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Parks and Rec season 1 BBC 4 March 6th
Is this program worth watching? A lot of people here seem to rave about it, but my "generic recording device" is pretty full up at the moment
Is this program worth watching? A lot of people here seem to rave about it, but my "generic recording device" is pretty full up at the moment
WATCH IT
I'll add, the first 6 episodes or so aren't great.
But it gets better, then AMAZING, then super super super AMAZING. My favourite current American sitcom, for sure. Ron Swanson is the best.
1st series jars until date night and then it's all plain sailing.
Yeah, pretty much actually.
It's definitely the best it's ever been currently. The last few episodes have just been wonderful. They do love and friendship better than ANYTHING.
Series 1: Probably not
Everything after that is great though.
I've never seen this
because I'm not one of those people with the time or patience to download all the newest hippest American TV
but I understand that Greg Daniels of Simpsons/Office/King of the Hill fame is involved so I'm assuming it's excellent
fair assumption
and you'd be correct
This is silly
The amount of people who haven't already seen this who will be likely to give it a go from BBC4 must be tiny, the amount of people who will stick with it after a ropy first season is even fewer.
I do find it really odd how they've picked it up,
what, four years after it began. And they've put it on a channel no one will notice too.
They did it with Seinfeld and Arrested Development too
And just look at how Breaking Bad has been handled over here as well.
I've just had a look as well,
it's on at 10pm. TEN PEE EM!
and Walking Dead
is on FX new (which no one has) or Channel 5 late (so everyone so inclined has already seen it)
Less annoyed by that though given how wildly inconsistent it is
But yea, it would be a ratings juggernaut if someone actually dealt with it properly.
I think you massively underestimate the number of people
for whom council telly is the start and the end of their TV viewing.
That said, and taking into account what people seem to be agreeing on about S1 being just ok compared to S2, Noblet's suggestion seems to be a fair one.
it's not even that
I have the full Sky package, but I've never seen Parks and Recreation because a) I don't really know HOW to download something off the internet, b) I don't like watching tv on a laptop and c) I feel a bit weird about downloading stuff illegally so I've never really bothered with it.
I'm looking forward to finally watching it! IT BETTER BE GOOD NOW.
decent, not worth your last few sky+ megabytes
even at it's best not close to the office at it's best but probably better week-to-week these days
Worth watching for the set up / learning the characters
But it's not the best series and by far gets better and better. It's my favourite American comedy.
season 1 is not bad to quite good
season 2 is very good
season 3 is quite good
but since then and recently it's a bit too schmaltzy for me, still funny at times but they're milking ron swanson's 'soft side' to death. and andy and april's relationship has turned into something from one of those judd apatow movies everybody agrees was a mistake.
DiS social board: RECOMMENDS
I'll use the space on Sky+ that was devoted to the wank fest "The Following"
instead of this archaic way of airing a 5 year old series
why not put the whole series on iplayer as a 'watch it all now' job similar to what Netflix are doing?
Parks & Rec is 22mins an episode and perfect for watching multiple episodes.
It surely would get more people giving it a go than hidden away on bbc4 as well as drum up some news on iplayer
everyone who would likely watch it as an iPlayer exclusive will have already seen it
but this way I can convince my mother to watch it as I think she'll really like it
they should also do this with 'always sunny in philadelphia'
Really looking forward to it.
Torrenting's a pain in the arse for me and I'm not really one for watching TV through my laptop anyway. I've wanted to see P&R for a while and I'm glad it's finally being made available.
Controversial?
I'm the same
Can't really be bothered with torrenting and I'm quite 'anti' illegal music downloading so I feel a bit like I have no moral grounds for tv. Anyway, I'm looking forward to finally seeing what the fuss is about.
