rashida jones

(S02E01) Parks and Recreation started out kind of slowly for me in its first season, but by the time we got to the finale, I was totally hooked. Going into the season two premiere, I had a good feeling they would keep up the momentum. This good feeling was confirmed in the cold open, when Leslie (Amy Poehler) started rapping the DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince classic, "Parents Just Don't Understand," nearly unprompted, accompanied by Tom (Aziz Ansari) on beatbox. All of a sudden, I loved this show.

What's beginning to make this show great (other than late 80s rap, of course) is that Leslie is finally becoming more than a one-dimensional figure. For whatever reason, she fell into the same trap that Michael Scott was in when The Office premiered. When a character is nothing more than a bumbling fool, he or she quickly becomes boring.

(S01E06) Ah, so that's how they're going to do it. While the pit was still the underlying thrust of the episode, the stories were more about the characters and relationships. And realizing even more what a big dumb sap Mark is. It's really more a testament of Leslie's own insecurities and issues that she's so hung up on him because he is even more lame than Tom. At least Tom is charismatic and charming, in his own creepy way. Mark is just creepy, a lot older than he seems to think and kind of a doofus.

(S01E05) Man, Leslie Knope is a dope. But Tom is the bomb! Okay, I'm sorry. There's no excuse for that kind of crap. Still, though, Tom was hilarious in his speech to Leslie's mother, who will always be Jericho's Gail Green to me, at the banquet. Certainly it was smoother than Leslie's. But then Ron's speech of facts was better than Leslie's painful attempt at name-dropping.

It's amazing that Leslie and her mother are related, considering how vastly different they are. Her mother is shrewd and calculating, and clearly willing to muck around in the dirt to further her own agenda (i.e. a politician), while Leslie is an optimistic do-gooder who's more heart than smart ... oh crap, I did it again, didn't I?

(S01E02) Tonight, we move forward on the next step in Leslie Knope getting that pit replaced with a beautiful park. Look at that, Parks and Recreation doubles as a primer for how local government gets things done. It almost makes me want to get involved and make a difference in my community. Almost. It also makes me wonder about the quality of people in my local community. Somehow I can imagine people like Tom and Leslie working there.

It looks like things are going to move pretty slowly on this show, despite only a six episode run. I guess with the pit project being the only major plot, there's not much else to do. I hope they have a Plan B if they get picked up. All we got was the team canvassing the neighborhood to gauge reactions to the project and then an impromptu town hall meeting where everyone could voice their opinion. And that went about as well as you might expect; remember the last meeting Leslie ran.

First there was talk of a spin-off of The Office. Word was that Amy Poehler was attached. Then we got the notion that Rashida Jones may just reprise her role of Karen in that spin-off. And then it became Parks and Recreation. The show follows the exploits of the Parks Department in a small city in Indiana. So our spin-off went from more office politics to ... well, politics. But Amy Poehler is here. And while Rashida Jones is on board, it's not as Karen.

Still, the comparisons are going to be inevitable. Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, who are both key parts of The Office team, created this show, it airs right before The Office, and both are shot in that mock documentary style. Then you have Poehler's lead role as Deputy Director Leslie Knope. She appears to be as oblivious to the world that truly exists around her as Michael Scott is on The Office, but more in a naively optimistic way than a narcissistic asshat way. As Jones' character Ann Perkins describes her: "She's a little doofy, but she's sweet."

The new Office-spinoff-that-isn't-a-spinoff-at-all starring Amy Poehler now has a title. Probably. Maybe.

The tentative title for the new sitcom is Public Service. The name fits because the show is set in the world of a local government office. As Joel mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the show revolves around the goings on at the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana. The show also stars Rashida Jones and Aziz Ansari and comes from a lot of the same people who produce and write The Office.

It was supposed to launch after the Super Bowl on February 1, but then Poehler had her baby and everything got pushed back. Kids ruin everything. Now the show will debut on April 9, though both that date (and the title) could again change. As for a permanent time slot, maybe they can find a place on Thursday nights so we can enjoy both Poehler and her buddy Tina Fey.

[via AOL Television]

For a variety of reasons, I decided to not go to the Winter edition of the TCA press tour. So far, my choice to stay in frigid Jersey has been justified; not much in the way of big news has come out of the tour, and it seems like the networks are very happy about that.

However, if I was there, I would have apparently received the pilot script to the new Amy Poehler-led sitcom that's being written and produced by the folks from The Office, as Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did yesterday. He revealed some details about what the show's going to be about, and they're... interesting.

The show will be shot documentary-style like The Office. In it, Poehler plays Leslie Knope, who is, according to Owen, a "mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana." She works with a local nurse (Rashida Jones) to turn a construction site into a park, and has to battle the usual local-government nemeses at every turn, including those "traffic and noise" complainers and a town official (Aziz Ansari). All the while, she's followed by an intern (Aubrey Plaza) that she hopes to inspire.

