It’s funny that one of Dan’s points is Justin felt like he was the second fiddle of the operation, Meanwhile the entire article focuses on Dan Harmons career. I’ll post the important part below.
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Roiland started to pull back during season two. By then, the room was working considerably longer hours, as Harmon obsessed over the show’s quality, and the environment was no longer as much fun. After the season wrapped, Roiland sat down with Harmon and acknowledged just how miserable he’d become working at the show. The implication, according to Harmon, was that it was his fault. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure what he was saying,” recalls Harmon, “other than, maybe, ‘I feel like I’m in your shadow and I wish I wasn’t.’ ”
Mike Lazzo, who was running Adult Swim out of Atlanta at the time, was aware of the growing tensions insomuch as he’d see signs when he came to visit. “Dan would be in the writers room and Justin would be running radio control cars around the studio,” says Lazzo, who gives Harmon the lion’s share of the credit for Rick and Morty’s success: “It’s so dependent on writing and character, and those are Dan’s strengths. I remember I’d get frustrated waiting on his scripts, but then they’d arrive and they would be masterpieces.”
At some point in season three, Roiland simply stopped showing up. A mediator was ultimately brought in, but the exercise went nowhere. “I always felt like Justin wanted everybody to make him feel more comfortable, and I was just like, ‘Everybody wants to make you comfortable, communicate, tell us how to do that,’ ” says Harmon, who acknowledges: “I was freaking out about the whole thing because I wanted the partnership to function. I wanted him happy because when he’s happy, we have a hit on our hands.”
As drama waged behind the scenes, the show’s ratings continued to soar. Rick and Morty had quickly become the most viewed comedy among millennials in all of television. It was easily the most watched series in Adult Swim’s history. After season three, the two even managed to put their differences aside long enough to secure an additional 70 episodes, which was more than double the amount that had already aired. “It was like Justin and I were in love again, because we were dealing with the powers that be and talking about how rich we might be if we negotiated together,” says Harmon. But the moment was short-lived.
The last time he and Roiland spoke was over text in 2019, a conversation that left Harmon in tears. “He said things that he’d never said before about being unhappy, and I remember saying to him the last time we spoke in person, like, ‘I am worried about you, and I don’t know what to do about that except to give you all the string and also just say I’m scared that you’re not going to come back.’ But then this conversation became unprecedentedly confrontational.” Harmon stops himself there. “I think that’s as far as I get to take the story. ———————
It’s a shame. They’ve done a lot of great work together, but you’ve got to know when to walk away from someone like that.
It always sounds like Dan tried to be his friend the best way he could at the time, but Justin didn’t want to change, grow up or get better. They fed off each other probably. And meanwhile, Justin was abusing women and continuing to make everyone as miserable as he was.
It’s the difference between being an addict and recovering, and not. You just can’t condone any of that. Dan can’t be held responsible for another person’s actions, I’m sure he’s reckoned with his own ways via therapy and finding healthy relationship, and I get that trauma of having cared about and worked alongside a toxic person who was actually an Anchor, but got you career success.
But that’s the consequence. Justin crossed too many lines, had a pattern of behavior, and his victims brought a legitimate case. There’s no remorse from me.
Oh, none from me either. I’m just trying to make sense of it.
Thanks for your patience. I was agreeing with you, just thinking it through out loud. Sorry if my use of “you” was confusing. One of those times it means “one” I guess.
You’re good.
But I feel like Harmon is the kind of showrunner who will put in the time and effort to scripts but will be an absolute asshole to those not putting in the effort. It happened with Chevy Chase and it seems like it also happened with Roiland.
Roiland’s alcoholism probably didn’t help much either.
From what I’ve heard, Harmon’s behavior towards Chevy was entirely a response to Chevy being a complete asshole on set.
Yeah, I agree about Chevy Chase.
I don’t think Roiland comes out good, though. I haven’t heard of anyone complimenting Roiland on set in later seasons.
Probably cuz to get those complaints he’d have to be on set