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Parks and Recreation


Ellsworth Toohey

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Though the Ron & Leslie reunification episode may have been an excellent episode of television, this week's Donna & Joe may have been the best Parks & Rec episode this season. 

 

I know that sounds weird, but that's how I feel. 

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First season is only 6 episodes, so if you are going to watch, might as well include them.  They're not as bad as people say.

 

Season one they try to make Leslie out to be too much like the Office's Michael Scott.  Once they gave Leslie her own personality, turned Andy face and got rid of Mark, the show hit it's stride.

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First season is only 6 episodes, so if you are going to watch, might as well include them.  They're not as bad as people say.

 

Season one they try to make Leslie out to be too much like the Office's Michael Scott.  Once they gave Leslie her own personality, turned Andy face and got rid of Mark, the show hit it's stride.

 

 

When does that happen?  I'm loving this season, but I've only watched a couple episodes of the show prior to this season.  I tried to watch a couple eps off Comcast's On Demand service, and found them pretty dull.  The eps were from... middle of season 2, I think.  But, yeah, Leslie came off in those eps as a clone of Michael Scott and Ron was written more as a,,, normal human.  Nick Offerman seemed to be delivering his lines differently too - less slow monotone,

 

Digging this season a lot.  I'll probably go back and watch the older seasons, but maybe just go back a season or two to start.  Think Poehler is genuinely funny and Offerman's performance as Ron makes even the mundane bits amusing.

 

Not really sold on some of the supporting cast.  Has anyone seen Aubrey Plaza in anything else?  Wife and I were debating the other day whether she's method acting a gimmick wherein she plays a bad actress playing a character who is a version of herself, or whether she's a terrible actress,  I can't tell whether April only has one emotion and facial expression, or that's all Plaza can emote.

 

Great show.  Nick Offerman really needs his own show.  I too would watch "Ron Swanson: Drone Hunter: Or "Ron Swanson: Nazi Hunter".  Whatever.  Hell, remake Breaking Bad with Ron Swanson as the main character instead of Walter White.

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I probably should mention that, even though I don't find Andy especially funny, the Johnny Karate and his pint-sized ninjas bits are killing me.  Need more of that and less of "I'm going to coach the Chicago Bulls.  I'm not?  Oh, that sucks."  

 

I do find it amusing that the dumb jock on Everwood became the fat dumb guy on Parks and Rec became.... am action hero and star of the most successful summer blockbuster last year.  Yeah, wonder how many people saw that coming?

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I hated -- HATED -- the first season when it debuted. It was so disjointed and forced. It wasn't so much that they didn't nail the characters yet -- I get that, since only a few shows ever really nail that right out of the gate. But they really tried to ram in these relationships, like Leslie and Ann, as opposed to having them develop a little bit at a time.
I watched the first two episodes of Season 2. I laughed at a few things but it hasn't completely clicked for me yet. I know Leslie tries too hard to fit in (especially at the gay bar) but it feels like Amy Poehler is trying too hard to show Leslie going a bit overboard. I did think the scene on Pawnee Today was completely insane in a great way. As someone who worked at small town newspapers, that sort of stuff felt really true-to-life.

 

They also tried to shoehorn in a tender moment with Leslie and Aziz's sleazy character. It didn't feel "earned."

 

I hate comparing the show to The Office, but it's impossible not to since it's the same premise (mockumentary about a peculiar form of a workplace) made by a lot of the same people. I don't remember a scene where Michael has a tender moment with Jim until The Booze Cruise, and that's like 15 episodes into the show. I could be mistaken, but up until then Michael's still really obtuse as a boss but now he gives some actual advice to Jim and it feels real. Dwight (sort of the same role as Haverford) has nice scenes later on with Pam and Phyllis but they don't come until much later.

 

It just feels like, "Let's put in these tender moments so these characters seem well-rounded and deep!" as opposed to getting to see the characters grow closer/conflicted over time.

 

I did like the Ann and Mark scenes. They felt like a really nice and awkward first date. And I like how Leslie set it up wand was fine with it/kinda not fine.

 

Ron Swanson was a great character from the very first minute, though. Nick Offerman's such a great physical actor -- so great that he doesn't even have to move to make physical comedy funny.

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I dont know if I could come up with more drastically different sitcom characters than Dwight and Tom Haverford if I tried.

 

Parks is all about the touchy feely moments from early on.  If those aren't your bag you'll tap out quick. Leslie, by the finale of season one, is already a much more self aware character than Michael. 

 

As to comparisons to The Office imo Parks never comes close to the brilliance of Season Two of The Office.  That said Parks (after a fairly bad mini season one) never had the drop in quality that The Office did from season 5 onward.  

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"Get me Gary Gergich!"

 

This show is really closing out its run nicely. Its moving all the character towards fitting ends, while hitting all the appropriate best of and fan service bits. April's job search probably ended a little too conveniently, but it still worked for me. How many Pawnee residents are left that haven't appeared to get a final moment?

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Correct me if I'm wrong but we haven't seen future Jean Ralphio yet, have we?  He would seem to be the glaring omission.

 

As soon as I turned off my computer I yelled (in my head, not like out loud or anything) "Jean Ralpho!" I don't know how I forgot about him. Hopefully Mona Lisa shows up too, mostly just because of my weird crush on Jenny Slate.

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Correct me if I'm wrong but we haven't seen future Jean Ralphio yet, have we?  He would seem to be the glaring omission.

 

As soon as I turned off my computer I yelled (in my head, not like out loud or anything) "Jean Ralpho!" I don't know how I forgot about him. Hopefully Mona Lisa shows up too, mostly just because of my weird crush on Jenny Slate.

 

Dude nothing weird about it.  She makes her total wreck of a human being character very appealing somehow.

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