An item in The Hollywood Reporter reveals that an unnamed cast member of Community has leaked a memo from Sony Pictures Television that instructs the cast how to talk about fired showrunner Dan Harmon. Putting aside the shocking disloyalty of the leak—whatever happened to respect for one’s benevolent corporate overlords?—it makes for pretty compelling reading. The highlights begin with the semi-Orwellian title: “Community Message Points”—and carry on through the tone of the piece, which is written as if speaking to a bright-but-troubled child with phrases like “I wanted to forward some messaging we hope our cast will find helpful as they navigate questions that will undoubtedly come up,” and “I saw some of the tweets that went out and were glad they all addressed their own sentiments quickly.” Then it gets specific, with a series of sample questions and answers. Here’s the best one:
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.
So if you see a dead-eyed Donald Glover talking about his gratitude toward Dan Harmon and how excited he is to be “back on NBC in the fall and looking forward to working on those episodes,” you’ll know Sony, or perhaps the Air Conditioning Repair Annex, has gotten to him.