Parks and Recreation returns as 30 Rock shines

This semester is killing me, much like the cold, possibly flu I currently have. So, I haven't had the time to update this blog, sadly.

However, this week for the BG News, I reviewed episode one of what is currently the funniest show on television, "Parks and Recreation." Words cannot adequately express my happiness now that the show is back on the air.

So, check out my review of "Parks and Rec" at BGNews.com.

Not only was last week's season premiere funny, but "the Flu," last night's episode, also delivered, largely thanks to Aubrey Plaza's April and Rashida Jones' Ann's hilarious hospital beside exchanges. Everyone, do yourselves a favor, please watch this show. If you watched season one and didn't find it funny, forget about that opinoin you formed and come in with an open mind, becasuse the show has become amazing.

Also, "30 Rock" was quite hilarious last night, mainly for making fun of the Jack/Liz shippers, even if this hilarious scene got the annoying OneRepublic song in my head.



My personal favorite joke? Upon the success of the NBC telethon for Mel Gibson and Jon Gosselin's private island, according to Jack, "It was our highest rating since that episode of 'SVU' when the detectives watched 'American Idol,'" which I took to be a blatant jab at the "Office" episode from November which revolved around a viewing party for "Glee."

This network. I think the Jan. 14 episode of "SNL" summarized it best:

James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson use Dawson's Creek fame for humor

I like seeing people in the public eye becoming Internet savvy, realizing they can use it to help their careers, poke fun at themselves and connect with fans.

For those of us who grew up in the late '90s, even if we didn't watch the show, we were all familiar with "Dawson's Creek" and Katie Holmes' Joey Potter and her love triangle with Pacey Whitter (Joshua Jackson) and Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek). One season three episode of the show yielded an emotional reaction from Dawson that lived in infamy on the Internet, "crying Dawson." For years, Internet users have been using the awkward cry to feign sadness and express sarcasm.



This week Van Der Beek partnered with FunnyOrDie.com to create James Van Der Memes, a website which recognizes the permeation of "crying Dawson" online by allowing Van Der Beek to create a series of new emotion-filled animated gifs. My personal favorite, "No You Didn't":



Similarly, at last year's ComiCon, Jackson took a break from promoting his Fox show "Fringe" to hold his own "Pacey-Con" to celebrate his character, complete with Pacey fan fiction Jackson wrote:

Pacey-Con with Joshua Jackson from Joshua Jackson

Sure, these acts could be seen as pandering to the Internet and past fans in order to resurrect popularity (especially in Van Der Beek's case, since his last show, "Mercy," did not make it past season one). But I think it's funny that these two former co-stars are using their breakout roles and dumb Internet jokes to acknowledge their fans. With Van Der Beek, he's laughing at his own awkward acting moment, and as someone who collects gifs, his myriad of new expressions are quite nice additions to my collection.