What I’m Watching: Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation: Season 2, Episode 17 “Woman of the Year” (B+)

The zaniness on this show is a delight. I love how much pleasure Ron gets out of seeing Leslie get so riled up about receiving an award for woman of the year. Besides being spectacularly wacky, the whole process is just hilarious, with opinions constantly switching when the two of them discover that it was in fact Ron who was meant to receive the award specifically because he wasn’t a woman and his selection could give their organization extra press. The end-of-episode presentation of the award from each back to the other was quite awkward, but they both handled it extremely well. I’m so happy that Ron has been given such a strong role, and one of the things that crucially separates this show from “The Office,” for those who believe it to be an unimpressive clone, is that the main characters actually respect each other, but they still enjoy messing with each other to a point. Watching April and Andy become the world’s most uncommunicative couple is fun, and I’m always just glad that April is sticking around. I imagine that the two of them will end up shacking up pretty soon and that it certainly won’t happen terribly smoothly. It’s amusing that whenever Tom brings in someone like him, he seems so much less annoying because of how infinitely more obnoxious his buddies are. To his credit, he does do a terrific impression of Mark, who responds without amusement in his voice. I enjoy the little moments on this show, like the dancer saying bye to Mark and him shyly and embarrassedly acknowledging her.