Careercow Dan Harmon - Creator of Community, co-creator of Rick and Morty, and barely functional alcoholic

[One Man Bland]

Not to keep harping on the subject of Harmon's ex-wife, but it's interesting to note that she's a redhead, and a lot of the women that the two main characters of R&M have shown romantic interest in have also been redheads.

Even more interesting is the episode where Rick gets back with his old girlfriend, Unity. Unity is a hive mind who has many different bodies, but her main one throughout the show is, you guessed it, a redhead. In the episode, Rick gets back together with Unity and his self-destructive behavior proves infectious, causing her to become self-destructive too. She realizes this, and so she leaves Rick. Rick, in response, slips into a deep depression and attempts suicide.

Given the timeline of their marriage, this episode was likely produced at a point where it was beginning to fall apart, but before it actually did. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this was Harmon's attempt to send a message to her. "I'm a piece of shit, but I KNOW I'm a piece of shit, so it's okay. Don't leave me, though, or I'll kill myself." I know that this is mostly me making assumptions, but at the same time, Rick is Harmon's self-insert, and the episode aired in 2015 (the same year the divorce happened). It's definitely a possibility.

Believe it or not, this is more or less what happened.

In the commentary for the Unity episode, Harmon admits that it was basically him just projectile vomiting all of his marital/relationship issues into one episode (from what I've heard apparently his wife had moved out two months into the marriage and was traveling for "work reasons" and they were essentially separated for the rest of their marriage, but I'd have to do some digging to confirm that) so he decided to use Rick and Morty as a way of venting about them.

There's also his little documentary someone mentioned, Harmontown, which there's a crappy bootlegged copy available to here: (EDIT: new link https://youtu.be/9hVkJHIIrpM ) I'd need to scrub through to find the exact timestamp, but if you want the TL;DW version: a little over halfway through there's a rather enlightening fight that happens during a one of the podcasts between him and Erin where Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

Considering the timeline and how the Unity episode ends, it paints a pretty clear picture of the kind of person Harmon is.

Edit: The talk about the Erin/Harmon fight starts at 59:25

 

[Water-T]

Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

Jesus Christ - no wonder his ex-wife bailed on the marriage in less than a year. If she stayed any longer Dan would have gone all OJ Simpson on her.

 

[Rat Speaker]

Believe it or not, this is more or less what happened.

In the commentary for the Unity episode, Harmon admits that it was basically him just projectile vomiting all of his marital/relationship issues into one episode (from what I've heard apparently his wife had moved out two months into the marriage and was traveling for "work reasons" and they were essentially separated for the rest of their marriage, but I'd have to do some digging to confirm that) so he decided to use Rick and Morty as a way of venting about them.

There's also his little documentary someone mentioned, Harmontown, which there's a crappy bootlegged copy available to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfIL1lkHp8 I'd need to scrub through to find the exact timestamp, but if you want the TL;DW version: a little over halfway through there's a rather enlightening fight that happens during a one of the podcasts between him and Erin where Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

Considering the timeline and how the Unity episode ends, it paints a pretty clear picture of the kind of person Harmon is.

Edit: The talk about the Erin/Harmon fight starts at 59:25

Valid point couldn't agree more.

 

[One Man Bland]

Jesus Christ - no wonder his ex-wife bailed on the marriage in less than a year. If she stayed any longer Dan would have gone all OJ Simpson on her.

And he'd be sure to splice the footage of her being murdered with him talking about how people just don't understand how hard it was for him to not murder his wife over sad piano music for his next documentary: Harmontrial.

 

[Doug_Hitzel]

And he'd be sure to splice the footage of her being murdered with him talking about how people just don't understand how hard it was for him to not murder his wife over sad piano music for his next documentary: Harmontrial.

He owns a gun now, so hopefully he’ll an hero when the sad, sad feelings kick in.
Then again, he is too much in love with himself to gargle bullets.

 

[Cosmos]

There's also his little documentary someone mentioned, Harmontown, which there's a crappy bootlegged copy available to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfIL1lkHp8 I'd need to scrub through to find the exact timestamp, but if you want the TL;DW version: a little over halfway through there's a rather enlightening fight that happens during a one of the podcasts between him and Erin where Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

So Harmon was an (emotionally) abusive husband, got it. Seriously, threatening to kill yourself if your partner leaves you is on page 1 of the "How to Emotionally Abuse your Loved Ones" handbook.

Erin was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and bail before things got too bad. It sounds like it was a miserable marriage and I'm glad she got out of it.

