|
Season 6 was about when The Office really started to come to a head, what with Pam and Jim getting married and having a kid, and Sabre taking over the company. The next season saw Michael leave and it just wasn't the same, so I'd hate for P&R to try and make it work without Leslie (although the prospect of Ron and April being the focus does sound decent.)
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2013 07:03
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:59 |
|
|
I would have thought Ron would be more predisposed to liking Europe before Leslie's hunt, what with the ruggedness, the alcohol, the meat, etc. Maybe not London and the tourism, sure, but overall.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 02:03
|
|
|
It very much felt like they were changing their minds about her going to school and we can all see why. Then again April isn't exactly a complicated character, so if she just up and decides not to do something, then that's pretty much it. Maybe we'll see more of her actually working on animal control stuff rather than school stuff (which I had a sneaking suspicion would have eventually included her meeting a guy more like herself amongst all the perky happy animal people and having a relationship crisis with Andy.)
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2013 21:40
|
|
|
It's pretty obvious the products they use, but it's no more blatant than any other program. I think people just tend to accept iPad as the standard tablet and iPod as the standard music player, so anything else will be more obvious (particularly a brightly colored Lumia.) Remember, The Office actually had Staples as a major plot device more than once, and that was alongside Easy Button commercials.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2013 00:57
|
|
|
I suppose Ron will give her another uplifting speech, this time about how she got hundreds of Pawnee citizens to care about politics where they would otherwise be ignorant and apathetic.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2013 02:40
|
|
|
I still enjoy the show and find it funny, but I definitely see what people mean as far as a certain staleness. There are a lot of plot elements that seem to be repeated quite often. It's sort of like the opening part where she insists on doing things by the book with her job interview with Ron, but then when it doesn't go her way, she immediately relents and expects the special treatment. A bit of foreshadowing for her return and discovery that nobody really needs her, which naturally she took the wrong way and tried to dominate everything again, also trying to sabotage Tom, which I think has also happened before. That's classic Leslie of course, but it feels like nothing's really progressing anymore. When she was campaigning for City Council, there were a lot of "my boyfriend punched a guy and it was awesome so sorry if that makes you not vote for me" moments, but it was all leading to something. Same when he tried to get various legislation passed. Now it's like we're all waiting while they stall for that next big thing, be it Chris & Ann leaving or Leslie going for a higher gig.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2014 07:03
|
|
|
So since April's in charge of Animal Control, is she now required to handle cases of .... animal control? I mean, let's say a wild ostrich somehow gets loose in one of the parks. Would she have to go out with Andy and Donna and Tom and whoever else she can wrangle to capture it? That'd make a good B-story for an episode methinks.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2014 10:12
|
|
|
One of the reasons The Office started to go downhill, was because the drama from the key characters started to wane. Specifically with Pam and Jim, after they officially got together and were suddenly extremely happy. Sure, we had their marriage and birth of their first child to look forward to, but at some point they got a little too annoying. Happy people are annoying in a way. Jim's charm is often smarm, and Pam going from sheepish to downright nasty at times made them fairly unlikeable every so often. They even poked fun at it during their failed daycare interview. Granted, they also tried to shoehorn in the drama about the new job in Philly, but somehow it didn't quite work. In other words, everybody's a little too happy at the moment on P&R. They're still generally likeable and everything, not quite as bad as Pam and Jim got, but we need more conflict. We either need to see Leslie struggling to strive for a higher office, or more Ron Swanson family woes (we really haven't seen any of that beyond him being forced to be on the grid,) or maybe some kind of relationship trouble between Andy and April. And hopefully a more steady romantic interest for Tom like we almost got with Ann.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 22, 2014 23:45
|
|
|
Self-professed Dumbass, Leslie Knope.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2014 02:48
|
|
|
