Splitsider

NBC is going to have a whole lot of sitcoms next season; they just renewed Parks and Rec, The Office and Up All Night, with Whitney rumored to be not far behind. That gets the number of sitcoms on the peacock up to a whopping 11 next year by my count, with five new series joining 30 Rock, Community, Parks and Rec, The Office, Up All Night and Whitney. And a sixth new show may be picked up as well!

It remains to be seen how long all of these seasons will be. Parks got a 13-episode order, as rumored, just like 30 Rock and [...]

It’s been over a month since Parks and Rec went on vacation, but don’t worry: the wait is over! The show came back from hiatus, and we’ll be getting a whopping three more episodes before Parks takes its summer break.

With Parks and Rec back from the forced vacation that NBC only reserves for its best shows, we picked up right where we left off in “Live Ammo.” Leslie’s City Council campaign is still barreling towards the finish line, Tom and Ann’s relationship still has a pulse, and April is taking on more responsibility around the office.

This has been a guest star-heavy season for Parks, and last night’s [...]

Duels, or “classy show-downs” as they are often called by no one, have been solving hot debates for ages. They're useful for delivering crowds a champion, through often unpredictable means (just ask Alexander Hamilton). Television loves a surprise, so what better way to measure and battle elements of TV than with a duel? Here, we will battle two characters in an imaginary contest of wills. Sometimes a winner will be crowned because of pertinent facts, and sometimes in spite of them.

This week’s duel? Ron Swanson v. Dwight Schrute in an American Gladiator Tournament.

For those not familiar with it, American Gladiators, which ran on television from 1989-1996, was a reality TV [...]

Katie Dippold, the Parks and Rec writer/producer who has penned such episodes as "Andy and April's Fancy Party" and "Bowling for Votes," has just sold an "untitled female buddy cop action comedy" to Chernin Entertainment. Between this, Kate McKinnon getting hired at SNL and Jen Bartels getting hired at the revamped In Living Color, it's been a banner day for the ladies of UCB.

Duels, or “classy showdowns” as they are often called by no one, have been solving hot debates for ages. Duels have played a major part in American history. Little known fact? The Lincoln-Douglas debates, The Bush-Gore election and The Thomas Crown Affair were all settled via a duel. So were the last three American Gladiators championships, and some of the most famous arguments between banjos.

Duels are useful for delivering crowds a champion, through often unpredictable means (just ask Alexander Hamilton). Television loves a surprise, so what better way to measure and battle elements of TV than with a duel?  Here, we will battle two characters in an imaginary [...]

NBC's comedies get shit ratings pretty much across the board. Sure, The Office does OK, but it's been slipping lately and even at its peak wasn't nearly as high as CBS's behemoths. But when literally not a single NBC comedy is a big hit it's hard to justify canceling the ones with mediocre ratings yet rabid fanbases. So that's good news for us! The prognosticators over at TV by the Numbers, who have a pretty solid track record when it comes to these things, predicts that Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec and Whitney will all get picked up for new seasons. We don't have long to wait [...]

Duels or “classy show-downs” as they are often called by no one, have been solving hot debates for ages. They're useful for delivering crowds a champion, through often unpredictable means (just ask Alexander Hamilton). Television loves a surprise, so what better way to measure and battle elements of TV than with a duel? Here, we will battle two characters in an imaginary contest of wills. Sometimes a winner will be crowned because of pertinent facts, and sometimes in spite of them.

This week? Ben Wyatt v. Henry Pollard in working, (or… Adam Scott v. Adam Scott at jobs.)

Of the seven basic literary conflicts, the most intriguing is certainly “character v. character” [...]

The winners of the prestigious Peabody Awards were announced this morning, with a few of our very favorite comedies snagging trophies for their shelves. No, I didn't know they commonly handed out awards to non-news organizations either, but hey, Game of Thrones won one as well, so who the hell knows what their standards are. In any case, here are the winners and what the Peabody folks had to say about each one:

The Colbert Report — Super PAC Segments Launching his own Super PAC as a satirical protest against megabucks politics, Colbert mixed cerebral comedy with inspired sight gags, interviews and preposterously funny monologues.

Portlandia A funhouse [...]

Aziz Ansari added to the chorus of comedians supplying their specials directly to the masses when he announced this week that he was selling his newest hour of stand-up, Dangerously Delicious, for five bucks online. The special is available for an easy and convenient download now on the comedian's website, azizansari.com.

It’s a big year for Ansari, not just because he's helping to pioneer this new method of releasing comedy to the people. He's also about to launch a big nationwide tour called “Buried Alive” and the sitcom he stars on, Parks and Rec, will round out its stellar current season starting next month. I recently had the [...]

With news of Parks and Rec’s sabbatical this week, it seemed kind of eerie that the newest episode of the show would follow Ron forcing Leslie into a sabbatical of her own. The show will be taking five weeks off to make space for Community starting next month, but don’t fret: Parks and Rec doesn’t seem to be in any real danger of cancelation.

It’s a rare Jerry-centric episode this week on Parks and Recreation, with the most despised man in the office figuring into the plot in a larger way than usual. I’m beginning to wonder how much longer this running joke about Jerry being hated/unlucky can [...]

Duels or “classy show-downs” as they are often called by no one, have been solving hot debates for ages. They're useful for delivering crowds a champion, through often unpredictable means (just ask Alexander Hamilton). Television loves a surprise, so what better way to measure and battle elements of TV than with a duel? Here, we will battle two characters in an imaginary contest of wills. Sometimes a winner will be crowned because of pertinent facts, and sometimes in spite of them.

This week’s duel? Leslie Knope and Michael Gary Scott in charades.

These two physical and mental behemoths clash in the ultimate battle, parlor games. If this were an Iron Chef America competition, [...]

Here's a video of Nick Offerman making a Ron Swanson bobblehead in his personal woodshop. Well, it's him making most of a bobblehead and then blowing some sawdust off a pre-made one, but let's not let that get in the way of the real goods of this video: that Nick Offerman is Ron Swanson. I wouldn't even be surprised if the writers at Parks and Rec have never given him a script and just gotten extraordinarily lucky when every time the cameras roll Nick just says the things they've written for Ron, because they are the most natural things for Nick/Ron to say.

"He wears slacks, not skinny jeans or even pants, and his sweaters are collared. He is comfortable with firearms. He can fix things that are broken and solve really tough riddles. He is quietly rude and quite often chivalrous. He plays the saxophone." — If you read just one ode to Ron Swanson today, make it this one by the LA Times' TV critic Mary McNamara. Every word of it is true.

Duels or “classy show-downs” as they are often called by no one, have been solving hot debates for ages. They're useful for delivering crowds a champion, through often unpredictable means (just ask Alexander Hamilton). Television loves a surprise, so what better way to measure and battle elements of TV than with a duel? Here, we will battle two characters in an imaginary contest of wills. Sometimes a winner will be crowned because of pertinent facts, and sometimes in spite of them.

This week? Tom Haverford v. Kelly Kapoor in a Fashion Walk-off.

“I love rivalries. Michael or Jim. Paris or Nicole. Heidi or LC. It's so much fun. But, I guess if [...]