I'm always amazed that Netflix aren't just hoovering up these shows. Community is another one. Surely just reading Twitter and forums give you an idea of what's 'buzzy' and being torrented a lot. Especially when they don't have a DVD release or anything.
obviously netflix would have everything ever if they could
but it's all contracts and licensing and shit
yeah
a lot of shows get held back from DVD releases with the hope of selling the TV rights, even if they're years old. Friday Night Lights is finally resuming this month after getting shown on Sky Atlantic, season 2 of Community didn't come out until after it had been on some minor satellite channel, I'm sure Parks & Rec will be out soon enough now...
Nah, it's shite.
Those t-shirts with the horse on are dead cool though, get one of those!!
@chickenbones
@wilykit
Bite, you fucking pricks (TWSS, obvs).
So.
Did anyone watch this last night? WHAT DID YA THINK?
Isn't today the 6th?
you've botched your calender reading there mate
it's tonight
I'll be honest I'm not expecting much from it.
move along guys nowt to see here
Gee this is kinda embarassing
actually what I meant was BUMP THIS IS TONIGHT
Season 1 is alright
Season 2 is good
Season 3 is great
Season 4 is great
Cheers.
*season 1 is awful
no it isn't
fix
Not seen this before but heard good things
yeah quite liked it actually. Thoughts:
-Amy Poehler's forced smile face at everything was disturbingly funny.
-Like that Ron Swanson dude, he's class, especially the bit about calling his wife a bitch to the camera.
-KAREN FROM THE OFFICE
-Tom showing the quote he'd wrote down and it was a load of scribble :D
Would watch again if I remember.
complete forgot Rashida Jones was in The Office
in hindsight her and Jim would've worked.
this wouldn't be on the iPlayer would it?
CAM ON
it is
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p015043t/Parks_and_Recreation_Pilot/
Watched the first two episodes last night
Thought it was ok but maybe a bit too similar to the US Office (title screen, set-up, jokes, style, even shared an actor). Only really laughed at one bit and that was the tramp stuck in the slide. From reading on here series 1 is regarded as being pretty weak and the later series are the good ones. Not sure I'll make it that far.
Exactly this
I'm done with TV programmes where people tell me 'yeah it gets better from the 23rd episode on until it got canceled'.
+ it'll only be being watched by a handful of Guardianistas
and will end up being punted aimlessly around the schedules.
I'm sure it's brilliant obviously.
pretty much all of your opinions are bad
i've noticed
well what the fuck do you expect
American TV shows are made under a lot of pressure to perform and work itself out in such a short space of time, and the best ones do work that out. The first series is only 6 episodes, after that it's an amazing show and worth sticking around for
I've devised a radical solution to this issue of late
Watch less telly
The first season's only 6 episodes though.
Once they're out the way it gets good quickly.
TRUST.
is it dramatically different after the first 6 episodes?
Not really.
They just change what some of the characters are like, tone everyone down a bit and make Leslie and a few others actually likeable. From then on it really works.
Well, a bit.
Character dynamics and that, and it gets laugh-out-loud funny. Also watching last night I forgot how Office-esque it starts out, that changes too.
Comparable to when you watch the very first episodes of the Simpsons.
Knew they had a good idea but had to tweak the dynamic to make it work. Obviously not as good as the Simpsons but there you go.
Early SImpsons is great
Calm down Captain Kick Off
They're obviously good but it works much better from the second series onwards.
Captain Kick Off? What does that make you, Mr Convivial?
Point is that The Simpsons started out as a great telly show, then got better. You don't have to watch a mediocre first series to 'get into it'.
Your mam calls me Admiral Conjugal if that's any good to you?
...
I'm a busy man
Surely the first series should have good characters, interesting plotlines, funny scenes etc as that is what got it commissioned in the first place.
cool
I've only seen the first two episodes which is only about 40 minutes in total so although I didn't really see much evidence of any of those it's a bit too quick to judge. I will probably watch the rest of the series to see how it develops.
i watched the first series in 2 days
it's like 2 hours of material, total. just download it and get on with it.
you're just going to plow on with watching it on TV once a week and give up before it gets good
yes
in that it goes from being not funny to being really funny. The problem at the start was they tried to make Amy Poehler's character basically just another Michael Scott and it didnt work. I stopped watching it after two episodes but came back because everyone said the second season was a massive improvement and they were right. You can just sit out the first 6 or 7 episodes and come back to it and you will like it a lot.
