Aside from how long it went on, the drama between Charlie Sheen and Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre didn’t bother me. As I’m not a regular viewer of Men, I was more or less unaffected by the well publicized mess. But Community is one of my favorite shows, so this feud business between Chevy Chase and series creator Dan Harmon is especially cringe-worthy. As it may affect one of the lead characters on the series, should NBC bring it back for another season, it's definitely relevant to the future of the show, especially when factoring in what happened with Sheen's role on Two and a Half Men.
This weekend, we learned of the feud between Harmon and Chase, which reportedly stems back to the final day of shooting for Community’s third season, during which Chevy Chase walked off set. Deadline’s sources say they were “suffering through a non-script day” when Chase walked off, which may explain the actor’s frustration at that time. The incident was followed up by a “Fuck you, Chevy” speech, which was given by Harmon during the wrap party. Chase’s wife and daughter were in attendance. This may explain Chase leaving an angry voicemail on Harmon’s voicemail.
A previously leaked recording of the voicemail made its way online, but TMZ posted this extended version, which according to the site, includes Dan Harmon’s introduction to the voicemail, which he reportedly played at a comedy event called “Harmontown”...
At the start, it sounds like they’re recapping how things went down from when Chase walked off set, to a text message he sent to Harmon (presumably) saying “...your comments were unnecessarily hurtful...” to which Harmon responded with “F**k you ... you breached your contract, you're an a**hole." So, it sounds like things were already pretty heated between the two men even before the wrap party, and things escalated from there. Harmon implies that Chase was drunk when he left the voicemail. It's entirely possible that he was just angry at being called out publicly in front of his family and whoever else was at the party, assuming that part of what's been reported is true.
As TMZ notes, there’s no word on whether Chevy Chase will return to Community next season, if there is one. In the meantime, is it too optimistic to hope that all of this will pass and the two men will settle their differences? The uncertainty of Community’s fate offers its own level of anxiety for fans of the NBC comedy series. This definitely doesn’t help.
