How Community's Writers Solved The 'Identity Crisis' Of Season 1

The first season of the NBC sitcom "Community" is great, but it was still finding its footing as a series. It was a somewhat unique concept, following a study group from a community college Spanish class, and showrunner Dan Harmon and his writers turned it into a truly brilliant comedy series that tested the very bounds of the format. "Community" would become a beloved cult comedy series with some truly unforgettable characters, and it's a blast to watch how those characters evolve over the course of the show's six seasons. (Yes, even the gas leak year.)

In the first season, Britta (Gillian Jacobs) still has brain cells, Professor Chang (Ken Jeong) is only moderately unhinged, and Jeff (Joel McHale) actually believes he'll go back to being a hotshot lawyer. The writers had quite the task ahead of them in figuring out how to keep things compelling for 25 episodes per season. 

In an interview with Madison.com from 2013, Harmon shared the struggles that he and the writers faced while writing that first season, as they tried to differentiate themselves from their sitcom peers. After all, there were some pretty great shows having their heyday when "Community" premiered, and Harmon wanted to make sure that his series stood apart and had his unique sensibilities. By season 2, that was no problem at all. 

The first hurdle that Harmon had to handle was working with a writer's room, which he had never done before. The network sitcom aspect of everything was a challenge because it meant a lot of collaboration and not just Harmon putting his mad ideas to paper. That meant that while the first season of "Community" is great, it's still a bit messy and trying to figure itself out. Harmon explained:

"I had to adapt to that fact, and you can see the first season of 'Community' kind of having an identity crisis. Is it the next 'Arrested Development' or is it actually just 'Malcolm in the Middle'? What the hell is this show? You can see it fidgeting in its own sweater and having great moments and then weird moments and then having fits of mediocrity."

Both "Arrested Development" and "Malcolm in the Middle" had meta-humor and fourth-wall breaking, which helped establish some of what made "Community" so great, but "Community" took both a step further, engaging with sitcom tropes directly to hilarious effect. How did Harmon figure out how to lean into what worked while discarding what didn't? Well, he got a little help from some new writers who had a totally different perspective. 

As the show progressed, they hired new writers on who were apparently fans of the series and understood it from that perspective, which allowed for a major shift in tone and self-awareness, according to Harmon. He compared it to a moment in fiction as described by author and theorist Joseph Campbell, saying:

"By the end of that first season there were new writers coming in who were watching the show and were fans of it, so then there's what Joseph Campbell would call the goddess point, or the midpoint of the story, where there's this big truth and this big realization. And that would be the second season of 'Community' where I'm working with people who love the show and know how to do it really well and who I trust."

Harmon isn't talking about the Campbellian moment happening for the series, but rather for himself and his creative process on the show, as he finally learned how to write with others who loved the material as deeply as he did. Feedback was important for "Community," and Harmon would even pay attention to social media during episode airings to help him write future episodes, so it makes sense that it was all a matter of finding a team that clicked. Teamwork makes the dream work, right?