Rock Show (Parks and Recreation)

"Rock Show (Parks and Recreation)"

"Rock Show" is the sixth episode and season finale of the first season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 14, 2009. It was written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Michael Schur. In the episode, Andy gets the casts removed form his legs, and Ann starts reevaluating their relationship when she learns he kept them on longer than necessary so she would keep pampering him. An intoxicated Mark flirts with Leslie, who feels conflicted about whether she wants to move forward when he is drunk.

The episode generated positive reviews, with several commentators claiming the episode founds its own tone, breaking away from similarities to The Office. According to Nielsen Ratings, it was watched by 4.25 million households in its original airing, the lowest viewership for the season.

Plot

The parks and recreation department have cake to celebrate Andy (Chris Pratt) having his leg casts removed, and Ann (Rashida Jones) invites everybody to a local bar to hear Andy's first rock concert since he broke his leg. Leslie (Amy Poehler) is disappointed she cannot go, because her mother (Pamela Reed) has set up a business meeting with a local town manager. Later at the hospital, Ann learns from Dr. Harris (Cooper Thornton) that Andy could have had his casts removed two weeks earlier, but that he postponed it because he wanted Ann to keep pampering him. Angry, Ann begins reevaluating her relationship with Andy. Later that evening, Leslie realizes the dinner with 62-year-old George Gernway (Ron Perkins) is actually a blind date set up by her mother. George, who tells the documentary camera crew he is getting "very positive signals", agrees to go with Leslie to the rock show.

Mark (Paul Schneider) feels lonely because he is the only one at the concert without a date: Tom (Aziz Ansari) is with his attractive surgeon wife Wendy (Jama Williamson), Ron (Nick Offerman) is dating his ex-wife's sister Beth (Stephanie Erb) and April (Aubrey Plaza) is with, "like the gayest person I've ever met, but I make out with him when I'm drunk sometimes." Noticing Ann is angry with Andy, Mark makes a pass at her, but Ann angrily rejects him. Leslie and George show up and are mocked by Tom. After the concert ends, Andy tries to stay as long as possible to avoid a fight with Ann, but she insists they leave. George goes home because he was falling asleep and Leslie starts to leave, but an intoxicated Mark asks her to stay and have a beer with her.

When Leslie notes to the camera crew that they seem to be getting along just like when they made love five years earlier, she realizes he was drunk then too. When the bar closes, the two decide to keep drinking alongside the pit outside Ann's house, which Leslie plans to turn into a park. When Leslie asks whether she thinks the park will ever be made, a pragmatic Mark says it will be a difficult process with a lot of red tape, but she remains optimistic. During a fight, Andy admits to Ann that he postponed having the casts removed, but explains it was because, "I really, really like it when you serve me food." Ann throws him out, and Andy sees Mark kiss Leslie. Leslie stops his advances because she does not want to move forward when he is drunk. As Mark starts to leave, he falls into the pit. An amused Andy tells Ann, who rushes out to help him while Andy goes back inside and watches television.

Production

"Rock Show" was written by Norm Hiscock and directed by Michael Schur. It was the first season finale, and Amy Poehler said she believed with this episode, what she describes as the inevitable comparisons would end between the show and The Office, which is also produced by Parks and Recreations creators Schur and Greg Daniels. Poehler said, "I think it was something we had to work through in the beginning, and I’m kind of hoping we’re on the other side of that and people will start to judge the show on its own, for what it is and realize it’s just a completely different world in a similar style.” Schur made his directorial debut with "Rock Show", and had only one day of preparation before directing the episode. While preparing to direct the episode, Schur was asked to make an appearance on The Office as Mose Schrute, the cousin of Dwight Schrute and a popular minor character, in the fifth season finale episode, "Company Picnic". Schur regretfully declined because he needed the time to work on "Rock Show", leading Office episode writers Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta to create the character Rolph, Dwight's friend played by James Urbaniak, as an alternative.

Immediately after "Rock Show" was originally broadcast, NBC set up an official website for "Scarecrow Boat", Andy's band featured in the episode. The site, at http://www.scarecrowboat.com, included ringtones, band posters, songs for download and photos.

Cultural references

Andy describes the style of his band's music as a mix between Matchbox Twenty and The Fray. George says his favorite rock band is The Everly Brothers, a country-influenced rock band from the 1950s and 60s. Andy finds Ann's lost iPod, a portable music player by Apple Inc., inside his leg cast after it is removed. Andy mentions a number of former names for his band: Teddy Bear Suicide, Mouse Rat, God Hates Figs, Department of Homeland Obscurity, Flames For Flames, Muscle Confusion, Nothing Rhymes with Orange, Everything Rhymes with Orange, Punch-Face Champions, Rad Wagon, Puppy Pendulum, Possum Pendulum, Penis Pendulum, Hand Grill Suicide, Angel Snack, Just The Tip, Threeskin, Jet Black Pope and, finally, Scarecrow Boat

Reception

In its original American broadcast on May 14, 2009, "Rock Show" was watched by 4.25 million households, according to Nielsen Ratings, marking the lowest viewership for the season. Although the rating was almost the same as the previous week's episode, "The Banquet", Bill Gorman of TV By the Numbers still called the rating "pitiful." The episode received a 1.9 rating/7 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 2.0 rating/6 share among viewers between 18 and 49.

"I'm not saying "Rock Show" was a masterpiece, or the series' Rosetta Stone, but at the very least it's a signpost on the way to it becoming the kind of comedy I believe it can be with the talent in front of and behind the camera."

Alan Sepinwall,
The Star-Ledger

"Rock Show" received generally positive reviews. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said after six episodes, he felt "Rock Show" was the episode where the Parks and Recreation found the right tone for the series and Leslie Knope character. Sepinwall said all the characters were very likable, the jokes seemed natural and the awkwardness of the show was turned down enough to work properly. Matt Fowler of IGN said he did not find the episode especially funny but that it did a good job of fleshing out the characters. He said Chris Pratt was especially funny, and that his band's song "The Pit" was stuck in his head after the episode. The A.V. Club writer Keith Phipps, who had mixed feelings about Parks and Recreation throughout the season, said "Rock Show" was very funny and restored his faith in the potential of the series. Phipps said he believed the show would become very popular in the second season, and that people would later claim to like the first season more than they did the first time they saw it.

Jeremy Medina of Entertainment Weekly said the episode was "solid all-around" and especially liked Leslie's blind date with the elderly man and Chris Pratt, especially his listing of all his previous band names. Medina said, "Parks and Recreation is only six episodes in, and it's already better than I anticipated. It has its own tone, a talented cast, and a plot that's advancing toward something, at least as fast as governmental red tape will allow it to." Richard Lawson of Gawker said the episode was the best of the season and that he liked the wistful pacing and Poehler's performance. Lawson said, "Anyone who dismissed this show after its first sorta underwhelming episode made a mistake. The show has only gotten tighter and sharper, culminating in last night's funny/sad finale." Time television reviewer James Poniewozik said the episode was the best yet for developing Poehler into a "more multi-facted, less risible character". He also said the supporting staff played "flawlessly" off each other in the rock show scene, and thinks there is "huge potential" in the dynamic between Leslie and her undermining mother. Not all reviews of the episode were positive. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said the episode and Leslie Knope character were unappealing in "Rock Show" and throughout the first season, which he said surpassed the Friends spin-off Joey as "as the worst example of NBC's tendency to extend its franchises well beyond what is desirable or logical."