Comedy Corner: Community, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation – Week 26 Reviews

Reviews, Shows

It was a slow week for sitcoms, wasn’t it? Click through for some quick, thoughts on The Big Bang Theory, Community, Parks and Recreation and The Office.

The Closure AlternativeThe Big Bang Theory – “The Closure Alternative”
I’ve liked Kate Micucci on TBBT, and I generally like episodes that center around Sheldon’s quirks and obsessions. But this episode didn’t do it for me. Raj’s relationship with Lucy has been a bit too sporadic and slow-moving to care about. But where it really fell short for me was the Penny and Leonard stuff. I liked the idea of Leonard trying to find a TV show that Penny would fangirl over (Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a good choice), but it fell back on too familiar of a character beat. For six years now, we’ve seen Penny stuck in the waitressing rut and lamenting about how she lacks passion didn’t change that up at all. Thus, this episode was just OK.
Best moment: “Too bad, your wish won’t come true!” “Lucky for you, because I wished you were dead.”

Community - Season 4Community – “Basic Human Anatomy”
I’ve been very hard on Community this season, so I’m happy to report that I enjoyed this episode. I have never liked the Troy and Britta relationship, and I think this episode and the Freaky Friday theme did a good job of bringing that to a close. I was more invested in their breakup than I ever was in them as a couple. I liked that this time, Abed was the one playing along and Troy was the person having trouble processing his own emotions. Plus, this episode had something that past ones have lacked – humor. It was a great excuse for cast members to do impersonations of characters, and Danny Pudi, Donald Glover and Jim Rash all nailed it.
Best moment: “Routine light switch check.”

The Office – “Paper Airplane”
I wish I felt more invested in these last few episodes of The Office, but man, did I find this one boring. It was nice to see Jim and Pam hug it out at the end, but a paper airplane contest? Really? There was just nothing to this episode. Very blah.

Parks and Recreation - Season 5Parks and Recreation – “Swing Vote”
This was not the best episode of Parks. The biggest flaw was that Leslie and Ron’s spat over the mini golf was almost a carbon copy of their spat over the video store, and from what I can recall it had a very similar outcome – that despite their differences, Leslie and Ron do respect one another and, sometimes, Ron is right. I did like Tom and Ann’s struggle to get away from Mona-Lisa once and for all, and thought it was a nice way to pair them up comedically post breakup. And Andy’s story too felt a little repetitive, since we’ve seen him struggle with immaturity vs. growing up before. It wasn’t a bad episode, because Parks still is one of my favorite shows on TV. It just wasn’t up to usual standards.
Best moment: I fully enjoyed Chris as a caddy, not only in mini-golf but in life. “Way to be, duck!”

You can follow Jill at her blog, couchtimewithjill.com, or on Twitter @jillemader Jill has been an avid fan of TV since the age of two, when she was so obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo that her mother lied and told her it had been canceled. Despite that setback, she grew up to be a television aficionado and pop culture addict.