Two new comedies premiered last night–one shows promise, the other doesn’t.
Considering how strongly NBC has been hyping the new Amy Poehler show Parks and Recreation the past week, people might have tuned in to last night’s series premiere expecting to see the funniest show ever made. It wasn’t, of course, but Parks did pass my “four laugh” rule for sitcom pilots, which basically goes if the episode makes me laugh out loud at least four times, I keep watching. Right now, the best thing about the series is Poehler, whose malopropisms and pratfalls provided three out of the episode’s four biggest laughs. (The fourth came courtesy of supporting player Aziz Ansari, formerly of Human Giant and who also has a scene-stealing turn in the movie Observe and Report, which opens in theaters today.) The rest of the cast are clearly still finding their groove. As Poehler’s sort-of love interest, Paul Schneider is a little too bland and the teen intern played by Aubrey Plaza feels like a less shady version of Ryan from The Office. The actress with the hardest job right now is Rashida Jones, not just because she’s primarily tasked with playing the straight woman, but also because her character isn’t part of Poehler’s workplace, which would seem to limit her ability to establish a rapport with the rest of the actors. Jones had some strong moments last night regardless, but I do worry about the writers’ ability to make her an important part of the show. Parks and Recreation is being watched particularly closely because its the sophomore effort from the guys responsible for The Office, arguably the most popular comedy on the air right now. (Sure, Two and a Half Men gets higher ratings, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the passionate following that The Office does.) What folks often forget though, is that the first season of The Office was wildly uneven too and the series didn’t really take off until its sophomore year when the cast got into a consistent rhythm. Based on the first episode at least, Parks and Recreation feels like it could follow a similar path. So stick with it–the best is likely still to come.
On the other hand, there’s absolutely no reason to stick with Comedy Central’s new fantasy spoof Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. If Parks and Recreation passed my “four laughs” rule, Mandoon conformed to my “zero laughs” rule, which states that if a pilot doesn’t have any laughs at all, I delete it from my DVR without a second thought. This is one of those shows where you actively pity everyone involved, because they’re trying so hard and yet the show is still so bad. Set in a Lord of the Rings-style medieval world, the show follows the exploits of the titular warrior, who wields a flaming sword in an endless battle against his nemesis, Chancellor Dongalor. The gags range from lame slapstick, to lame fantasy jokes, to lame (and insulting) gay jokes. The strangest thing about Krod Mandoon is why Comedy Central is broadcasting this now instead of eight years ago when the Lord of the Rings movies were actually in theaters and Xena: Warrior Princess (another obvious inspiration) was still on the air. Not only is this show not funny–it’s totally behind the times.
Click here to read GIANT’s interview with Rashida Jones
Check out a clip from Parks and Recreation below and watch the full episode here
