Dan Harmon Considers Community The Opposite Of Rick And Morty
"Community" is one of the best American sitcoms of its decade, a show that was constantly breaking the mold, that did a better job of portraying nerd culture and pop culture on mainstream TV than any other long-running sitcom about supposed nerds.
But in spite of all the high-concept plots and wacky college-wide games of the floor being lava or paintball, what continues to resonate with fans is the show's huge heart. More than anything, this is a show about an eclectic group of people coming together and bettering themselves. After the end of "Community," its creator Dan Harmon moved on to co-create "Rick and Morty," arguably the biggest and most successful animated show of the past decade.
Despite sharing a love for pop culture, if you ask Harmon, the two shows could not be more different. What's more, Harmon considers them to be polar opposites. Speaking to MSNBC, Harmon discussed the almost religious belief at the heart of each show and how different they are. The core of "Community," according to Dan Harmon, is that "anything that's human is more valuable than anything inhuman. Any system, any rule, any disorder, any authority; if it does not have a beating heart, then it is wrong compared to anything with a beating heart. Period."
As for "Rick and Morty," the thesis of the animated series is in the episode "Rixty Minutes," when Morty talks to Summer about his dead multiversal counterpart. "Nobody exists on purpose, this is all random, [and] that can be terrifying; if you are terrified by that, the best we can say is you're not alone," Harmon added. "Which is also the worst you can say, you know?"
'One by one they all just fade away'
He is not wrong. The question came about after discussing the character of Rick in "Rick and Morty" and how miserable it makes him to know so much about the universe.
In spite of the wacky adventures and the abundance of color, "Rick and Morty" is one of the most nihilistic shows of the past few years, a show that centers on two characters who have seen enough of the universe that they don't believe in anything anymore. This makes the fun adventures in each episode take on an extra layer of meaning because they serve as escapism for the characters. They want to be distracted from their miserable existence, at least when it comes to Rick. The show is very much against him as a character, but it does prove his cynicism right time and time again.
But that is not "Community." Though Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is very much a "Rick and Morty" character in live-action, the rest of the cast is constantly calling him out on his crap, and disproving his cynicism. Time and time again, beyond the high-concept episodes and the genre plots, "Community" is, at its core, all about forming human connections and how that is the only way we survive in the world and grow as human beings.
Is either approach the correct one? Not really, they are both valid. As Dan Harmon says, "Rick and Morty" and its particular nihilism are very modern and timely concerns and feelings people have. But when things get absurdly dark and depressing, and you just want some escapism, there is something comforting about the way "Community" reaffirms humanity and, well, community, over everything else.