Parks and Recreation

[mfunk9786]

Amazon has a relatively low SRP on Parks and Recreation: Season 2. It hasn't officially been announced yet (nor has an official price), but you can lock it in at a price of $27.99 if you order now (30% off of $39.99).

[Svevan]

I'm not picking it up due to funds, but Parks and Rec really came into its own in the second season (admittedly the first season was only six episodes long). At the beginning of its run, it seemed that the show was merely The Office with a female Michael Scott, but by making Leslie Knope good at her job and genuinely likable, the whole show changed. They made the parks department an actual thing that the audience wants to succeed just as much as the characters (unlike Dunder Mifflin), and now the comedy seems sourced in the positive quirks of the characters rather than the negative ones (Knope's insatiable drive, Andy's lunkheaded charm, Ron's love of breakfast food and small government, Tom's ability to help anyone at the right time even though he's a skeezball, etc). I think the whole thing is heartwarming, actually, and I'm as cold as stone. Compared to the attempts at sentimentality on the much more cynical and calculated Community, which has more laughs but less honest emotion, Parks and Rec is full of people I want to spend time with.

[Matt]

There's a placeholder for a Blu-ray release of the second season, but it's not available for pre-order. Anyone know if a Blu-ray is still planned? I guess if there has been no official announcement, there's still hope.

[Murdoch]

I'm not picking it up due to funds, but Parks and Rec really came into its own in the second season (admittedly the first season was only six episodes long). At the beginning of its run, it seemed that the show was merely The Office with a female Michael Scott, but by making Leslie Knope good at her job and genuinely likable, the whole show changed. They made the parks department an actual thing that the audience wants to succeed just as much as the characters (unlike Dunder Mifflin), and now the comedy seems sourced in the positive quirks of the characters rather than the negative ones (Knope's insatiable drive, Andy's lunkheaded charm, Ron's love of breakfast food and small government, Tom's ability to help anyone at the right time even though he's a skeezball, etc). I think the whole thing is heartwarming, actually, and I'm as cold as stone. Compared to the attempts at sentimentality on the much more cynical and calculated Community, which has more laughs but less honest emotion, Parks and Rec is full of people I want to spend time with.

Completely agree, I think Parks is the best comedy on TV now and has probably the best editing of any network comedy.

[mfunk9786]

And it has Rashida Jones!

[Matt]

I'm worried that it's starting to veer too close to Arrested Development fast-paced slightly outlandish farce territory, though. Rob Lowe's character (who I hope doesn't stick around, but lots more Adam Scott, please) seems like he's on a different, much zanier, show.

[swo17]

And it has Rashida Jones!

Who spends all her time hanging out in a government office building for no discernible reason!

[Matt]

Well, first it was because she was helping with the hole, then because she was friends with Leslie, then because she was dating Mark, then because she had unresolved feelings for Andy. At the end of the series it was because she had that weird thing going on with Rob Lowe, which, again, I hope ends quickly.

But she's got lots of reasons!

[mfunk9786]

Agreed, but I think that's just attributable to the fact that Rob Lowe doesn't seem to have much restraint when it comes to comedy. I agree, the character is way over the top.

Adam Scott is so great at everything he does, it's absolutely uncanny. There's a great and very natural-feeling love triangle going on in this show too. I mean, nothing will ever, ever compare to the butterflies-in-the-stomach created by Jim and Pam (or Tim and Dawn, if you say tomato), but there's definitely a lot of touching chemistry going on. The more Svevan peeled away the onion in his description of the show, the more I realized it has A LOT going for it. Aziz Ansari almost gets lost in the shuffle, and he's a comedic genius in his own right.

I'm going to give Community another shot after I finish going through Season One of the "I can't believe this is actually good..." Modern Family, but it seemed very derivative and smug in the first few episodes where Parks and Recreation feels incredibly natural and comfortable at this point. I'm so glad NBC gave it a chance to grow into itself. It's funny how being in the same lineup as bonafide hits has motivated it to become better than those bonafide hits - sort of like how The Big Bang Theory has become funnier than How I Met Your Mother.

And it has Rashida Jones!

Who spends all her time hanging out in a government office building for no discernible reason!

SHHHHHH if we don't mention it out loud, maybe she'll stick around. She fits into the show so well, and I'll be damned if she isn't the most beautiful woman on television.

[Matt]

I just came across this weird news item explaining why Lowe was added to the show. NBC thinks that a sitcom with strong female characters won't attract female viewers, but adding a good-looking "name" actor will? Gross.

The chemistry between and among all of the characters on P&R is just so good except for Lowe, who is just this... alien in their midst.

I think Community has a lot of heart where it could be a stupid, cynical show, but it can be inconsistent. It seems at its best when doing movie riffs/parodies, but how long can they keep that up?

[swo17]

Well, first it was because she was helping with the hole, then because she was friends with Leslie, then because she was dating Mark, then because she had unresolved feelings for Andy. At the end of the series it was because she had that weird thing going on with Rob Lowe, which, again, I hope ends quickly.

But she's got lots of reasons!

She's like the the Al Pacino in Godfather 3 of hanging out all day around people you don't work with. I want her nursing job!

