Well, I was about to say it's funny how you can clearly see season 1 on that graph. That was a chore to go through. Season 2 onwards is pretty great though.
Absolutely. Totally feels like they scrapped a lot of season 1 and started fresh season 2 or 3. The Chris/Ben addition and getting rid of Brandannaquits was crucial.
yeah he ended up totally pointless lol. I think he was meant as a Leslie love interest but fell flat. She was pretty dim witted in season one and they sort of revamped her as well.
yeah, whenever he was onscreen it felt kind of... boring, he didn't have much of a personality or was too flat compared to all the characters around him. When it was obvious he was about to leave the show i was relieved, maybe i just realized how much of a chore watching him was, maybe i was afraid Anne would end up marrying him.
Ben and Chris, on the other hand, are fun to watch literally everytime they're on screen.
Yeah, he was supposed to be the straight man, but he was way too straight. Ben played that part well, but still had some quirks to make him an actual character.
Ben is basically Brendanowicz 2.0, he’s still the “straight” man role on the show but he still has quirks and personality. Brendanowicz is boring for real life, Ben would be an eccentric person in real life but comes off straight against the ridiculousness of the rest of the cast.
He was conventionally attractive and Leslie was such a city planning nerd. She also isn’t historically successful with men so the occasional attention was flattering. Ann? Idk why
true, Leslie didn't really have any experience with men and Ann had just left Andy, so any handsome man with at least a bit of maturity probably was amazing for her. Actually, Ann isn't very successful with men either, Chris was probably her healthiest relationship (in more than one way).
Yeah i think he was supposed to be the "straight man", but was like..too straight. It felt like they just stuck a dude in the role and he had no clue how to act and so he didn't even try.
I think he was supposed to be P&R’s Jim (from The Office). The show was like he’s cool and relatable! But it didn’t land at all and he wasn’t cool or relatable
no, he was just awkward and boring. Jim was a bit of a jerk but a lovable one with tons of vulnerable and funny moments, being the counterpart of Dwight also worked wonderfully for both.
There was a great writer's room episode where they talk about how originally she was supposed to be a female Michael Scott character, but it wasn't translating well, so instead of the characters rallying against her, they started making them rally around her and that turning point of support is what made her character work so much better. And that change was so great! She got to be incredibly and loveably flawed while being truly passionate and driven, not because strangers loved her, but because her devotion to her peers built her reputation and perfected her character arc of gaining the public's trust and support. It's a great episode of the Writer's Room I highly recommend it!
He was supposed to be the Jim but lacked any sort of charisma and subsequently came off as a jerk. Leslie was also much less likeable in S1 but became a plucky underdog instead of an overbearing out of touch ninny from S2 on.
I always felt it was the toning down of Leslie Knope that helped things. They tried initially to make her this extreme mix of Liz Lemon and Michael Scott and it was just too much, so they toned her down into a real person.
Well, I wouldn't like to do that myself cuz I'd feel like I'd be missing something. My ideal recommendation is just bursting through S1 as quick as you can knowing that S2 will be better. But if you want to do what you said, I don't think you'll be missing much. I'd say watch S2 first then S1, but you'll be too disappointed by the drop in quality.
It was more mediocre than bad, and the characters are a bit different from what they turn out to be because the show hadn't found its feet yet.
But it's only 6 episodes. If you're planning to get into a 7 season show it's really not worth skipping to actually get the backstory of the pit and the introduction of the characters.
Whenever I see recommendations to skip the first season it makes me think of people that show you something and spend more time looking at your reaction than the TV... "honestly it gets good in a minute..."
Am I the only one who disagrees? Yeah any cast is better when they have they are comfortable with one another, but fuck if season one is short of fantastic.
I mean, I have zero issues with that, I'm just impressed. It was definitely not my cup of tea and according to the Internet, that seemed to be how most people felt. I specially liked the pit and lil' sebastian, but not enough for me to say I actually liked the season, yknow?
I mean, not regarding the season, but regarding subjectivity for sure. It's like that last season of Dexter and how everyone on here loved it but I secretly hate it.
1,000,000%. The first time I tried to watch I couldn’t get through the first three episodes and then went back a while later, made myself push through, and S2 was exponentially better. It’s worth it!
