Godspeed

Tonight's episode gave us a genius glimpse into Eagleton, the bizzaro Shelbyville to Pawnee's Springfield. And the consistent level of thought and care that goes into Leslie & Ron's interactions is just not something that you often see on a show of any genre. Quality, quality stuff. Highlights: The disparity of the level of discourse between the two cities' public forumsThe Eagleton jail contains maple-glazed scones & gift baskets.Andy's awesome, after-the-fact exclamation of "Garbage Fight!". That the writers were able to get in a subtle Duke Silver reference by having April call about saxophones and fedoras as a ruse to throw Ron off Leslie's true intent.I absolutely love this show. Again, what a shame that 5+ episodes of this period of creative genius were in essence stolen from the viewers.

I absolutely loved "Jerry's Painting", both the episode and the work of art. There just have been so many A+ episodes this season, it's a damn shame it's been truncated to just 16 episodes in an ill-suited attempt to woo the redneck market... I didn't much care for "Soulmates" though (last week's episode). I just felt that the "Ron loves meat" angle is way too broad for a show of this caliber. It's kind of been beaten to death with the multiple bacon fervors, the trip to Indianapolis, and now the health food store. The Leslie/Tom moments did have their merit, and still what I consider to be an average show for Parks and Rec remains light years beyond anything else that's on.

...is Phyllis Erin's mom? If that ever ends up happening I am burning all my Office DVDs and will try very, very hard to find a way to punch Paul Lieberstein in the face.

Off all the names linked to the new boss, James Spader is the most intriguing to me. I'm more or less done with the show anyways. Season 7 has been unbelievably bad.

As much as it pains me to say it, it seems pretty clear that Schur was the talent behind the office. He took the hilariousness right with him to parks and rec. I've been thinking that for months. If you're looking to buy season 2, it's on sale for $9.99 here. I'd buy it all over again.

if you see a short, menacing white-haired man wearing a wool suit, appearing in black & white--that will be me. I really do picture you this way, Jim.

Absolutely loved this episode. Awesome to see the return of Joan Callamezzo and Perd Hapley ('Ya Heard? With Perd' = classic), and the introduction of Ira & The Douche (Tom: "You embarrassed me in front of the Douche.") Andy "luring" April's sister into the van was great. Pawnee's collective obsession with Alta Vista was hilarious. Tons of great callbacks ---Joan, Perd, Shauna the reporter and Leslie making her own headlines, Brooks Brothers Boys, "literally"--- this show is just killing it. I can say with conviction that the Office has never reached these heights for this long.

It may have looked amazing, but you can't polish a turd... That's a terrible group that's the embodiment of pretty much everything that's wrong with the modern record industry. But whatever, I'd watch the games and commercials regardless, so clearly I'm not in their target demographic.

I agree. I didn't see any promos, so I was going in on a clean slate. I understand why it's used, but you think they could just paraphrase in lieu of completely ruining the comedic surprise.

You know, I've thought pretty much the entire 7th season has been terrible, but PDA was a classic. Even Erin won me over in this one. I still think there's life in this show after Steve Carrell, but have no faith in the ability of the writing staff and the network to let them move on unimpeded. This show has long suffered from its glut of characters leading to a lack of focus, but this episode was the first one for me in a long time that was able to reign them in to even a quasi-relateable storyline. Not sure how much that can be attributed to Greg Daniels being back to direct, but wouldn't discount it in the least.

Holy crap, Ron Swanson in cornrows and a kimono makes my life. I love this show! http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ld8sfnwkLq1qa4urao1_500.png Also loved the Bert Macklin reference near the end.

If the NFL has to please everyone for a halftime show, and I mean everyone, just go with Girl Talk and his laptop. There's something for everyone on there.

Agreed Patrick. Not only did it show an embarrassing lack of perspective for humanity, but the sports world as well. The amount of adversity that team had to overcome was very significant. Losing that game still gives them a more than admirable season.

I read that Jean Ralphio will be back in the fold a few times this season. Love this show. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4606149238_fc3e40de1b_o.gif

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I've been re-watching season 2 in anticipation of the season 3 premier. Just got done with 'Telethon' and cannot stop laughing at this scene: Perd Hapley: And the story of this next dance is that it’s called The Worm. ... Ron Swanson: What the [expletive] are you doing, Perd Hapley? The P&R universe is just so dense, but merely the name Perd Hapley on its own makes me laugh. Can't wait for Thursday.

