NBC.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correct, I wrote this when I was under the assumption that it was NBC's doing (and with their poor decisions in recent years it seemed plausible.
ReplyDeleteSo correction: Damn you Sony ... damn you all who make these God awful decisions!
GAHHHH, the HAPPY ENDINGS PRODUCERS??? Has Sony actually watched either show????
ReplyDeleteit's like choosing to have 2 and a half men directed by the people at Suite Life on deck, or picking Criminal Minds writers for "Jane by design".
ps: I like Happy Endings but the style doesn't seem compatible at all with Community's creative bend and while it'd be a compatible show (for lead-in or lead-out) I don't see their writers/producers are able to jump in and continue the show. The new community will likely have nothing to do with the old one and that old one will be missed. I'm glad Harmon got to do all these special, meta episodes though. That'll live on and on, and that dumb decision by Sony will certainly be reminded on a scale of Dawn Ostroff cancelling Everwood but renewing 7th Heaven, or ABC cancelling Once and Again "for more family programming" and putting in "reality shows", (in both cases starting a trend down for their network, something I don't wish NBC cause at this point, going down means digging the garden soil. But creatively stupid decisions rarely turn out to be commercially smart decisions.)
ReplyDelete