We don't review Parks and Rec, The Office, and Community every week here at Comedy Examiner HQ, mainly because your humble Comedy Examiner is exquisitely lazy, and reviewing three half-hour sitcoms every Thursday night-- all while trying to watch all of our favorite Thursday-night shows-- would be a massive headache. Having said that, last night's episodes of The Office, Parks and Rec, and Community were strong enough to earn a "group review"-- a "Grouview", if you will-- this morning. Read on to see what we thought, my gentle Examiner readers...
I get a fair amount of email from people that want to know why we don't run weekly reviews of The Office, Community, and Parks and Rec-- three shows that we've gone on and on about in the past (and we do love each and every one of them)-- and here's the simple answer: it'd be too much damn work, and all of our favorite shows are on Thursday nights. If we stopped to review each series as it aired, it'd take until Friday to watch all of Thursday's shows. There: now you know.
Having said that, Parks and Rec, The Office, and Community all had very strong episodes last night (some moreso than others), so much so they we've been compelled to talk to you about them this morning. Y'know, on the off chance that you missed 'em and are now wondering if you shouldn't go get caught up on Hulu (we've embedded the Parks and Rec episode over there on the left for you, but you'll have to track down Community and The Office on your own).
Here's what we thought of each, in the order in which they aired:
COMMUNITY:
Our second-favorite show in the NBC lineup, Community has been on an incredible run for the past...well, since the season began, actually. Virtually every episode has caused the members of our weekly viewing party here at Comedy Examiner HQ to turn to one another and say, "I love this show, and if NBC cancels it, someone's gonna end up dead". That's commitment: Murder in the name of comedy. I like it.
Anyhow, last night's episode found the Greendale campus selecting a student body president, so of course Jeff and Annie got into a hissy-fit argument about whether or not politics is all just a sham. Jeff presented himself as the cool, calm, collected (and sound-bite spitting) politico, while Annie floundered until she tracked down a video from 1992 wherein Jeff (and his hideous, Puck-from-The-Real-World-style haircut) played an acoustic rendition of George Michael's "Faith". It was as funny as it sounds.
Overall, it was a strong episode, but not one of the strongest from this season. Still, though, a "not the strongest" episode from this season of Community is still better than 90% of the TV comedies out there (Two and a Half Men, I'm looking in your direction)(and then I'm getting tested, because God knows what kinda diseases Charlie Sheen has). This one needed more Chang (where the hell was he this week? Unacceptable), less Abed and the Secret Service Agent, and an Annie nude-scene (a boy can dream). Chevy Chase and Donald Glover were this episode's MVP's, for what it's worth.
My grade? A
THE OFFICE:
Last night's episode of The Office as titled "Todd Packer", and...yep, that's exactly what we got: 22 minutes of uncomfortable moments from David Koechner, whose Todd Packer character hasn't been seen in some time. It's obvious that the writers are looking to wrap up some of the loose ends surrounding Michael Scott before the end of the season (which, as you know, is when Steve Carell leaves), and for the most part that means bringing minor characters' archs to a close. This week, it was Todd Packer. A few weeks back, it was all of Michael's exes. Who knows who it'll be next week?
Actually, isn't Will Ferrell going to be on The Office next week? When we talked with Office star Oscar Nunez a few weeks ago, he mentioned the four-episode arch that Will Ferrell's pulling on the show, and that should be starting soon, right? Eh, anyway, doesn't matter: We're supposed to be discussing last night's episode, so let's get back to work.
"Todd Packer" was a solid installment, but highly predictable. Two minutes into the episode I could predict most of the major beats for the "A"-plotline (the "B"-plotline[s] in last night's episode was Pam and Andy fighting over the computer while Dwight and Jim attempted a prank on Packer), but I still enjoyed watching it all unfold. It seems that The Office's writers are going to spend these last few weeks with Steve Carell teaching him a few valuable lessons-- maturing him, if you will-- so that he can leave Dunder Mifflin a changed, improved man. My guess is he'll be leaving with Holly (I mean, is it possible that he won't?), and when the time comes, it'd be nice to know that the relationship will last.
The Pam/Andy stuff fell kinda flat, though, while the Dwight/Jim stuff was slightly better. Good to see Pam and Jim getting separate "talking head" interviews: we don't need to see them together every minute of every episode-- it's cloying and cutesy and just blegh: that's not what we ever wanted for those characters-- and it was great to see them doing their own thing. Overall, strong stuff, but nowhere near as good as Parks and Rec or Community were last night.
My grade? B
PARKS AND RECREATION
Parks and Rec remains the preferred Thursday-night NBC comedy at Comedy Examiner HQ, and it's really starting to feel like the show might catch on: ratings have been climbing-- slowly, but surely-- as all the people who noticed Parks and Rec on all those year-end "10 Best Shows on TV" lists have started giving the show another chance. In the beginning, it was viewed as just another Office clone. Nowadays, it's beating The Office in terms of the LOL moment-to-minute ratio.
Last night's installment found Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) being presented with some sort of award, Anne (Rashida Jones) suspecting that Chris (Rob Lowe) was cheating on her, and Tom Haverford (the invaluable Aziz Ansari) attempting to get his own brand of cologne-- "Tommy Fresh"-- off the ground. April and Andy were finally allowed to have some fun together while Ron Swanson was on a quest for meat. In terms of story, last night's episode was packed.
Parks and Rec doesn't get the credit (or the viewers) that it deserves, and-- like Community-- one has to wonder if the show isn't too smart, too funny, to clever for its own good. How else to explain the fact that a show this smart and funny hasn't been embraced in the way that, say, The Big Bang Theory has? How is Sh-t My Dad Says raking in over 10 million viewers per week, but Parks and Rec is only racking up about 6? One is reminded of the dearly-departed Arrested Development, which-- while good news for the show and those who create it-- is bad news for its potential to break big. It's insane.
Last night's episode typified the quality of the writing and acting on this series, and we've embedded the episode over there on the left if you wanna do something productive with the next 22 minutes. It's hilarious from beginning to end, features strong storylines for virtually every major character, and was easily the best show that NBC aired last night. Here's hoping that NBC decides to keep Parks and Rec on the schedule for a third season: it's really come into its own, and last night's installment shows just how good this show is.
My grade? A+
Stay tuned for more on NBC's Thursday night lineup-- including an exclusive interview with Parks and Rec star Aziz Ansari-- in the days and weeks ahead, folks. We'll keep you updated, informed, and entertained with further updates and reviews as soon as they're available! Sound off in the comments section if you've got anything you'd like to say about last night's shows.
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