One of my favorite Whedon tropes is having heroes who see through the villains' stupid sadistic little head games and do the best they can to just not play along.

It's been said a million times before but I always took the "grittiness" of Han shooting first to reflect the harshness of the kind of life he leads, not that he himself is a particularly bad person.

It's been said a million times before but I always took the "grittiness" of Han shooting first to reflect the harshness of the kind of life he leads, not that he himself is a particularly bad person.

Dude, it's not even that I don't sympathize with the idea that the Pierce character ended up becoming way too one-dimensional (he was actually the focus of a lot of truly heartwarming moments in Season One and by mid-Season Two he was a cackling James Bond villain) —

Dude, it's not even that I don't sympathize with the idea that the Pierce character ended up becoming way too one-dimensional (he was actually the focus of a lot of truly heartwarming moments in Season One and by mid-Season Two he was a cackling James Bond villain) —

Yes, but Harmon is a crazy man who has frequent bouts with apparent clinical depression that sometimes reaches worryingly suicidal levels. I sometimes wonder if he doesn't deliberately make himself look worse to about the same degree that he also takes the opportunity to put down his enemies.

Yes, but Harmon is a crazy man who has frequent bouts with apparent clinical depression that sometimes reaches worryingly suicidal levels. I sometimes wonder if he doesn't deliberately make himself look worse to about the same degree that he also takes the opportunity to put down his enemies.

Edit: I keep replying in the wrong place

Edit: I keep replying in the wrong place

"Psychological torture" is pretty strong. You're going to have to clear up exactly what specific events you mean by that when you say "torture".

"Psychological torture" is pretty strong. You're going to have to clear up exactly what specific events you mean by that when you say "torture".

The actual voicemails sent by Chevy were packed wall-to-wall with deeply personal insults (about Harmon's appearance, his weight, his drinking, his work ethic, his relationship history). You can call it childish to react badly to this from a "sticks and stones" perspective but it was, nonetheless, very much a…

The actual voicemails sent by Chevy were packed wall-to-wall with deeply personal insults (about Harmon's appearance, his weight, his drinking, his work ethic, his relationship history). You can call it childish to react badly to this from a "sticks and stones" perspective but it was, nonetheless, very much a…

Yes, except that when Harmon gets accused of being an outright vindictive asshole when working on Community the victim is always either Chevy Chase, a member of the cast — and in fact the highest-status member who would be most likely to be thought of as the "celebrity star" — or random executive suits from NBC or…

Yes, except that when Harmon gets accused of being an outright vindictive asshole when working on Community the victim is always either Chevy Chase, a member of the cast — and in fact the highest-status member who would be most likely to be thought of as the "celebrity star" — or random executive suits from NBC or…

The "shit" between Chase and Harmon seems to be as much the fault of Chase's abrasive personality as Harmon's, and even then surprisingly Chase still ended up on Harmon's side — he sent a voicemail angrily cussing out the network for firing Harmon and demanding to know if they were going to let him keep creative…

The "shit" between Chase and Harmon seems to be as much the fault of Chase's abrasive personality as Harmon's, and even then surprisingly Chase still ended up on Harmon's side — he sent a voicemail angrily cussing out the network for firing Harmon and demanding to know if they were going to let him keep creative…

Except American Dad has proven that Stewart undermining his natural dignity by being given lines that are ridiculously degraded and undignified may qualify for one of the top ten most inherently funny things ever.

Except American Dad has proven that Stewart undermining his natural dignity by being given lines that are ridiculously degraded and undignified may qualify for one of the top ten most inherently funny things ever.

Keep in mind Harmon's lack of professionalism and insistence on last-minute rewrites was notorious for turning the already grueling 12- to 14-hour days into 18- to 20-hour days. (And yes, the actors weren't the ones who got the brunt of that as compared to the writers and the crew, but still.)