Harmontown
Harmontown | |
---|---|
Presentation | |
Hosted by | Dan Harmon, Jeff B. Davis |
Genre | Comedy, entertainment, talk |
Language | English |
Length | 60–120 minutes |
Production | |
No. of episodes | 360 |
Publication | |
Original release | June 16, 2012 – December 3, 2019[1] |
Provider |
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Harmontown is a comedy
The podcast featured many guest appearances, including
On March 8, 2014, a documentary about the podcast, also called Harmontown, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Premise
The original premise of Harmontown began with Harmon's and Davis's attempts to discuss how to successfully eliminate the flaws of society and create a utopia (which they claimed could be addressed with the creation of a lunar colony) in front of a live audience. The show evolved into what Harmon and Davis call "live therapy sessions" for Harmon, as he discussed with Davis a variety of topics, from anecdotes about his family and work to commentaries on movies, social issues, and scandals.
Format and structure
Harmontown was not scripted; it was largely improvisational. The show frequently featured many guests to help drive the discussion. On its fifth airing, the show began having a regular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) session at the end of each episode. This led to the introduction of Game Master Spencer Crittenden, who led their D&D segments, having extensive knowledge of the game. Crittenden happened to be an audience member when Harmon and Davis asked for assistance from the crowd with how to play D&D. Crittenden gradually became a part of the main cast. He was then hired as an assistant to Dan Harmon.
Beginning in 2015, with episode #131 "Dirty Little Potato People", the Dungeons & Dragons segment was replaced with a Shadowrun game session, placed towards the end of the episodes and for a similar length as the D&D segment. Crittenden was also the gamemaster for this segment, with guests optionally filling the roles of some characters in the campaign.
From October 2017 to June 2018, the podcast was recorded without an audience due to permit issues at Starburns Studios. The show was recorded at the Starburns Castle, a studio owned by Starburns Industries. Harmontown returned to live audience format in June of 2018 at Dynasty Typewriter at The Hayworth, in Westlake, LA.
When Davis was unavailable, guest comptrollers included Rob Schrab, Erin McGathy, Kumail Nanjiani, Duncan Trussell, and Brandon Johnson, who eventually became Davis's regular replacement near the end of the podcast's run. Occasionally, special guests would serve as comptroller, including Mitchell Hurwitz, Bobcat Goldthwait, and—on the Harmontown movie tour—Gilbert Gottfried, Dino Stamatopoulos, Steve Agee, and LeVar Burton.
Tour and documentary
From January 10–30, 2013, Harmontown went on a national tour, posting new episodes from different cities. The tour was the subject of a documentary, also called Harmontown, which was produced by Neil Berkeley. The documentary premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 8, 2014.[4][5]
In 2016, Harmontown toured Australia.[6]
Cast and crew
- Dan Harmon: Mayor of Harmontown
- Jeff Davis: "Comptroller"
- Erin McGathy: recurring guest and comptroller
- Rob Schrab: recurring guest and comptroller
- Brandon Johnson: recurring guest and comptroller
- Spencer Crittenden: Dungeon Master
- Kumail Nanjiani: recurring guest and comptroller
- DeMorge Brown: recurring guest
- Dustin Marshall: podcast producer 2011-2016, founder of Feral Audio
- Steve Levy: producer
- Kristian Boruff: live director
- Sarah Hill: technical coordinator
- Kevin Day: web producer
Community controversy
Harmon's openness on Harmontown frequently proved controversial. Following
Reception
References
- ^ @Harmontown (December 3, 2019). "The final Harmontown starts in 90 minutes! It's not too late to sign up on http://Harmontown.com to watch live!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Quah, Nicholas (December 27, 2017). "Podcast Network Feral Audio Being Shut Down by Founder Following Abuse Claim Against Him". www.vulture.com. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Starburns Industries, Inc. "Starburns is excited to announce the launch of SBI:Audio! SBI: Audio is the new podcast venture from #Starburns Ind". www.facebook.com. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Gibson, Megan (March 4, 2014). "Harmontown and The Cult of Dan Harmon". Time. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ DeFore, John (March 10, 2014). "Harmontown: SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Faruqi, Osman (December 20, 2016). "Dan Harmon Came To Australia And Ripped Into Our Incredibly Wanky Food Scene". Junkee. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Kirby, Ben (March 11, 2014). "What The Hell Is Harmontown?". Empire. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
- ^ Hudson, Laura (January 3, 2014). "Community Gets Funny Again by Embracing Its Own Failure". Wired. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Busis, Hillary. "Dan Harmon on 'Community' season 4: Not good". EW.com. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ Ferris, D.X. (July 27, 2012). "We visit Harmontown and binge on Doug Loves Movies in this week's podcast roundup". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 25, 2014..
- ^ Krauspe, Christian (July 9, 2012). "Podcast Review: Harmontown". CraveOnline. Retrieved November 13, 2014.