Defenders of Writeousness

Wired has a fascinating article about Dan Harmon’s writing on Community, which is probably one of the most hilarious shows on air today. It is heavily continuity-based and rife with allusions, commentary and pop cultural references. It is truly a joy to watch, and is so artfully put together. And no wonder— Harmon constructs not only every episode, but every scene based on an eight-part circle distilled from carefully analyzing pacing and storytelling, as well as from boiling down a lot of Joesph Campbell (if you aren’t familiar with Joesph Campbell, please read some of his work. He explores everything that is archetypal about myths and movies. I’ll probably be posting things about him later on though).

Here’s the basic formula for those interested, and please read the article! It is a great read:

• 1) A character is in a zone of comfort
• 2) But they want something
• 3) They enter an unfamiliar situation
• 4) Adapt to it
• 5) Get what they wanted
• 6) Pay a heavy price for it
• 7) Then return to their familiar situation
• 8) Having changed

And here is an in-show (from last week’s hilarious alternate timelines episode, it looks like) example: