NBC Comedy Recap

Annie & Abed in the Dreamatorium. 

Last night marked the return of Parks & Rec, meaning once again NBC was airing the 2 best comedies on TV in one night! Because of this wonderful occurrence I felt the need to give my brief, except in the case of Community, thoughts on the last night's episodes.

1. Community-"Virtual Systems Analysis"-By now it's cliche to say that an episode of Community is unlike anything else on TV, after all they did an episode as Ken Burns documentary only 2 weeks ago, but damn... That was definitely the weirdest thing they've ever done (Not to mention the weirdest, & funniest thing, the Dean has ever worn). I mean that neither as praise or criticism. Ok, maybe a little praise because it's ballsy to go that nuts even after all the other stuff they've pulled. Though being off kilter alone doesn't make a show good (If that were the case Glee would be sensational), what really made the episode work was that beneath all of the wackiness of Abed & Annie playing other members of the study group inside the dreamatorium there was real emotional resonance. 

The episodes that really look at the way the members of the study group relate to one another despite, & sometimes because of, their faults have always been some of my favorites (the best of which was last year's "Mixology Certification") & here we definitely have one of those. What makes it unique, beyond all the dreamatorium business, is that it centers almost exclusively on Annie & Abed, these two really haven't had a storyline to themselves since the fourth episode of the series "Social Psychology" (There was also last year's paintball finale but there Abed was playing Han Solo & never reverts back to himself in a meaningful way). Back then it was Abed proving something to Annie about what it means to be someone's friend where this time it's Annie who helps Abed realize that he will never be alone in this world-something that he's always been afraid of but fears now more than ever as Troy has shown abilities/interests that are entirely separate from Abed. 

Creator Dan Harmon has said that this was the first season that the writers truly mapped out beforehand, & while there have been bumps along the way, especially in the early going, the strengths of that approach have begun to show. This season has, much like this episode, been weirder & darker than those that came before & yet it has felt more emotionally grounded & thus the emotional payoffs have only been building. Now more than ever I look forward to what is to come. 

Grade: A-

2. 30 Rock-"Murphy Brown Lied to Us"-Sorry, I don't watch 30 Rock regularly.

3. The Office-"Angry Andy"-This is the first season of The Office that I've felt has been legitimately bad. Sure the last two seasons weren't quite up to par but they were still consistently amusing & had moments of brilliance, especially in the lead up to & departure of Michael Scott/Steve Carell. Now though it feels like an empty shell of its own self in which the only characters I really like are Jim & Creed. Despite all of that I mostly enjoyed last night.

I haven't cared about the Andy/Erin relationship in a long time & Andy's breakup with his girlfriend last week was one of the worst things the show has ever done but their angry freak out yesterday was refreshing in that someone finally called out the ridiculousness of Nellie taking over as manager based on the mere fact she decided she was (though this is largely undermined by his then getting fired in favor of Nellie) & the meeting in the conference room was at least saved by Toby's, "HR is a joke," which has to be the line of the season. Meanwhile the Ryan/Kelly storyline could have been a complete retread like much of the season but managed to find managed to find a number of amusing moments. Also Phylis' cliches about rain was a classic cold open, unlike this season it felt true to life & turned out be an extremely well executed joke.Grade: B-

4. Parks and Recreation-"Live Ammo"-Finally back in the post-Office slot it should have been in the last three years, where it could have built up the audience to be the comedy hit NBC so desperately needs now that The Office has fallen apart, Parks came back with a solid episode.

Leslie's campaign bits weren't killer stuff comedically this week (as they have been for much of the season), though they were livened up by a Bradley Whitford appearance (though alas for us West Wing fans he never interacted with Rob Lowe) in which Leslie learns that sometimes even she can't come up with a perfect solution (though she does figure out the next best thing). The Ben & Ron stuff though continued to be dynamite & April continues to show growth this season as she's actually become someone who cares about things from time to time. Not a homerun, but I have a feeling that's coming with next week's debate episode. 

Grade: B+

Feel free to leave your own thoughts.