A Parks And Rec Mix-Tape To Give To Your Loved Ones (Seasons 1&2)

 

We're closer than I'd like to accept to the end of one of my favorite television shows of all time. Next Tuesday (tonight) marks the end of one of the most genuinely pleasing, personal, hilarious, touching and altogether brightest shows to ever grace our brains, hearts, spleens, etc. Parks And Recreation. You will be missed and never forgotten, or else.

I could write about how Parks has a writing staff that was pantheon-level, well within the club of Your Show Of Shows, The Simpsons season 4-8, The Dana Carvey Show, Late Night With Conan O'Brien 1997-2003, Mr. Show, The State, 30 Rock, and The Office (season 2-5) to name some. I could write about how Michael Schur is the writer I aspire to be, but probably never will, but don't worry I don't hold that against him; I hold it against myself because I need my own of Terence Fletcher or something to get to that level. I could write about the amount of tears I've shed, both from laughter, sadness, happiness and whatever else makes a person cry (which I realize is an incredibly robotic thing to ask) because of this show, amongst other things.

I could write about the sheer talent that has come from this show and how there's never been a better cast that has grown and meshed together quite like this one. I could write about how yeh, I haven't really watched season 1 (hold for "Rock Show") since it aired and I should probably go back and do that some time. I could write about the kind of spiraling depression I'm going to be afflicted with once this beautiful show, this camel, leaves us to only return for SketchFest reunions I won't be able to go to or very special cameos on other shows.

Or we could embrace what we have now and be appreciative, because we only get this kind of experience so often. I love you Parks And Recreation and while I'm bitter beyond belief that you're going away, nothing makes me happier than knowing you're going out on your terms and on a note so high, we don't generally know what to do with ourselves.

Back in January (I say this as if we're in the middle of May or something, this is what such emotions do to me) when this last season premiered I was talking with one of my friends who was trying to fit in a best of episodes before the beginning of the end. And while best of lists are generally pretty stupid, because we get angry over them when they mean nothing(*), I complied a Parks And Recreation Playlist, meaning these are the episodes to watch if yer in a pinch and need something to fill the time or your in a bad mood and you want to feel something. Guaranteed laughs, you'll be going from minor scrapes and bruises to major dollars and cents (re: laughs), in a stupid amount of
time.

And don't think I took this lightly. I'm already dreading the afterthoughts of "should I've included that episode? Is that one really worth it? I've lost sleep!(**)

(*I made the mistake of looking at that Rolling Stone list that ranked all the cast members of SNL, a show I have an odd relationship with (EVERYTHING MATTERS AND THEN NOTHING MATTERS!) and as I kept flipping pages, I was more and more surprised to not find Norm Macdonald. That is until he was ranked like 139 out of 141. I got a little defensive but had to remind myself this is a show I only kind of like and this is in a magazine I never read)

(**I have not lost sleep)

(the episodes in bold are what I'd consider MVPs)

Season 1&2:
"Rock Show"Written by Norm Hiscock, Directed by Michael Schur-It still has the cadence of season one, what with not knowing how Leslie should've been written (she was closer to Michael Scott than the Leslie she is now), but it has jokes (all the former names of Scarecrow Boat MouseRat, for instance) and plot points that are essential (the fall of Brendanaquits Brendanawicz, Leslie being confident, Andy and Ann's breakup, Ron hating his second ex-wife Tammy).

"Pawnee Zoo"Written by Norm Hiscock, Directed by Paul Fieg-Gay penguin wedding. Leslie becoming queen of the gays. Leslie rapping "Parents Just Don't Understand." April's boyfriend, Derek and his boyfriend Ben. This writing was on the wall that Parks was heading down a different road from its predecessor and that was the best thing that ever could happen.

"The Stakeout"-Written by Rachel Axler, Directed by Seth Gordon-Two words: sugar high. Here's another couple of words: Ron Swanson's hernia and the birth of a sensation.

"Practice Date"Written by Harris Wittels, Directed by Alex Hardcastle-This was when it felt like Parks finally realized what it wanted to be. It's one of the most tightly written episodes and showcases (not that previous episodes hadn't) Amy Poehler's chops (had you not been aware of it before). On top of a drunk and overconfident Leslie storming Dave's (Louis C.K.) house, we were also given another chapter in the Swanson book of legend, called Duke Silver.

"Greg Pikitis"Written by Michael Schur, Directed by Dean Holland-"Pikitis" is my favorite episode from the season and it might just be flawless. There's not a joke that doesn't work and it perfectly encapsulates Leslie's stubbornness and while she does win in the end, you see how hard and dedicated she works to win. Plus, Ron Swanson admitting that almonds give him the squirts (great name for the rhea) and the introduction of the greatest alter-ego since Stupendous Man: Burt Macklin, FBI.

"Ron And Tammy"Written by Mike Scully, Directed Troy Miller-A look at the man behind the curtain that is Ron Swanson via his second ex-wife, Tammy. Putting a face to a name we'd only heard about. We got to "stare into the eye of Satan's butt hole" and it started a seasonal tradition that was always looked forward to. It was written by one of my favorite Simpsons writers, which shouldn't come as a shock considering how Simpsons-y the show was starting to get. Also, Andy at the shoe shine stand.

