Sundance has already come and gone this year — January 21-31 — but here anyway is a video of Amy Poehler prior to the event’s kick-off in 2009. In the video, Amy answers five rapid-fire questions from the LA Times.
Posts Tagged ‘LA Times’
Video: Amy Poehler’s pre-Sundance interview
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010Best of 2009
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009At my count, Parks and Recreation (or members of its cast) earned more than 20 shout-outs from some of the nation’s top news outlets (USA Today, LA Times, New York magazine) stating that aspects of the show (or the show itself) were Best of 2009 worthy.
To help you keep track of the positive press, I’ve created a single post with links to the original stories as they appeared online. Enjoy!
- 12/30: Just in time: My best in show in ‘09! (Ausiello Files/Entertainment Weekly)
- 12/28: The Top 10 TV Shows of 2009 (A Second Opinion) (The TV Addict)
- 12/24: HitFix’s Top 20 TV Shows of 2009 (HitFix)
- 12/24: Morrow TV: Top 10 TV series of 2009 (ScrippsNews)
- 12/22: Best of 2009 in TV – Sepinwall on TV (The Star-Ledger)
- 12/22: TV’s Underrated stars of 2009: Zap2it’s Year in Review (Zap2it)
- 12/21: Top 10? No! My Top 20 TV shows of 2009 (Entertainment Weekly)
- 12/21: Killer Dads and Family Comedies: The Best TV of 2009 (New York magazine)
- 12/21: The Best TV of 2009 (Salon.com)
- 12/20: Best and Worst TV of 2009: Allison’s list (TV Squad)
- 12/19: Top 10 good things about TV in 2009 (LA Times)
- 12/19: Best and Worst TV of 2009: Joel’s list (TV Squad)
- 12/18: Top TV Stories of 2009: The return of the sitcom (TV Squad)
- 12/18: Pop Candy’s 100 People of 2009 (USA Today)
- 12/16: 18 Standout TV actors of 2009 (San Francisco Chronicle)
- 12/14: Best of 2009: Comedy Series (IGN.com)
- 12/14: My Favorite TV Characters of 2009 (Zap2it)
- 12/13: The Twelve Days of Festivus: Eleven babes worth watchin’ (TV Squad)
- 12/11: Sitcom of the Year: Parks and Recreation (GQ magazine)
- 12/11: TV’s Most Fascinating People of 2009 (Yahoo! TV)
- 12/8: NBC’s Parks and Recreation is one of TV’s finest comedies in 2009 (Examiner.com)
- 12/8: Top 10 Shows of 2009: The Best, and the Rest (TIME magazine)
Note: If you see more “best of” mentions, please e-mail me and I’ll add it!
LA Times: Parks and Recreation is #3 good thing about TV
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Parks and Recreation ranked third in LA Times’ list of the top 10 good things about TV in 2009!
Here’s the complete list:
- Food Party
- Bored to Death
- Parks and Recreation
- Dr. Who: The End of Time
- Castle
- Torchwood: Children of Earth
- Men of a Certain Age
- The Good Wife
- Party Down
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
Two Parks and Recreation articles worth checking out
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
From LA Times:
“Parks,” in its second season, has emerged as a critical darling. Time magazine’s James Poniewozik, a fan from the get-go, called it a “very very good, very very funny” series that “has found its rhythm” and the Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall declared it quite possibly “the best comedy on TV right now.” He could also add “that you’re not watching.” “Parks” averages a lowly 5 million viewers, which puts it roughly in the same neighborhood as first-season audiences for NBC’s reigning Emmy magnet “30 Rock.” The show, as they say in the industry, is gaining traction with the right crowds and has already landed a full second-season order. So what happened between Seasons 1 and 2 that flipped “Parks” from flop to hot?
“We needed to tell a certain number of stories before people got it,” Schur said.
NBC President of Primetime Entertainment Angela Bromstad recalled the early days of “The Office” and said, “I knew Greg was great at self-assessing and evolving a show, and comedies take longer to catch on. . . . Also, I have to say, the cupboards were bare. We really needed to stick with it, and I think it’s paying off.”
From Boston Herald:
Rashida Jones appreciates NBC’s patience. When her show “Parks & Recreation” (tonight at 8:30 on WHDH, Ch. 7) premiered last spring, viewers and critics lambasted the show for being too similar to “The Office,” with a lot fewer laughs.
“It just takes time,” said Jones, who plays Ann Perkins on the sitcom. “For the actors, for the writers, for the audience, you just need some time to settle into what the characters actually are and what’s funny about their dynamics.”
NBC recently picked up the show for a full season.
“I’m super-grateful that people gave us a shot to get there, but I definitely think it takes about 10 episodes to even know what anything is.”
Link: Fun and ‘Recreation’: Jones glad NBC comedy is hitting its stride
LA Times profiles Paul Schneider
Monday, September 21st, 2009
In an interview with the LA Times, Paul Schneider admits he’s the kind of actor “who doesn’t like attention”:
Everyone around you — or, if you’re me, the couple of people around you — starts saying, “Get ready. Your life’s going to change.” And then you start thinking, “If this movie’s big, my life might change.” And then you start thinking, “Is it going to change in ways I despise?” I’ve been lucky a couple of times where the movie is critically acclaimed and not seen, which in my twisted world is the bull’s-eye. That means I can keep making movies and not feel weird at the store.
Access the full interview by clicking the link below.
Link: Paul Schneider is a ‘Bright Star’ who prefers a low profile
LA Times: Parks and Recreation is ‘forging its own trail’
Monday, June 1st, 2009In a new Los Angeles Times article, staffer Christy Grosz analyzes how Parks and Recreation’s first season follows a similar trajectory to The Office.
By the end of The Office’s first season, it averaged a 2.5 rating and ranked No. 102 in prime time. It also faced criticism for failing to translate the original British version for an American audience. Likewise, Parks and Recreation’s performance in the ratings game isn’t spectacular, and critics have grumbled over its perceived similarity to The Office.
Yet The Office took off in its second season and hasn’t looked back since.
Grosz also interviews exec producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur about their show, and why they decided to set the show in a fictitious Indiana town.
Says Michael:
What we really wanted was a state or a location that didn’t skew the audience in a particular direction. Obama was from Illinois, and Michigan was the car industry, which was struggling. Even Ohio had a big election kerfuffle. Indiana just seemed like a state in America that doesn’t make people think in any particular direction.
