Parks and Recreation

[Reply #40 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

The shorter run is kind of a bummer, but at least the writers will know ahead of time that this is the last season: it'll give them enough time to craft the kind of silly-'n'-heartwarming ending the show deserves.

[Reply #41 on:]

I'm a little surprised NBC is finally axing the Thursday night comedy lineup

[Reply #42 on:]

Times are a changing and NBC don't know how to pick them comedies anymore. But to be fair I feel like television comedy that appeals to the mass is a dying art anyway. Look at the two most popular sitcoms, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Both are still multi-cam sitcoms with a live/canned audience that cater to the lowest common denominator of humor (and I still kinda like BBT). But the more popular shows like Community, The Office, Arrested Development, 30 Rock to name a few have relied on assuming their audience is not stupid and also film single-camera style (which I do defy you, name me a multi-cam sitcom that isn't the two aforementioned already that's as successful as Parks and Rec or Brooklyn Nine-Nine nowadays). I guess it's not that NBC can't pick good shows but it doesn't know how to market them properly or attract a big enough audience to watch them.

I mean have you seen their lineup for this fall? The one with Cristin Milioti looks like a boring version of How I Met Your Mother that cuts off the "met your mother" part right at the knees. Although Bad Judge with Kate Walsh looks kinda fun.

[Reply #43 on:]

To be fair, just a few years ago, NBC had one of the strongest comedy line-ups I've ever seen on television (30 Rock, Community, Parks & Rec, and The Office back when it was still good). I wouldn't chalk it up to "NBC's ability to pick good comedies" changing so much as "broadcast television in general" changing.

For the record, their upcoming Tina Fey show with Ellie Kemper and Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) looks promising, as does the new project from the Happy Endings creators with Ken Marino and Casey Wilson (Marry Me). I wouldn't give up hope just yet.

As for Parks & Recreation, I'm fine to see it go out on top, and I'm happy that the writers will have enough foresight to plan the ending out. The reduced episode order is a bit of a bummer, but I suspect it'll play more-or-less as an extended miniseries to wrap the show up (much like 30 Rock's final season).

[Reply #44 on:]

So, season 7 is off to a strong start, if you ask me. To be honest, it feels pretty much the same as it did before - I'm surprised how little the time-jump seems to have had any real impact on the tone or things like that.

[Reply #45 on:]

Yeah, kind of surprised they're doing the Ron v Leslie thing since it's pretty obvious they'll make up by the end of the series

[Reply #46 on:]

They practically made up at the end of the last episode, so yeah, they'll obviously be friends by the end of it.

[Reply #47 on:]

Supposedly Ron was originally intended to be far more of an antagonist to Leslie than he wound up being (I'd actually compare the Ron/Leslie relationship to the Jack/Liz relationship on 30 Rock), so it's interesting to see such a storyline being used as the catalyst for the final season. Obviously, they'll make up, by we all know by now that Parks & Rec is a show where everything typically works out for its characters - it's the journey itself that counts here.

Anyway, I'm enjoying season 7 so far. The time jump has definitely breathed some new life into the show.

[Reply #48 on:]

Now I'm caught up with the first two episodes. I'm just happy that Donna's engagement means we get Keegan Michael-Key some time this season.

[Reply #49 on:]

Or so we assume.

[Reply #50 on:]

Alright, Leslie and Ron is the best episode of the show in years. I'm actually kinda surprised they didn't save the reconciliation for later in the season, though I guess everyone already knew they'd become friends again, so there wasn't much point in holding it off. It really did go to show that the Ron and Leslie relationship is the true heart of the show, however (as much as I love April and Andy and the rest of the gang).

I'm betting it's only a matter of time now before Ron is 100% on Leslie's side. OR they reach some sort of mutual plan that incorporates both of their needs and team up to fight a common enemy.

[Reply #51 on:]

That saxophone fart was super cute.

[Reply #52 on:]

Completely agree with you, Beamer.

[Reply #53 on:]

That was a really good bottle episode, especially this late in the show

[Reply #54 on:]

I think Ron and Jammy was my favorite episode of the new season so far, but of course it's all been good.

[Reply #55 on:]

The Tammy episodes are always hilarious, but this show works best for me when it mixes heart in with the comedy, and Leslie and Ron was excellent on both fronts.

[Reply #56 on:]

I just liked that it was a fresh take on the Tammy episodes. And Jon Glaser is hilarious.

