Tag Archives: showrunner

Dan Harmon says he’s returning to ‘Community’ [Update: it’s official]

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This came out of nowhere. Following the debacle from last year involving Community creator Dan Harmon and star Chevy Chase publicly exiting the show, it looks like Harmon is making a comeback for the NBC sitcom’s fourth season. “RT @dpeanutbutter: @danharmon GIVE US A STRAIGHT ANSWER! ~ Yes yes yes! I’m back I’m back I’m back. You can thank @joelmchale.” Harmon tweeted this out to his nearly 200,000 followers on June 1. Network NBC and producer Sony TV have not confirmed nor denied Harmon’s out-of-the-blue exclamation, but nevertheless fans of the quirky comedy should be shaking in their boots with excitement. The show’s third season never quite felt like Community fans had come to know, love, and cherish; a friend described it to me as ‘the shell of Community missing its soul.’ Harmon’s replacements David Guarascio and Moses Port are apparently not coming back next season, so the showrunner position is open for the taking. Even with Chase out of the picture, it only seems fitting that the show’s inventor take his rightful seat on the throne back, especially if ratings remain low and season four becomes the final run of 13 episodes for the series.

At a certain point the network and/or the studio will have to make some sort of announcement and when they do I’ll amend this post accordingly.

Update (6/10): Sony TV confirms Dan Harmon’s return to his old showrunning post at Community. Woohoo! Joining him is reinstated executive producer Chris McKenna. Fellow Human Beings, season four will feel familiar again.

[Via Deadline]

TV reminder: ‘The Walking Dead’ resumes tonight at 9PM on AMC [Update: record ratings]

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War is brewing. It’s Rick and his Prison pack versus The Governor and the wily town of Woodbury. Before The Walking Dead‘s midseason break, Rick infiltrated Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie who had been kidnapped by Merle. Rick’s ambush was a success and his nemesis The Governor (who he hasn’t even met yet!) came out of it all with vengeance on his mind. Michonne killed his zombie daughter Penny right in front of him and then she gauged one his eyes out. (I think it’s now safe to say that The Governor will never see eye-to-eye with anyone from here on out.) The major cliffhanger, of course, was the surprising reunion of the Dixon brothers under not-so-ideal terms; The Governor blames Rick’s attack on the one-handed Merle, after all, because he had lied about taking out Michonne in the woods.

What will be the fate of the Dixons? What is Rick’s next move and will he continue to lose his mind during a strenuous time when he needs it most? Which side will Andrea end on when the dust settles; will she choose to stick with the one-eyed (don’t-call-him-Phillip) Governor or return to her original group at the Prison? After her battle with The Governor Michonne’s wasn’t acting like herself–has she gone soft? How will the latest addition to our group Tyrese factor into it all? The Walking Dead resumes the second half of its 16-episode third season tonight (2/10) at 9PM on AMC. Watch a preview here. The Talking Dead–now in a one-hour format airing immediately after TWD with special guests Steven Yeun and Kevin Smith–follows.

Note: Since Dead has been on hiatus, news broke that for the second time the series’ showrunner is departing. Like Frank Darabont before him, Glen Mazzara is leaving the show due to creative differences. However, you should know that Mazzara had his hand in the making of the back half of this season. His successor Scott M. Gimple (the show’s supervising producer/writer) takes the reins during the production of season 4.

Update (2/11): Back from another break and The Walking Dead reaches a new series high in ratings. Sunday night’s midseason premiere drew 12.3 million viewers, besting the previous record holder that was the season 3 premiere (that episode garnered 10.9 million viewers). Across the first 9PM airing and the three encores that AMC showed Sunday night, the midseason premiere attracted a grand total of 16.6 million viewers. That’s huge people.

“When you look at numbers like this, the first thing that comes to mind is how grateful we are to the fans of this show,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “They embrace The Walking Dead in a way that we wanted to believe was possible but we never take for granted.The cast and crew put everything they have into making this show. They’re a phenomenally talented group who truly give their all. We congratulate everyone involved.”

Vince Gilligan anticipates a polarizing finale for ‘Breaking Bad’

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This summer the critically acclaimed AMC drama Breaking Bad returns for its final stretch of eight episodes. Series creator Vince Gilligan, a master of his craft, is currently wrapping up the third-to-last episode and work on the penultimate hour is nearly underway. Denise Martin of Vulture sat down with Gilligan and just yesterday posted an informative interview that delves into the mind of the showrunner as he cautiously sprints toward the highly anticipated series finale.

When asked about the evolution of Walt’s fate: “I had this strange confidence in the beginning that I had an idea [for the ending] that was sound. But I look back at the life of the series and realize I cycled through so many possible endings, it would be disingenuous to say I had always had it figured out. It has evolved in the last five years and probably has some evolving left to do.” He added, “We try to have a surprise around every corner but inevitability as well. The opposite of surprise. It’s something that I feel should and will be an important component to the end of the series. To me, that is an interesting thing and a thing to be embraced, that feeling of ‘I think I know where this is going.'”

Will Walt be brought to justice? Gilligan won’t say for sure, but here’s what’s going on in his head right now: “I’m very cornball in my own view of the world. It just makes sense to me that bad people should get punished and good people should be rewarded. I know it doesn’t work like that in real life, but there’s always that yearning. Oddly enough, I don’t feel any real pressure to pay off the characters, morally speaking.” Continue reading Vince Gilligan anticipates a polarizing finale for ‘Breaking Bad’ →