Parks and Recreation

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

#176 Post by Matt » Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:36 pm

The show is probably done after this season, so it doesn't really matter to NBC when what episode airs. It's just schedule filler to them.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#177 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:39 pm

The Cancellation Bear has mixed feelings on the issue at the moment

The show has still been very strong (unlike The Office, which started to really come apart at the seams around Season 4/5), but I can't say I'd be upset if it ended after this season. It's better to burn out than fade away, as so many sitcoms over the history of TV have proven.

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Matt
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#178 Post by Matt » Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:42 pm

If I was assured a Tina Fey/Amy Poehler HBO sitcom next year, I'd be happy for NBC to cancel it right now.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#179 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:43 pm

Some further info: Once the show comes back, it'll air 2 episodes on November 14th, 2 episodes on November 21st, and then go away again until January 9th. Sigh.

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swo17
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#180 Post by swo17 » Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:46 pm

I do love that this and the Ikiru thread keep getting bumped today.

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domino harvey
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#181 Post by domino harvey » Mon Oct 21, 2013 7:56 pm

Matt wrote:If I was assured a Tina Fey/Amy Poehler HBO sitcom next year, I'd be happy for NBC to cancel it right now.
Excuse you, Parks and Recreation has the best comedy ensemble on TV right now, of which Poehler is but one cog

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

#182 Post by knives » Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:42 pm

Though two of those ensemble are definitely leaving at the end of the year and the rest certainly aren't hurting for work.

rohming
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#183 Post by rohming » Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:22 pm

Man, I straight LOVED the first and second seasons of this show and it has had its moments since, but I can't say I've enjoyed it nearly as much since Adam Scott joined the cast forever ago. Which makes little sense because I really like Adam Scott, I guess I just don't buy his character's relationship with Poehler's one iota and so now a major chunk of the series to me is just dead weight.

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Andre Jurieu
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#184 Post by Andre Jurieu » Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:58 pm

I have actually never heard anyone say that they love the first season of this show.

The Leslie-Ben relationship makes sense when you consider that Ben is portrayed as being a gigantic geek who defines himself based upon his career within public service and politics, which is basically a mirror of Leslie. Of course, as much as I enjoy Adam Scott when he's not playing an asshole (and sometimes that's still mildly appealing), I kind of always have held onto some small amount of hope that Mark Brendanawicz would return for a few episodes just to let us see what he's been up to since he left his government job - and also cause I enjoy Paul Schneider.

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Donald Brown
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#185 Post by Donald Brown » Wed Oct 23, 2013 6:10 pm

I quite like the first season and thought Schneider was fine. Scott drags down every scene he's in and just can't keep up with the rest of the sharp cast; Scott the actor is the problem, not the way the character is written.

The show was better in the first two seasons, when the focus was on parks, recreation, and small town governance, rather than on the love lives of the characters.

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#186 Post by Murdoch » Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:37 pm

Did this just turn into The Office's thread or are there actually people who liked the first season?

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mfunk9786
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#187 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:47 am

The first season is nearly unbearable. Leslie was initially played as kind of Michael Scott-level dumb by Poehler, and the other characters hadn't really been fleshed out the way they should have been (Andy was actually a jerk, which didn't fit Chris Pratt one bit). Adam Scott felt a little awkward during the time that I was mourning the fact that he was on this instead of more Party Down, but he's been doing pretty great as a straight man lately, especially when paired with Pratt. Much like The Office, things really started coming together in the second season when the creators had time to back up, take a look at what they had, and work everyone into roles that suited them best instead of the roles they wrote for the pilot.

P.S. Glad to see that Donald Brown is still an irascible contrarian who goes after inexplicable targets - Adam Scott, really? Some things never change around here.

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Drucker
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#188 Post by Drucker » Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:15 am

Since it's the current topic, I have only seen the first season. I watched it while it was airing and was totally turned off by it, especially as a big Office booster at the time. Everyone I'm friends with loves the show and swears I need to give it another chance.

I actually think Donald Brown's critique fits a lot better for 30 Rock. Once it became the Tina Fey show, I tuned out. I really enjoyed that ensemble cast and think when the writers stopped getting screen-time and the show got too wacky for its own good, it jumped shark (I'm thinking the fight-club episode where Lemon is suspended.)

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mfunk9786
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#189 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 11:04 am

Yes, 30 Rock was absolutely at its best when the writing room was prominently featured, etc. Became way too much about Jack later on (his relationships, his mother, pregnancies, etc) and what seemed like several characters were disappeared from the show to make time. But what Donald describes (the ensemble element) hasn't gone away from Parks and Recreation, in fact, it's only gotten stronger. It seems like they often find interesting things for all the characters to do in each episode, which is welcome when the A story is a bit dull (as I often found it to be throughout the election season a couple years ago).

rohming
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#190 Post by rohming » Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:32 pm

I know I'm in the minority on the first season. Maybe it's Schneider, who I thought was good and a much more believable interest for Poehler's character than Scott's, or maybe it's because I just mentally merge the first season with season two since the first is so short.

Season Two's definitely the best, though, am I right.

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domino harvey
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#191 Post by domino harvey » Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:50 pm


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Jeff
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#192 Post by Jeff » Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:33 pm

Here is what Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe are up to now.

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Jeff
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#193 Post by Jeff » Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:07 pm

Some of the great character names from the end credits:

Image


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Cold Bishop
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#195 Post by Cold Bishop » Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:08 am

So no comments on the finale? Especially now that Michael Schur has officially declared that its not a flash-forward, but where S7 will pick up. You gotta admit that its a pretty gutsy move, and hopefully the shot in the arm the show needs after a completely complacent season. Also, it seems to hint at something the show abandoned early on:
SpoilerShow
Sweet Leslie turning into much more of a shark like her mom

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#196 Post by Roger Ryan » Wed Apr 30, 2014 11:37 am

I thought it was pretty strong...as a series finale. Hopefully the new time-frame/setting will help keep the show fresh, but I'd be alright* if that was the end of the series altogether.

*Provided that NBC could come up with a show that would, at least, equal the quality of the lesser P&R episodes.

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domino harvey
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#197 Post by domino harvey » Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:59 pm

The series has already been picked up for a seventh and presumably final season. I thought the season on the whole was just okay (the weakest since season one, but the series has also kept up a pretty tight pedigree since then) but it picked up in the last couple episodes and this is still a great "hang out" show with the best comedic cast on TV (though I'm sad to see Lowe and Jones go of course). I'll be curious to see how this time-jump plays out, but now that Community has cannibalized itself to the point that I'm kind of embarrassed to have ever fawned so fervently over it, at least there's still one network comedy worth rooting for.

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Cold Bishop
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Re: Parks and Recreation

#198 Post by Cold Bishop » Sat May 03, 2014 5:00 am

I don't know. I think Community finished strong. Not as strong as it's ever been, but solid S1 levels. Then again, I'm still cutting the show slack for having to make up for the actor perhaps most responsible for the show's comic rhythm, and recovering from a season which not only wasn't very good, but obviously blew Harmon's ace in the hole storyline (Jeff and his dad) that he was clearly saving. The show is still lacking an overriding direction.



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