Parks and Recreation

[on:]

Maybe it's a little too late to start this thread, considering it's already into season 5, but I love this show. The first season was a little rocky and was super short, but it seems like every season is better than the one before. It's such a great sign of a show when every character is equally hilarious. The writing is incredible and the show can be cartoony in a good way and can also be surprisingly touching as well

any other fans?

[Reply #1 on:]

Knope!

[Reply #2 on:]

We didn't have a Parks and Rec thread? Disgrace, I just got into it last season but I love this show. So glad it's back.

[Reply #3 on:]

I still have a fair bit of catching up to do with this show--I've seen all of season one, much of season four, but little of seasons two and three--but I just watched the season five premiere, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Everything with Leslie, Ben, Andy, and April was gold; Ron's behavior seemed a little over the top, even for him, but it had a really nice pay-off at the end; and I can't stand Tom (and am thrilled that he and Ann haven't actually gotten back together, since I love her), but even he was pretty bearable here. Which, you know, says a lot.

So, yeah, a strong start to the season, I thought. I'll definitely be keeping up with the new episodes as they come along (whilst simultaneously trying to catch up on seasons two, three, and four).

[Reply #4 on:]

I only got into it last season, too, but I don't exactly love it. I like it, but initially when I started watching it, it felt like a new show that needed to find its feet and once it did, it could be something special (like The Office). Now at season 5, it still doesn't feel like it's found its feet or like it's taken off, so to speak.

I like it though and the season opener was as good as any episode ever is.

[Reply #5 on:]

I have to say.... I really don't think Andy could be any more perfect.

[Reply #6 on:]

I have to say.... I really don't think Andy could be any more perfect.

Replace "Andy" with "Ben," and I'd agree with you entirely.

On a related note: This review of last night's episode sums up my feelings wonderfully. That final scene kind of gave me chills, sappy young woman that I am.

[Reply #7 on:]

The audio for NBC was funky yesterday, so only the music was being heard. So we didn't watch any shows until tonight. All I got to say: FUCK YES I WAS SO HAPPY.

[Reply #8 on:]

"I just wanted im to say that Jerry had a fart attack...is that to much to ask?"

[Reply #9 on:]

The wedding episode was perfect. I love this show.

[Reply #10 on:]

Yeah, this show has always been good at blending touching and funny

[Reply #11 on:]

The wedding episode was perfect. I love this show.

I think this may be the only sitcom wedding I've ever seen where I did not feel the need to roll my eyes at the cheesiness of the self-written vows; Ben's to Leslie were kind of wonderful. I'll admit that the ultimate venue of the wedding was rather predictable--but it also felt inevitable, and the execution of it was just so sweet and well-done that I could not muster the energy to be a curmudgeon about the preciousness of the whole thing.

[Reply #12 on:]

I have mixed feelings about the wedding.  I really enjoyed the vows, the guests... all that stuff, but I feel like most tv weddings are like this.  They can't wait so they suddenly get married, or the plans for the wedding totally crash.

I kinda wanted to see a wedding like, in the new park with their fam's and like, idk Tammy 1 and 2 trashing the place.

[Reply #13 on:]

It's a heartwarming story, but it's just not believable! Which is why I give ET one and a half stars

[Reply #14 on:]

http://www.avclub.com/articles/rob-lowe-and-rashida-jones-are-literally-leaving-p,101041/

Not much left to do with their characters, maybe the show should call it quits after this next season

[Reply #15 on:]

I dunno, last time somebody left they brought in Adam Scott and Rob Lowe, and look at how well that went. A change in cast could reinvigorate the show again.

[Reply #16 on:]

This show would be dead if it lost Ron Swanson.

Other than that, I don't think the characters are all that important.

[Reply #17 on:]

I'll definitely miss both characters and the actors who played them though. Rashida Jones has been there since the beginning, and Rob Lowe has played a character so well defined that it feels like he's been there since the beginning.

[Reply #18 on:]

On the plus side, they're probably the two easiest charactes to write out naturally, given where their storyline was heading at the end of season 5.

[Reply #19 on:]

I actually hadn't thought about that, but you're right. They'll probably want to move somewhere that isn't full of stupid rednecks to raise the kid they'll end up having.

[Reply #20 on:]

Really enjoyed the season premiere, it pretty much reinforced everything I love about the show. Tom's scenes were great and I'm looking forward to seeing more of his storyline. Anything with Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa is completely hysterical, and adding Henry Winkler into the mix is even more perfect.

