The better a show’s deleted scenes, the better the show itself. In
one chopped scene from Parks and Recreation: Season One, an
irate town hall-meeting eccentric (Loudon Wainwright III) declares:
“And then there was that ‘fire.’ That’s what killed my snake!…Now, I
have a few things I want to say about Laura Linney…” (Success!) Yes,
P&R, which pokes fun at slow-as-molasses local politics,
hasn’t lived up to its potential (the show stars Amy Poehler and was
created by two of the main guys behind the American Office). But
its season finale was decent—and hey, The Office‘s first
season was pretty patchy, too.
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2009.