There are a good number of great comedies on TV right now. (There are also a good number of crappy comedies on TV that make me want to stab out my eyes and destroy every laugh track in the universe. But let’s not talk about those…) My favorite among these is the delightful, warmhearted and cheerfully insane "Parks and Recreation".
The show's about the Parks and Recreation Department of government in a small town called Pawnee. This town's sole claim to fame is the raging obesity crisis throughout the area. Suffice to say, it doesn’t have a lot going for it. Despite that (or perhaps because of that), Leslie Knope, the Deputy Director of the Department, is a woman who is terrifyingly enthusiastic about the place, about government, and about parks.
She’s a little odd.
The show is created by "The Office"’s Greg Daniels, one of the few creative head-honchos to take a British idea and make it work for American audiences and a very funny guy. However, when "Parks and Rec" started out, he modeled it exactly like his other show. There was an incompetent, insane boss, disaffected employees, and quirky insiders that made it all entertaining, but vaguely condescending of the work that happened in the department. When that environment is a paper supply office, and everyone knows the work doesn't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things, we can dismiss the boss's idiocy and enthusiasm for just what it is - ridiculous. But when you're making the person in charge look like an idiot in government, while also being deeply passionate about it, the whole thing becomes sort of sad.
So after a rocky first season, which was funny but vaguely condescending, the show's creators did something different. They made Leslie Knope competent, admirable, and loved by her coworkers and town alike. And with that relatively small change, the show became entirely different from what it was before, and different from any other comedy on TV.
Most of the sitcoms that I love on TV right now have a meta, sarcastic and cynical view on the world. And I love that kind of comedy. Based on mockery and hilarity, those shows work well, and for damn good reason. But there are very few 'feel-good' sitcoms that are actually funny. Life-affirming humor isn't something that typically works out too well with audiences, because the joke isn't at anybody's expense. Optimism is a lot easier to laugh at than it is to invest in, and when you're not laughing at any characters, but genuinely laughing with them, it's a little off-putting. After all, you're not chilling with friends for a half-hour here - you're watching a TV show.
"Parks and Recreation" basically says, 'screw that,' and with fabulous results. Not just because of the brilliant Amy Polher (Tina Fey’s bestest bud/SNL soul sister, and GOB’s real-life wife) bringing an earnest humanity to Leslie Knope while maintaining some of the underlying crazy of the character, but because of the all-around brilliant cast playing over-the-top but very likable characters.
There's Ron Fucking Swanson (as I like to call him) who is the Director of the Parks Department, a violent libertarian who doesn't believe in government and loves steak more than people, even if he is a lot more fatherly toward his staff than he would ever own up to. (Played by the best-at-deadpan Ron Offerman. Plus, he occasionally brings along his real-life wife, Megan Mullally, to play his ex, Tammy. Best. Episodes. Ever.) He is officially my role model for life. Tom Haverford is a slacking assistant to Leslie with sleazy undertones who can also be pretty good at his job and less than douchey when properly motivated. Ann, originally meant to play the 'straight woman' to Polher's madness, has slowly become a quirky, insecure yet charming mess of a nurse wrapped up in the Parks Department despite her better judgment. (Rashida Jones. Goddess of awesome. Enough said.) April, the most apathetic intern/assistant ever to grace the land. And Andy. A man as dumb as a doorknob, as heartfelt as a puppy, and totally lovable.
There's also the two new members of the cast, who I wouldn't even mention if they didn't fit in so seamlessly to the show dynamic. Added at the end of last season as auditors who are slashing jobs and budgets to save the government of Pawnee, Chris (Rob Lowe, guys. ROB LOWE. As in I get to watch "The West Wing" again. Sort of.), a man so positive that he can fire someone and have them thank him afterward, and Ben (Adam Scott from the brilliant-but-canceled "Party Down"), a former teenage mayor sensation/disaster who is 18 years into trying to restore respectability to his name by taking on the worst job in the universe.
Ladies and gentleman, there is no reason not to watch this show. Even while the first season isn't great, it's still hilarious, and by the time you get to the second year, you've fallen in love with Pawnee enough that you sort of want to move to middle America, just to to see what would happen if you held a gay penguin wedding and to discover the evil nature of libraries. (Yes. These are plot-lines in this TV show. Now you really want to watch it, right?)
So after a rocky first season, which was funny but vaguely condescending, the show's creators did something different. They made Leslie Knope competent, admirable, and loved by her coworkers and town alike. And with that relatively small change, the show became entirely different from what it was before, and different from any other comedy on TV.
Most of the sitcoms that I love on TV right now have a meta, sarcastic and cynical view on the world. And I love that kind of comedy. Based on mockery and hilarity, those shows work well, and for damn good reason. But there are very few 'feel-good' sitcoms that are actually funny. Life-affirming humor isn't something that typically works out too well with audiences, because the joke isn't at anybody's expense. Optimism is a lot easier to laugh at than it is to invest in, and when you're not laughing at any characters, but genuinely laughing with them, it's a little off-putting. After all, you're not chilling with friends for a half-hour here - you're watching a TV show.
"Parks and Recreation" basically says, 'screw that,' and with fabulous results. Not just because of the brilliant Amy Polher (Tina Fey’s bestest bud/SNL soul sister, and GOB’s real-life wife) bringing an earnest humanity to Leslie Knope while maintaining some of the underlying crazy of the character, but because of the all-around brilliant cast playing over-the-top but very likable characters.
There's Ron Fucking Swanson (as I like to call him) who is the Director of the Parks Department, a violent libertarian who doesn't believe in government and loves steak more than people, even if he is a lot more fatherly toward his staff than he would ever own up to. (Played by the best-at-deadpan Ron Offerman. Plus, he occasionally brings along his real-life wife, Megan Mullally, to play his ex, Tammy. Best. Episodes. Ever.) He is officially my role model for life. Tom Haverford is a slacking assistant to Leslie with sleazy undertones who can also be pretty good at his job and less than douchey when properly motivated. Ann, originally meant to play the 'straight woman' to Polher's madness, has slowly become a quirky, insecure yet charming mess of a nurse wrapped up in the Parks Department despite her better judgment. (Rashida Jones. Goddess of awesome. Enough said.) April, the most apathetic intern/assistant ever to grace the land. And Andy. A man as dumb as a doorknob, as heartfelt as a puppy, and totally lovable.
There's also the two new members of the cast, who I wouldn't even mention if they didn't fit in so seamlessly to the show dynamic. Added at the end of last season as auditors who are slashing jobs and budgets to save the government of Pawnee, Chris (Rob Lowe, guys. ROB LOWE. As in I get to watch "The West Wing" again. Sort of.), a man so positive that he can fire someone and have them thank him afterward, and Ben (Adam Scott from the brilliant-but-canceled "Party Down"), a former teenage mayor sensation/disaster who is 18 years into trying to restore respectability to his name by taking on the worst job in the universe.
Ladies and gentleman, there is no reason not to watch this show. Even while the first season isn't great, it's still hilarious, and by the time you get to the second year, you've fallen in love with Pawnee enough that you sort of want to move to middle America, just to to see what would happen if you held a gay penguin wedding and to discover the evil nature of libraries. (Yes. These are plot-lines in this TV show. Now you really want to watch it, right?)
Seasons one and two: downloaded :)
ReplyDelete