I got another streaming service to watch Better Call Saul (one I'd had previously but ditched from lack of use) and forgot this had Parks and Rec, something I'd wanted to rewatch for a while. I didn't remember huge chunks, just key moments. And a lot of it was laugh out loud funny from the beginning. I think every character is lovable and fleshed out perfectly, there seemed to be genuine affection between the actors by the end of the show. I think that was what appealed to me over the Office or Always Sunny, since they appear to depend on more deplorable characters that you warm to much further down the track.
So when I was done, the service recommended Community, and I just clicked on it since I was like, yeah okay. I have it on DVD but that requires effort (which we need to exert now we're all trapped inside because of the virus). And I just wasn't digging it. I wasn't laughing, I was probably thinking too much of Dan and the fans and how I'm supposed to feel about the show now Harmontown is over. Going over old Harmontown shows is weirdly painful. Listening to the fans begging him to "stop talking" and risk being fired, and how much certain people believe they're the reason he was rehired, it's cringey. They're basically acting like that weird group of Firefly fans who believe they were the ones responsible for getting Serenity off the ground. The crew that awkwardly sang the theme to Joss at one convention that's on the DVD extras. (I heard they were from Perth, I can't find proof). And the issue is those people need more validation and assurance they matter to creators. I don't think they should be considered any more important than a casual fan who's come to the con for an autograph, or even someone who just enjoys the show. The internet's played a part in these people having intimate relationships with the creators of a show to the point they feel they're owed something. They're not. I don't know any Parks and Rec fans who call themselves the "real" insert character name here. Maybe they exist but having watched it again, even while napping, I've still found that more enjoyable than Community. I know the pilot was flat and it gathered its stride relatively quickly, I just wasn't sucked in for a new viewing. And Parks had more solid episodes in succession than Community did, it's a fact. When you have one notoriously bad season, and final season that's lacking and forced, as opposed to one shaky first season and then six solid ones, it's obvious which show is superior.
The fourth-wall breaking in Parks weirdly never gets old. They didn't break too far from the faux interview/fly on the wall format with the camera crew, you never meet this crew but you don't really question the straight-to-camera delivery. The drama towards the end of the series isn't that forced, pitting Ron and Lesley against each other still comes off as genuine. I don't remember really enjoying Community by the sixth season. I can live without a movie. There was just so much rabid, misguided love from the fans that made them act so entitled, they're not as bad as Rick and Morty fans, but they were pretty shocking. (I don't know the cross-over).
Maybe it's also because I know nothing personal about Amy Poehler, like whether she has a crazy sex fetish involving nylons and mannequin legs, or a drinking problem and chronically low self-esteem. I don't see how Rick and Morty fans who have no reference to Harmontown can claim they have a full, deep lore understanding of the show. The show being so much of its creators laid bare, sometimes it's great sometimes you wish you didn't know. Community may not have been as heavily slathered in references, it was still a part of Dan. I'm sure Parks was Poehler's love but there's something from everyone in that show. It didn't come off as too much of a vehicle for one person's opinion. It had its moments of this but it was subtle. Poehler also does more to prove women are funny, her sense of humour is less dark and more adorable but no less genuine (and throwing Megan Mullally to play against Nick Offerman didn't get tired either). I think every actor was given a chance to really shine. I know Community does too but you know as well as I do how painful Pierce is before he leaves, how much he slows the whole thing down whenever he's there. I don't really want to watch Community to see if it'll make me laugh more. I wasn't thinking of it while watching Parks. I was thinking of Parks while watching other shows.
To add to this, I finished the pilot and remembered the good stuff but yeah, I think Abed gets a bit much from time to time. And why did they make Britta gradually dumber by the end of the series. Like she was a child by the end when she's meant to be Winger's maturer counterpart. She kind of devolves while Annie inversely grows up. And Pierce doesn't get truly insufferable until further on. But I might stay now.
(PS Fuck watching anything new, when you're in lockdown with a mild existential depression, nostalgia is your best friend).
PPS: I stuck this out to watch with the fiancee while we continue to be relatively housebound and having someone unfamiliar helped me like it more and remember what I loved. Chevy still slows everything to a grinding halt. You can tell he was more pissed off in some of the bloopers. And the irony of him using the n-word to complain about his character becoming too racist was only something I recalled recently. Same time, it gets so hard for me knowing so much about Harmon and all the shit he complained about on the podcast not to say anything whenever a particular scene or character comes on. Like nobody in my friend group would ever fucking care about Dino's (Starburns') weird sex hang ups. Like you think you know trivia about a show? Try knowing intimate details about the creator and random cast members. But I'm still having fun. It's also kinda harder to binge without getting tired from laughing.
