Forget All These Debates & Pleas for Passing Bills . . . I'm Voting for Leslie!

If only I could vote for Leslie . . .

The fourth season of Parks & Recreation -- which starts on Thursday, September 22 -- will not only feature Leslie (Amy Poehler) trying to decide whether she's going to run for public office, but whether she's going to continue dating Ben (Adam Scott), in violation of the town of Pawnee's employee code of conduct. Their boss, Rob Lowe wouldn't like it if he knew they were an item.

Plus, we will meet not one, but two more Tammys in Ron Swanson's (Nick Offerman's) life. Holy cornrows Batman! And one of those Tammys is Patricia Clarkson, Ron's first wife.

With all the depressing political and economic news out there, I could use some Leslie Knope/local government humor right about now.

Notes on Pop Culture: White Wows on SNL, Beer-Swilling Ferrell Takes the Mound

Betty White Wows on SNL

Saturday night was the first time in a long time that I stayed awake all the way until the end of Saturday Night Live without falling asleep a few times first. The reason? Betty White. White took the material she was given and just killed. Loved seeing an 88-year-old woman, a comic veteran, get her props, and not in a you're-such-a-cute-granny-we're-just-gonna-pat-you-on-the-head kind of way either.

That being said, she wasn't handed top-notch material for every sketch and the skits weren't uniformly funny. But White did the best she could with it and was an inspiration. And seeing all those female former SNL stars -- including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Molly Shannon -- only added to an already enteraining episode. Here was one of the edgy skits in which I think White was an extremely good sport (second favorite was the census skit):



I also admired the snark that Poehler and Fey unleashed during the News Update, particularly when it came to the Greek debt.



Beer-Swilling Ferrell Takes the Mound

So there I was, Morning Joe on in the background, while I was making my kid a peanut butter and fluff sandwich for his school lunch this morning when I saw this video of Will Ferrell pulling an wacky stunt during a Texas minor league baseball game. Introduced as a fresh-from-jail pitched named Rojo Johnson, he popped open a beer can and took a long swig before tossing some warm-up pitches. As for the rest of the story . . . check out the insane video:

NBC’s Thursday Night Slate Made Me Laugh

*Warning, spoilers ahead from recently aired premieres of NBC comedys*

I didn’t have high expectations when I turned to NBC last night. Didn’t expect to laugh out loud. But laugh I did. Hope it’s not an aberration.

Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation dramatized an awkwardly twisted parody of how penny-ante political scandals can spiral out of control in short order. Sure, a penguin marriage ceremony at the Pawnee Zoo is silly stuff with no substance, simply a shallow PR attempt to lure foot traffic. But it’s really not that unrealistic to have something as innocuous as a zoo event morph into a scandal. Such as when Leslie Knope inadvertently married gay penguins (she thought it was a male/female pair), making her a target of a conservative family organization that wanted her to annul the marriage, then resign and, simultaneously, a hero to her local gay community. Poehler absolutely pulled this off with aplomb.

I think that broadening the subject matter with which Leslie deals will only help. The first season was a bit bogged down in Leslie’s singular quest to transform a dirt pit into a park. (Hulu now has the season two premiere on its site.)

Speaking of Poehler, she also appeared on Saturday Night Live’s Update Thursdays and did a “Really!?! With Seth and Amy” segment on the recent spate of public incivility. Spot. On. Best line: Seth advising Kanye West about what to do if he sees an older woman holding a “World’s Best Grandma mug” and he thinks some other nana is a better grandma.



I likewise was laughing at The Office’s bizarro first scene. Parkour anyone? Seriously? There’s such a thing?



Community was kind of snappy and kept a running Gilmore Girls-ish loop of pop culture references throughout. Wonder if they’ll be able to keep up the meet-cute conceit and give this show some legs for the long haul.

Anyone else catch the 8-10 NBC slate? Thoughts? By the way, am I the only one who hasn’t heard of Parkour before?

