First Look: Parks and Recreation

For this assignment to write in the style of a TV critic, I chose to emulate Brian Ford Sullivan, writer for the blog “The Futon Critic.” The site touts itself as “the web’s best television resource,” which peaked my interest and ultimately led me to choosing Sullivan as my critic despite never hearing of him previously.

On this website, Sullivan has two types of reviews – one being a listing of the best episodes of TV that year, and the other being a “first look” review.  In these “first look” reviews, Sullivan takes the series premiere of a show (including ones of shows that end up being quickly cancelled) and sticks to the same style every time by including the networks description of the TV show, what he believes the networks description left out, the plot, and then what he thinks works and doesn’t work - the focus of what I will be doing for this assignment.  Finally, he ends with a section called “the bottom line” that is a continuation of the last sentence of the previous section, summing up his thoughts. 

He also tends to, though not exclusively, write about shows with female leads and focuses on their character traits, tropes and stereotypes, and the way they are written, and how this can be to the shows benefit or demise.

Here are some examples of his work:

Review of Awkward.

Review of Apartment 23

Review of The Mindy Project

Review of New Girl

For my assignment, I am going to write about a recent episode of already well-established show –Parks and Recreation, instead of the pilot episode, in this style:

First Look: “Parks and Recreation” episode 604: Dopplegangers (NBC)

(Thursdays at 8:00/7:00c)

The Network’s Description:

“Leslie and Chris welcome the city employees of the town formerly known as Eagleton. Since Eagleton is now part of Pawnee, the employees must be reassigned to their respective Pawnee departments, and the Parks Department is no exception. The good news is that the office is bustling with a collection of vibrant new characters. Unfortunately, it's also teeming with redundancy, so Leslie will have to decide which employees to keep and which ones to send packing.” (From NBC.com)

What did they leave out?

This is one of the last episodes that Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe will be in – they are leaving the cast halfway through this season. 

Plot in a Nutshell

Eagleton, in the world of Parks and Recreation, is the formerly rich, longstanding rival of Pawnee.  Leslie has begrudgingly allowed Eagleton to be absorbed into Pawnee because they are experiencing a budget crisis.  Each Eagleton employee in this episode is a doppelganger of those holding their respective job in Pawnee – leading to hilarious interactions between new and old characters.

What Works

The title of this episode promises doppelgangers – and boy does it deliver!  In that Parks and Recreation style, though, we are pleasantly surprised with who (or what) these doppelgangers are, leaving a fresh spin on an old trope.  Ron’s doppelganger, also named Ron, at first glance, is just like him – and they get along.  As the episode progresses, we realize that in actuality he is the polar opposite – Eagleton Ron is a hippie, yoga loving vegetarian, whereas Pawnee Ron is an all American meat loving man.  Another surprisingly pleasant parallel is Tom’s doppelganger: Eric.  Eric, however, is not a person – he is a machine standing for “Eagleton Reservation Information Center” indicating that Eagleton finds Tom’s position to be easily replaced by a machine and useless. Tom eventually is able to get “Eric” fired without Leslie ever meeting him by badmouthing him.  Finally, the third hilarious doppelganger is traditionally sarcastic April who loves to take on different personas – this time, a parody on her Eagleton counterpart.  The only character without a doppelganger is Jerry…

What doesn’t

… who becomes a doppelganger of himself.  The staff of the Pawnee parks department, who have traditionally bullied Jerry as the office fool, have renamed him Larry when he has temporarily come out of retirement to help out during the absorption of Eagleton.  While this can sometimes be funny this running joke often crosses the line and the mean spiritedness clouds over the otherwise lighthearted fun that is Parks and Recreation.  At times the show can makes you cringe…

The Bottom Line

… while at other times it can make you smile and laugh.  This season of Parks and Recreation is far from a disappointment, and continues to offer a fresh and clever take on standard TV tropes.