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Parks and Recreation

post #1 of 16
4/17/09 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
I'm surprised nobody has started a thread on this show yet. After the first two episodes, I can honestly say I think this is one of the funniest shows on TV. It's obviously a carbon copy of The Office as it comes from the creators of the U.S. version, but it works and I dare say is better than that show has been for a couple years now. I hope NBC gives it a chance and that people start watching because I'd really like to see it stay around for awhile.
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post #2 of 16
4/17/09 at 2:12pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

My problem is that I'm not fond of Amy Poehler to begin with, and this is by far her most irritating role. Steve Carrell makes Michael strangely endearing; Poehler is nails on a chalkboard.

I spent five (or was it six?) years as a mid-level clerk at a municipal Parks & Rec office, so certain things (especially w.r.t. the public) definitely ring true. Chris Pratt is great in everything he does. (Is it normal to have "Guest Starring" in the main credits?) But I'm just not sure I'll be able to get past Poehler.
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post #3 of 16
4/17/09 at 2:30pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Parks and Recreation

See, I actually like Amy Poehler. Obviously she's not as funny as her husband(Will Arnett), but then again few people are. I think she does a good job in this kind of role and so far I've really enjoyed the show. Like I said, I think the creators of The Office have taken the great humor that show used to have and applied it to P&R.
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post #4 of 16
4/17/09 at 3:38pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

Not an AP fan either, but I think the show may be good in spite of her. I caught the first ep, but missed yesterday. Was it better than the pilot? I'll have to watch it online.
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post #5 of 16
4/18/09 at 1:44am

Re: Parks and Recreation

I have a similar question to above. I hated the first episode, but I do like The Office, so I'm wondering if it got any better. I'll probably end up catching it on Hulu or something just to see, but still.
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post #6 of 16
4/18/09 at 6:36am

Re: Parks and Recreation

If you hated the first one, you probably won't suddenly become a fan with this episode. I thought the episode was better than the first but there's not a big difference between the two. I didn't like the first season of The Office at all so I'm willing to keep watching this show for a while to see if it improves like The Office did.
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post #7 of 16
4/18/09 at 9:02am

Re: Parks and Recreation

I've watched both episodes shown so far and am not very impressed. If they continue at this quality level, I wouldn't expect it back next season.

The preview hype made it look pretty decent, but I'm not seeing it.

I've never worked in a "public service" setting, so maybe people used to that type of bureaucracy may find it funny, but a lot of the jokes are real duds.

It was obvious immediately the canvassing thing was going to fail, as was the town hall meeting, but I saw no humor in the way it was done.

The best character was Ms Jane Average Citizen who didn't want the park and interrupted the meeting. Then they fill the time by making every person comment on the park, AP filibusters reading from some lame book, and suddenly it's to late to vote. Wow, just laughing my ass off from all that humor.

Boring.

Glad I had recorded "Better off Ted", which is actually funny and balanced out the 23 minutes I wasted on "Parks and Recreation".
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post #8 of 16
4/18/09 at 10:09am

Re: Parks and Recreation

I don't like The Office but I've given this show a chance and I think its okay. I'll stick around to see if it gets better. So far the funniest part was during the credits for the first episode the whole penis thing. The rest hasn't been that funny. I'm not a big fan of Amy Poehler's SNL era but I don't mind her. She's pretty enough to keep watching and I'm currently rewatching the X-Files so my fetish for women in suits has returned and this show helps with that. (Too much information? Probably.)
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post #9 of 16
4/18/09 at 11:52am

Re: Parks and Recreation

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChadMcCallum
I don't like The Office but I've given this show a chance and I think its okay.
They're nearly the exact same show so it's weird that you'd like one and not the other. Not that you can't, I'm just saying that I find it odd.
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post #10 of 16
4/21/09 at 2:03pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

Good old NBC. "Hey, The Office is popular -- let's try to copy it as closely as possible and we won't even have to try to be funny. People will watch anyway!"

Lame!
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post #11 of 16
4/21/09 at 2:15pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Parks and Recreation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman
Good old NBC. "Hey, The Office is popular -- let's try to copy it as closely as possible and we won't even have to try to be funny. People will watch anyway!"

Lame!


Have you even watched it or are you just making a generalization?
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post #12 of 16
4/21/09 at 2:33pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

Sadly, the former. I don't think I laughed even once.

Of course, if you enjoyed it, then more power to ya.
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post #13 of 16
4/24/09 at 9:47am

Re: Parks and Recreation

Maybe I'm warming up to the show because I liked last night's episode.
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post #14 of 16
4/24/09 at 11:03am

Re: Parks and Recreation

It's not bad, but it's kind of bland. The mention of Arnett above makes me realize how much I still miss Arrested Development.. "I've made a terrible mistake"
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post #15 of 16
4/24/09 at 11:13am

Re: Parks and Recreation

I do like that, unlike The Office (at least when it first started out), there's no plot device to explain the show's format. (When "The Office" started airing, they originally presented it as if someone was making a documentary about the company, basically to "allow" for all of the cutaways and interview segments.) I don't think it's at all necessary, and if anything, forces the show to attempt to be more realistic than it needs to. So kudos to them for not having this be a fake documentary about a local town.

That said, I think my problem with the show is just how incredibly naive (or dumb, depending on your point of view) Amy Poehler's character is supposed to be. That's just a personal bias, but I find it excruciating to watch stupid people doing stupid things. If she hadn't figured out that the guy on her committee slept with that reporter, it would've killed me.

It's not quite there yet, but I'm willing to give it at least a couple more episodes. I don't dislike it, I just wouldn't care if I missed it, you know?
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post #16 of 16
4/24/09 at 3:05pm

Re: Parks and Recreation

Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR
It's not bad, but it's kind of bland. The mention of Arnett above makes me realize how much I still miss Arrested Development.. "I've made a terrible mistake"

You made a huge mistake in quoting that.

The show is watchable but not impressive. I mean, plot-wise, it's felt like the same exact thing for all three episodes. I really like the supporting cast though, but I still find Amy Poehler overbearing and irritating.
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