Parks and Recreation "Camping" Review

I was out on vacation last week so I never got around to reviewing the "Harvest Festival" episode and that's a real shame because it was outstanding. Little Sebastian stole my heart just like he has every other heart in Pawnee. And just like Little Sebastian stole my heart I'm going to steal Danny Vara's snippet on last week's episode on his blog Danny's Diatribes.

Parks and Rec didn’t wait until the season finale to give us the Harvest Festival and more importantly Li’l Sebastien!
First off it’s important to remember Leslie’s words, “The atrocities are in blue.”
Sepinwall had this little nugget in his review that the Indian was the guy, Jonathan Joss, who voiced John Redcorn on King of the Hill.
Ken Hotate – “There are two things I know about white people: they love Matchbox 20 and they are terrified of curses.”
Lots of great lines in this great episode, but none better than Andy’s reaction to April’s, “I love you.”
Andy – “Dude, shut up! That is awesome sauce.”
Not awesome sauce? Whatever they’re doing with Ann Perkins.

Now on to this week or as Ron Swanson would say "What the F%#$ is a German muffin?"

This week's "Camping" episode wasn't on the same level as last week's but a strong episode none the less. Anytime you get Ron Swanson outdoors in his element, your headed for television gold. Ron's campfire ghost story nearly made me fall out of my chair laughing. Just as he's done in the past Ron was there to pick Leslie up when she needed help the most. Now he picked her up and locked her in a room with a bunch of cats but he picked her up and it worked.

Leslie was panicked as she tried to follow up the Harvest Festival with another great idea. Who wouldn't go blank after the city manager uses your breast to brace himself during a heart attack. It was strange to see Leslie without her normal confidence and zeal for the job. However, her moment of weakness allowed us to see another side of Leslie and added depth to the character.

From the looks of things they've slowed down on trying to hook Leslie and Ben up. That's probably for the best. There's only so many relationships a sitcom can manage at a time. Right now we're still getting a lot of the budding Andy and April love affair. So far their relationship hasn't been as full of "awesome sauce" as I would like but I'm willing to give it more time. Andy and April are two of my favorite characters on the show. Andy for his lovable stupidity and April for being lovably surly. I'm with April and her views on camping. It's terrible. I hope to never suffer through that horror again unless I have a sweet hook up like Tom.

At this point they should just write Anne off the show. Very few of her scenes are funny. She has very little to do with the parks department. Ben has replaced Anne as Leslie's confidant. The whole Chris and Anne thing has run it's course. I think she should take her broken heart and run off to find Mark.

Random Thoughts:

• I never want to stay at that or any B&B.
• Tom's dog bed killed me.
• I like Jerry's role on the show but can live without Donna. She does nothing for me.
• "Fishing is like Yoga but I still get to kill things" Ron Swanson

Parks and Recreation "Indianapolis" Review

I checked Bodog and they didn't have a line for this but I could have told you that as soon as I came out and declared Parks and Rec the best sitcom on TV last week, it would drop one of its worst episodes on us this week.

Not you Ron, you were perfect as always. The photo album of every steak you've ever had at Mulligans, the genuine concern for all those steaks left behind when Mulligans shut down. You recoiled in disgust as Chris grilled you a mushroom. No not you Ron Swanson. Not you. You ordered all the eggs and bacon and we loved it.

As for the rest of you, I'm disappointed. I'm all for more screen time for Adam Scott. He's a funny actor and his character is finding his niche in the office. Tonight just wasn't a successful integration for Ben in with the other department members beyond Leslie. I'm a fan of Tom and his attentions seeking, success longing, tiny suit wearing ways but the fragrance angle was pretty weak. The names of Feinstein's fragrances ceased to be funny after about the third. By the way, what's the point of having Rafi from The League on your show if he's going to have one line and play it straight. You gotta let that man get someone pregnant up in the club.