"Hunting Trip"Written by Dan J. Goor, Directed by Greg Daniels-Superb episode that shows the negatives of Leslie's determination, by butting in and insisting that the women in the office go on the annual hunting trip. It also shows how caring Leslie is when she takes responsibility for Tom's mistake of shooting Ron Swanson in the back of the head. It gives us a great montage of Leslie being questioned and a great hot-take on birthday cake.

"Tom's Divorce"Written by Harris Wittels, Directed by Troy Miller-Ron Swanson's love for breakfast buffets, finally shown. Amongst other things. It's odd to think that Andy was still trying to win beautiful Ann back at this point in the series, but that doesn't take anything away from the episode. How could it, with a dinosaur themed restaurant and the jovial expression as Ron flips pancakes onto his plate at the Glitter Factory? This episode also humanizes Tom, not that he still isn't a heightened caricature of Aziz, but we got some pathos to our Tommy Timberlake.

"Christmas Scandal"Written by Michael Schur, Directed by Randall Einhorn-Councilman Dexhart (a more honest Mayor Quimby), who we only got a taste of in "Practice Date," referencing Pawnee's raccoon infestation and seeing the Parks department come together to help Leslie make for a very merry Pawnee Christmas.

"Leslie's House"Written by Dan J. Goor, Directed by Alex Hardcastle-Another look into just how Springfield-ian Pawnee was becoming, by looking deeper into how insanely colorful the residents of Pawnee are. Tom's reaction to eating the pepper and the very important introduction or Barney, the most lovable accountant of all and has turned into the human incarnate of The Simpsons' Old Gil. Actually, no; that title belongs to Kyle. Truly wonderful.

"Sweetums"Written by Alan Yang, Directed by Dean Holland-If you can't beat 'em! Sweetums. A personal favorite, not only because it gave me a word that I will always use (titular line, yo!) forever and also because it pitted Leslie versus Ron in a very believable way. And then you add in probably the funniest public forum the show's ever done: "what's so wrong with corn syrup? It's natural. Corn's a fruit and syrup comes from a bush." And of course, Turf and Turf.

"The Possum"Written by Mike Scully, Directed by Tristram Shapeero-[singing]"Fairway Frank, you're gonna die/you're gonna fry oh yeah. You guilty son-of-a-bitch. Yer gonna fry when they flip-that-switch."

"Summer Catalog"Written by Katie Dippold, Directed by Ken Whittingham-While I'm not a huge fan of the Tom/Ann/Mark C-story, Leslie trying to reunite all the former directors is great if only for it giving us the knowledge that Ron can sniff out bacon in Leslie's purse even when he's in his car and promptly telling us that he hates everything. Then you get the Andy/April B-story and you must be the worst kind of robot if that doesn't warm your heart even the slightest bit. I believe this also gave us the first glimpse of what it looks like when Ron Swanson runs.

"94 Meetings"Written by Harris Wittels, Directed by Tristram Shapeero-Really superb episode as it, again, tackles the idea of Leslie thinking that she's a superhero. This time it's when trying to save something that really only she and a niche community of Pawnee would actually care about. And she doesn't succeed and actually learns something from her stubbornness. The April and Ron story is particularly strong as well as it expands on their mentor/mentee-relationship (it's only reinforced stronger when you see that April has parents who should be friends with Jerry, but in a good way, because they're nothing like their daughter whom they clearly love very much).

"Telethon"Written by Amy Poehler, Directed by Troy Miller-This might just be another flawless episode and this is an episode that reaps the destruction of beautiful Ann and Brendanawicz. Which isn't a bad thing, considering the relationship had kind of hit a wall, creatively. Ann's a perfect straight man for Leslie and Mark basically has the same qualities of Ann in that regard, except he's kind of a dick. Brendanawicz is like a Frankenstein's Monster of Jim Halpert and Ann and that's as successful as you can imagine. But don't fret, because there's Ron showing off his excellent caning ability and oh yeh, Detlef Schrempf (former Maverick and SuperSonic, holla). There are so many fine crafted jokes in this episode that it probably ranks in the all-time greats of the series, and how could an episode that features Ron Swanson sleep-fighting and Perd Hapley doing the worm not?

"The Master Plan" Written by Michael Schur, Directed by Dean Holland-Welcome to the party, Adam Scott and Rob Lowe, who like a phoenix was rebirthed from his ashes by coming on to become a series regular on Parks. And like another phoenix being rebirthed, it reminds us how much these characters like to drink and how good they are when they do. Seriously, alcohol is basically HGH for these characters, which we'll see to greater extent in season 3.

"Freddy Spaghetti"Written by Dan J. Goor, Directed by Jason Woliner-Firstly, Ron's shotgun ringtone: thumbs up emoji. Secondly, "Freddy Spaghetti" does a good job of showing how Parks is going to progress into the comedy unicorn it is in season 3 and I think a lot of that has to do with Goor's writing. Parks is and forever will be Michael Schur's child, even though he created it with Greg Daniels, but Daniels had The Office before that. And Schur did amazing things on The Office, just like Goor did amazing things on Parks before he started Brooklyn-99 (with Schur-patterns, I love it). Goor's style knows how to complement the show incredibly-it mimics a Schur story, but is able to dig a little bit deeper in the cartoonish elements.

(Full Disclosure: this was supposed to be one big post with all the seasons, but ohp, no way that's happening, so I'll pick up with Season 3....soon. Probably next week)