NBC Comedy Watch

Paul Rudd on "Parks & Rec"

I'm back for week 2 of NBC Comedy Watch & this was an outstanding week.


Community-"Basic Lupine Urology"- Sure it wasn't as deep emotionally as the last few weeks but from a pure laughs standpoint that's the best episode since the Glee parody back in December. It usually is the parody/homage episodes that get the biggest laughs & as soon as I heard they were making a Law & Order episode I expected it to be amazing, & last night delivered from the opening scene when the study group's yam was found "murdered." 


Troy & Abed trying to each do the crime scene zinger was hilarious, as was their entire time as partners (& Shirley was great as their captain as well-a reversal from season one's "The Science of Allusion" when Shirley & Annie were partners attempting to solve a crime & Abed was their "African-American police chief"), & Annie & Jeff were unsurprisingly affective lawyers (another call back to season one when they proved to be a formidable debate team, & a little bit more). Having the eternally decent Todd be the primary suspect was inspired, though not as much as Michael Ironside's appearance (& did anyone else wonder if he was involved in killing Starburns to silence him as a witness?) as Todd's military lawyer, uncle, or anything involving the brilliant Michael K. Williams who was finally used to full potential here getting to deliver his, "A man's got to have a code," line that surely made all fans of The Wire shudder like the Dean around a man in uniform. It also set up another dark & interesting turn to the season with the death of Star Burns or, as he always made a point to tell everyone, Alex.*



*Coincidence that Star Burns gets killed by creating a meth lab & Giancarlo Esposito of "Breaking Bad" is set to guest star later this season? I don't know, what I do know is that will mean "Community" will have had a cast member from BB, "Mad Men" (Alison Brie), & "The Wire" (Michael K. Williams) all in one season. That's 3 of the widely regarded 4 best dramas in TV history ("The Sopranos" being the other), or in other words some hella good casting.


When Community gets on a role of good episodes it's as good as anything on TV & right now it's on one. The last 4 weeks have all been standout & last night just continued that streak.


Grade: A


The Office-"Fundraiser"-Maybe I'm growing soft in my old age but, according to the websites I frequent, I enjoyed last week's Office episode a lot more than most. It may be the case again this week because, by this season's admittedly low standards, I once again enjoyed it. No it didn't all work, Andy's inevitable meltdown & the lead up to it never really paid off comedically or emotionally, but there was enough good stuff for me to overlook that. 


I was immediately wary of Nellie trying to win over Daryl but her terrible attempt at trying to eat a taco proved surprisingly funny & as Daryl said, "She's trying." Though it could eventually lead somewhere the Oscar stuff with Angela's husband was mostly a non-starter, except when it turned to Oscar & Pam thinking, "Life is Downton Abbey," or mocking Jim's shoes ("You bought me these shoes"). Dwight not understanding how a silent auction worked & spending $34,000 dollars winning everything didn't pay off as well as I'd hoped but it was amusing enough along the way I'm willing to forgive that. Plus we had a David Wallace appearance as he apparently became super rich thanks to his "Suck It!" invention. Most of all though my feelings of warmth for this episode belong to Kevin. 


I've gradually come to hate Kevin, a character I used to love, as the writers have made him into a stupid caricature of what he used to be but last night he was on fire. His honesty regarding Andy was refreshing in a season where to often ridiculous happenings have either been entirely ignored or earned nothing beyond a beffudled look from Jim, & that closing tag where we & everyone in the office assumes Kevin's dog is dead only to have it lick him in the face is the hardest I've laughed at The Office all year-hell it was the hardest I laughed all night. 


Grade: B


Parks and Recreation-"The Debate"-Like Community, Parks & Rec had to deal with some awfully large expectations from me last night &, like Community, it had no problem exceeding them. 


Every character had something to do, well Jerry wasn't around much but I'm sure he enjoyed hanging out with those nuns, as the night revolved around Leslie debating Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd), & a number of other ridiculous candidates including a gun nut played by Brad Leland (Buddy Garrity from "Friday Night Lights"), for the open city council seat. I loved everything about Ron, April, Andy & Donna at the viewing party fundraiser-I would pay to see Andy Dwyer reenact his favorite movies. I also enjoyed Chris' ability to turn even the worst of news into something positive finally having a practical use in his "spinning" for team Leslie, though the Anne/Tom relationship continues to be the anchor on an otherwise amazing season.


As for the main event though... by God if that wasn't some of the best stuff this show has done.* Perd Hapley & Joan Callamezzo as the moderators was, of course, hilarious but Amy Poehler (who also wrote & directed) & Paul Rudd absolutely stole the show. I thought they made Newport overly dim in the first episode but his spoiled, but well meaning, idiocy played brilliantly here & Poehler's delivery of Leslie's closing remarks was downright moving.


Co-creator and showrunner Michael Schur has said before that one of this show's biggest influences is The Wire but with its lack of cynicism & belief that in the right hands government can absolutely be a force of good this show is far more a comedic successor to The West Wing, & while I think The Wire may be the best show in television history, I completely mean that as a compliment.


*I even missed the "Hoosier" parallels that the great Alan Sepinwall caught, which makes the episode that much better. 


Grade: A+


As always feel free to leave your own thoughts on last night's episodes.