Tonight dampened my hopes for the Andy and April courtship. Somehow they took two of my favorite characters and removed the funny from them. Andy's stupidity is funny in the office when he's around people like Ron, Leslie and Ben. In a place like the Snake Hole he loses all of his charm. The lovable loser becomes the sad idiot.

I'm not really going to get into the Chris and Anne breakup because I though the whole story line was pointless. Take away Leslie's line about questioning how good a nurse she is and you had absolutely nothing worthwhile. Anne's appearance in the episode was completely irrelevant and pointless. Beyond that it was just kind of stupid.

I'm holding Parks and Rec to a higher standard because I know how great it is when the show is on. Tonight just wasn't one of those nights.

Parks and Recreation "Media Blitz" Review

I have to admit I might give up listening to John & Lance in the morning if Crazy Ira and The Douche were to move here.

No offense to Community but Parks and Recreation is the funniest show on television right now. Ron Swanson is in the 2007 Tom Brady zone right now. Everything he does kills. I just laughed out loud while he typed the words "rectangle, America, megaphone, Monday, butthole." Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) is the most awkwardly funny person since Michael Scott and Tom (Aziz Ansari) is a dead eye comedic sniper right now.

The best part of tonight's episode is that we finally got to see Ben (Adam Scott) step out of his straight guy persona and completely lose his mind in every medium possible. When confronted about his disastrous stint as an 18 year old mayor on a popular radio show, Crazy Ira and The Douche, Ben shows that he may not be as cool and collected as he appears out of the media. The Douche by the way is played by the very funny veteran of The League, Nick Kroll. As the media blitz to create buzz around the Harvest Festival continues, Ben's outbursts become more outlandish. At one point lifting his shirt to show host Perd Hapley his birthmark in order to drive home the point that he's not perfect. It's more than obvious Ben is haunted by his past failure.

Lucky for Ben, he's got Leslie and Tom to fall back on. An appearance on Joan Callamezzo's show wraps up the day for team. Tom is always on point to butter up Leslie's rival in the media Joan. For all of Leslie's awkward goofiness she somehow always knows the right move to fix a problem. When she is being grilled by Joan about Ben's ability to oversee the Pawnee's budget, Leslie knows the time is right to Ben to defend himself. And so the Harvest Festival is saved once again.

Let's not forget Chris' offer to take April with him to Indianapolis to be his assistant. Her response "sounds boring but I don't have anything tying me here so OK." No way are Ron and Andy going to let April get away that easy. Plus I'd have to drive to Pawnee and kill them if they did. Andy agrees to do all the jobs April hates for a month if she'll stay in Pawnee. Ron who knows he'll never find a suitable replacement for April takes it upon himself to make sure Andy succeeds. Of course, Andy runs into a number of Andy problems along the way.

I love Andy. He's dumb, sweet and completely naive in all the right ways. The character is ten fold better than he was in Parks first season. I'm glad he and April reunited. I don't see this as one of those relationships that changes the dynamic of the show. Neither character are central to Parks but rather the kind of role players that make a series.

Chris (Rob Lowe) cracks me up in small doses but as far as his relationship with Ann, I don't care very much. She finally confronted him about what is going to happen to their relationship when he has to move. All that was resolved was an agreement that they needed to address the subject.

Another excellent episode from Parks this week.

ApeDonkey Power Rankings - 1/24/11

Top 5

1. The Swanson Pyramid of Greatness - Parks and Recreation returned last week and I know if you're smart enough to read this blog then you already watch P&R. If for some unfathomable reason you don't watch then you need to fix that. Immediately. This week the worlds greatest government employee, Ron Swanson revealed the foundation on which every life should be built, The Swanson Pyramid of Greatness. There is so much good and victory in here I almost feel unworthy to receive it. Go ahead, take a look, print it out and hang it on your wall. You'll be better for it.

