Friday, February 4, 2011

JERRY SCREWED IT UP AGAIN: Don't get me wrong--I love me some Parks & Recreation, and I agree that the show is at its best when Leslie is shown as being good at her job, but haven't the past four episodes (while all being very funny) all followed the same arc of "oh, no! Parks dpeartment in peril! What will we do?" and then Leslie coming up with a saving idea at the last minute which solves the problem. Admittedly, the execution of each of those plots has been funny, and the b-plots (Ron hires Andy as an assistant to ensure continued incompetence in the position, Ron coaches basketball, Rob Lowe exhorts his body to behave) have been comic gold, but Leslie can't always be dea ex Parks Department. (Feel free to use this to discuss the rest of Comedy Night Done Right, At Least Until Outsourced Comes On At 10:30--I suspect folks may have things to say about last night's Community in particular.)

15 comments:

  1. Had to note the Vernors machine in the Pawnee City Hall.  Love it.

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  2. isaac_spaceman12:51 PM

    I have loved every second of these episodes and wouldn't change a thing. 

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  3. Cecilia1:06 PM

    I guess so much else works so well for me this season on P&R, that my sentitment is with Isaac.  And I'd rather watch Leslie being good at her job and coming up with a good idea (even if it too neatly ties up the storyline) than 30 minutes of Michael Scott acting like such a five-year old that no one could ever understand how he ever got a job, much less a manager's position.

    As for Community -- I thought last night was both harsh and absolutely, completely hilarious.  Pierce was horribly uncomfortable to watch, but that storyline needed a horrible, horrible villain (credit: AV Club for that point).  This show continues to have rapid-fire hilarious lines ("You're like the AT&T of people!"), which are so much funnier because the writers give the right lines to the right characters to say.

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  4. I've loved them, too, but would love to see a little more variety.  Let Tom or Ron save the day for once, rather than Leslie.  (And yes, I would have watched 22 straight minutes of Amy Poehler riffing on former Pawnee city slogans.)

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  5. J. Bowman1:38 PM

    I was amused that Fat Neil showed up ten minutes later as the pizza guy on Perfect Couples. Good night for Charley Koontz.

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  6. Maggie2:13 PM

    "Pawnee, the Akron of Southwest Indiana."

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  7. Marsha2:29 PM

    Loved both Community and P&R last night, and wouldn't change a thing. Not much more to say than that.

    But I reeeeally wish that The Office had been 20 minutes exploring Ryan and Kelly's quickie marriage and divorce, and 2 minutes on Holly being mindmelded with Michael, rather than the other way around. (That said, I did love Erin's smile at the end.)

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  8. Anonymous2:40 PM

    ostensibly good porn aggregating site.. it potentially looks like it will allow for a lot more in the near future. http://www.pornsmacker.com

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  9. isaac_spaceman2:57 PM

    Tom did kind of save the day in the meeting to get sponsors for the festival -- his schvitzing resulted in a fleet of 50 cars for the festival. 

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  10. isaac_spaceman3:09 PM

    As I've said here a million times, I may harbor an unusual love for fiction about people who are great at their jobs.  So I agree here.

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  11. Christy in Philly3:20 PM

    I haven't watched last night's Parks and Rec yet but I crack up laughing every time I think of "STOP POOPING!" Funniest moment on tv in ages!

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  12. Heather K4:10 PM

    I think "Stop pooping" to myself on a daily basis whenever I need a pick me up.

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  13. Anonymous7:02 PM

    Feel free to use this to discuss the rest of Comedy Night Done Right, At Least Until Outsourced Comes On At 10:30

    For me, NBC Thursdays is "Comedy Night Done Right, At Least Until Outsourced Comes On At 10:30, and with 30 bonus minutes at 8:30 to return phone calls, run out to pick up a take out dinner, or speed watch the previous night's Top Chef" 

    I've tried Perfect Couples a few times, and it's just tiresome and unfunny to me...and I find all the leads very dull. But since its placement after Community both highlights how well Community's doing (considering AI/BBT) since PC always loses viewers, and allows P & R to roll after the Office, I'm happy with the current line up.

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  14. I'll admit I dropped Perfect Couples--Thursday is just too crowded between NBC, Big Bang (which is reliably funny, if not always good), Shonda x2, and the USA shows for something that's mediocre at best.

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  15. I've been increasingly less than satisfied with Community lately - I thought the last two episodes were really weak, possibly because they both featured a lot of Pierce, who I can't stand except in very small, infrequent doses. It probably doesn't help that P&R is back, which I love wholeheartedly - I didn't think I could love it more, and then they added Adam Scott!  P&R makes Community look weaker to me, but I'm not dropping it from my lineup anytime soon - just hoping it'll get better. 

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