Posted on 03/03/2015 11:32:29 AM PST by OddLane
There are countless television shows that far outstayed their welcome, becoming almost unwatchable self-parodies by the end. The Drew Carey Show, The Office, and Scrubs are three extreme examples of this phenomenon. As series drag on, show fans become show writers and what ends up happening is effectively fanfic on screen. It’s why The Simpsons still makes the same jokes again and again.
Parks and Recreation isn’t unwatchable yet, but boy is it close. This is a shame. While the series was never great, it was still one of the most consistent sitcoms of the last decade. All the characters were nuanced and well-acted. The humor was on point. But now, in its final year, the writers seem to think that these characters—who don’t actually exist, mind you—are so intrinsically funny that just having them onscreen is enough to make the audience laugh. They’re wrong.
Yet there is another, more unique aspect to the show’s decline that bears noting: its transition to socialist propaganda. By “propaganda” I don’t mean merely something that furthers a political viewpoint. I mean spreading a specific worldview through deceit and hypocrisy. Spoilers ahead for the last season of the series:
(Excerpt) Read more at thoughtcatalog.com ...
It's not "just a TV show". It's NEVER "just a TV show".
Motion picture is an enormously powerful propaganda tool. Josef Goebbels, the Komsomol, and every corporation in these United States are all in agreement on that ... if on nothing else. A commercial is just a 30 second propaganda film. A show is different only by way of being longer.
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It was definitely pro-government and pro-more government. Leslie Knope, the lead character is in love with government and with running things. If you want to call that socialist you can, though it's not like they were advocating the abolition of private property.
But I never saw any indication that the employees were unionized at all. Or much sign of a governor, though one might have appeared in an episode or two. There was plenty of satire of ignorant politicians, but I wouldn't jump to assume that they were all Republicans.
The show definitely did have a political bias and ends with the lead character and her husband holding high office as Democrats, but the main character and her attitudes were also (lightly) satirized, and her libertarian, anti-government boss often ended up being right.
Mostly, it was just another sitcom. Liberals loved it, but I don't think many people being were converted to their views by watching the show. They just took it as entertainment.
Except Bob Odenkirk's nowhere near as good in the drama department as Bryan Cranston is. It doesn't look like the new show will get as dark as Breaking Bad.
Never understood the appeal of Mad Men-or Walking Dead, for that matter.
Mad Men's appeal is nostalgia. It's in the sets and costumes and hairstyles and all the references to 60s stuff. People see their younger selves or their parents or grandparents in the characters.
As a continuing drama it's not all that great (I don't think so, anyway). It's like they were trying to string 13 episodes between the Kennedy-Nixon election and the Cuban Missile Crisis or between the Crisis and the Assassination or the Assassination and Vietnam escalation and didn't really care just what they threw in or how it fit together or whether they were repeating themselves.
I also get the feeling Matthew Weiner runs a loose ship and doesn't exercise much intelligent control over what his writers are doing. Still, it's definitely above average for TV if only because of the production values.
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Leslie Knope became an unbearable advertisement for President Hillary. However Ron Swanson was the best sitcom character since Jack Donaghy.
Give Walking Dead a shot. So far it’s been worth it.
This is going to shock a ton of you. I have NEVER watched an episode of this show and I am serious. Yes I know the person who watches numerous TV shows and go to movies others won’t did not watch an episode of Parks and Recreation....I know stunning.
Try Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Blue Bloods, Last Man Standing, NCIS.......You will NOT be sorry. I especially love Chicago PD...really good show.
And why complain about it now....it took six years to complain about a show that had it’s finale last week. Hilarious. No wonder we are losing the social war.
I thought it was funny that everyone, but Leslie and Ben, left the Parks department and found success in the private sector. I would hire Very Good Contracting.
I’m not the one “complaining” ... I’m the one pointing out facts to the ignorami.
lol. I am just talking to the general pop on FR.
Dexter had some great seasons but it grew to have snarkability. Trust me, Breaking Bad is an amazing series for anyone who can handle violence and some low life stuff. I barely could but I did and it was very worth it. This is the only show ever where they had a full on story from start to finish that made sense and no shark jumping anywhere. Direction, writing, cinematography, better than most films.
Better Call Saul is turning out pretty good too, so far.
Nowadays I prefer watching KDramas to the crap Hollywood puts out.
I love Korean cinema, but have never sat down and watched any of their television.
IMO, Durham County is a much better series.
Can’t watch any of the alphabet cop shows. My brothers were cops, they said the most realistic cop show was barney miller.
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