If the show's getting stale, it's because almost every character, or at least every major storyline, has a rinse and repeat method to them. I mean, here we have Leslie having another crisis of faith with the town and her future once again hinging on a big event that nobody believes she can pull off. Tom is once again starting his own business, only this time it's something he has no knowledge of. Andy is supposed to be a kids entertainer, in much the same way he was supposed to become a cop and supposed to go to college. And despite having a new wife, two new step-daughters, and a brand new baby, up until now Ron has just been going at it alone as usual, dealing with the annoyances of actually having to be a recognized member of society. It's sort of the same reason the new season of Archer is catching flack. Different circumstances, yet same characters, same plot line, same conflicts, and same resolutions. Maybe if they come up with an interesting foil to play Tom's head chef, or bring back his Orphan Black love interest. Maybe if Andy finally gets a record deal as a kids entertainer, and has to deal with the fame he always wanted and how it affects his relationship with April. Maybe if we actually get to see Ron's new family and how he deals with them beyond bringing his son to work this one time. Maybe even if Leslie gives herself an ultimatum about the job offer and considers leaving, shaking everything up and giving even more screen time to characters like April, Donna, Larry, and Craig.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2014 21:18
|
|
|
Last Chance posted:I don't think anyone would be upset with that character's mannerisms if the quality of this show's writing hadn't completely flatlined. I'd rather argue about that honestly. I explained two pages back why I thought the show was getting stale, because we've been here before. Leslie's festival must be a success, Tom's business must be a success, Andy's career must be a success.... Except none of those things are really true. Despite how the town hates her and each other, Leslie's job is only on the line if she decides to take the national job. Tom's business failing will only be dramatic if he pumps all of his personal fortune into it, with a risk of becoming homeless. And Andy's such a lackadaisical character anyway, it really doesn't matter what he does. The solution in my mind is to make it clear Leslie's political future will be determined soon (spending a lifetime in the town that hates her vs. the first step toward her dream of national position.) Or making it clear that Tom's business could be his ruin and definitively wreck his life of excess and delusions of grandeur. Or actually putting a real strain on Andy and April's relationship from one or both of them finally becoming unsatisfied with their life, possibly through the threat of Andy being a success and having to leave for an extended period of time again. Not all three have to happen (and they probably shouldn't all at once,) but like I said, we've been here before and seen the less than dramatic results. I personally think Craig is funny as a character, albeit an exaggerated one that's been done before. As is Donna, as is Larry, as are most of the goofy citizens of the city. But the show isn't really about them and isn't going to be anytime soon.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2014 03:17
|
|
|
Rent-a-Swag would have failed if he hadn't taken the buyout. Part of me wishes they had just stayed in London as part of some kind of bizarre exchange program, trading places with a British parks department.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2014 09:53
|
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:During the recent Paley Center panel they said the writing team wanted to have Jerry's wife divorce him but Mike Schurr said no. I feel like if they did that, the department would have to embrace him more as a friend. He could still be relief, but they couldn't be quite as mean to him. Wouldn't work quite as well as keeping Kevin the comic relief after his fiancee broke up with him out of nowhere.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2014 05:55
|
|
|
I think they are aware and that's part of the reason why the divorce idea was rejected. It's just such a long-standing joke/quirk of the characters that it'd be hard to really erase entirely. Like how they all love those waffles and Lil' Sebastian unconditionally, despite Ben not understanding it (also the one who doesn't really get why Larry is so reviled.) Totally unrelated thought: whatever happened to Champion? Is he pulling a Tiger?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2014 14:23
|
|
|
Y'know, as hokey and unrealistic as it sounds, I'd actually be sort of interested in an episode where we find out just why everybody dislikes Larry so much. As in one singular incident that just turned everybody in city hall against him for years to come, including fresh-faced intern Leslie Knope. Maybe he knocked over the offering to Zorp, thus dooming all of Pawnee to live on Earth forever with unmelted faces.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2014 19:23
|
|
|
Happens to most shows at some point. The charm of the characters seems to wear off as the show becomes less about the situations they find themselves in and more about they themselves. The Simpsons is a classic example, the show no longer about cartoony family conflicts amid a cast of wacky background characters, so much as it is "hey look Homer's a World Cup referee!" Same thing happened to The Office when it got harder to come up with reasons why they were in conflict. Pam & Jim started to get obnoxious with how happy they were until Jim's sports thing started to take off and they had their first real conflict since getting together (naturally it would sort of fizzle out.) And while Michael's childishness remained pretty funny throughout, you could tell they had to go for more outlandish things, like promising an entire