Community and Parks and Recreation are two of my favorite comedies on the air. The Office I still quite enjoy from time to time. Since they happen to be on back to back to back, I figured I'd do a weekly post on my thoughts for all three. Overall, no standouts in their premieres, but no duds either.
Community - "Biology 101"
A fine start for our intrepid study group's third year. Pierce is, of course, back in the group. I'm glad they had no intentions of dragging that out. Pierce may be a problematic character, but he's written that way intentionally. The group dynamic just wouldn't be the same without him. There were a couple high profile guest stars to start this year as well. Michael K Williams (Omar comin'!) as the group's biology teacher and John Goodman as the dean of the Air Conditioner Repair Annex. Goodman was great, especially in his take down of (newly added to the regular cast) Dean Pelton. Williams not as much. His constant references to his time in prison I think were suppose to be funny, but didn't sound it at all coming from him. I'm not sure if it's a writer thing or Williams is just better suited to drama.
Most of my laughs throughout the show, though, came from Chang and his living in the air vents. "Chimpan-zzzzzz's" as the monkey knockout gas, Chang throwing a random ham he has at Jeff, and Chang becoming the new security guard were great gags. The security guard bit I expect to pay off well since Chang is best when he is in a position of authority. Other funny gags were the noise Abed made when the "Cougarton Abbey" people died, and Troy gasping at the realization that the table magically keeps books from falling on the ground. Speaking of "Cougarton Abbey," they are going all out with the Cougar Town love already. I hope that show responds in kind when they come back midseason. I would be remiss as a Community fan if I didn't point out the wonderfully done 2011: A Space Odyssey homage as Jeff's monkey gas dream, complete with the study room table as the monolith.
Parks and Recreation - "I'm Leslie Knope"
Like the Community premiere, this had a lot to unravel from the end of last season. Not a bad thing, but doesn't leave a whole lot of places for funny sometimes. The episode did have funny, though. I mean it started out with Ron going into full survival mode with the appearance of Tammy 1. The cell phone penis plot was extended too much, but the beginnings were good and it at least gave us one of the best of Chris' literally's ("Your inbox is literally filled with penises"). Tom popping in to give random Entertainment720 swag shows the beginnings of the failure of that venture, since all it does right now is make stuff with their logo on it. Donna's bikini top with Tom on one side a Jean-Raphio on the other was the highlight of that. I will miss Andy the shoe-shiner, but Andy as Leslie's assistant will get him more involved with other plot lines.
The real plot of the episode, though, was in Leslie having to break up with Ben so there isn't a scandal as she runs for city council. Those two have been wonderful together and it's sad to see them split, but it was handled in one of the best ways I've ever seen on a TV show. The writers weren't just making excuses to get them apart, this was a real problem. Leslie freaking out and wanting to delay it as long as possible was funny and cute. Ben not wanting to break up, but knowing it has to happen, and also being supportive of her in the end was sweet and completely in character for him. All in all, I was very happy to have these characters back on my TV in the fall instead of midseason like it was last year (and Cougar Town is this year). Also, Ron's amazing beard after only three weeks!
The Office - "The List"
All three shows left cliffhangers from last year that needed to be resolved, none more-so than this one. At least they get right to the point, the new manager is Andy Bernard! Not the inspired choice, but if written well, almost any character could be the manager. James Spader's Robert California from the finale is also back, not as manager, but as CEO. He talked Jo out of her job (and over to Harry's Law), and now has creepy random chats with people when he emerges from the conference room. They don't explain why he's in Scranton instead of Florida, but hopeful they'll get to that.
The actual list portion was a little flat, until Andy came to the loser's side defense at the end. It was a sweet moment, but almost played too much like a Michael moment. Andy has his own quirks, I just hope they don't end up making him Michael 2.0. Hormonal Pam was funny, and actually hearkened back to the original ideas of being stuck in this life with her speech about going from the cute receptionist to a mom. It also had a nice payoff with Jim's list giving her a legitimate reason to cry instead of commercials with dogs. I'm cautiously optimistic that Robert will work as CEO and Andy will work as manager. We shall see.
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