2. Twitter - If you're reading this, I assume you're already on twitter. But if not, you really should be and this past Sunday is a perfect example why. Twitter was made for events like NFL playoff games. You find you some good follows and your Sunday football tradition just improved seven fold. Between Cutler quitting, gambling degenerates gripping and Rashard Mendenhall Rapisbergering Big Ben twitter was exploding with comedic genius. If comedy isn't your thing but you just want to get more insight into the game, Adam Caplan, John Harris and Rob Rang do a great job of breaking down the game and players. If you want opinions not necessarily on the X's & O's but rather the circumstances surrounding the game then Gregg Doyle, Dan Wetzel and Jason Whitlock are your guys. Or if you're nearsighted and can't see all the way to the television but you want to know what is going on in the Texans game then John McClain will be there to regurgitate the play that just happened. If you're lucky he'll also drop a little Texans propaganda in your lap as well. What I'm trying to say is no matter your situation twitter makes watching football better.

3. Nose Pickers - Look I'm not going disparage anyone for nose picking. When it come to rhino digging I'm world class. I'm a big fat guy but I have these tiny narrow nostrils. So, I have to spend a great deal of time clearing the air passages. However, I bow in respect to the guy I saw in Shipley's donuts the other day. In fact, I slow clap in respect to his brazenness. There he was in the middle of the busy donut shop taking nose picking to a new level. As he stood there cork screwing a napkin in to one nostril then the next and then back again, I knew there was a higher plain of picking I had yet to achieve. I salute you my friend. I only hope to inspire others the way you have inspired me. God Bless.

4. Aaron Rodgers - This time last week the guy was getting killed for snubbing a cancer patient and now he is one victory away from winning the greatest championship in the world. And yes World Series the Lombardi trophy trumps you. We now know the perceived snubbing of a cancer survivor was blown way out of proportion. Hell I had a little fun with this perception myself on twitter. The truth is Rodgers does a lot of charitable work for cancer patients and is widely considered a good guy. He stepped into the very difficult role of replacing a legend like the old dongslinger but he's improved every year and is now considered one of the premier quarterbacks in the league. I'll be pulling for the Pack when they play the Steelers in two weeks because I've liked the Packers since the Lynn Dickey/James Lofton days and if given a choice I prefer to not root for a person accused of sexual assault.

5. Perseverance of the Human Spirit -Some where in Houston there's a woman whose husband has left her alone with five kids this week. She is in a constant battle with raging hormones, sleep deprivation and poor grammar by her kids. She prays daily that she's able to hold it together until her valiant husband is able to make his way back to her. Though her nerves may be frayed she perseveres. Because she knows some where out there, there's a rock star that dedicates songs to her and she will make her husband take her to see that rock star a couple months from now. Keep it together Nicole.


Bottom 5

1. Jay Cutler - I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Jay Cutler didn't have a very good day yesterday. His play was bad, not Jake Delhomme bad but bad none the less. Sonny Liston thought his "injury" seemed kind of fishy. And now he's got Bears fans burning his jersey. Someone could really use a reset button. I think Bears fans might want to slow down though. Yeah Cutler likes to pout and through pity parties on the sidelines but have you already forgotten the list of QBs you guys have had since McMahon and Ditka were patrolling the sidelines? I'll give you a partial list just off the top of my head. Stop me when I get to the QB you like better than Cutler: Erik Kramer, Rex Grossman, Peter Tom Willis, Jim Harbaugh (the QB version not the coach), Doug Flutie, Mike Tomczak, Jim Miller, Cade McNown. Is that enough or do I need to keep going? What I'm trying to say is you finally have a guy with some talent. Yeah he's got issues between the ears but he also made strides this year. I'd cut him a little slack. You've got the rest of your lives to hold this game against him.

2. What's left of Al Davis - This is one of those situations where a picture is worth a thousand words. It may also be worth a thousand winces too.

3. Winter Sports Doldrums - Everyone talks about the dog days of summer after the NBA has ended their season and before football is ready to start over again but I find the winter sports doldrums to be much worse. Two weeks from today the football season will officially be in our rear view and all that will be on the table is basketball. Baseball will still be nearly two months away and March Madness more than six weeks. I'm sure it depends on your preference between baseball and basketball as to which down time leaves you more wanting but at least in the summer you can get out and find things to do. The dreary winter weather is far less accommodating. Maybe I'll turn my attention to something other than sports. Is there something other than sports? I'll have to get back to you on that.