One of the more interesting things to come out of the Silverman-Graboff executive session (which I promise will be up later today ... probably this evening) is that, though Amy Poehler has been signed to be in a show produced by The Office's Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, that show will not be an Office spin-off. It'll have the same comic sensibility and style as The Office, but the characters won't be part of the Office universe. However, a real Office spin-off is still in play, and there's potential for Rashida Jones to be a part of it.

Got that? Neither did the critics, who repeatedly asked mostly Silverman to clarify the situation during both the panel and the scrum that followed.

It certainly won't be the only factor, but the choices made for just who makes up the celebrity panel will go a long way in deciding the fate of this latest incarnation of the classic show. With that in mind, here is the celebrity panel from the recently taped pilot: Sarah Silverman, Norm MacDonald, Bob Einstein (Super Dave!), Scott Thompson (Kids In The Hall), Rashida Jones (The Office), and Niecy Nash (Reno 911). Andrew Daly (Crossballs) is the host.

How does that lineup grab ya? To me, it's not bad. The Reuters article asks if Sarah Silverman is the new Brett Somers or Norm MacDonald is the new Richard Dawson. In a word, no. You just can't fight that kind of nostalgia. So many of us have seen the classic episodes so many times, and have such fond memories of them, that I don't think there is anything they could possibly do to begin to live up to the original.

Aziz Ansari seems to be the hottest name around Hollywood casting circles. According to Variety, the stand-up comedian, who's also one-third of the MTV's acclaimed sketch team Human Giant, has been cast in the upcoming Office spin-off. He's also signed a one-year talent hold deal with Universal Media Studios.

What's interesting about this news is that Ansari was also tapped to play one of the new interns on the eighth season of Scrubs, which is produced by and will now air on ABC. What I'm guessing is that, since Scrubs will finish shooting in August, this deal will start after his deal with the veteran medical comedy ends. If there happens to be a ninth season of the show, as Bill Lawrence told me might happen, I'd imagine he'd come back after his Universal deal ends or they'll just replace him with someone else.

Jack Bauer's daughter is trading in angst for romance. Actress Elisha Cuthbert has been cast on the CBS pilot Ny-Lon. That's the one-hour romantic-drama-with-comedy based on the British series of the same name that aired on the Channel 4 TV in 2004 (only there it was called NY-LON; apparently the American version is initial cap only).

Have you ever read TV Squad and said to yourself, "Hey, I wish there was a speedy, five minute podcast about this site hosted by someone with a mildly annoying South Jersey accent?" If you have, there are two things you should know: 1) your prayers have been answered and 2) you're a dangerously deranged person. Seriously, you should talk to someone before your problems get out of hand.

But before you do that, you should go ahead and download our brand new weekly podcast, TV5. Every Friday I'll be bringing you a five minute rundown of five of our most interesting stories. Why five? Because we here at TV Squad like prime numbers and TV34301 seemed like overkill. Enjoy!

(Music provided courtesy of Kevin MacLeod.)

When it comes to new comedies, the FOX network's record hasn't been very glowing as of late. Yes, the Sunday night animated comedies still bring in the audience, and Arrested Development brought critical acclaim, and Back to You and Til' Death are decent, if not outstanding, sitcoms. But, what else has the network brought to the table recently? Anyone remember The Loop, Happy Hour, Freeride, Kitchen Confidential or Stacked? Of course not; hence, the sad track record FOX has had bringing funny to its network.

A bunch of TV stars, including Tina Fey, Jack McBrayer, Seth Myers, Rashida Jones, Richard Belzer, Colin Quinn, Kristin Davis, and Michael Emerson from Lost are part of a video over at The Huffington Post talking about why writers are important and why the strike is important to the future of the industry. They're joined by Presidential candidate John Edwards and big screen stars Tim Robbins and Danny Glover.

Talks have resumed and parties involved say that things have been productive. Fey even says (it's a little hard to hear in the video) that she's optimistic that a deal can be reached within the next week because there's no reason why people can't go back to work.

It's funny to see Emerson talking about the strike. He still has that Ben "look" in his eye and you expect him to say something like "the writers should be paid for their work...TRUST ME, I WOULDN'T LIE TO YOU, JACK."

Fox really only has a handful of new pilots to premiere next season because it's holding on to mega ratings-getters like American Idol, House, Prison Break, and 24... to name a few. It's replacing last season's stinkers such as Standoff and Justice.

At its upfronts presentation last month, the net announced two new reality shows, three new comedies and five new dramas. Of those, we have seen all the comedies and dramas except a drama called Nashville, which Fox has not yet released for preview.