I was the same but it's definitely worth it.
Thought it was let down by some poor casting.
Dialogue-wise, pretty strong, but the actress who plays the main character doesn't really make me laugh, and they don't really make the most of Aziz Ansari.
Thought several of the other characters were very funny, though, mainly Ron Swanson and Mark Brendanawicz (or so Wikipedia says). Had a bit of Kenny Powers and a straight version of Gob Bluth, respectively, but probably not.
Overall, a pretty standard 7/10 leftie Guardian reader fanboy American sitcom, but probably better than virtually anything else you'll see on British TV at the moment.
Aziz Ansari becomes a much bigger/funnier character
the only problem with it is Anne Perkins
I love Aziz
His stand up is great too. He talks about meeting Kanye :D
My favourite Tom Haverford quote:
“Whenever Leslie asks me for the Latin names of any of our plants, I just give her the names of rappers. Those are some Diddies. Those are some Bone Thugs-N-Harmoniums, right here. Those Ludacrises are coming in great.”
Actually, no. When he's talking about food and saying something like
"I call noodles long ass rice"
:D
I prefer John Ralphio
JOHN RALPHIO! DANCE ON ME!
I really don't get the hatred for Anne Perkins
She's a bit rubbish
Just gets used as a vehicle for dating everyone. Never really particularly funny in her own right. Necessary character though, wouldn't ever say I *hate* her.
But you need the straight guy/girl, and it is definitely not Ben
I think the whole,plotiline they aired in the latest episodes might have some legs. Wonderful awkwardness
Ben is a straight guy
who is still funny. Anne doesn't even do that. Her character has been irrelevant since the pit got filled/Andy moves on to April. All she's there to do is for Leslie to make the now kinda tired joke about her being beautiful.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrxp346rgs1qzsth0o1_500.gif
that's still Leslie's joke though!
it doesn't need to be Anne!
Yeah true, I just wanted to post it :D
I have seen every episode (apart from the two latest)
and I can conclusively say that it is quite good. Not up in my favourites but still quite good.
Goodbye.
Its very American Office
Does it become its own thing more, the longer it goes? BUt yeah it was alright, not sure I caught it all.
Parks & Rec >>> The US Office
cool
I don't rate American Office that highly so yeah wouldn't be suprised if it over shot it at some point.
It absolutely astounds me how many people have this opinion
Yeah, I agree with you here actually.
I *love* P&R and think it's really come into its own recently. But aside from a few blips the US Office is clearly the DADDY of them all. And the recent episodes which have been very Dwight-centric have been incredible.
Tell you what had a shit first series but turned out great
Blackadder. But you didn't have to bother watching the first series so it wasn't an issue.
You fell in too? That's awesome.
It's not as good as I was expecting
but there are enough definite highlights for me to keep watching it until the apparently inevitable improvement. Me like.
Watched the first two episodes and I'm enjoying it so far
I think the most notable thing about it is that Mark Brendanawicz looks like Jamie Summers.
This programme gets better with each episode. The first series
was weak but series two is great.
Tom Haverford is the best
Chicky Chicky Parm Parm
I like it
Don't even see the problem with `season` 1.
I have been watching this
The first series was fun and nice but it wasn't very funny.
Every ep of the second season so far has cracked me up
The bit where Ron Swanson throws the burger at his face
:'D
and when he's not sure if April has gone or not
I'm glad everyone seems to be sticking with this.
Where is BBC4 up to now? Last week's episode was incredible. Classic Swanson quotes.
*and by last week's I mean what's being shown in the States currently
I REGRET NOTHING
There's only one thing I hate more than lying:
skim milk. Which is water that's lying about being milk.
i have skimmed milk
because anything else makes my gut go wrong.
