COMMUNITY thread

[Dalton]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/347509/tmz-on-tv-chevy-chase-my-voicemail-was-the-right-thing-to-do

Holy shit that was annoying.

[BrianLynch]

It looked like Chevy said a lot and they didn't show any of it.  Stupid.

[nate.3.0]

Yeah, that TMZ tv show is terrible. 

[CrashlanderLOL]

That Dan Harmon thing - I hate people who do something and then curl up in a ball and say nobody's perfect. If you have to issue a tortured apology, then you know you're being an asshole. So... you're an asshole. No need to say sorry. Just say the truth, "I wanted to make fun of Chevy Chase and here's a shitty message he left me."

Least that's honest.

[Dalton]

Harmon is a mess.

I tell stories about what an unlovable asshole I am and the trouble it causes for me. I rant and rave about the world’s failure to meet my standards, I talk about being drunk and stupid and heartbroken and childish and crazy and self-obsessed and self loathing and how much I love myself for it. The people that show up are paying ten dollars to listen to it, if you can believe that, and they made the drive out and put that cash on the barrel because they love or hate me but are fascinated by how much I fascinate myself.

Jesus Christ dude get over yourself.  Spilling that stuff on an audience instead of a shrink makes it worse instead of better.  Who would pay to sit and listen to that anyway?  I was totally on his side in this but that piece he wrote is the most self indulgent, narcissistic "apology" I've ever seen.

[BrianLynch]

We went to a Channel 101 show a few months back and they're doing retrospectives on their early sketches.  They treated something called "Captain Laser-Fart" like it belonged in a museum. "And I just said, now wait a minute, what if his lasers were farts?  And we knew we were onto something."  And people on screen explaining why it was funny.  And there wasn't much irony.  I was scared.

[Dalton]

I went to a Channel 101 thing on Halloween where everyone dressed up as their favorite Channel 101 characters.  And there was a long drawn out contest to see who had the best costume (there were like brackets and heats and stuff) that was judged and directed by Harmon himself.  It sounds harmless enough but witnessing it was scary.  It seemed very cult-like.

[harry]

"That was a dumb, unclassy, inconsiderate move on my part. I’m very sorry it’s reflecting poorly on the show."

It seemed like he didn't really apologize for what he did or for being an asshole so much as the impact his actions had on the show.

I'll bet he's a jerk to work for or have a relationship with but I like Dan Harmon. One time he was on this podcast about video games and talked about, among other things, falling in love with Leliana from "Dragon Age: Origins." And I really liked that. I hope this whole thing blows over and doesn't sour people's opinions on Community.

[DerickA]

Harmon is a mess.

I tell stories about what an unlovable asshole I am and the trouble it causes for me. I rant and rave about the world’s failure to meet my standards, I talk about being drunk and stupid and heartbroken and childish and crazy and self-obsessed and self loathing and how much I love myself for it. The people that show up are paying ten dollars to listen to it, if you can believe that, and they made the drive out and put that cash on the barrel because they love or hate me but are fascinated by how much I fascinate myself.

Jesus Christ dude get over yourself.  Spilling that stuff on an audience instead of a shrink makes it worse instead of better.  Who would pay to sit and listen to that anyway?  I was totally on his side in this but that piece he wrote is the most self indulgent, narcissistic "apology" I've ever seen.

I have to defend him a bit here because tons of very successful, very brilliant comedians have made their careers with dealing with their demons on stage. I think both sides were wrong in this, and always have but I don't want to fault a guy for admitting he's a mess and what success does to his damaged psyche. I see it more as a painful honesty than bragging.

[Dalton]

I have to defend him a bit here because tons of very successful, very brilliant comedians have made their careers with dealing with their demons on stage. I think both sides were wrong in this, and always have but I don't want to fault a guy for admitting he's a mess and what success does to his damaged psyche. I see it more as a painful honesty than bragging.

There's just something about the "I'm awful and instead of trying to be better I wallow in it" aspect of it that is bothersome.

[Dobbin]

I get the sentiment he's expressing in his apology. But it could have been edited down to "I'm really sorry and I was a real asshole and out of line." Apologies that justify are not precisely apologies, which misses the point of apologies.

Everybody's worked with raging assholes. Chevy is probably 400 kinds of raging asshole. But he brings the goods to the show,  so you know who should never hear about how "hard" it is to work with him? Are the rest of the world who doesn't have to work with him.

[Dalton]

"I’m a selfish baby and a rude asshole and not a person to trust with your feelings."

Ok good.  How about trying not to be that if you recognize that's the case?  And he calls his blog "Dan Harmon Poops".  He's awful.

[Dobbin]

"I’m a selfish baby and a rude asshole and not a person to trust with your feelings."

Ok good.  How about trying not to be that if you recognize that's the case?  And he calls his blog "Dan Harmon Poops".  He's awful.

But there's a meta-dodge here. If he really had internalized this as a truth about himself, he'd be able to just apologize without the rationalizations and explanations. If he's truly upset at how he hurt the "team" of fans and the show, then do like the cliche says and take one for the team.

He wants it both ways; "I was wrong to make a federal case about it; Chevy really is an asshole and you shouldn't like him, but I should be bigger than that about letting it be known. Which, by the way, I'm doing here."

Olbermann on Letterman also made me sad. Did he think he was walking into a world-class operation? His complaints and attitude really soured me. If you're gonna be a flagship to a new venture, you've got to commit. Howard at SIRIUS is a kind of template. Whether it succeeds or fails is up to the business folk, but in those 1st years, through new tech glitches and less than stellar marketing efforts, he put out the show and pulled for the company.

If the difference between running a show and not was lighting and tech issues, then maybe give up being a "$10M chandelier" and be an "$8M chandelier" and let 2M go to solving those issues. Also, with the weight gain, he looked like Glenn Beck.

[Wolfe]

The more I hear about Harmon, the more I'm starting to back Chevy in this war of the d-bags. My only impression of him prior to all of this was that he came off in interviews like someone gave an insane derelict a TV show.

[nate.3.0]

Harmon has Asperger's. Cut him some slack.