class of students he would pay for their college. Like I said before, what Parks & Rec. really needs is less exaggeration of characters and more meaningful conflict/drama. Andy wasn't always this goofy, granted, but even Ron was a lot more lively in the earlier seasons rather than so monotone and devoid of emotion (just watched the episode where they try to dig up dirt on each other and he was pretty gleeful over putting one over on Tom.) The fact that he's a father now, of not just one but three kids, should have more of an impact on the show than it does. And while we all appreciate the freedom that Andy & April's marriage provides, actually having them get upset at each other once in a while could help keep it fresh. The more I think about it, the more I want Leslie to take that job and then have to interact with a whole new set of co-workers, new challenges, etc. Sort of like when Ben and April were in Washington.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2014 10:59
|
|
|
They could easily do a time skip and come back for season 7 with Ben and Leslie juggling the baby (plus Tom's Bistro being open or about to.) Maybe put a strain on their relationship as both are always working, yet Ben is expected to play Mr. Mom. Maybe Andy and April on babysitting duty with the classic character swap, April doing really well with the kid and Andy getting super freaked out about it. Maybe Leslie (or Ben) pestering Ron to accompany them to baby related things since his son isn't that much older. Maybe a cameo from Ann and her baby and a minor freak out when it appears their kids don't get along at all. As long as they don't focus on the pregnancy itself, I think it could be ok.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 13, 2014 05:04
|
|
|
I had a feeling it'd be twins, but wasn't expecting triplets. That doesn't exactly help the apprehension over this plot though.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2014 01:38
|
|
|
That time skip was a trip, and that really would have been a great series finale, but at least they've found a way to keep it fresh and virtually negate all of the gripes about how this season went along. I'll say this much, there have been a more than a couple mediocre seasons of shows lately, but the finales have been hitting it out of the park.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2014 03:48
|
|
|
Did anyone else sort of assume that the copyright to Cones of Dunshire would set them right in terms of finances for raising the three kids? Also, assuming next season stays with the time skip and all, . Maybe Andy and April have a kid now too. Maybe Tom's gotten married (to Mona Lisa after a drunken weekend.) Maybe Ron's about to deal with tween/teen drama. Maybe Donna's taken Dexhart's seat on the city council after he got Tammy II pregnant and skipped town.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2014 07:10
|
|
|
Most of the characters were pretty stereotypical at first before they got fleshed out and we learned more about them: Ron - old manly man April - moody teenager Tom - wannabe posh player Donna - sassy black woman Andy - slacker jerk boyfriend Jerry - big goofy screw up But April opened up more, Andy was more of a loveable goof than a jerk and married her, Tom actually had ambition despite being kind of a weakling, and we even found out Jerry had a perfect family. I'm sure they'll do the same with Craig so he doesn't just yell always.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2014 22:32
|
|
|
Sammus posted:And a HUGE penis. No wonder he's always falling over.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2014 02:43
|
|
|
You think Ben had to sell his Iron Throne? Can't have three little children stabbing themselves on the swords of enemies.
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2014 02:04
|
|
|
Sinteres posted:Yeah, they don't really seem to know what to do with April. She's had moments of character development when she shows a passion for something, but she's immediately pushed back into acting like a sullen teenager because that's her sitcommy role. It feels pretty forced and artificial at this point, but the same could be said for a lot of the show at this point in my opinion. I'm really starting to think good comedies should die young, unless they're just joke machines like Seinfeld or 30 Rock where character development isn't really the point. I'd say that's been the show's biggest problem, the fact that most of the characters started out being defined by their traits (in April's case, moody weird girl.) Then as they break out and have personal triumphs, like getting married, they end up pretty much getting stuck. With April, they teased her going to Vet School and all, but then she caved. Same thing with Tom and his businesses. Ann was always pretty one-note with her "I gotta find a man" stuff, until she got pregnant. That's why I like the time skip, because it'll pretty much force them to have some kind of growth. Hopefully.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2014 21:38
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:59 |
|
|
The show's biggest problem is definitely its start and stop nature. Like I said, at least with a time skip, they're effectively forcing themselves to make progress. Maybe Donna will still be with that teacher, for example. Ron might have to deal with teenager woes. And the main couple have their kids and all.
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2014 05:15
|
|