"Community" creator Dan Harmon, who was fired from his show Friday by Sony Pictures Television, said the company has not called him to explain the firing and that he will not be staying on as a consultant.
dan harmonSony, which owns the ratings-challenged NBC comedy, replaced Harmon as show runner of "Community" with "Happy Endings" writers David Guarascio and Moses Port. Harmon said in a post on his Tmblr account that he didn't know why he was fired from the show, which will enter its fourth season and first without Harmon.
"Why’d Sony want me gone? I can’t answer that because I’ve been in as much contact with them as you have," Harmon wrote. "They literally haven’t called me since the season four pickup, so their reasons for replacing me are clearly none of my business. 'Community' is their property, I only own ten percent of it, and I kind of don’t want to hear what their complaints are because I’m sure it would hurt my feelings even more now that I’d be listening for free."
Harmon disputed NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt's comments to reporters Sunday when he said he expected -- before the firing -- that Harmon would remain with the show. Greenblatt said he did not know if Harmon would remain on as show runner, but said he believed Harmon would continue, at least, as a consultant.
Harmon said that a standard protective clause in his contract designates that he will remain "an executive consulting something or other." But he said he would have no real power.
"Guys like me can’t actually just be shot and left in a ditch by Skynet, we’re still allowed to have a title on the things we create and 'help out,' like, I guess sharpening pencils and stuff," he said. He added that he had asked his assistant to clear out his office.
NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday morning on Harmon's statements, and Sony declined comment.
Harmon said Greenblatt "never called me once in the entire duration of his employment at NBC. He didn’t call me to say he was starting to work there, he didn’t call me to say I was no longer working there and he definitely didn’t call to ask if I was going to be involved. I’m not saying it’s wrong for him to have bigger fish to fry, I’m just saying, NBC is not a credible source of All News Dan Harmon."
He added: "I’m not saying seasons 1, 2 and 3 were my definition of perfect television, I’m just saying that whatever they’re going to do for season 4, they’re aiming to do without my help. So do not believe anyone that tells you on Monday that I quit or diminished my role so I could spend more time with my loved ones, or that I negotiated and we couldn’t come to an agreement, etc.
It couldn’t be less true because, just to make this clear, literally nobody called me."
Harmon has clashed with Chevy Chase, one of the stars in the show's ensemble cast, but Greenblatt said last week that that was not a factor in whether Harmon would stay with the show.
Harmon's "Community" co-show runners, Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, left the show for a two-year deal in which they will develop and supervise new projects for 20th Century Fox TV.
