Natalie Tootie

NBC has been doing a great job of adding touching drama to their Thursday night comedies. This week on the “Summer Catalog” episode of Parks and Recreation they tempered the comedy with the continuing story of the love triangle between Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) and April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza).

We thought Andy and April might go on their first “date” but April tried, unsuccessfully, to get into a bar underage and then Andy handled the situation badly. It was painfully sad, and then at the end of the episode we see them both on the cover of the summer catalog in a picture any couple would be proud of. None of the other potential cover pictures turned out to be any good. It was a real heart tugging moment, including camera shots of both Andy’s and April’s reactions to seeing the cover for the first time, and I think an example of excellent writing.

I like the fact that we don’t watch Parks and Recreation specifically for the drama, but that it’s still so prevalent to make the show a lot more rewarding to the viewer than just a flat comedy.