The theory that NBC’s Parks and Recreation would be improve over time might have finally come to fruition with last night’s episode, "The Banquet." Within the first minute, I found myself laughing harder at the show than I ever have before.
The moment I lost it? When Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler’s character) explained the tragically gruesome story of Nathaniel the pioneer: "They cut his face off…and made it into a dreamcatcher…and they made his legs into rain sticks. And that’s the great thing about Indians back then: They used every part of the pioneer." The tentative delivery from Poehler was perfect — she’s made Leslie a fully-realized character instead of a caricature.
I’ve been a fan from the start, but will be the first to admit the show’s early episodes were light on the laughs and heavy on the awkward. Now five episodes in, Parks feels settled and focused. Nearly every character had a great moment in "The Banquet." April the Intern calling Leslie "sir." Leslie’s butch haircut. Ron’s affinity for bacon-wrapped shrimp. Tom’s coining of the phrase "peacockin" to stand out in bars. Even perennial straight-woman Rashida Jones got to have some fun with bleeped-out curse words. (Is that a new trend on NBC, or something?)
I also like how Leslie keeps getting confronted with some sort of moral crisis. Granted, taking wine from a gift basket (like in last week’s "Boys Club" episode) isn’t much of a quandary, but it endears her to us. She’s just a naive, driven, and bright (yes, I said it: bright!) woman trying to find her way in the male-dominated world of politics. She’s also hopelessly in love in Mark (Paul Schneider, who’s solid), and that faux-romance provided a fairly sweet moment last night when he rushed back to the banquet hall to find her. The show, for all its goofiness, definitely has a beating heart.
The point is this, PopWatchers: While it’s not of the same caliber as The Office (which has been stellar lately) and 30 Rock, it is on the right track. I’m certainly looking forward to next week’s season finale. Are you? Have you kept watching since the show’s so-so first couple of episodes? Or do you still think it’s just too similar to The Office?
More on Parks and Recreation:
Amy Poehler, I believe in you! (And ‘Parks and Recreation’, too!)
Amy Poehler’s ‘Parks and Recreation’: Good, bad, or just okay?
Amy Poehler reaches sitcom stardom: Which ‘SNL’ regular should be next?
Ken Tucker’s review of ‘Parks and Recreation’
‘Parks and Recreation’: Suck it, focus group
Comments (1-15) of 31 Add your comment
Loved Ron’s speech, in which he only stated facts.
Ratings have been dropping though ever since its premiere. Same with Southland. This is bad bad news for NBC, who already has renewed both of these shows. t’s gonna be a bad year next year for NBC.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/05/08/ratings-report-greys-100th-helps-abc-win-nbc-continues-to-fall/
It’s unfortunately too similar to “The Office”. Everytime I see Amy Poehler on this show I see Michael Scott.
Love it. I love Amy Poehler in anything. But the writing has really picked up and it is becoming very funny in it’s own right. I am sure as more episodes continue it will seem less reminiscent of the Office and more like it’s own show.
I think it’s pretty funny. In my job, I deal with local government, so when the show focuses on that kind of stuff, I think it’s brilliant. Also, the cast is VERY likable. I’m loving Aziz Ansari (with his orange “peacockin” hat) who is flat-out hilarious and Chris Pratt, who is playing a great doofus.
However, it just can’t shake that “Jr. Office” smell for me. Leslie is just an even more naive, but less-offensive Michael Scott and it seems like Amy Poehler studied tapes of Steve Carell for her performance.
Then again, “The Office” is my absolute favorite show on TV, so being “Jr. Office” isn’t the worst thing in the world for this show to be. I’ll keep tuning in.
I agree last night episode of “Parks and Recreation” was the funniest so far. Let’s hope the show builds on that momentum and NBC stands by it.
When are reviewers going to stop bowing down to kiss Amy Poehler’s feet whenever she does anything? What made her untouchable? This show is awful. From its uneducated look into small town politics to its stolen tone and character types from Greg Daniels completely unoriginal idea. This is why NBC is sinking to new depths of awfulness and laziness (Jay Leno at 10!!!!). This show still sucks. There is a new show on Comedy Central that started at the same time this garbage premiered that no one writes about but is actually clever and funny called “Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword”. That show misses its mark on occasion but at least it is trying something new and when it hits the mark it is about 1000x funnier than “Parks”. It’s not just regurgitating someone else’s idea. You’d think you would want to try your own idea after making your mark already with someone else’s superior idea Mr. Daniels. Lazy and stupid is all that “Parks and Rec” will ever be.
I assumed the peacocking thing was something Tom picked up from The Pickup Artist…I thought I remembered hearing my friends talk about that tactic back in college
i laughed more watching kath and kim.
and i am not proud of that.
nbc should have stuck with scrubs a little longer…
I have to agree with my dad. The show is not funny, but Rashida and Amy are.
You can’t base a comedy on just the acting alone. To me this show i the opposite of Surviving Suburbia. Bob Saget was miscast. He fails at dry humor. Dave Foley would have been more suited for the role,yet the writing is not so terrible.
It’s The Office, with Amy Poehler as Michael Scott. Amy’s funny, but she’s no Steve Carell. Back to the drawing board.
TWoP has a good list of what they’d do to improve it. I’d tell you what I think should be improved, but they really sort of nailed it. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2009/05/parks-and-recreation-a-wreck-but-can-it-be-fixed.php More Tom, Ron, and Leslie’s mother. Less April. Get things done.
One of the bigger problems is that in trying to highlight how slow-moving, bureaucratic, and boring government work can be, they’re making the show pretty equally slow-moving and bureaucratic.
I really enjoy this show. Yeah, the humor sometimes comes second to the story, but Chris Pratt is a riot in every scene he’s in. I love he and Rashida Jones to pieces, and glad his character is less d-baggy now. Plus, Amy Poehler is likable. Forget funny (even though she is), I’d watch a drama about her being a randomly cute and mostly awkward Pawnee Park lady on NBC over half the stuff on TV anyways. CSI: I Told You We Have Too Many Incarnations? No thanks, dude.
I love this show – I think it’s so funny without the extreme awkwardness that The Office sometimes has. I can’t wait to see where they go with the Leslie/Mark romance and also Tom is fall-off-your-seat hilarious!
Chris Pratt is by far the best!