Now that sci-fi/fantasy TV has gotten better and more ubiquitous, it's been easy to fill up those hours without resorting to standard American comedy. I stuck with How I Met Your Mother for a few seasons since the cast is hard to pass up for a Whedon fan, but it started to feel like a chore. (I did catch the finale on a plane a little while ago, and didn't understand why everyone hated it so much, which probably just shows my lack of investment.) Same deal with The Office. I thought I might like The Big Bang Theory, and I did, until I saw this one episode (also on a plane; actually, I think I've only seen like three episodes of this show total) where the men go to a comic convention and their girlfriends stay home rolling their eyes over how immature that is, and you just do not pull that shit on me and expect me to ever watch five minutes of your show again.
All that was just intro to say I'm watching Parks and Recreation and I really, really like it. I don't know what makes it different. I don't know if I'll keep loving it to the end. But I'm watching a comedy and it's actually funny and I don't get angry at myself every time I see another episode.
Thanks for the rec - you know who you are.
