# ...and the first show on the Fall 2010 TV chopping block is.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632 "2010-09-30T17:48:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/61 "2010-10-26T23:47:11Z")
I couldn’t even give the Whole Truth a chance because in the commercials I found Maura Tierney’s hair way too distracting (in a bad way). I understand she had cancer last year and likely that’s why her hair is that way, and hope her recovery goes/stays well, but they have these things called wigs now that they could’ve used to make her hair a little more flattering. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/62 "2010-10-27T00:16:01Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Amazingly, ABC has axed 2 shows, to FOX/NBX’s 1 and CBS/CW’s 0. How in the hell are Running Wilde and Better With You still officially alive? Then again, if Parks & Rec is getting a third season, and drivel like Til Death and According to Jim survived for YEARS, then I guess I’m overestimating this country’s average viewer. You realize that Parks & Rec is highly rated and critically acclaimed right? Why wouldn’t NBC renew a show that nearly everybody likes? ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/63 "2010-10-27T00:32:05Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > You realize that Parks & Rec is highly rated and critically acclaimed right? Why wouldn’t NBC renew a show that nearly everybody likes? Vaguely related to your comment in a “stream-of-consciousness” sort of way: It doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes I get emotionally invested in a show and if it gets canceled, I’m left with a gnawing emptiness that makes me turn to heroin and petty theft - just to feel _something_. So normally, if I think I might really, really like a show and can’t be sure it won’t get canceled right away, I’ll wait until the end of the season to start watching it. That just works out better for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/64 "2010-10-27T01:03:06Z")
This is what I do as well. I’ve barely watched any of the new shows at all, aside from a first episode here or there. Once I hear it’s getting a back 9, THEN I give it a chance (and only if it isn’t a serial. I’m so glad I never bothered with Flash Forward). As for Parks & Rec, its popularity baffles me. I always hated Amy Poehler, so that might have something to do with it, but after giving the show 3 episodes without even a single laugh, I gave up on it, despite some of my friends raving and saying I just don’t get it. What’s there to get? You can’t even use that “it’s British!” argument this time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/65 "2010-10-27T01:13:55Z")
Regarding Parks and Recreation, the first season was weak, but it was much better in the second season. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/66 "2010-10-27T02:19:11Z")
Um, Parks & Rec is fantastic. 2nd season better than first, and Nick Offerman, hubby of Megan Mullally, is to _die_ for. Literally every word out of his mouth has me in tears. He’s the best TV character of the past 10 years - after GOB Bluth, of course. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/67 "2010-10-27T11:48:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > You realize that Parks & Rec is highly rated and critically acclaimed right? Why wouldn’t NBC renew a show that nearly everybody likes? Not, it’s not. It debuted to lukewarm reviews and on its best day got terrible ratings. I like it fine, but your praise is over the top by a factor of 10. “Nearly everybody likes”?! Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/68 "2010-10-27T12:18:43Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not, it’s not. It debuted to lukewarm reviews and on its best day got terrible ratings. > > I like it fine, but your praise is over the top by a factor of 10. “Nearly everybody likes”?! Wow. Looking at the numbers, you’re right, the ratings aren’t as high as I thought. But critical acclaim, oh, it’s got that in spades… Recognitions ``` * GQ Sitcom of the Year (2009) * TIME's Top 10 TV Series of 2009 * Los Angeles Times' Best TV Shows of 2009* * Los Angeles Times' Top 10 Good Things About TV in 2009 * People Magazine's Top 10 Shows * Entertainment Weekly's 2009's Breakout TV Stars * Ken Tucker's Top 20 TV Shows of 2009 (Entertainment Weekly) * New York Magazine's Killer Dads and Family Comedies: The Best TV of 2009 * San Francisco Chronicle's Season's Top Comedies of 2009 * Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Best of 2009* * Newark Star-Ledger's Best of 2009 ``` Awards & nominations ``` * 2010 Television Critics Award Nomination: Outstanding Achievement in Comedy * 2010 Television Critics Award Nomination: Individual Achievement in Comedy (Nick Offerman) * 2010 Emmy Awards Nomination: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Amy Poehler ``` > **[Parks and Recreation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_and_Recreation#Critical_reception)** > > Parks and Recreation (also known as Parks and Rec) is an American political satire mockumentary television sitcom created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 episodes, over seven seasons. A special reunion episode aired on April 30, 2020. The series stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks Department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. The ensemble and supporting cast features Ras... ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/69 "2010-10-27T12:33:28Z")