 

[Smiling Honeybadger]

Believe it or not, this is more or less what happened.

In the commentary for the Unity episode, Harmon admits that it was basically him just projectile vomiting all of his marital/relationship issues into one episode (from what I've heard apparently his wife had moved out two months into the marriage and was traveling for "work reasons" and they were essentially separated for the rest of their marriage, but I'd have to do some digging to confirm that) so he decided to use Rick and Morty as a way of venting about them.

There's also his little documentary someone mentioned, Harmontown, which there's a crappy bootlegged copy available to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfIL1lkHp8 I'd need to scrub through to find the exact timestamp, but if you want the TL;DW version: a little over halfway through there's a rather enlightening fight that happens during a one of the podcasts between him and Erin where Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

Considering the timeline and how the Unity episode ends, it paints a pretty clear picture of the kind of person Harmon is.

Edit: The talk about the Erin/Harmon fight starts at 59:25

Why the fuck is there a documentary about this guy that is well over an hour long?! The autistic hype around Rick & Morty aside, he does not strike me ad that much of a big shot? Okay, admittedly, I never heard of him and maybe he is a huge star in good old America?

Or is it simply autistic navel gazing again?

 

[KM 749]

Why the fuck is there a documentary about this guy that is well over an hour long?! The autistic hype around Rick & Morty aside, he does not strike me ad that much of a big shot? Okay, admittedly, I never heard of him and maybe he is a huge star in good old America?

Or is it simply autistic navel gazing again?

I'm not sure how the specific circumstances arose for Harmon to receive his own documentary.

I guess they just found him to be an interesting person regardless of his fame. I know that we would still end up having a thread on him even if he were just a run of the mill jackass spouting flames on forums and art sites. Plus he has a lot to say about the present world and society, which appeals to certain groups of people find insightful, even if most of it is pretentious.

Overall, he is an intriguing person, just not in a glorious way, and the filmmakers found that it would make an interesting documentary when combined with his mild fame and his niche fanbase who goes along with his self-inserts.

 

[vertexwindi]

Believe it or not, this is more or less what happened.

In the commentary for the Unity episode, Harmon admits that it was basically him just projectile vomiting all of his marital/relationship issues into one episode (from what I've heard apparently his wife had moved out two months into the marriage and was traveling for "work reasons" and they were essentially separated for the rest of their marriage, but I'd have to do some digging to confirm that) so he decided to use Rick and Morty as a way of venting about them.

There's also his little documentary someone mentioned, Harmontown, which there's a crappy bootlegged copy available to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfIL1lkHp8 I'd need to scrub through to find the exact timestamp, but if you want the TL;DW version: a little over halfway through there's a rather enlightening fight that happens during a one of the podcasts between him and Erin where Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

Considering the timeline and how the Unity episode ends, it paints a pretty clear picture of the kind of person Harmon is.

Edit: The talk about the Erin/Harmon fight starts at 59:25

I don't think I can watch Rick and Morty again now that I know that it really is the Pity the Brilliant Dan Harmon Show.

 

[KM 749]

In this 2012 Reddit AMA, Dan Harmon sympathizes with genderqueer folk because they're different and isolated just like he is, and share with him that fear of normalcy's ability to make a joke about someone.

He claims that our age and everyone in it is united in our loneliness and our weirdness, which means that we are all deep and complex underneath our masks, and that our weirdness is our gift to the world through the talent and joy its differences can bring to others. Funny that he shares the exact same opinions and mentality of other "special" people on this forum.

So in other words:

 

[Magnum Dong]

The autistic hype around Rick & Morty aside, he does not strike me ad that much of a big shot? Okay, admittedly, I never heard of him and maybe he is a huge star in good old America?

He's not really a star in America, no. He has the type of fame that gives him a decent-sized following of geeks and TV enthusiasts, but he's far from a mainstream celebrity. Even among fellow television showrunners, who tend to attract less fame than many entertainers as it is, his stardom is massively eclipsed by people like Joss Whedon or Ryan Murphy, for example.

 

[KimCoppolaAficionado]

Believe it or not, this is more or less what happened.

In the commentary for the Unity episode, Harmon admits that it was basically him just projectile vomiting all of his marital/relationship issues into one episode (from what I've heard apparently his wife had moved out two months into the marriage and was traveling for "work reasons" and they were essentially separated for the rest of their marriage, but I'd have to do some digging to confirm that) so he decided to use Rick and Morty as a way of venting about them.

