TV @ The Movies: Parks and Recreation
Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 2:30PM Summer is a strange time at Chez Nathaniel. Though I'm a film guy, summer movie season isn't really even close to my favorite movie time. And though I'm not totally a TV guy, I miss my shows (No Mad Men this summer is going to be the strangest).
Fr'instance, I'm already missing Parks & Recreation since the fantastic two part Season Finale aired a week back.
The Haverford Charm Ray! wah-wah-wah
You know I LOL'ed at this moment when Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) decides to use the "Haverford Charm Ray" on an old lady who works on the dread 4th Floor. How to do it? Flatter her with screen goddess comparisons.
He wants this old lady to do his work for him. Time to butter her up.
Tom: Well well well if isn't Ethel Beavers. What's up, beautiful? Julianne Moore just called. She wants her hair back.
Ethel Beavers: [looking through messages] Nobody named... "Julien" called.
Tom: Never mind.
Old lady don't know who Julianne Moore is. Hee. (Yes, I realize that's not the first reason or even the second why the joke is funny. But that's why it's funny to me.)
Here was another movie-themed bit. Ben's (Adam Scott) meeting with Leslie's (Amy Poehler) mom didn't go well so Leslie is prepping him for round two. Ben and Leslie are secretly dating and their jobs and personal lives are on the line. Stress.
Leslie: Here is a list of my mother's top 100 favorite conversation topics, starting with Persian Rugs ending with Daniel Craig; you have ten minutes to memorize it.
Ben: DELIVERANCE, the movie?
Leslie: Mm-hmmm.
Ben: Oh God.
I deeply love Parks and Recreation now but I did stop watching it for about a year from S1 second half through S2's first half as I found it amusing but extremely and oddly mellow in its jokes. But it's so delightful now. To each their own, though. Over at The Awl there's a provocative article up about the show's "weird frictionless politics", which thinks Season 1 was the high point. It's worth a read should you like Parks & Rec or like considerations of how politics is presented within entertainment.
Finally, in Emmy news regarding the show, Rob Lowe has submitted himself as a "lead actor". Curious. If you love Parks and Recreation, who would you like to see break through the huge Modern Family blockage to score an acting nod?
Emmy, Julianne Moore, Parks and Recreation, TV, TV at the Movies, politics
Reader Comments (17)
LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. Best on TV. The entire cast, from Donna to Ben, deserves to be recognized at the Emmys. But if I had to pick just two (besides Amy Poehler, who better be a lock for Best Actress), I'd have to go with Chris Pratt (Andy) and Aubrey Plaza (April). Brilliant separately, amazing together. They deserve nominations just for the episode in which Ben moves in with them.
Nothing makes me happier than watching this show. Nothing.
Just finished watching the first episode. A few minutes in, a bunch of people are complaining at a forum to Leslie and Tom and one guy says: "Now, I've a few things I wanna say about Laura Linney..." HA. Since Laura is my absolute favorite, I take that as a sing that I should continue with the show.
sign*
I knew I'd make a typo when I comment here for the first time.
I LOVE this show so much. The whole cast is fantastic. If I have to choose, besides Amy getting a well deserved nomination, I would love for Nick Offerman and/or Chris Pratt to get one.
Absolutely my favourite show on television at the moment. Season 3 was flawless, not one episode went by when I didn't howl with laughter.
The whole cast deserves attention (Rashida Jones seemed to be getting a bit sidelined early on this year, but she had some absolute gold near the end), though I'd have to single out Aubrey Plaza's sweet-surly nihilism (a mere stare at the camera sets me off) and Adam Scott, who transformed Ben so smoothly. (A nod for Amy should surely be a given.)
I can sort of agree with The Awl's article - I do miss the focus on the community of Pawnee. After the harvest festival, the show became much more tightly focused on the characters, which is fine because they're all lovable and hilarious, but the local politics was just as fun to watch. If the show doesn't get a little of that darkness back, the "twee" (horrible word) might wear thin. But the cliffhanger possibility for Leslie hopefully points towards a similar sort of conflict as there was in the first season.
This is long. Blame it on me not having anyone to talk to about this show. Fools, the lot of 'em!
I loved the third season of Parks and Recreation and I don't think there was another show this year that was so consistently great. I actually believe that it is one of the best sitcoms in many years.
I wish the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category at the Emmys would exclusively contain actors from Parks & Rec and Modern Family.
This has been my favourite comedy three years in a row, so yeah, I love it.
Rob as lead seems kind of bogus. The show is Poehler's but if anyone could logically be considered lead, other than her, it'd be Nick Offerman for me. He's sort of necessary to the machinations of the office. Truly, I want them all to be Emmy nominated but it's Offerman and Pratt (and Lowe, I had thought) who'd make for a brilliant supporting actor lineup.
And Poehler, naturally.
"If you love Parks and Recreation, who would you like to see break through the huge Modern Family blockage to score an acting nod?"
There is no answer to this aside from Nick Offerman. I mean...he deserves to WIN the Emmy this year.
ahh, my favourite comedy - so optimistic i feel a little better about the world after each episode
i don't have high hopes for the emmys after the great second season only scored a single nomination
but if there was room for the supporting actors i'd put them in this order - chris pratt, aziz ansari, adam scott, nick offerman
and a guest acting nod for the guy who plays jean-ralphio (LOVE that character)
and this is going to sound sacrilegious, but i really hope amy poehler bests the lovely laura linney in the best actress race
Jan -- WELCOME TO COMMENTING :) who cares about typos. It happens to the best of us on occasion or regular like depending on how distracted we are.
everyone -- it's fun to discover other fans of the show here.
The 3rd season sure is great, but my favorite Parks and Rec is still the 1st half of the 2nd season for some reasons. Louis C. K. as the cop was so freak'n hilarious.
For me, the best supporting actor this year is a tough call between Ty Burrell and Nick Offerman.
They all deserve an Emmy but I have a huge soft spot for Retta who plays Donna (love how both actor and character go by one name. She just makes me laugh so much.
Michael -- agreed. She usually only gets a glance but that's all she needs.
Love this show. I'm so glad I started watching at the end of S2 and then caught up by the beginning of S3. And IMO it hasn't had one weak episode this past season. Just brilliant.
As for Emmys, I just hope they do better than their showing last year. Poehler is a given, but her star seems to be on the rise the past few months (Times 100) and critics have just been raving this past season, so that should help the show a bit. For others, I can't pick since they're all great. Nick Offerman and Adam Scott deserve to be nominated and yet that supporting actor category has at least a dozen or more deserving actors in consideration.
Without the shadow of a doubt, NICK OFFERMAN!!! His reactions are priceless. When Chris (Rob Lowe) brings the vegetable loaf instead of cake: "So not only does this thing exist, but you deprived everyone of CAKE!" LOVE IT!
And who here didn't search the web to find an enlarged version of the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness?? Hilarious!
Ethel Beavers was hilarious! More Fourth Floor!