Giving Poehler's 'Parks and Recreation' Room to Find Its Own Way

After its first few episodes, many folks were complaining that NBC's new Amy Poehler comedy, Parks and Recreation -- where Poehler plays deputy Parks director Leslie Knope -- was too similar to The Office, a show from which several of the Parks folks hailed. Poehler's character, people complained, was just a female version of Michael Scott.

However after reading New York Magazine's Emily Nussbaum's ode to the show and Poehler's character, I find myself agreeing with her thesis:

". . . [A]fter five episodes, [Parks and Recreation] has begun to kick free for me, mainly because the writers are onto something timely and resonant with Leslie, a fool who is also a budding heroine . . . [H]er motives are mixed, and her go-girl feminism goofy, she's not wrong to see cynicism everywhere -- the show satirizes her naivete, but it's also clear she's the only one trying to make things better."

Nussbaum added that the comedy showcases a female pol, similar in vein to the lead character in the comedic film in Election, Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick. Knope is, "a deserving hard worker, beaten down by the lazy and popular. At its best, Parks and Recreation provides an appealing Flick's-eye view -- the opportunity to see Leslie's burning, bumbling ambition as noble, not merely absurd."

I concur that Parks has started to grow into its own. Having Poehler's Knope work so hard to break through the political glass ceiling is simultaneously played as much for chuckles (because of her vast cluelessness) as it is for the "truthiness" it provides, that being that it's not exactly easy to be a successful female politician.

Knope went to the barbershop where a number of famous local pols have had their hair cut for years, even though that particular barber doesn't usually cut women's hair. He gave her a severe, masculine hair style and didn't understand why she went to him, but Knope was thrilled and felt as though she'd been accepted by the political establishment, that she'd invaded a male bastion where she believed political wheeling and dealing was conducted.

Knope wanted to fit in with the "guys" at city hall and have a few beers with them in the courtyard as they regularly do. But she was felt terribly guilty over having shared a bottle of wine from a gift basket that she'd received and said they couldn't ethically accept as public servants. She then outed herself as an unethical employee, something none of the men would've done and was reprimanded.

Knope -- whose office prominently features framed photos of women politicians -- tried to use a hardball political tactic recommended by her mother, also a local official, in order to help a worthwhile public works project move forward. However when she was unable to execute the borderline unethical political manuever, she was wholesome enough to feel guilty about it.

Sure, at first blush, Leslie Knope may seem Michael Scott-ish, but she's evolving, along with her own kooky brand of dunderheadedness. The show could also shine an interesting spotlight on the wackiness of local government. As a young newspaper reporter who covered my fair share of small town meetings, I know that there's plenty of material the writers can mine to make this show an entertaining, comedic romp, with Poehler at the helm.

Image credit: NBC.

New Promo for Amy Poehler's Comedy 'Parks and Recreation'

If ever there were a subject ripe for satire, it would be the experiences of small town local government officials. And that's the subject area Amy Poehler will be mining in her new The Office-like show, Parks and Recreation, debuting on NBC on April 9.

The show's creators have set up a web site for the city of Pawnee, Indiana where Leslie Knope (Poehler) is deputy director of Parks and Recreation. Looks promising. (Link to promo here.)

Suburban Mom's Political Fix: SNL Takes on Blago & Flying Shoes

During Amy Poehler's final appearance as a Saturday Night Live cast regular this past weekend, she and "News Update" partner Seth Meyers provided scathingly sharp commentary on the Blagojevich-selling-Obama's-Senate-seat scandal. (It's at the 2:40 minute mark. Link to the video here.)

It makes me realize how much I'm seriously going to miss Amy Poehler in 2009.

Also over the weekend, President Bush had to dodge, not verbal attacks and criticism from the members of the fourth estate, but shoes. Literally.

This presidential shoe-throwing incident -- in which an irate Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at President Bush's head during a press conference -- looks really bizarre on video (see the link here). It could've been worse, I suppose. The guy could've thrown a belt or something.

