Parks and Rec

[owlmoose]

For awhile, I had been slowly watching Parks and Recreation. Then, maybe about halfway through the third season, I suddenly got really invested and marathoned the rest of it over a couple of weeks. I'm glad I did -- it's a lot of fun, has a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, and is filled with really wonderful characters played by great actors, and I'm looking forward to it returning from a brief hiatus in a couple of weeks. One of my favorite things about the show is that, even though everyone gets into and out of romantic relationships (and I've shipped Leslie and Ben almost from the moment he appeared on the scene), the real focus is on friendship and how it defines these characters' lives. Leslie and Ann, especially, although I love Leslie and Ron's relationship as well. (I like Ron much better than I ever thought I would. April, too, has grown on me a lot. A lot. The only character I'm not consistently crazy about is Tom, and even he has his moments.)

I'm actually really concerned about this thing where Ann is talking about leaving Pawnee to live in a nicer city and be closer to her family. It actually does make sense in terms of character development, but I feel like the Leslie/Ann relationship is the heart of the show in so many ways, and I'm not sure how well the show would carry on without it as a centerpiece. I don't know if there's some real-world stuff going on, if Rashida Jones and/or Rob Lowe are leaving the show, so maybe they don't have any choice -- or maybe they're building up to some moment where Ann and Chris realize that their friends in Pawnee are their family, and they don't want to leave. Now that would make me happy.

Comments

[stealth_noodle]

They are both leaving the show. :( I am on the one hand SUPER SAD about Leslie and Ann's beautiful friendship no longer being that fabulous centerpiece, but on the other hand, I trust the creative team to figure out a way to make it work. But still. :(

[owlmoose]

Boo. :( Like you, I trust the creative team -- and Amy Poehler, specifically -- but this is still sad news.

[stealth_noodle]

Amy Poehler could probably entertain me for half an hour every night with a cast of popsicle sticks and bottle caps, so yeah, I am sad yet optimistic.

[bitchet]

I'm in the process of my own marathon (in the middle of the second season) and I'm really bummed about Ann leaving. Even though I obviously haven't seen all the seasons, I think her absence will really throw off the feel of the show. I hope I'm wrong.

[owlmoose]

I hope so too. One of the great things about this show is that the central relationship is a female friendship, and how often do you get to see that? Leslie has interesting relationships with April and Donna too (more so in later seasons), but it's just not the same.

[zen_monk]

I've honestly never seen a more perfect comedy show which satisfied a lot of my needs such as Parks and Recreation. The lampshading of politics and American history when Leslie makes the occasional historical Pawnee skit; the people working in it and how they are both caricatures of some type of people working there but are given depth and growth that are still in keeping with these archetypes; the citizenry being this absurd cluster of middle-of-wherever America in which all manner of ridiculousness is played up as part of town normalcy; the town meetings.

Generally kinda having fun at Rob Lowe being in a government show that isn't The West Wing XD.

I just... feel so invested in the entire world that's in Pawnee and that's what I always like about P & R because they crafted this thing that's both self-existing and not like, so absurd that you can't believe this place exists. Especially when you compare it to its rival town Eagle-ville or whatever it's called. Where their jails have tea cozies and muffins and blankets.

[owlmoose]

I love all those things, too. Including Rob Lowe! I knew when I started watching that he was joining the cast eventually -- and I confess to that being part of the reason I picked it up -- so when I first saw his name in the opening credits as a guest star I bounced with glee. My first thought was "Sam Seaborn does local government" and then very quickly I realized how very *not* Sam he was, but I've come to really love Chris Traeger, too. I'm really sad he's leaving.

Agreed on how Pawnee feels like a place that could be real. I spent most of my childhood in the Midwest, in towns much smaller than Pawnee, but a lot about it still rings true.