Only a couple minor complaints. Jerry's whole milk scene was a little much. Also, the stuff with Ann and Chris isn't too interesting and it's especially tough to care about their situation knowing they're leaving the show this season. But it's really hard to be bothered by stuff like that when everything else in the episode was so good. Moments between April and Andy or Leslie and the stuff with Ron at the end were more examples of the show being cleverly touching, not to mention well acted.

I think that's what I like most about this show: how funny it manages to be without being dark. It's full of good vibes and great values, and the characters are actually smart (with exceptions like Andy, who is still kind of smart in his own way) and have personalities so I give a shit about them, but it doesn't sacrifice the humor even a little bit. It's a nice change of pace from most of the other funny shows I like that rely on dishonest, sometimes terrible but mostly just stupid main characters, undoing each other for the sake of comedy. In this show the townspeople fulfill that roll and most of the main cast are actually somewhat relateable.

One more thing, I thought they were a bit too obvious at the end with the talk of travel and the "we should keep that in mind, see where it leads us" bit. Sounded a lot like "hey we're gonna go to more cool places this season so keep watching." You don't have to try so hard to keep me around, show, I already like you.

[Reply #21 on:]

"Enjoy the fact that your royal overlords are a frail old woman and a tiny baby!"

I absolutely loved the premiere. Granted, we all know why Andy's storyline had to happen, but his scenes with Peter Serafinowicz were priceless. It feels really great to have these characters back. This show has a massive void to fill now that The Office and 30 Rock are over, but if this episode is anything to go by, it's coping with it perfectly.

[Reply #22 on:]

Decent enough opener. I liked seeing Peter Serafinowicz.

Also, I was watching it with my girlfriend and that bench that Leslie and Ron sat on holds a special significance to us because we once sat there all night, until the sun came up, talking, in the early days of our relationship sort of cementing. It was all very indie-rom-com and so forth, and whilst I know it's a spot in the middle of central London, so it's not exactly our own private place, it was just weird seeing these characters there.

Aaanyway, I found a lot of the lack of understanding what Britain's like to be annoying. I'm fine with ridiculous stereotyping like Futurama gave us in "All the Presidents' Heads", but good luck finding a butcher's in central London. Do you Americans honestly think that London is like that?

Also, it was weird seeing how much weight Andy has lost. They did a good job of working around The Guardians of the Galaxy, all in all.


Yeah, the show just seems to be back, as good as ever.

[Reply #23 on:]

"Dr. Buttons!

I mean... it doesn't have a name."

[Reply #24 on:]

So I kind of thought the Ann and Chris send-off episode would have made a really great series finale.* It was sweet without being overly sentimental (even the Ann-April thing, which could have come off as cheesy, was really cute), and they handled Leslie saying goodbye to Ann in a surprisingly non-annoying and genuinely touching way. I'll miss their dynamic, for sure, but I'm guessing the latter portion of this season will focus more on Ron's impending fatherhood or something and thus the absence of Ann and Chris won't be terribly conspicuous.

*I don't want the show to end, mind you, but I feel like this season is going out of its way to give all these characters semi-conclusive arcs--what with Ben's new job and Leslie's nebulous plans to one day run for an office of greater consequence than city council and Ron getting married and having kids and Andy's gig singing novelty kid's songs and Tom possibly dating that noble doctor lady--so I can't help but imagine that this season may be the show's last.

[Reply #25 on:]

Due to Amy Poehler's Golden Globe win there will most certainly be at least one more season. But I love Chris (more than Ann but I love her too) and I'm so sad to see them leave.

[Reply #26 on:]

That episode was a great sendoff for them. The rest of the season's been kind of lagging, so I hope they can pull all their punches and still leave on a high note

[Reply #27 on:]

I didn't think the episode was bad, nor did I think that any particular emotional moment was overdone. But I do feel that because the season as a whole has been having these big sweet sentimental moments quite frequently so far that this episode was as a result hitting some diminishing returns on its own moments like that, simply because it was so jam-packed with them...kind of like the show just blew its emotional load and now I'm all covered this bittersweet sticky stuff, which I'm ambivalent about. That said, I assume we'll have far less of those moments now that they're finally gone.

[Reply #28 on:]

The show has been picked up for a 7th season, so there's that, at least.

