The cast of "Happy Endings"

Seven series to help you survive the shutdown

On By Mark PerigardIn NewsLeave a comment

You have too much time on your hands.

Here to help.

Here are seven series guaranteed to get you through the worst of times, the best of times, any time you need some quality viewing.

“Happy Endings” (ABC, 2011-2013, three seasons, 57 episodes): It’s just six misfit friends trying to get by. No, not that show. Here, the jokes and pop culture shots soar at warp speed. You may find it, as Penny (Casey Wilson) would say, “A-MAH-ZING.” Here’s just the start to one of its great episodes, when a prank on Max (Adam Pally) takes a dark (but hilarious) turn: Continue reading “Seven series to help you survive the shutdown” →

Amy Poehler

In honor of that sweet ‘Parks’ reunion, take a look back at the show pilot – and what went wrong

On By Mark PerigardIn ReviewsLeave a comment

Bolstered by the success of “The Office,” NBC wanted a spinoff. Creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur realized that a spinoff would always be unfavorably compared to the original. With the help of Amy Poehler, coming off a stellar run on “Saturday Night Live,” they fashioned this little gem, “Parks and Recreation,” the comedy version of “The West Wing,” as Schur said, a mockumentary about a small government office staffed with eccentrics and beset by ditzy townies.

The pilot (original air date: April 9, 2009) opens with Leslie Knope (Poehler), the deputy director of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation department, at a neighborhood playground and introducing herself to a little girl, who can’t bothered. There’s a drunk trapped in a slide, and Leslie has to push him down with a broom.

“It’s a great time to be a woman in politics,” Leslie tells the camera. “Hillary Clinton. Sarah Palin. Me.”

Pause.

Continue reading “In honor of that sweet ‘Parks’ reunion, take a look back at the show pilot – and what went wrong” →

"Parks and Recreation"

Amy Poehler and the ‘Parks’ gang give us the love we need

On By Mark PerigardIn ReviewsLeave a comment

Now this is how you do a reunion special.

Amy Poehler and the rest of the beloved “Parks and Recreation” gang returned Thursday night to NBC in a half-hour special that brought back love, cheer, laughs, and even served a greater purpose.

You knew you were in for a treat when Paul Rudd turned up in a Leslie Knope 2012 hoodie as he reprised his role as Bobby Newport, Leslie’s onetime political rival and all-around dimwit.

Leslie (Poehler), now deputy director of the Department of the Interior, gets on the computer with her husband, Congressman Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott), frazzled from home-schooling their three kids. But he has a great idea – writing the screenplay to his beloved “Cones of Dunshire” game for a Claymation movie.

Leslie is … wary.

Continue reading “Amy Poehler and the ‘Parks’ gang give us the love we need” →

What You Might Not Know about ‘Flash of Two Worlds’

On By Mark PerigardIn Comics2 Comments

Flash No. 123DC released this week a facsimile edition of “The Flash” No. 123 featuring the Silver Age classic “Flash of Two Worlds.”

In this timeless tale, Barry Allen’s Flash travels to Earth 2 and meets his idol, the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, making his first appearance in a decade.

You can make the case that this comic book from the fertile imagination of the legendary Gardner Fox is the single most significant comic book of the Silver Age, at least for DC Comics. It introduced into mainstream canon the notion of parallel worlds and the multiverse, igniting thousands of stories and what later came to be the hallmark and sometimes the curse of the DC Universe.

Continue reading “What You Might Not Know about ‘Flash of Two Worlds’” →