4. Modern Family -The writing on Modern Family has been pretty disappointing this season and this past week's episode was the lowest point yet. It was as if the writers discovered Three's Company while watching Nick at Nite and just adapted one of those scripts to fit MF. You know the one where there's a misunderstanding between Jack, Chrissy and the Ropers. If anyone read all the hype from last season and decided to start watching Community and Modern Family this season, they'd think we were all crazy for putting these two shows on the same level. Community has actually managed to improve this season while MF has taken a step back.

5. The End of the World as I Know It (And I Feel Fine) - On March 8, 2011 R.E.M. will release their new album (that's an old school term for a collection of songs for all you youngins) Collapse into Now and I won't be heading to the store to buy it. This marks the end of a very long and enjoyable relationship between the boys from Athens, Georgia and myself. I have everything the band has ever released and many things they haven't. I've read several books on the band and a chronicling of the making of their first album but this relationship just isn't working for me anymore. It all started to fall apart when Bill Berry left the band in 1997 and the release of their last great album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi the previous year. The subsequent releases have failed to live up to the quality I expect from R.E.M. and rarely get played anymore. There are a few songs like Imitation of Life that make it into the rotation but not many.  I still plan to see them live whenever they come to town because they continue to be an outstanding live act. I just have lost my desire to hear new music from the guys. I have a retrospective review of all their releases in the works. In preparation for that post and to mark this sad occasion I've spent the past couple of days listening exclusively to their catalog. If I can ever finish this 80's movie post I'll get to working on my R.E.M. love fest.

Are you ready for some TV? pt. 4 NBC

Ron Swanson American Hero

Seriously, what's the best we can hope for from the same people that put The Jay Leno Show on in prime time five days a week. These people have already proven their stupidity, now they can only build on it. That's exactly what they've done this season. It takes a special kind of idiot to take one of your best shows, Park and Recreation, out of your lineup and replace it with what sounds like one of the dumber premises this season, Outsourced. Parks and Recreation had really hit its stride last season and was only building steam with the additions of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe so of course it should be pulled from the fall lineup and not be brought back until the spring. That strategy has never backfired.

NBC is the only network that doesn't have a new show worth checking out. The Event? No thanks, I'll keep getting my conspiracy fix from Rubicon. The Chase? Jerry Bruckheimer and I'm out. Maybe I'll Netflix Chuck and give it a shot. Although, since I've heard good things about it NBC will soon give it the Friday Night Lights purgatory treatment.

Fall Roster

Alison Brie. That is all.

Community - Thurs 7c - Community ran neck and neck with Modern Family for best new show all last season. Unlike, Glee when Community broke out a theme show, they nailed it. The Modern Warfare episode was probably one of the five best episodes in all television last season. Each member of this outstanding cast (Britta not withstanding) has found their comedy sweet spot and the writers have continued to find creative story lines in what seems like a limited setting. I pray they can keep it up for a few more seasons.

30 Rock - Thurs 7:30c - 30 Rock still very solid. Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan make it a must watch every week.

Veterans trying to avoid being cut

More Nard Dog

The Office - Thurs 8c - The Office has enough equity built up that it really doesn't have to worry about being cut. However, the past two seasons have been very disappointing. Note to television producers everywhere, anytime you want to kill a show, kill the sexual tension by allowing lead characters to get together. Since, The Office has already made that mistake my suggestion is less Jim & Pam and much more Nard Dog. They also need to rekindle the Nard Dog v. Dwight rivalry. This season I'll still be watching but I just don't think I'll be enjoying it as much.

Rookies trying to make it

None. Congratulations NBC you suck. Keep running The Apprentice and finding new cities to throw a Law & Order in. No one really expects more from you.