Wonder if the Obama folks, who were no doubt watching, were taking notes and thinking of ways to avoid this type of protest in the future, like perhaps making reporters remove their shoes, like we have to do at airport security, before entering press conferences?

Suburban Mom's Political Fix: SNL's Poehler Kicks Serious Butt

Amy Poehler's "Palin Rap" on Saturday Night Live -- the ditty that was "supposed" to be performed by GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- was the funniest piece of satire I've seen. Maybe ever. (Video link is here.)

As for Palin, give her major props for showing up at the set of a liberal-leaning show on which she's been the target of brutal satire (courtesy of the divine Ms Fey) and, essentially saying, "Bring it on." Given the fall of my beloved hometown team (da Sox) last night, repeated viewings of this video are the only things putting a smile on my face right now. Oh, and coffee. The coffee makes me smile.

Suburban Mom's Political Fix: SNL Skewers AIG Snakes

Saturday Night Live hit it out of the park last night with its new primetime "News Update" political episode when Amy Poehler and Seth Myers took the AIG knuckleheads to task for blowing nearly $500,000 at a posh retreat, days after getting $85 billion of taxpayer dollars in the form of a bailout.

See here for yourself. The AIG segment can be found at the 2:02-minute mark. By the time they got to the "Oh My God!" section, I was rolling.

Fall TV, Plus Emmys and NBC Premiering 'Lipstick Jungle' Online

House has already premiered its new episode. The new J.J. Abrams show Fringe has begun creeping out audiences nationwide. But in the coming days, many more TV shows will premiere including Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Heroes and The New Adventures of Old Christine. I preview some of the shows that feature moms -- including 30 Rock which will (*spoiler alert*) reportedly have an adoption storyline this season-- over at my Mommy Track'd in this week's Pop Culture & Politics column.

If you just can't wait until the official premiere dates for some NBC shows, you can go directly to the network's web site and view a handful of complete episodes for free before they air. I've already watched the season premiere of Lipstick Jungle (highly recommend it for mind fluff to stop you from obsessing about Wall Street woes). Kim Raver's storyline was well done.

Oh, and don't forget, the Emmys are coming on Sunday night. Mad Men will be a repeat, thus no Mad Men Monday installment here at Notes from the Asylum. Speaking of the Emmys, who am I rooting for to take home awards (versus who I think will actually win, which is a distinctly different animal):

Best Drama: Is there really any question here? I've got my Mad Men pom-pons out. My second favorite: Lost.

Best Comedy: This is a toughie. I love Steve Carell and Tina Fey equally, but I'll go with The Office for comedy and root for Fey to take the comedic actress statute.

Best Actor in a Drama: I so want Jon Hamm to win this for his heroic portrayal of a 1960s haunted man who seemed to have everything (remember, this is an award for season one, before he became the dark shadow known as Don Draper). However I wouldn't be upset if Hugh Laurie walked away with it for House . . . though he's already won this award previously, so spreading the Emmy goodness would be kind of nice.

UPDATE: I just noticed that Hugh Laurie has NOT received an Emmy, having been nominated twice. He's won Golden Globe awards and a Screen Actors Guild award, but not the Emmy. My bad.

Best Actress in a Drama: Holly Hunter in Saving Grace. Savagely good.

Best Actress in a Comedy: The divine Ms. Fey.

Best Actor in a Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock.

Best Supporting Actress in Drama: Chandra Wilson, Grey's.

Best Supporting Actor in Drama: Ben, the evil, twisted Benjamin Linus from Lost should prevail Sunday evening, in the persona of actor Michael Emerson. Benjamin Linus is a true television enigma.

Best Supporting Actress in Comedy: Poeh-ler. Poeh-ler. Poeh-ler.

Best Supporting Actor in Comedy: Rainn Wilson, of The Office. Dwight's deadpan shtick. Gets me every time.

Who do you want to win? List your Emmy hopefuls below.

Image credit: NBC.