Parks and Recreation: Season Four (2012)

Showrunner: Michael Schur

 I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that currently Parks and Recreation is the best political show on television, and by the end of its run if it continues at this level, it will be known as one of the great television shows about politics ever. This season saw Leslie Knope running for a city council position. The city council race allowed the writers to do very important things at the same time. First it enabled them to comment on political campaign and elections in general using Pawnee as a microcosm of American politics, something they do frequently and effectively. We saw unrealistic campaign promises, an uneducated electorate, the importance of photo opportunities, and much more.

The second thing the city council race did was enable the audience to learn so much more about Knope. We know her as an optimistic, idealistic, and ambitious politician who actually believes in her job and genuinely wants to make an impact in the world, but in the election we see her struggle much more than we've seen in the past. Impressively, even throughout the struggles she continues to be idealistic. Rarely do we see this type of idealistic politician character on TV actually work without coming off as naive and annoying. But the characters on this show, and especially Knope, are all charming people who want to do good, and because they are in a parks and recreation department of a small town they can do so. I can't imagine a more perfect setting for a genuinely idealistic political show. The higher up you go in the political arena, the harder it is to get what you want done, and so in a comparatively low stakes setting like in Parks and Recreation, idealism works because individuals and small groups have the power to make big impacts on a small city by doing something as small as fixing water fountains. This show is not just as good as The Office when it was at its best, but probably even better. It's not just hilarious and smart, but it can also be deeply emotional sometimes, and that emotion is honestly the most impressive quality it has.

Grade: A-

Eastbound & Down: Season Three (2012)

Showrunner: Jody Hill and Danny McBride

 The journey of Kenny Powers has always been one in which he has consistently struggled to accept his status as a regular person after falling from so high. Season one was about him getting used to his new "regular guy" lifestyle, season two was about him trying to get back into the game and becoming who he was before, and now season three was about him finally accepting that there are ways besides being a famous athlete to be a great man. It's not totally official that this is the final season of Eastbound & Down, but if it is, it is definitely a very satisfactory ending for this great character.

This season was not as consistently great as the last two, sometimes it did get too wacky and did lose its way. But it did have some great moments as well, many of them instigated by his rivalry with his new younger Russian counterpart and not to mention his infant son. Those characters force Kenny to realize his status in the world, he's not the great pitcher he once was, and he is now a father with responsibilities. I don't want to spoil the end of the season, but it's one in which Kenny keeps the personality that made him such a hilarious and entertaining character but also finally makes a smart decision but in a completely Kenny Powers way.

Grade: A-

Luck: Season One (2012)

Showrunners: David Milch and Michael Mann

 The death of a few horses behind the scenes led to the eventual cancellation of this show. This cancellation was unfortunate but also very appropriate considering how much this show adored horses. It's about a bunch of people who come together at this horse track because of their admiration and love for horses. Whether or not they are contradicting themselves by being at a race track and also loving horses is not the issue, but it is clear that the makers of this show and the characters are all big horse lovers.

Luck is filled with characters who try so hard not to show any weakness or sentimentality, but it is always the scenes where people are interacting with horses in which emotion, sentimentality, and tenderness come through. This poeticism that comes through is a result of David Milch's great dialogue and Michael Mann's amazing visual eye. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a show better than this from the standpoint of a sensory experience. It proves television does not have to be writer-centric forever, the show is filled with cinematic, visceral, and poetic moments that make sense internally even if they don't always make sense plot-wise. The story can be confusing, it's big, complex and filled with race track vocabulary that made it even more difficult to understand what was going on. This should have been more frustrating, but the show always knew how to make you feel what you need to feel. Like Milch's best show, Deadwood, I suspect the show would have been even better in the second season, maybe all-time great television level, but unfortunately we'll never get to see it happen.

Grade: A-

Enlightened: Season One (2011)

Laura Dern plays Amy, a character who got fired from her job, has a nervous breakdown, and earns a reputation for being a crazy woman. She goes off to Hawaii to a rehabilitation program for a summer and comes back reformed and a changed person, now she's ready to change the world around her. Unfortunately, changing the world around her proves to be an especially difficult task. First of all, as nice as she is to people, they can't seem to see her as the new person she is and continue to reprimand her for her past behavior. Second of all, changing the world takes sacrifice, especially financial sacrifice. Lastly, no one else seems to be interested in changing the world with her, and she can't do it by herself.