How many of you are watching Parks and Recreation?
Wait, what? Who are you people whose hands aren’t raised?
I know that Thursday night is a DVR nightmare. I mean Bones, Flashforward, Vampire Diaries and Parks and Recreation are all on at the same time. Still, you really have no excuse, because Parks and Recreation is available online on nbc.com, Hulu and on many cable systems On Demand.
Of course, that doesn’t really tell you why you should watch, even though StuntDouble made a persuasive argument a few weeks ago. In fact, let me quote her: “Parks and Recreation is the best thing going on Thursday night.” Yes, it’s funnier than The Office and 30 Rock. And that, my friends, is saying a lot.
But the ratings, while improving, still need to be higher. The fact is that Parks and Recreation got off to a slow start and many people quit watching. If you are one of those people, you are missing something great.
TV critic extraordinaire Alan Sepinwall agrees and asked Amy Poehler to help him prove how funny her show is by choosing her favorite moments so far in the series. Here are a few of her picks, with her comments.
Ann and Leslie go on a practice date.
“It was very fun to get harassed by Rashida Jones in a nice restaurant. It’s not the first time. I really enjoy how terrible Leslie’s dating track record is.”
Dave thinks Madeline Albright is Leslie’s grandma.
“Louis C.K. is a great actor, and I love when he is uncomfortably flirting with Leslie. When Dave doesn’t recognize Madeline Albright in a picture on Leslie’s desk, Leslie has a crisis moment where she wonders if he is the right guy for her.”
Leslie looking out her window on a rainy day.
“This was a simple scene in our first episode, where Leslie talks about her dream for a park. Greg Daniels was directing Michael Schur’s script. I was looking out the window thinking about what it would be like to stay optimistic and hopeful. How I would need to prepare myself for a new project that would take years, and how it would be hard but amazing work. It is my favorite scene to date.”
You can watch the rest of Poehler’s picks here.
I have so many favorite moments myself that I had a hard time narrowing the field. But the first episode of this season set a pretty high standard for funniness, with its story about Leslie’s wedding of same-sex penguins.
As a bonus, here’s an unaired clip in which Leslie shows off a new look at a special dinner.
Which proves that Amy Poehler not only is funny, she’s hot.
Do you agree that Parks and Recreation is at the top of the Thursday comedy heap? What are your favorite moments so far?
