10 TV Shows That MOCKED Their Rivals

Rick and Morty creator and bane of network executives the world over Dan Harmon has often taken his fellow showrunners to task for what he sees as formulaic or uninspired writing, character arcs, or plotting on his cult podcast Harmontown, where the lack of studio oversight means he’s free to voice any opinion, regardless of how controversial.

However his cult comedy Community, featuring an ensemble cast as the mismatched denizens of a run-down community college, frequently risked its considerable popularity amongst a small but devoted fanbase during Harmon’s tenure as showrunner when the series opted to mock other popular television offerings of the time.

Just look at the show’s musical episode, which took aim at the then-huge Glee by introducing a transparently villainous a capella teacher whose drive to reach “regionals” reaches sociopathic levels and almost kills off the cast after they’re brainwashed into following his inane musical machinations. Glee itself (often unsuccessfully) treaded into darker territory at times, meaning this spoof had to go hard in order to roast the mega hit. Community didn’t disappoint, portraying the glee club as mindless automatons and their leader as an amoral mass murderer.

Tell us how you really feel about the show there, Dan.