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Exclusive: Fox Negotiates for New Comedy From Community's Dan Harmon
Community creator Dan Harmon could be making his way back to primetime, via a new comedy project at Fox. The network, which has been aggressively expanding its live-action comedy slate (including a Tuesday night sitcom block this fall) is close to making a deal with Harmon to write a pilot for the network. Details on the show are sketchy, other than it would likely be a multi-camera comedy (as opposed to single-camera, which is how Community is shot).
Community creator Dan Harmon could be making his way back to primetime, via a new comedy project at Fox.
The network, which has been aggressively expanding its live-action comedy slate (including a Tuesday night sitcom block this fall) is close to making a deal with Harmon to write a pilot for the network. Details on the show are sketchy, other than it would likely be a multi-camera comedy (as opposed to single-camera, which is how Community is shot).
Harmon has been plotting his next move since being removed as showrunner of the critically acclaimed Community in May. He also has been developing (with Justin Roiland) the animated Adult Swim pilot Rick & Morty, about an inventor and his not-so-bright grandson.
Harmon is currently a free agent, without a development deal at a studio. As a result, Fox has asked its sibling studio 20th Century Fox TV to produce the comedy; a deal there is still being hammered out.
Fox's interest is a sign that despite his highly public exit from Community, Harmon is still a highly sought-after writer all over town. Other networks are said to be sniffing around working with him on projects as well.
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At Fox, Harmon previously co-wrote the cult fave pilot Heat Vision and Jack in 1999. That quirky show, which starred Jack Black and Owen Wilson as the voice of a talking motorcycle (and was directed by Ben Stiller), is now considered to have been ahead of its time.
Harmon will have plenty of ex-Community company at Fox: Former executive producers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are now serving as showrunners on the network's new comedy Ben and Kate, while another ex-Community scribe, former co-executive producer Chris McKenna, is working on Fox's The Mindy Project.
McKenna just landed an outstanding comedy writing Emmy nomination for Community for the episode "Remedial Chaos Theory." On Twitter, McKenna said the nom "belongs to all the season three Community writers, especially Dan Harmon."
Harmon's other credits include The Sarah Silverman Program and the feature Monster House.