America's Television Sweetheart

Finally! Part 3 of 3 of “Returning Shows You Should Watch.” And this is just in time because some series begin premiering this week! Read Part 1 and Part 2 to see what else made my list, and read below to see why I think you should be watching PARKS AND RECREATION and FRINGE this fall.

PARKS AND RECREATION (NBC)

Sorry MODERN FAMILY, but you weren’t the best comedy on network television this year. That honor goes to another mockumentary-style sitcom, PARKS AND RECREATION. It’s a shame we only got 16 episodes in the series’ third season, but who can complain when such a short season gave us a moment like this?

PARKS & REC stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, an optimistic and loyal government worker who is second in command at the parks and recreation department in Pawnee, Indiana. Joining Leslie at the department is her libertarian boss, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), and her co-workers Tom (Aziz Ansari), April (Aubrey Plaza), Jerry (Jim O’Heir) and Donna (Rhetta). Rashida Jones plays Leslie’s best friend, Ann Perkins, and Chris Pratt plays the lovable and dumb Andy Dwyer. Joining Season 3 as regulars and government bureaucrats were Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger and Adam Scott as Leslie’s love interest, Ben Wyatt.

The single greatest image in television this year. Poor Ron.

I wasn’t always a fan of PARKS & REC. Please just skip its first season. (It’s only six episodes anyway.) After writing it off in the beginning, I picked it back up again in Season 2 when critic after critic told me I was missing out. Thanks, critics! By Season 2, PARKS & REC had found its heart and the right tone, and main character Leslie Knope had become warm, smart, relatable and funny. The credit for Leslie’s transformation goes to both the writers and to Poehler, who deserves the Emmy this year for her performance (even though she’ll unfairly lose to Laura Linney).

There is so much to love about PARKS & REC, but mostly I love the world that Greg Daniels and Michael Schur have created. Pawnee has drawn many comparisons to Springfield because of all the recurring townspeople who can be used at any time. My favorite scenes are the exasperating town hall meetings, which are much like Michael Scott’s conference room meetings if Michael invited every crazy person in Scranton instead of just the crazy people in his office. I love the Snakehole Lounge, I love the Bulge, and I hate the public library. I want Eagleton to suck it, and I genuinely fear Tammy 1. I love Pawnee so much that I want to move there and help expose the malpractices of the Sweetums candy factory. I can just room with April and Andy and buy them more frisbees to use as dinner plates.

Can you watch Season 4 without having see the previous seasons? Yes, but you really should go back and watch Seasons 2 and 3 because they’re just so good and so funny. Skip Season 1.

Returns Thursday, September 22 at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.

FRINGE (FOX)

FRINGE shares the honor with CHUCK as being “The Little Show That Could.” The sci-fi drama didn’t always attract such a small audience, but for the past two years it has been on the brink of cancellation before being saved at the 11th hour. The third season of FRINGE was moved to Friday, a time slot change that usually means the end for a series. But the show performed well for a Friday, and thank God it was renewed because it ended on a cliffhanger that has changed the entire multiverse. I’ll admit that I didn’t really watch FRINGE until this summer. I must have been crazy because I was missing out on one of the best TV mysteries out there.

Yes, FRINGE is a weekly procedural, but as the series has progressed, it has focused more and more on its mythology. Unfortunately, that makes it more difficult for new viewers to dive in, but FOX is trying to help with recap specials you can find here. The drama follows a group of people in the FBI’s Fringe Division, which investigates mysterious events that fall under the realm of “fringe” science, meaning the science that exists outside of established theories. The group includes FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), troubled scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his brilliant and estranged son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson).

Dr. Walter Bishop

The greatest character of them all is Walter, the archetypal mad scientist. While Olivia and Peter are compelling reasons to tune into FRINGE, Walter is the reason to stay. And John Noble plays Walter so expertly that I don’t even want to imagine what the character would be like in the hands of a lesser actor. Walter is brilliant, funny and warm, but he suffers from a history of dangerous arrogance and insanity, which has turned him into a sad and troubled man who has to cope with overwhelming guilt and the dark sins of his past. What I wouldn’t give to put Walter Bishop in a room with John Locke and just watch them debate faith, science and human nature. J.J. Abrams could arrange that, couldn’t he?

Rumble!