My wife stays at home with our 2 (well, 2.75) year old and 9 month old. In the spring/summer/fall when they can easily be out and about, it seems like a pretty sweet gig. But winter can be a huge pain. So if you dive in headfirst real soon, just know that it only gets easier (right?). The pluses certainly outweigh the minuses for our family, financial gains/debts notwithstanding. That time with your children can be a huge headache at times, but in looking forward, when else would you have this type of opportunity?

I'll give 13: 1. Death Cab for Cutie - Bixby Canyon Bridge 2. Radiohead - Idioteque 3. Brian Eno - Golden Hours 4. Metallica - Call of Ktulu 5. Bob Dylan - I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine 6. Eels - Going Fetal 7. Elton John - My Father's Gun 8. Air - Caramel Prisoner 9. Johnny Cash - The Beast in Me 10. Yo La Tengo - Moonrock Mambo 11. Bruce Springsteen -It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City 12. Explosions in the Sky - Yasmin the Light 13. Iron & Wine - Free Until They Cut Me Down

1. The National - High Violet 2. Black Keys - Brothers 3. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening 4. Girl Talk - All Day 5. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz 6. Spoon - Transference 7. The New Pornographers - Together 8. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs 9. Kings Go Forth - The Outsiders Are Back 10. Ratatat - LP4 Spoon and The NP are penalized here for their consistency, through no fault of their own. Had I just happened upon these in a vacuum, I'd probably be more impressed. But I like most of their previous works much more. Sufjan Stevens went an entirely different direction and I find myself liking Age of Adz more every day. Could very well be my "revisionary best of 2010" 10 years from now, if I had the ambition to make such a list. Arcade Fire confuses me. Funeral was just so good, it set a standard that they apparently can no longer reach. 'Suburbs' isn't bad by any means, it just isn't nearly as good as what it "should be" in my mind. James Murphy never disappoints, and he's pretty much the only act that's successfully lured me to the Rave/Eagles Ballroom. If this is his last, he went out on a high note. I just like 'High Violet' and 'Brothers' that much more. Kings Go Forth are a local soul-revival group that's signed to David Byrne's Luaka Bop lable (and a group that 88.9 is obsessed with, by the way). "One Day", "I Don't Love You No More", and "Don't Take My Shadow" are awesome songs, but the rest of the album is like Al Green b-sides coupled with one terrible faux-reggae track. I love Al Green, but I hate reggae. Most underwhelming release that I acquired in 2010: Band of Horses- Infinite Arms. Got it second-hand a few months back and haven't given it more than a few listens. A significant step back from their first 2.

Whole season has been solid. I disagree. The direction they've taken the show in this season just raises so many questions: How many times can they justify everyone congregating outside of the office together? What happened to the warehouse? Why on earth would they move an HR rep down for a temporary position? Are we to believe the field of applicants in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that much less qualified than the smaller Nashua metro? How did Erin ever even pass a drivers test? Yes, I am willing to overlook the fact that Michael Scott would never still have this job to begin with but the other issues are steering me towards denying even that one. Last season was pretty average for a standard show and poor based on the standard this show has set for itself. This one's been even worse. I did like 'China' though.

The world demands more Jean-Ralphio!

Just finished re-watching the SW movies. Empire Strikes Back is head and shoulders above every one. It's a shame he didn't do all of those films.

Recently, I've been re-watching all the Star Wars movies in release order. My God, Episodes 1 & 2 are terrible. I thought 10+ years would've been time enough to heal the affliction of Jar Jar Binks, but it has not. George Lucas can eat it...

I've taken to waiting for Hulu to watch the episodes recently to avoid all the political ads, but oftentimes I've been left wondering why I even bothered watching it all. Taking them out of the office environment can be an amusing change of pace, but doing it seemingly week after week really diminishes its enjoyment. What reason does the whole group have to be at the christening other than just lazy writing? The saving grace of The Office's decline in Season 6 was an all-time great Season 2 of Parks & Rec and so far this year, we don't even have that to fall back on.

Holy crap, I'm fairly certain last night's show was my least favorite episode of The Office ever. With the way they portray her character, I'm shocked Erin cognitively qualifies for a drivers license. She's proven to be ridiculously dumb above all else to the point that no one in their right mind would trust her with their hamster, much less 6 month old child. The broad theater gags (multiple disturbances in the audience, Andy's cell phone) were terrible. This show is losing me. Last night's 30 Rock seemed equally disjointed. Thank God for Community. I don't understand why the two best shows in NBC's Thursday night block either gather the worst ratings (Community) or aren't even on (P&R). The fact that over twice as many Nielsen Household morons watch the blander-than-bland Big Bang Theory than Community just disturbs me. But then again, I see evidence day after day of the stupidity of the common man in the J/S comments. Simply depressing.