Ron Swanson hates me D:
Last night's were the Venezuelans (sp?) and the KABOOM! guy episodes
oh so Louis CK's appeared now?
<33333333
Ron Swanson is the best comedic character in the last ten years
I've never been hungover.
After I've had too much whiskey, I cook myself a large flank steak, pan fried and salted butter. I eat that, put on a pair of wet socks and go to sleep.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day
Don't teach a man to fish, and you feed yourself. He's a grown man. Fishing's not that hard
Never half ass two things, whole ass one thing.
Not to worry, I have a permit
http://www.monkeyfrolic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ron-swanson-shows-off-his-permit-to-the-police-officer.png
:D
*character
guys, look,
it's nick offerman grilling sausages in a tux holding a six pack
http://www.lastagetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Megan-Mullally-and-Nick-Offerman.-Photo-by-Eric-Schwabel.jpg
oh my
*fans self*
I have been enjoying it very much
not something I would go out of my way to find download and watch from America but I'm well happy to wack it on the telly when its on. Defo got better this season.
I really liked the first season, but yeah
this one's shown some real improvement. I just hope BBC4 gets the rights to the next few seasons, too -- hopefully they get enough viewing figures to do so (but maybe not so many that Sky swoop in and ruin everything).
yeah if they d
yeah if they do them all I'd be happy
don't have sky can't be arsed to find it anywhere else. I didn't dislike season one it just wasn't as fun as this one is so far.
true
what I liked about season one was how it seemingly improved every week; whereas season two's just so much more confident.
I've watched every episode of this show
SPOILERS etc as if anyone cares about comedy show spoilers
my verdict: its pretty good.
Really just watching it for ron swanson, the slapstick jokes with andy and the occasional bit of toms loud pal. Since they've run out of political jokes theyve had to pair all the characters up with each other. April gets really boring too. I really dont like ben. All he does is look at the camera when something zany happens.
Rob Lowe is in it though, so thats really cool.Bradley whitford had that cameo too right? Guess it was too much to ask them both to do a scene together for old times sake
"oil is food for cars."
the Venezuelans are my favourite :DDD
Fred Armisen <3
oh god the 'jail' bit
actual tears.
undercook fish?
believe it or not, JAIL!
Greg Pickitus.
i know this is commonly held knowledge
but season 2 is SUCH a step up from season 1. Enjoying this a lot, and the fact that it comes up on iplayer two episodes a week is stopping me from bingeing on it (which is probably a good thing).
if you've not watched the latest two
then the whole bit with Will Arnett is incredibly funny. Incredibly.
"I've never had an M.R.I."
"What?"
the cut afterwards
was so perfect
late to it
but just finished Season 2 and it's really good isn't it. Easily better than the US Office
only need to look at Ron Swanson's face and it raises a smile.
Character order
Ron > Tom > April > Andy > Jerry > Leslie > Ann > Donna >>>>>>>> Mark
haven't seen season 3 so can't comment
Mark was such a shit character
Only good bit was Tom getting a piggy back round the building shouting MAARRKKK BRAAAAANNN-DANAWICZ
i keep thinking of the bit where tom has ron's raccoon hat on
and is trying to chat girls up , and it always raises a smile
ffs
I thought this was bumped cause they had season 3. I LIKED WATCHING THIS ON BBC4, IT WAS A COMFORTING RITUAL
I think Mark's got some good bits.
The mistake reveal to Jerry about his adopted mum is one of the best bits in series 2.
I feel sorry for Jerry :(
they're all a bit too mean to him, especially Leslie who's meant to be the saint
You think it's bad now
It gets much worse in later seasons (by seasons 5/6 it's really unpleasant, even when offset by seeing what his home life is like)
I am sad they are in their last season now :'(
pretty ridic that it didn't finish with the SERIES 6 blow off
tbh tbf.
But if it means a bit more Ron then I'm happy.