Ann and Chris was a fantastic episode, and a perfect send-off for those characters. If any two actors had to leave the show, I'm kind of glad it's them (not that I WANT anyone to leave, but they're arguably the least essentially characters, and were definitely the easiest to write out in a non-convoluted way). This show has survived a cast shake-up before, I'm curious to see if it can do it again.

[Reply #29 on:]

I think one big issue right now is that almost every cast member seems to be heading for bigger and better things (except Donna and Jerry), so the longer it goes on, the more they risk losing even more cast members. I'm optimistic about the next season since everyone else is still on board

[Reply #30 on:]

So long as they don't keep it going WAAAYYYYY past the point where they should (ie. The Office), I wouldn't worry too much about that. There's a strong possibility that 7 will be the final season; Hopefully they can keep the quality going and go out on a high note.

[Reply #31 on:]

Three years later? And this wasn't the series finale? Well shit, count me in. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this seems like just the right move to make the show more interesting. That was a great episode. The cameos were great, although Jon Hamm's was a little shoehorned.

What did you guys think?

[Reply #32 on:]

That would have been a good finale, but it's awesome that there's another season. Super sad that that was the last episode of this season though because I definitely want to see more. Also I'm really really hoping Keegan Michael Key is still around as Donna's beau because she skyrocketed to my favorite character this season.

[Reply #33 on:]

Ya, Key's character was pretty funny, I hope we see him again too.

[Reply #34 on:]

That was a great season finale and apparently season 7 is going to continue the flash-forward, which is very weird, but I'm quite excited for. Season 7 isn't even confirmed as the last season, too, which means that, potentially, we could get multiple seasons set in the future, without the mockumentary format - though they say that it's likely that it will be the final season.

Anyway, yeah... what?

[Reply #35 on:]

I was pretty disappointed by this season as a whole--especially its second half, which felt kind of rushed and crowded--though it had its moments: the filibuster episode, the Ann/Chris farewell, the farmer's market episode, and the prom episode. Still, I was sort of hoping that the show would end this year, before the comedy became too tired or the plots too formulaic; I mean, I'm getting tired of all these Tom's-new-business-ventures, Leslie-relying-on-Ron-for-fatherly-advice, Leslie's-hard-work-for-the-town-going-unrewarded story beats. (For what it's worth, the emotional aspect of the show still works really well for me; that rendition of "5,000 Candles in the Wind" in the finale had me smiling the cheesiest smile.)

But, yeah, I'm still not sure how I feel about the time-skip. To my mind, the only good thing about this three-years-into-the-future device is that we won't have to deal with a season of Leslie being pregnant and we get to skip her and Ben's learning curve when it comes to dealing with three newborns. I'm a bit less convinced that this National Parks thing will work out, but I'm glad we're finally moving past the recall/merger storylines, as they were starting to get a bit tired. So I guess I'm...cautiously optimistic? And also sort of harboring this disloyal hope that season seven proves to be the show's last. I love it, you see, and I would like for once to be a fan of a show that doesn't stick around past its prime and make me retroactively hate it.

[Reply #36 on:]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the creator, or a producer, was positive that the next season would be the last.

[Reply #37 on:]

It seems like the safe assumption, but this show's been on the bubble for years now. If the time jump breathes enough life back into the show, I'd be happy to see it go on for another couple of seasons. It's the kind of "drop the mic" move that The Office never had the balls to do when it was in a rut.

Oh, and yeah, obviously, I'm a big fan of the time jump. It saves us going through all the inevitable story beats the show's done countless times now (ie. Ann's pregnancy, all of Tom's failed business start-ups, the characters adapting to new jobs, etc.). And I LOVE that Jerry/Gary/Larry/Terry's name has changed yet again without explanation. Also, there is no such thing as a bad Jon Hamm cameo.

An excellent ending to a season that I thought was quite underrated, despite being far from the show's best.

[Reply #38 on:]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the creator, or a producer, was positive that the next season would be the last.

All I've read is that they think it's likely that it'll be the last, but, to me, that just sounds like they don't expect another renewal but would happily take one if the network gives it to them.

[Reply #39 on:]

http://gawker.com/nbcs-parks-and-recreation-to-end-after-forthcoming-seve-1574797725/all

Glad it's not diving into office levels of monotonous, but a little bummed with the shorter episode run