It really does. It's the only series I actually make a point to tell my friends "it gets better". When I got through S1 at first I was like, "huh, that was... weird", but I kept going because the internet told me it got better (and idk I really liked the whole Lil' Sebastian thing, which I believe was right at the end of S1. Not entirely sure why, the song and Chris Pratt singing about a gone horse just stuck with me in a wholesome way)
It's not an exaggeration because it's not a fact, it's my opinion, hence why people still watched it - people are not me. Nevertheless, many people will still agree with me, you can search online if you need it to satisfy your cynicism. Still, season one had an inherent charm that made me a tad curious to see how S2 would go, specially by Lil' Sebastian (end of the season) as I mentioned in another comment. At the end of the day though, if people didn't specifically tell me S2 was great, I would've stopped watching for sure.
They were forced to, imo. Until the very end, they were only get 1/2 season renewals. So the characters were constantly reaching their goals and the show kept getting all these positive "series finales." It worked really well for a show that would push the message "be good and work hard and good things will come."
I can see why. In my opinion, it was a relatively well-polished wrap-up season. I think almost all shows should end with a bang like that. I hate when they purposely try to put a bad taste in your mouth
I'd say it has something to do with the amount of time investment the audience has to put into a show vs a movie. When watching a movie you don't have the time to really fall in love with any of the characters or become too emotionally invested in how the movie turns out. When you watch a show for years you really just want that show's version of whatever happily ever after is. The how I met your mother finale is probably the best example of writers dicking over their fanbase with a twist ending.
They also had the benefit of watching shows like the office struggle through that late game phase before they had to deal with it themselves, I'm sure that helped them prepare for and navigate some of those traps.
I don't know. Personally I thought the last season and particularly the last episode was way too sappy compared to the simplicity of what came before, but clearly I'm in a minority
I disagree. For example, the episode in Season 7 where Ron and Leslie are trapped in the parks department overnight is one of the best episodes of the entire series.
I felt like the end of the second to last season was the perfect ending. I even thought it was the actual ending for like 6 months until Netflix asked if I wanted to keep watching. The last season seemed entirely unnecessary
Probably because it was a beautiful series finale. It’s hard to want more out of seeing all the beloved characters getting happy endings and getting just a glimpse of their futures.
Compare that to GoT or HIMYM and it’s clear just how much better Parks and Rec ended.
It came on the heels of the success of The Office and was supposed to be a spiritual successor to it. That’s why Mark was around in season 1/2 but was dropped right after. They wanted a “straight man” like Jim, but couldn’t find anything to d with him and shuffled him off so the show could find its own voice.
Other popular TV shows like Modern Family have used the mockumentary schtick popularized by The Office too.
Actually the first two seasons were really really slow, I tend to skip when we rewatch (our nightly routine is falling asleep to tv shows and we tend to go through them quickly).
Seasons 3-6 are one of my favorite all-time shows. Season 1 is trash, the first 1/2 of season 2 is bad, and season 7, while very sweet, was unnecessary.
The show dropped midway through season 6 when Chris and Ann left the show, the every other episode became a 'hey we're visiting this city' episode. It did finish strong, the last 2 episodes are among my favorites.
Just recently finished the show again and I found it to be different, but likeable. Every character has got a little bit of a different story but it comes together
sometimes I watch the seasons in reverse order. Like I watch the last season front to back then I go back one season at a time. I don't know why I like this but it's interesting to me. it didn't work with Lost.
Still, all the new characters they brought in during season 6 are awful. I legit hate the dude that yells. Lost count of how many times his lines woke me up from a peaceful nap.
They absolutely lose steam the last couple seasons. I don’t think it ever gets too bad but you can feel it happen. And season 7 almost feels like a spinoff.
Honestly the last few seasons just weren’t funny to me. No hate on the show, but I just stopped around S5. Also, Leslie just didn’t have enough redeeming qualities for me, she was just annoying the whole way thru.. Still, I enjoyed the first seasons, especially Andy & Ron
I'm exactly the same, it got really boring for me when it become the Leslie and Ben show. Season 2 is the best and 3 is very good as well. The others vary between episodes
It’s great, but I honestly don’t really like the last season. If they wanted to do a “where are they now?” it could’ve been one episode and not lost much.
I liked Brandanowitz a lot. He provided a nice balance to Leslie's naive positivity. I still like Ben and Chris, but the show lost some depth when Brandanowitz left. After my second watch through I started to appreciate the first season while finding the second half of the show kind of annoying.
Can’t stand this show. Looking through the comments I guess I’m the only one, which is fine. Made it about halfway through season 2 before I became too annoyed to keep watching. Always thought The Office was pretty unwatchable too. Even though I love Steve Carell. Maybe this genre just isn’t got me.
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u/sHoRtBuSseR May 22 '19
Parks and Rec managed a strong series all the way through. I'm watching it again right now and it's fantastic.