Community creator Dan Harmon will no longer serve as the series’ showrunner, The A.V. Club has learned from Sony Pictures Television, which produces the show. Taking his place are David Guarascio and Moses Port, who recently worked on ABC’s Happy Endings and ran Aliens In America, The CW’s 2007 coming-of-age sitcom. Harmon will remain a consulting producer.
Harmon’s place on Community had been undetermined since the show was renewed last week. Although showrunners typically sign two-year contracts at the start of a third season, Harmon’s deal was only for one, an unusual arrangement in the TV industry.
Considering Community lost a couple of producers earlier this month, don’t expect Harmon’s exit to be the last of the changes for the show. We’ll post more information as we get it.
Update: Harmon has commented on his removal from the program in this Tumblr post, which says that he was never contacted by anyone at NBC or Sony during the search for a showrunner for season four. (This corresponds with what we have learned.) Chris McKenna, the sole remaining season one writer other than Harmon, has confirmed his rumored exit from the show via Twitter.