There's also his little documentary someone mentioned, Harmontown, which there's a crappy bootlegged copy available to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfIL1lkHp8 I'd need to scrub through to find the exact timestamp, but if you want the TL;DW version: a little over halfway through there's a rather enlightening fight that happens during a one of the podcasts between him and Erin where Harmon chewed her out, called her a cunt repeatedly, and pretty much admits that he verbally abused her until she cried because she had the audacity to tell him that their tour bus was leaving soon and didn't want to keep waiting around for him (he also later seems to try to blame this on her reminding him too much of his mother, seeming to imply it's her fault). And when someone suggests that he and Erin shouldn't be together after this, Dan Harmon - in front of her and a crowd of people - says pretty much verbatim "No, breaking up isn't an option and if she ever tries to leave me I'll kill myself."

Considering the timeline and how the Unity episode ends, it paints a pretty clear picture of the kind of person Harmon is.

Edit: The talk about the Erin/Harmon fight starts at 59:25

...Wow. Self-loathing, narcissism and a sadistic streak: basically the most toxic personality trait combination possible. What a fuck. Probably wrote that episode with the intention of using it to try and emotionally blackmail his wife. Wouldn't be surprised if he waited for her to get home from a trip and lurked in her garage with Chaos Chaos ready to play and a toy gun to stick in his mouth.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

Maybe there's actually something to it when he keeps mentioning his mother being the source of his dysfunctionality.

 

[oddish]

Season 3 took so long allegedly because Harmon and Roiland would constantly get into arguments and that led to them never getting any work done.

Honestly, the best thing that could happen is for them to boot Harmon off the project and bring someone else in to reign in Roiland.

Honestly, it makes sense. Roiland seems to be pretty anti-SJW. Combine Harmon's "Kill all Trump supporters" stance with his Asperger, alcoholism and general reputation of being hard to work with, and I can't imagine them getting much work done.

 

[ISP]

Although it's certainly pretentious as all fuck that Harmon's "created" his own narrative framework (the "Story Circle"), I don't see the problem with the fact it's based on existing storytelling rules. All that these techniques do for a writer is provide them with the bare bones of a structure, from which they can do whatever they want. These things are pretty adaptable, plus widely taught in creative writing circles, so it's probable that a lot of your other favorite sci-fi dick-and-fart shows are rooted in the Hero's Journey, Aristotilian structure, or other methods too, without losing quality.

Getting back to Harmon's Story Circle though, what's funny to me is that it basically is literally just the Hero's Journey (a theory less than 70 years old, mind you), only watered down enough that it's broadly applicable in works, enough that one can see the Story Circle in almost anything and pretend for a moment that he's come up with something insightful.

The Story Circle?


Omfg... http://patricklickman.com/storycircle/

 

[Somsnosa]

as much as I hate this guy and the general "I am so smart!! Here's a niche reference that makes me look so smart!!" humor I honestly feel like if Roiland was left alone doing this show it'd be a senseless clusterfuck of pure violence and rape jokes. Aka Superjail without the good animation. Would get cancelled faster than China IL

 

[Big Meaty Claws]

All in all I feel bad for Roland, the guy seems nice and does have fun with his show and such, but he wants to branch out but his fat friend Dan won't let him branch out because Dan knows that the moment Roland wants to move on, that Rick and Morty gravy train will die down, leaving him to his own thoughts once again.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

All in all I feel bad for Roland, the guy seems nice and does have fun with his show and such, but he wants to branch out but his fat friend Dan won't let him branch out because Dan knows that the moment Roland wants to move on, that Rick and Morty gravy train will die down, leaving him to his own thoughts once again.

Whether it's a wife or a business partner, I guess abusive people treat them the same.

 

[Asa_Spades60]

I honestly don't understand why anyone even talks to this guy, let alone hang out with him or marry him. He looks like a smelly homeless guy and he sounds like the type of guy that would just complain about how everybody and everything is awful and how intellectual he is.

Like 80% of the Kiwifarms forum population in real life.

 

[One Man Bland]

I find it kind of funny how in some of the behind the scenes material for season 3 that Roiland's not only barely in these, but he seems really uninterested in any of the "plot" related stuff. And how despite Roiland being the creator of the show and the one who voices Rick, while Harmon and his buddies are waxing about how subversive the finale was all Roiland has to say about it was that he liked the ending with Mr. Poopybutthole - a joke character.

I honestly won't be surprised if Roiland gets burnt out by season 4.