Community, the tv show

Were these two guys solely responsible for Happy Endings? Because for such a supposedly hilarious show there hasn't been a lot of talk about it losing its creative powerhouses.

http://www.myvidster.com/video/307968/The_IT_Crowd_US_version_Very_strange

Were these two guys solely responsible for Happy Endings?

No, they were just caretakers. I'm not sure how long their tenure at Happy Endings even lasted, but if all they did was herd the creatives toward finished episodes, then I can't imagine they'll suddenly be compelled to fuck with an established dynamic at Community.

there were plenty of weeks this past season that Happy Endings was funnier than Community, pretty shitty that the latter's fanboys have mind up their minds to give these guys no end of grief

I'm actually impressed that the entire Community fanbase is cooperatively contributing to a single Twitter account and somehow maintaining such a consistent tone. Orrrrrr maybe calling out all the fans is kind of a strawman argument and this single Twitter user's (assumed by some to be Jake Fogelnest) joke is actually on the people who are complaining about how these dudes are absolutely gonna ruin the show because they can't possibly understand why it works.

I adore Happy Endings, and for sheer consistent comedy value, I'd probably rank it ahead of Community this past season. Still, it's a different show with a different tone, and it's not one I'd like to see Community adopt, but hey-ho. Happy Endings also has a different set-up in the writer's room and with the showrunners. Everybody mentally fill in "auteurist" arguments because I can't bring myself to actually put by name to them.

this single Twitter user's (assumed by some to be Jake Fogelnest) joke is actually on the people who are complaining about how these dudes are absolutely gonna ruin the show because they can't possibly understand why it works

Seems to me that it is pretty obviously exactly that.

Jokes seem more along the lines of Will Ferrell doing early Bush--"Presidenting is hard" type stuff

I am befuddled by the Happy Endings love.

It's really all about Jane and Brad. But also Alex. And Max. And Penny. And, once in a blue moon, Dave.

I'm actually impressed that the entire Community fanbase is cooperatively contributing to a single Twitter account and somehow maintaining such a consistent tone. Orrrrrr maybe calling out all the fans is kind of a strawman argument and this single Twitter user's (assumed by some to be Jake Fogelnest) joke is actually on the people who are complaining about how these dudes are absolutely gonna ruin the show because they can't possibly understand why it works.

― Quiet Desperation, LLC (Deric W. Haircare), Sunday, May 27, 2012 3:21 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah mayyyybe that's what the guy behind the twitter is going for, i dunno if it comes across in all the jokes or if most of the thousands of people who immediately followed it get that, though

http://www.reddit.com/r/hawkthorne/comments/uizm1/release_journey_to_the_center_of_hawkthorne_v0010/

–]EitanWolf [+1] 15 points 3 days ago (15|1)
Can't stand on certain ladies! :(

The Russo Bros are directing the next Capt America flick

Dan Harmon ‏@danharmon

I lost my job but I won the cold war! Holy cats: RT @NORTHSEAWAYS For @danharmon with love from Russia http://pic.twitter.com/nfVQoOoG

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http://pixeldripgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Dennis-Culver-Deans.jpg

http://pixeldripgallery.com/2012/06/six-seasons-and-a-movie-art-show-saturday-programming/

how are you holding up, dude

I'm okay. We'll see how they drive the bus into a wall in a few months.

Meanwhile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMnfivxXfkw

rewatching the back half of season four and i'm struck by how good the ep where annie plays in the dreamatorium is. it reveals how much deeper abed's tv/movie fixation is than just "he thinks everything is a tv show lulz." not to mention the episode hit its emotional mark with the annie/abed storyline.

i just...want to keep talking about this show.

rewatching s3 i keep rediscovering more little easter egg details and jokes and references that i missed the first time around. it might not be as self-referential as Arrested but it's damn close.

Dan put up the first ep of Harmontown on iTunes.

i read that the new showrunners have decided to attend the community panel at comic-con? that's some sadomasochism the 50 shades of grey lady could only dream of.

i dunno it'd probably be asking for more trouble not to engage w/ those kinds of things.

imma check out harmontown

it was okay. don't expect much about community, though

noted

;_; end of an era i reckon.

just watched final of season 3. can't be anything but downhill from here. maybe S4 won't suck *too* bad? but i'm not counting on it.

full disclosure, i can't watch a single episode of post-joel mst3k all the way through, even though i can tell they're occasionally (often? i wouldn't know tbh) fairly funny.

https://twitter.com/guarascioport

sorry but this looks sad and DH does way better tweets

I am not a defender of theirs but it's not clear that that is even a real account.

