Dan Harmon's Story Circles

As a scriptwriting minor and hopefully, a future television writer, I have spent a lot of time trying to find the best (and easiest) way to structure a story. The typical three-act structure was not cutting it for me, as it left too much to interpret; dividing an episode of television up into three identifiable parts was difficult and messy, especially with the commercial breaks.

As a scriptwriting minor with a serious affection for NBC's Community, though, I have found the structure that I was seeking through the work of the show's creator, Dan Harmon. Since the 90's, he has perpetuated the idea of the "Story Circle", as seen below.


These story structure circles dictate not only the ebb and flow of the episode, but the state and development of the characters within it. It is a quick, surefire formula for creating compelling and fun stories. This isn't just the ramblings of some comedian; it is based directly off of Joseph Campbells monomyth, or the Hero's Journey. The protagonist ventures out into the unknown, and then returns, having changed. Here are the steps elaborated further:

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.

As you can see, the Story Circle does not vary from the three act structure, but instead expands and develops it. Watch an episode of Community. I would wager that in 75% of the episodes (or maybe more), all seven of the main characters go through this circle, whether in an elaborate way or not.

I just recently used this very same circle to write the script for my film for this class, called $perm Bank. I loved how the formula emphasized character change and tied the plot directly into character growth (shouldn't that always be the case?)

Dan Harmon released a series of six well-written tutorials to teach his formula, the first of which can be found here. He also graciously includes a sixth tutorial which explains the use of this character-changing formula within the realm of television, a venue which is notoriously stagnant in that regard.

Season 4, more like Season SNORE! AYOO!

When I am asked what my favorite TV show is, I, with a stroke of pride, reply "Community". Well, until tonight that is. Now, I am preemptively appending that response to "Community Seasons 1-3".

I do not envy the position that the Community writers faced entering this season. With cult-worshipped and studio-hated showrunner Dan Harmon gone, those in charge of the show were left with the predicament of satisfying the studio's demands while also emulating the unique voice of the show's creator.

The first episode without Harmon was funny, don't get me wrong. But it was missing something.

To be honest, it felt like the show was tied up to a chair, and the writers kept beating it to death with rulers while yelling "CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! MAKE IT META! THESE ARE THINGS PEOPLE LIKE!". In short, characters became caricatures, as did the show.

Community worked for three amazing seasons building up these complex, funny, multi-faceted characters, the shining example being Abed, a fan favorite. This first episode turned his entire personality and made it a meta gimmick (a decision that old Abed would have look down upon as well).

The first three seasons of Community taught me something as a writer. Character development doesn't equal change; sometimes it is about how characters don't change. In Season 3's "Virtual System Analysis", Annie spends an entire episode exploring Abed's mind in a very literal way. At the end of the episode, we are left with a better understanding of Abed, and the knowledge that he understands himself better as well (he never uses empathy). This helps explain his actions throughout the rest of the series.

In this first episode of Season 4, we also journey into Abed's mind. He is upset about everybody leaving Greendale (a conflict introduced this episode) and learns that everybody will grow up eventually (a resolution reached in the same episode).

It is hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem I had with the episode was, but I imagine it resonates with "change". Abed's drastic change in character over the episode more or less represented the drastic change the show has undergone.

Before I found myself wishing for "Six Seasons and a Movie!". Now I found myself begging for "Three Seasons and Nothing Else".