‘Community’ and the pop culture embryo

I wonder what happened in all those other timelines? (Lewis Jacobs/NBC)

This week’s episode of Community is a great example of when the show’s bold experiments are so successfully executed that everything goes perfectly. It was the best of all possible timelines, no?

In light of that, it’s worth taking a look at this Wired profile of the show’s creator, Dan Harmon. Among other revelations, you’ll learn how writing the show helped Harmon realize that he probably has Asperger’s.

One thing that strikes me about Community, and that I imagine some folks find inaccessible, is that it’s so inventive that the only recognizable thing from episode to episode is the basic plot formula: something threatens the study group’s dynamic.

That’s because every storyline is subject to an eight-step process Harmon calls an embryo, and that he searches for in every movie, song, and TV show he comes across. Here are the steps:

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.

There’s even an example embryo photographed in the writers room that seems to allude to Shirley’s pies in “Remedial Chaos Theory.” In case you missed it, I’m including the episode here.

COMMUNITY season 3
Thursdays, 8p/7c, NBC