HEY, DID I MISS ANYTHING?

danharmon:

Kids: 

A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know.  Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community, with two seasoned fellows that I’m sure are quite nice - actually, I have it on good authority they’re quite nice, because they once created a show and cast my good friend Jeff Davis on it, so how bad can they be.

Why’d Sony want me gone?  I can’t answer that because I’ve been in as much contact with them as you have.  They literally haven’t called me since the season four pickup, so their reasons for replacing me are clearly none of my business.  Community is their property, I only own ten percent of it, and I kind of don’t want to hear what their complaints are because I’m sure it would hurt my feelings even more now that I’d be listening for free.

I do want to correct a couple points of spin, now that I’m free to do so:

The important one is this quote from Bob Greenblatt in which he says he’s sure I’m going to be involved somehow, something like that.  That’s a misquote.  I think he meant to say he’s sure cookies are yummy, because he’s never called me once in the entire duration of his employment at NBC.  He didn’t call me to say he was starting to work there, he didn’t call me to say I was no longer working there and he definitely didn’t call to ask if I was going to be involved.  I’m not saying it’s wrong for him to have bigger fish to fry, I’m just saying, NBC is not a credible source of All News Dan Harmon.

You may have read that I am technically “signed on,” by default, to be an executive consulting something or other - which is a relatively standard protective clause for a creator in my position.  Guys like me can’t actually just be shot and left in a ditch by Skynet, we’re still allowed to have a title on the things we create and “help out,” like, I guess sharpening pencils and stuff.  

However, if I actually chose to go to the office, I wouldn’t have any power there.  Nobody would have to do anything I said, ever.  I would be “offering” thoughts on other people’s scripts, not allowed to rewrite them, not allowed to ask anyone else to rewrite them, not allowed to say whether a single joke was funny or go near the edit bay, etc.  It’s….not really the way the previous episodes got done.  I was what you might call a….hands on producer.  Are my….periods giving this enough….pointedness?  I’m not saying you can’t make a good version of Community without me, but I am definitely saying that you can’t make my version of it unless I have the option of saying “it has to be like this or I quit” roughly 8 times a day.

The same contract also gives me the same salary and title if I spend all day masturbating and playing Prototype 2.  And before you ask yourself what you would do in my situation: buy Prototype 2.  It’s fucking great.

Because Prototype 2 is great, and because nobody called me, and then started hiring people to run the show, I had my assistant start packing up my office days ago.  I’m sorry.  I’m not saying seasons 1, 2 and 3 were my definition of perfect television, I’m just saying that whatever they’re going to do for season 4, they’re aiming to do without my help.  So do not believe anyone that tells you on Monday that I quit or diminished my role so I could spend more time with my loved ones, or that I negotiated and we couldn’t come to an agreement, etc.  It couldn’t be less true because, just to make this clear, literally nobody called me.  Also don’t believe anyone that says I have sex with animals.  And if there’s a photo of me doing it with an animal - I’m not saying one exists, I’m just saying, if one surfaces - it’s a fake.  Look at the shadow.  Why would it be in front of the giraffe if the sun is behind the jeep?

Where was I?  Oh yeah.  I’m not running Community for season 4.  They replaced me.  Them’s the facts.

When I was a kid, sometimes I’d run home to Mommy with a bloody nose and say, “Mom, my friends beat me up,” and my Mom would say “well then they’re not worth having as friends, are they?”  At the time, I figured she was just trying to put a postive spin on having birthed an unpopular pussy.  But this is, after all, the same lady that bought me my first typewriter.  Then later, a Commodore 64.  And later, a 300 baud modem for it.  Through which I met new friends that did like me much, much more.

I’m 39, now.  The friends my Mom warned me about are bigger now, and older, bloodying my nose with old world numbers, and old world tactics, like, oh, I don’t know, sending out press releases to TV Guide at 7pm on a Friday.

But my Commodore 64 is mobile now, like yours, and the modems are invisible, and the internet is the air all around us.  And the good friends, the real friends, are finding each other, and connecting with each other, and my Mom is turning out to be more right than ever.

Ah, shit, I still haven’t called my fucking Mom.  

Mom, Happy Mother’s Day.  I got fired.  

Yes, Mom.  AGAIN.

The Insecure Side of Final Year College Student

My facebook’s current photo album about graduation reminds me the moment of how I struggled during working on my thesis, and it has been multiple times replayed in my head. To be honest, I want to say that the fondest memory of all is not when I finally printed my last draft, but it is the time when I felt fear, doubt and not confident to write and to do the research. Back at that time, I often told my self  “I think this (the thesis) is lame” and “is this perspective I use is a perfect fit?” also sometimes I yelled at myself  “why am I choosing this topic at the first place?!

Those insecure feelings are not only occurred to me, but also to almost final year college student who work on their thesis. The fear to proceed the writing, the non-confident feeling about the first chapter, that all happen, and more or less they emerge reasons that eventually allowing us to delay the writing process itself, because we to much keep thinking “it would be better if I read some other books before I start to write” or “I need to consult with my friends and ask their opinion” or even think “I am no better than her/him”.

Those kind of insecurity also could plant an idea into college students to ask for instant help, to search alternatives that make the thesis writing process faster and easier, even if it means to buy thesis from whoever provide such service, because there is no confidence and excitement in doing the thesis.

As a matter of fact, in every thesis project, one or even two thesis advisor are given to the student. Student actually is not alone, but the counseling process between student and thesis advisor tends to discuss the substance topics such as; research question, student progress, research target. At the end the counseling session often creates pattern that put student as a reporter of their findings, and the thesis advisor pointing parts that need to be revised. Whereas thesis advisor, sometimes they are busy, and only giving input via email or text messages. With that kind of pattern, of course the insecure feelings of students would be developed even bigger.  The spirit and the excitement would be fading as the relation between student and advisor become ineffective, and this is no good for either the student or the thesis advisor.

The experience of thesis making is a first time experience to all student, it is obvious how each student have their own different character, there are nerds, popular, geeks, over achiever, and so on. With those differences, different insecurity are occurred. How the nerds feel insecure about how hard they are trying to stay idealist with their thesis, how the geeks feel insecure about whether the topic they chose is cool enough, how  the popular feel insecure about their thesis might looked stupid, and so on.

To help facing those insecurities during work on thesis, words of encouragement are needed, because sadly, in Indonesia, thesis is often only emphasized as final assignment, a ticket to hold bachelor degree, but never said as a contribution to education of this country. If these kind of encouragement are often told to student; that there is no lame topic, that every perspective can be a frame to our thesis, that the willingness to put maximum effort on thesis would be appreciated, there will be other point of view in working thesis; that thesis is not a burden, but an academic contribution to Indonesia and students should be glad and excited to give one.

So, giving encouragement and embracing the final year college students, no matters how little they are, will encourage students and help gaining back their confidence to write their thesis. There is no point in blaming education system and such, it will be great if thesis advisor have willingness to put extra effort to embrace those insecurities, to encourage their student, to advise not only about substance topic but also holding responsibility to give them encouragement, and it is an objective to thesis advisor to ensure their student stay confident.

Then, it will be not only “God be with final year college student” but also thesis advisor be with them!