[Reply #57 on:]

My only minor nitpick is that a lot of the "it's the future" jokes are getting old really fast

[Reply #58 on:]

Really? I'm absolutely loving them. It's a whole new style of joke for the show to play around with. I particularly enjoyed the mention of a Morgan Freeman/Shailene Woodley fued, the notion of the Pulitzer Prize for Best Top 10 Listicle (2 years in a row!), Shia LaBeouf designing wedding dresses and Kevin James playing James Bourne.

Also: "It makes sense if you've read the books!"

[Reply #59 on:]

I really liked the episode 7 joke and am also glad they toned down the Craig character

[Reply #60 on:]

This season is just excellent so far. I'd say it's well on track to be the best season of the show. I'm sad there are so few episodes left.

[Reply #61 on:]

Yeah, this season's been absolutely stellar so far. The ending of Gryzzlbox may very well have been the show's best yet. Though I'm curious to see where the show's heading now that the war against Gryzzl has (presumably) already been won?

[Reply #62 on:]

This gryzzl plot reminds me of the harvest festival from season three and the campaign from season four, I like when they give the characters a common goal, which was kind of lacking the past two seasons

[Reply #63 on:]

That was the best episode of the season so far and one of the strongest the show has ever offered. I don't know what it is about these writers and wedding episodes, but they always hit it out of the park. Every time throughout the episode I thought they couldn't make me laugh harder or have a more touching moment, they managed to top it. I'm especially impressed at how they managed to juggle such satisfying plot threads for so many different characters in a single half hour.

P.S. Shameless shout-out to Amy Poehler's cleavage.

[Reply #64 on:]

Really? I don't think it came close to being the best of the season so far. In fact, I'd say that was one of the worst episodes of the season so far. It was still great, though. This season is just fantastic.

[Reply #65 on:]

The difference of opinion probably just comes down to how much of the comedy worked for me, which was almost all of it.

[Reply #66 on:]

It was definitely the funniest episode of the season, though I think it's probably tied with Leslie and Ron as the best so far. Either way, this has been an amazingly strong season (and, on a sheer measure of quality, the show's largely following 30 Rock's trajectory, with the exception of its first season), and if they keep this up for the back half, I'd say it'll easily go down as my favourite season of the show.

[Reply #67 on:]

I'm kinda sad they under play Joe's absolute perfect nice guy complex that they showed in his first appearance. But I'm so happy he and Donna got married, I ship them so hard.

[Reply #68 on:]

I'm so happy he and Donna got married, I ship them so hard.

Really? He's literally only been in three episodes, including the one we're discussing. Hell, Sewage Joe has had more overall screen time than him.

[Reply #69 on:]

Because I love Keegan Michael-Key OKAY.

[Reply #70 on:]

Kind of like how I've been shipping Questlove and Millicent Gergich since this episode aired.

[Reply #71 on:]

I'm so happy he and Donna got married, I ship them so hard.

Really? He's literally only been in three episodes, including the one we're discussing. Hell, Sewage Joe has had more overall screen time than him.

It was a bit of a last minute scramble, kind of like tom saying Lucy is his soulmate even though she had like four or five appearances prior to this season

[Reply #72 on:]

I'm betting Nadia will return to complicate Tom and Lucy's relationship, forcing him to pick one before the series ends.

And I'm fine with "last minute scrambles" to have the characters attain happy endings (plus, the time skip definitely helped sell Donna & Joe's wedding), I just think it's a bit weird shipping such an underplayed relationship.

[Reply #73 on:]

I did like how donna have jerry/gary his real name back, especially since the jokes were getting pretty played out

[Reply #74 on:]

As did I, though I'm kinda surprised it happened at the half-way point of the season. I was sure they were saving that for the finale.

[Reply #75 on:]

Yeah, that seemed like a real finale moment to me as well.

[Reply #76 on:]

Which probably means they have something even more heartwarming planned for Jerry Larry Terry Garry for the finale.

[Reply #77 on:]

Which probably means they have something even more heartwarming planned for Jerry Larry Terry Garry for the finale.

The second-to-last episode is titled "Two Funerals," so maybe not.

[Reply #78 on:]

Oh man, the hot streak just continues! Both episodes this week were hilarious, and really solid. I think my favourite thing was all the shots at MRAs though, which were absolutely dead-on.

I can't believe this show's going to be over in 2 weeks.

[Reply #79 on:]

Two weeks? Aw that was fast.