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?