Community : Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon conflict

Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon conflict

Im late to the party. Just finished the show and loved it. When you watch it in a row, season 4 is clearly the "mistep" of the show, due to Harmon being fired and Chevy leaving. I know that apparantly Chevy Chase was acting like an *beep* on set, and Dan Harmon in turn responded by acting like an *beep* to him by humiliating him in front of his family.

Besides the leaked voicemails and the rumors, its kinda hard to get the jist of it. Id like to think that its all blown out of proportion. Its just something sad about hearing that Chevy Chase is essentially a giant *beep* that the entire crew of Community loathes. Is there anymore info on this entire conflict? Or is there just speculation?

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Re: Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon conflict

https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/5bsuwc/i_just_rewatched_a_couple_of_season_1_episodes_of/


The writers really got lazy with his character.

Chevy Chase infamously didn't get along with Dan Harmon, and specifically got negative press for using the n-word. But he used it in the context of bitching out the writers, saying they had made his character so despicable that soon his character would just be calling Troy and Shirley the n-word.

At the time, as an up-to-date watcher of the show, I mostly dismissed it, thinking "Pierce is just the antagonist/villain, that's his role. Chevy Chase is kinda overreacting here."

I had forgotten how different Pierce was at the beginning. He was a bit weird (just being 60 years old and a student is weird), but he was still a functioning human being and a legit member of the study group. For every oddball thing he did, he also gave some real fatherly/helpful advice to a younger member of the group. He was an actual fleshed out character.

By comparison the later seasons Pierce was an extremely 1-dimensional impish dweeb that was completely unbelievable as a person; he was a cartoonish buffoon of a villain that belonged in a crappy direct-to-DVD Uwe Boll movie or something.


I'm aware of "Flanderization" so I know this is nothing new to sitcoms, and I'm aware that Pierce is far from the only Community character to suffer from this, but it's a whole lot easier to see the contrast when watching an old episode.

Re-watching those old episodes gave me a new appreciation for Chevy Chase's argument. I could see myself getting just as upset if I was him and saw my character devolve so much.

Re: Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon conflict

Yeah Chevy defintely has a point. Thats still no defense for refusing to film certain scenes. But its hard not to see where hes coming from.

Re: Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon conflict

When negotiations break down, you are left with little choice but to dig your heels.

Re: Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon conflict

The writers' contempt for the notoriously tough to like Chase, and for old white men in general, completely nuked the character. Dan Harmon is every bit as difficult as Chase and is well on his way to becoming a crazy old guy himself.
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