That complaint aside, I do think the show has improved during the second season (I famously lambasted the show's first season last year on this very forum), though I still get more out of Community and 30 Rock. And isn't there a fourth show on Thursday nights? Oh yeah, someone needs to put that one out of its misery. Although the prospect of Amy Ryan returning next season will undoubtedly keep me watching indefinitely. (Sigh.)

[mfunk9786]

I'll only approve of The Office being cancelled if Ellie Kemper is given her own show. Her woman-child character has become [by far] the funniest thing on that show.

[Murdoch]

30 Rock was hit-or-miss this season, and I have a love-hate relationship with Community - I like it enough but I don't really enjoy any of the characters. The Office ensemble used to be likable but they've become so conceited, even the once likable Jim and Pam, and the amount of times that their branch has almost closed then been magically rescued by some miracle is just piss-poor writing - the other Dunder Mifflin branches must have been total slackers if the Scranton people were the most productive of the company.

I like where Parks is going though, this government shutdown is a good storyline as long as it doesn't end with the same deus ex machina-like occurrence of the Office.

[Svevan]

As the article linked above says, Rob Lowe is on a guest-arc and Adam Scott is a permanent addition (I don't know why Paul Schneider didn't work out, but the Ann/Mark part of the show has been dragging lately). However, news to me was the promise of Rob Lowe becoming a permanent addition if he "works out." Which, so far, I don't think so. But if his role is anything like the rest of the show, he'll start with lots of quirks and slowly modulate into a functioning member of the government/cast. I hope.

[mfunk9786]

Parker Posey has been invited to fly to the faraway planet where Parks and Recreation is still being filmed, but we're not allowed to see it

[domino harvey]

I've been working my way through Parks and Recreation's second season so I can hopefully be caught up in time for next week's episode (no way I'll finish by the premiere tomorrow) but oh my Christ, when this happened I almost passed out from laughing so hard

SpoilerShow

[mfunk9786]

Best character on the show, hands down. The subplot about his drinking that involved him building intricate wooden objects while under the influence was my favorite of the season.

[Murdoch]

I vow to live my life by the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness (maybe a spoiler for last night's episode, but not really)

[Andre Jurieu]

I vow to live my life by the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness (maybe a spoiler for last night's episode, but not really)

Yes! Thanks for tracking this down. I had to pause last night's episode repeatedly so that I could read this thing.

[Donald Brown]

The triangle-faced Adam Scott has got to go. He drags down every scene he's in.

Did the show's producers never see the awful Party Down?

[domino harvey]

Donald Brown, taking a rare negative stance

[mfunk9786]

I've never seen that guy back up one of his contrarian opinions, but here he remains, unbanned and actively trolling!

As for Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation hasn't given him much to do yet, especially since he's often being stifled by a keyed up Lowe or Poehler, but the show will surely find footing for his character as it did for all the others. I am more concerned about Lowe's character, who tends to be a bit redundant, and is putting Anne in a strangely out-of-character insecure place. I'm sure they'll work out the kinks, but if he mentions something about his body being a finely tuned machine again, or some variation of that theme, I may throw a shoe at the television.

[Zinoviev]

I think Adam Scott's character has potential, but Lowe is stuck playing a totally one-note character whose manic energy shtick is wearing thin. The entire second season was a triumph and it all seemed so fluid and effortless -- which makes Lowe's character particularly jarring.

Plus, I worry that his "Ann Perkins!" is becoming something of a catch phrase.

[domino harvey]

Finally finished the second season. Highlights:
This line, which made me laugh harder than any other by far (I've rewatched it like five times just now and it still makes me laugh every time)
Jean-Ralphio
Andy being the only who thinks the boring tech guy's puns are funny
The fake Sweetums commercial with Shoelaces
The Camel (reminded me of when the Office could do something like "Office Olympics," small scale and observant)
Leslie and Ron conversing on my favorite topic, why people don't just eat breakfast food all the time (a legit question, FYI)

Between this and Community, I feel like we're finally in a new golden age of television. How long can that last?!

[Cold Bishop]

I finally caught up with the show as well. Like Community (and probably more so), this is show that grew exponentially with its characters. The more the writers began to develop the characters, the more the actors got comfortable with them, the more the viewer became familiar with them... I think this is the real reason it took the show so long to take off. How else to describe the fact that the three most grating characters in the first season are possibly the favorites now (Ron Swanson, April, Andy).

And unlike some other comedies, which could often use a bit more punch and vitriol, this is a show that truly gets by on (and improved when it introduced) an absolute decency within all its characters. Even Tom's d-bag shtick reveals a redeemable personality. Compared to the "cringe" comedy of some of the earlier episodes, this show really knows how to show heart. And it very rarely gets schmaltzy in doing so (something that Community still has a problem with).

I think for these reasons, the last few episodes have been off: Rob Lowe and Adam Scott still need to go threw the process the others did. Although, the obsession with romantic relationships could easily derail the show in the long run, just as it drew Mark and Ann in a creative corner at the end of last season (I also wish Community would get over its Jeff-Britta-Annie triangle, so what do I know?)