Critical darling, sure. Buit it tanked in the ratings, so you can’t say “nearly everyone likes” it. Of course, that was in the context of asking why it wouldn’t be renewed, and the terrible ratings is the answer to that so it’s basically a moot point now. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/70 "2010-10-27T12:57:41Z")
Before this gets taken too far off topic, can someone please recommend ONE episode of Parks & Rec for me to watch, which will showcase what is supposed to make it so funny and awesome? I asked this once on this board about a year ago, and nobody would answer (although I got one or two “all of them’s!”). 2009 was when it started. That was the awful, boring, unfunny season I watched the first 3 episodes of (and even that was being generous). And yet this awful, boring, unfunny season won a ton of recognition? There is a HUGE disconnect going on here, which brings me back to my original, on topic question of how such an awful show even got a SECOND season in the first place (even if they did clean it up then, how did they even win the opportunity, especially with NBC chopping so much else so that they could suck Jay Leno’s dick?) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/71 "2010-10-27T13:07:56Z")
As noted above, shows like _According to Jim_ and _Everybody Love Raymond_ ran for something like 10,000 episodes, while _Better Off Ted_ barely survived two seasons. There is no fairness in TV land, and the tastes of the general public are fickle, at best. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/72 "2010-10-27T13:31:08Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Before this gets taken too far off topic, can someone please recommend ONE episode of Parks & Rec for me to watch, which will showcase what is supposed to make it so funny and awesome? I asked this once on this board about a year ago, and nobody would answer (although I got one or two “all of them’s!”). The second season premiere, “Pawnee Zoo”, hooked me on the show for good. Although I didn’t end up watching it until the season was almost over, so I’ve only seen like ten episodes total. > **[Pawnee Zoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnee_Zoo)** > > "Pawnee Zoo" is the second season premiere of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the seventh overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on September 17, 2009. In the episode, Leslie accidentally takes a stand in favor of same-sex marriage when she holds a marriage for two male penguins during a publicity stunt for the zoo. > The episode was written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Paul Feig. The writing staff sought to address more... ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/73 "2010-10-27T13:53:52Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Yes, 2008-09 was it’s last season. Was it actually worth watching? I thought it became pretty bad after Sasso and Borstein left and it became the Mo Collins/Mike McDonald show. God I hated those two. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/74 "2010-10-27T14:07:20Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > 2009 was when it started. That was the awful, boring, unfunny season I watched the first 3 episodes of (and even that was being generous). And yet this awful, boring, unfunny season won a ton of recognition? I’m pretty sure it started in Fall of '08, and everyone agrees it was a disappointment. My wife and I stopped watching it before the end of the season. But in '09, we happened to catch the fourth or fifth episode and it was so much improved, we went back and watched from the beginning of the season. It was really a huge improvement. And of couse toward the end of Season 2 they added Rob Lowe to the cast, who I find pretty funny, so they seemed primed to be even more awesome in S3. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/75 "2010-10-27T20:57:28Z")
