On Tuesday, December 29, NBC will air four consecutive episodes of Parks and Recreation from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT.
In fact, the network will run similar two-hour marathons for every comedy in its Thursday night lineup beginning Monday of that same week.
Here’s the full schedule:
Monday, December 28: Community Tuesday, December 29: Parks and Recreation
Wednesday, December 30: The Office
Thursday, December 31: 30 Rock
With Parks and Recreation’s second season beginning tonight at 8:30/7:30c, publications and other news outlets are scoring multiple interviews with Parks and Recreation’s cast and staff.
Here are excerpts from three interviews/Q&As with Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari, Chris Pratt and Michael Schur:
Amy on her season two excitement:
I do think that we’re lucky… we just had a seasonette, kind of a little season, and so we’re still in the second season getting into the groove. And so I feel really excited about this next season because I think we’re all kind of figuring out who we are and where we’re supposed to be. But, you know, it’s a constant evolution and learning process.
“Parks” comes from the same creators as “The Office,” which didn’t really have its breakout year until season two. Is this the season “Parks” goes big?
I’d like to think so. “The Office” is now a huge hit show, but right off the bat people didn’t really get it. I think it takes a show like ours a few episodes to find its comedic footing and understand which comedic sensibilities make most sense for its characters. Steve Carell could be constantly compared to [British "Office" star] Ricky Gervais, but they’re not the same and they’re both funny motherf–kers. The same thing with Amy Poehler—she’s not Steve Carell, she Amy f–king Poehler. The stuff I’m reading this year is making me laugh out loud a lot more. I don’t know if that means I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid or what. But the episodes coming out are really, really funny.
Rushed or not, how satisfied were you with the six episodes that aired last spring? What did you and Greg recognize as the strengths and weaknesses? Were there things you realized you wanted to do less of, or more of?
Overall, I think we did a pretty good job of establishing the world. The show is about a diverse group of characters, from different walks of life, who are drawn together by a single project, so it took a while just to situate everyone. And it’s a character comedy, so the episodes are naturally going to get more interesting and fun the more people know the characters.
In general, the show seemed to work best when we found the right balance of personal and professional stories (like in “Rock Show”), so we’ve tried to emphasize that as well. We’re always trying to improve — we’re our own harshest critics. If the show lasts for ten years, I’d hope we get better every episode right up until the series finale.
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