Parks and Recreation

When last we saw our friends from Pawnee, the government had been shut down due to a budget crisis, much to the consternation of everyone except anti-government department supervisor Ron Swanson. Also, Ron had slept with Tom’s ex-wife from a fake green card marriage. Amy Poehler, the acress behind the delightfully goofy Leslie Knope, was running out of ways to hide her increasingly obvious pregnancy. Rob Lowe was busy adding ‘absurdly upbeat’ to the range of emotions on his resume.

Then came the long, cold Fall Season of our discontent. Parks and Recreation was replaced on NBC’s Thursday night schedule with Outsourced, a sort of copycat Office-lite set in India. But now, Poehler’s pregnancy is in the past, the first episodes of Season 3 are in the can, and the best show set in Pawnee, Indiana, in the history of television is coming back.

In order to accommodate the return of Parks and Recreation at 9:30 on Thursday nights, NBC has extended their normal two hour comedy block to a full three hours, eschewing the long-term policy of airing a drama at 10pm Thursdays. Community and The Office will maintain their anchor positions at 8:00 and 9:00. 30 Rock and Outsourced have been demoted to 10:00 and 10:30 respectively. The final spot in the new lineup goes to a new show, Perfect Couples, at 8:30

If you can’t wait another month, you can catch up on the comings and goings in Pawnee at the facetious website, Pawnee, Indiana, or the more straight-forward Parks and Recreation site, which includes full episodes on demand and an episode guide.

The 8 p.m. time slot is a promotion for Community.  It is now the prime lead in for the night and is poised to take over the coveted 9 p.m. anchor slot when The Office makes its inevitable exit in another year or two.  Last season’s fairly surprising and highly amusing season finale has the gang at the community college set for a shake up in status quo.  Jeff’s decision to choose young Annie from the bevy of women pining for his attention will surely have deep (and funny) repercussions throughout the next season.

30 Rock is still on.  It is hitting with a certain demographic, but the overall audience is starting to show signs of collectively yawning at the continued exploits of the always-funny Tracey Morgan, the increasingly-annoying Alec Baldwin, and the ever-adorable Tiny Fey.  The move to the 8:30 slot (known as the ‘I might as well watch it because what else am I going to do between the end of the 8:00 show and the start of the 9:00 show’ time slot) is NBC’s acknowledgment that the show’s best days are in the rearview mirror by now.

The Office is another show that is starting to get a little long in the tooth.  Steve Carell’s planned exit after this season is casting a long shadow over this year.  Last season didn’t end on a cliffhanger so much as it dropped just a little hint of what may or may not be coming up this season.

Will Holly return?  Will it even matter if she does?  Can the show handle the return of a once-major character and the necessary preparations to continue without the central character and still be funny?  It will be interesting to see how much is left to mine in the slice of workplace life mine.

Finally, newbie Outsourced will be joining the Thursday night scene.  The previews scream “The Office in India”.  The clips that have  been released to the media promise some good laughs.  I have little doubt that Outsourced will have audiences entertained, at least for a while.  It remains to be seen how whether or not the show will have legs after the initial gag wears off.

Best TV Series – Comedy
Glee

I’ve always included Glee in my previous Couch Tuber articles as one of the best shows that came out in 2009. However, this time, I’m not totally sure about the Best TV series win. I was rooting for The Office or Modern Family to win. I still think The Office has one of the best comedy writing in TV today. And Modern Family just gets funnier and funnier as it gets more absurd. But Glee was able to infuse comedy and music together on TV successfully, so I think they do deserve that award. The new season of Glee starts in April 2010.

Wednesday, 9/8c, FOX

Best Performance By An Actress
Toni Collette – United States of Tara

United States of Tara stars Toni Collette as Tara Gregson, a wife and mother of two and also suffering from dissociative identity disorder. When she doesn’t take her drugs or is under a lot of stress, she transforms into one of her multiple personalities, including T (a wild and flirty teenager), Alice (an old-fashioned housewife) and Buck (a loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet who also happens to be male). Set in Overland Park, Kansas, her family supports her, except for her sister, Charmaine.

Monday, 930/830c, Showtime

Best Actor In A TV Series – Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock

Everybody knows Alec Baldwin. And everyone knows 30 Rock. And everyone knows 30 Rock is not the same without Alec Baldwin, although I’ve yet to watch a 30 Rock episode without Alec Baldwin. He’s still the best thing there, I believe.

Thursday, 930/830c, NBC

Next week, we’ll talk about the Golden Globe mini-series winners.