I wanted to like _Outlaw_. I gave it three episodes. I didn’t like Jimmy Smits’ character - the flawed character side was too annoying and not in synch with his stand up for the little guy. I was annoyed that the blond law clerk had a thing for him (thankfully he didn’t act on, which was also not in character for him). Then the bisexual investigator chick was incredibly annoying - the way she pestered the guy for no reason. Despite how much she denied it, she totally wanted in his pants. I hated them all. Gone. **The Whole Truth** is interesting in premise, but I’m not quite getting the execution. It bugged me in the first episode how strongly Maura Tierney’s character latched onto the suspect, how evil she assumed he was on such thin grounds. The wife and daughter stick up for him, so “of course they’re just afraid of him” is her reasoning - not that the love him and don’t have a reason to believe he could have murdered the teen girl as accused. Still watching, but apparently it’s canceled. I wanted to give _Chase_ a chance, because it’s filmed in Texas and set in Houston, but I find it… I don’t know. The characters are too thin, or something. And the accents are annoying. I mean, I live here, and it’s not _that_ bad. I’m stuck, but may give up and shift to \*Hawaii Five-O[/I, which had an exciting promo but is up against _Chase_ and _Castle_. Had to pick something. _Detroit 1-8-7_ has its good points. It toned down the “Cops” look of the promo and has done some interesting stories. And Fitch is an interesting enigma. I almost didn’t give it a second chance but now am glad I did. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/76 "2010-10-27T22:11:16Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > Before this gets taken too far off topic, can someone please recommend ONE episode of Parks & Rec for me to watch, which will showcase what is supposed to make it so funny and awesome? I asked this once on this board about a year ago, and nobody would answer (although I got one or two “all of them’s!”). > > 2009 was when it started. That was the awful, boring, unfunny season I watched the first 3 episodes of (and even that was being generous). And yet this awful, boring, unfunny season won a ton of recognition? There is a HUGE disconnect going on here, which brings me back to my original, on topic question of how such an awful show even got a SECOND season in the first place (even if they did clean it up then, how did they even win the opportunity, especially with NBC chopping so much else so that they could suck Jay Leno’s dick?) I suspect if the show didn’t grab you by now, it won’t ever. That said, I’m partial to [\*\*The Hunting Trip \*\*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1539432/) episode. I like the Andy character. He started as a total jerk and buffoon and you wonder what a dish like Ann could have seen in him but they’ve slowly developed the character so you see that he has some very likable traits and you can see why the chicks dig him. I guess that’s what keeps me liking the show, characters that develop over time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/77 "2010-10-27T22:34:40Z")
One aspect of Parks and Recreation I find interesting is the relationship between Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman). She’s a very earnest civil servant who’s out to help the town residents as much as possible, while he’s a really cynical Libertarian who would be very happy if his entire department was eliminated. But he respects and supports her. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/78 "2010-10-27T23:05:53Z")
I think I watched most of the first season of Parks, but it was only because it was over the summer, I had zero energy and it was marginally preferable to some of the anime I’d been watching. The humor is supposed to come mostly from the deadpan earnestness of the main character (whatever her name is) juxtaposed with the obvious absurdity of some of the ideas and situations. But I’m definitely in the group of people don’t really get it. I did actually laugh at the episode where the representatives from Venezuela (I think) came to town. I don’t think that the comedic strategy of that episode was any different but it was certainly much funnier to me than any other. However on the whole, I couldn’t bring myself to watch much of the second season. I normally have pretty low expectations regarding LOL’s/time and I still couldn’t buy into it as a series. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/79 "2010-10-27T23:44:34Z")
[Caprica](http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/10/27/breaking-syfy-cancels-caprica/) has just been cancelled. I didn’t even bother watching it after it returned, it just didn’t have enough lightness to entertain me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632/80 "2010-10-28T01:13:30Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Caprica](http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/10/27/breaking-syfy-cancels-caprica/) has just been cancelled. I didn’t even bother watching it after it returned, it just didn’t have enough lightness to entertain me. Ouch. I actually liked Caprica quite a bit. Not only is it canceled, but they re removing it from the Friday schedule to air the final episodes in 2011. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-first-show-on-the-fall-2010-tv-chopping-block-is/555632.md?page=5)