Fall TV: A ‘Community’ without its creator Dan Harmon? Just maybe
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Human beings: Imagine the Greendale Community College universe without its overlord Dan Harmon running the mothership ... because it’s a real possibility.
The good news about the return of ‘Community’ got sullied pretty quickly. For those already up in arms about ‘Community’s’ move from Thursdays to Fridays, you might be keeping those arms up. There’s been speculation that its creator, Harmon, would step down as showrunner for the NBC comedy. And NBC President Robert Greenblatt did little to deny that was a real possibility.
‘Those conversations are happening as we speak,’ Greenblatt said during a conference call Sunday with reporters. ‘I guess what I would say is ... I expect Dan’s voice to be part of the show somehow. I’m just not sure exactly if that means him running it day to day or consulting on it.’
Could Harmon’s war of words with show co-star Chevy Chase be the reason? Much has been made of the spar between the veteran actor and Harmon, which resulted after some hostile voice messages were leaked. Greenblatt tip-toed around the issue in his denial.
‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘I know that was blown up into something. I don’t really think we have determined him running the show or not based on one of the actors. I think it’s a larger issue that has to do with a lot of things.’
Harmon, for his part, said Thursday on Twitter that should he step down, it would not be because of Chase -- who he described in more colorful terms.
‘That’d be like punching a wall because water’s wet. Now CELEBRATE!’ he added. Harmon wasn’t immediately available for comment Sunday.
It won’t be the show’s only reshuffling. Harmon’s co-showrunners, Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman, are leaving the show to develop and supervise new projects for 20th Century Fox TV.
RELATED:
NBC renews ‘Parks and Recreation,’ ‘Up All Night,’ ‘Whitney’
NBC picks up ‘Revolution’ and ‘The New Normal’
NBC renews ’30 Rock’ and ‘Parenthood,’ adds two new series
NBC adds two more comedies: ‘1600 Penn,’ ‘Animal Practice’
--Yvonne Villarreal