"Follow us for info on how YOU can be in the Community studio audience this fall!"

^^^^ i think this is kind of clear that its not a real account

Well, it could be them parodying what Community fans are expecting from them, but either way it's corny.

It's a parody account not by them.

So what else has Dan Harmon done? Cos it sounds like he is a capital A-artist who is having his precious vision destroyed by evil TV corporations. Has he produced some awesome pre-Community shows/movies/etc? I think he's pompous but I also think his vision is cool and was wondering if there is anything else i should look into that he's worked on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_101

i was a huge stan for the short-lived version of Channel 101 that VH1 aired, Acceptable TV

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1363595/

i don't really get 'pompous' from Harmon btw, he seems pretty consistently self-deprecating and apologetic about how much work and thought he puts into his projects

Yeah, it's hard to be pompous when you deliberately use a shot of yourself in a bubblebath as a twitter userpic, post vids of yourself running around the office testing out the front-facing camera of your new iPhone, etc

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/59736/dan-harmon-on-what-really-happened-with-community/

http://www.avclub.com/articles/communitys-dan-harmon-laments-his-inability-to-pac,82340/

Oneal's write-up.

So, where does Harmon go from here, besides working on his house and hoping that someday soon, someone invents a box capable of taking into account broadcast viewers and people who make animated Alison Brie GIFs, then measuring a show's success that way? " My idea is to have less ideas, because I want to be successful in television," Harmon declares, instantly prompting a million grammarians to tell him that he means fewer ideas, which is sort of the last thing he needs to hear right now. But from the sound of it, he seems to be gravitating toward a more traditional multi-camera sitcom format, and creating a simpler show that will serve as a far better "pacifier for the masses." Dan Harmon's Sit Quietly And Watch This Married Couple Bicker Gently Before Love Fixes Everything, coming in the yet-to-be-determined fall

Pacify the masses. The populist, pedestrian masses who just want a hamburger. Poor Harmon must dumb himself down to be successful in television. Too cool for school.

Yes, TV is pedestrian and dumbed down! Make an effing art film or write a play if you want to be transgressive, dude!

I mean I guess it's nice to want to lift up the medium and all that, but if you can find a way to express yourself creatively AND have it appeal to a mass audience, then you can earn your genius card.

DH should start hanging out with Louie CK or something. There's a guy who's popularity is increasing and seemingly hasn't given up his idiosyncratic approach to TV (via art).

tbf FX's expectations for Louie are far lower than Sony's expectations for Community.

Pacify the masses. The populist, pedestrian masses who just want a hamburger. Poor Harmon must dumb himself down to be successful in television. Too cool for school.

Yes, TV is pedestrian and dumbed down! Make an effing art film or write a play if you want to be transgressive, dude!

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, July 11, 2012 2:08 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

haha yeah when i asked for evidence of pomposity that quote kinda arrived on schedule didn't it. i don't think he has a problem with TV as a medium or even popular TV, though, guy worships "Cheers."

dunno what Harmon's Adult Swim show will be like or if it'll be a longterm project or just a stopgap, but these days TV talent has a long tradition of struggling at the network level until they get kicked down to a cable level where they can thrive with lower viewership expectations, basically the way major label bands that get dropped get to go be big fish in the small indie pond.

aw poor guy had a tv show on a major network in a prime time slot for three years and not enough people liked it even though it was totally erratic in quality and had little to no mass appeal and he's going to be able to keep working in tv making up his own shows while still getting paid off of community boo hoo

Harmon's not pompous, he just seems to get a kick out of faking hubris... but the more I hear him talk esp onstage the more I wish he'd drink less. My theory is the drinking is a lot of where any perceived pompousness comes from.

the Maron WTF interview with him gives a pretty good overview of his career and what his brain is like in general.

I like Joel's recent WTF appearance, which was just pleasant bullshitting and answering Marc's especially ADD-addled questions

yeah that was a pretty chill interview