‘Community’ Castmembers Express Solidarity With Show’s Ousted Creator Dan Harmon

The recent news that Community creator Dan Harmon had been replaced as the NBC comedy’s showrunner has apparently hit some of the show’s castmembers pretty hard. Several of them took to their Twitter accounts to express their feelings about Harmon’s dismissal.

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“.@danharmon you are a true genius,” tweeted star Joel McHale, which ends with a reference to Harmon’s extensive statement on his firing. “You gave me the role of a lifetime & three of the best years of my life. Buying #Prototype2 today.”

Agreeing with McHale, the actress behind Britta, Gillian Jacobs, writes, “I wholeheartedly agree with @joelmchale. I’m so grateful to @danharmon for my role, the show and everything else. Thank you, Dan. Thank you.”

Yvette Nicole Brown, who plays Shirley, also expressed her thoughts to her Twitter followers, writing, “.@danharmon So many thoughts. So little room. I guess, ‘I heart you’ and ‘Thank you to INFINITY’ will have to do for now. #Community #Love”

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A fan favorite for his role as Greendale’s Dean Pelton, Jim Rash became a series regular on the show’s third season. “I owe the last 3 amazing years 2 Dan Harmon’s brain,” he tweets. “Bless ur dementedly awesome brain, @danharmon. U r #Community.”

The show’s ingénue Alison Brie, who plays Annie, first wrote “Heavy sigh…” and retweeted a fan’s image of her with the caption, “Dan Harmon is a genius and I will die protecting his vision.”

She then went on to write, “I’m in creative debt to @danharmon who let us ride the coattails of his integrity, pushing boundaries & making f’ing awesome tv. Thanks Dan.”

Additionally, one of the show’s writer/producers expressed their feelings about the news. Emily Cutler writes, “There is no #Community without @danharmon. Period.”

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NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt basically hinted that change was expected for the show’s leadership when he told reporters ahead of the network’s Upfront presentation earlier this week, “I expect Dan’s voice to be a part of this show somehow. I’m just not sure if that means him running it day-to-day or consulting on it.”

After Friday’s confirmation that Harmon had been replaced by writers David Guarascio and Moses Port, the show’s creator wrote a lengthy statement Saturday saying that no one from the show’s producer, Sony Pictures Television, or NBC had contacted him about what he said amounts to his firing from the series.

What are your thoughts on Harmon’s forced departure from the show? Tell us in the comments section below.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro