What the Community cast have been told to tell people about why Dan Harmon was fired

PR is a big part of the television world and it’s always amusing when you get to see the nuts and bolts of it. NBC recently fired Community‘s showrunner, Dan Harmon. As is usual in such matters, they issued a memo about it, with one in particular addressed to the cast so they know what to say in public about the matter.

Entertainingly, the memo has leaked and everyone can see the kind of “robot speak” certain corporate PR people expect human beings to use. Don’t they ever read this kind of thing out loud to themselves? Maybe they do and that’s how they talk. A lot of them do, you know…

Remember: quirky actors are being asked to say these things to placate an intelligent audience.

Why did Dan get let go from the show?
We’re not made aware of why staffing changes take place but I will always be grateful to Dan for his great work on the show and wish him only the best. We’re also excited that we’ll be back on NBC’s schedule in the fall and are looking forward to working on those episodes.

Were you aware that Dan was going to be let go?
No, that’s not something we’re consulted on. I’m sad to see him go but I am looking forward to starting our next 13 episodes of “Community.”

Did the studio or network consult with you about these changes?
No they didn’t but we’re looking forward to working with David Guarascio & Moses Port on a new season of Community.

What are their plans for the new season?
It’s a little early to say at this point but we’re looking forward the stories our characters will find themselves in come Sept.

Thursday’s “Christopher Guest TV show?, Gary Oldman joins Robocop and Andrea Roth leaves Revolution” news

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  • Trailer for The Watch with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade

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A bit of A Bit of Fry and Laurie

A bit of A Bit of Fry and Laurie – The Final Three

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie

As you may have guessed from the launch of ‘The Wednesday Play’ earlier today, ‘A bit of A Bit of Fry and Laurie’ is coming to an end today – if you like something here, remember to leave a comment or ‘like’ it or it might go away (particularly if I’m running out of YouTube vids). I asked if anyone had any requests for the final video, and Aaron responded – although he couldn’t decide which of three he’d like.

So here we go:

The Bishop and the Warlord… the sequel, which sees Hugh Laurie deploying his pre-House ‘American’ accent

Shoe brothel

And Gelliant Gutfright presents…

Of course, if you all still really love ‘A bit of A Bit of Fry and Laurie’, I’ll move it to Tuesday. Or Friday. Let me know.

The Weekly Play

The Wednesday Play: Alice in Wonderland (1966)

Alice in Wonderland

Once upon a time, the TV schedules in UK were full of plays. There were strands including The Wednesday Play, Play For Today, Theatre 625, Armchair Theatre, Espionage, Out of the Unknown, Tales of the Unexpected, Play of the Week, Twentieth Century Theatre, The Sunday Night Play and I’ve barely scratched the surface.

Now, we have Playhouse Presents on Sky Arts and that’s about it.

So today, in an effort to boost the ‘play count’, I’m starting a new strand on TMINE, appropriately entitled ‘The Wednesday Play’, that’s going to feature a different classic play each week. Now, I could start with almost anything, but since we have a taste for the unusual round here, let’s start with Jonathan Miller’s 1966 adaptation for The Wednesday Play of Alice in Wonderland, starring John Gielgud, Peter Sellers, Michael Redgrave, Michael Gough, Leo McKern, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Malcolm Muggeridge and Eric Idle.

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