Parks and Recreation

CHICAGO – Here’s the best news for TV fans — there’s reason again to be excited about our favorite distraction. After a few years of lackluster freshman classes, the just-ended year was simply an amazing one — eight out of my top twenty shows of 2011, a whopping forty percent, are new offerings.

CHICAGO – It has felt for a few years like everything CBS threw against the wall would stick. Sure, shows like “The Defenders” and “$#*! My Dad Says” got canceled but they weren’t bombs. Ladies and gentleman, we are happy to report that the new Kevin Dillon sitcom “How to Be a Gentleman” is an official bomb. With a household rating of only 5.5, the show dropped a remarkable 41% from its lead-in (“The Big Bang Theory”) and was even down 18% from the second episode of “$#*! My Dad Says” at this time last year. Thanks for ignoring this mess.

CHICAGO – The overnights for the first new Thursday of the Fall 2011 season are in and there were no major surprises. Every network has something to be happy about and something to worry about, depending on who’s spinning the story. “The X Factor” maintained from its opening night numbers and “The Office” proved it may not need Steve Carell, while “Person of Interest” and “Charlie’s Angels” were well-sampled.

CHICAGO – “Modern Family” may have just won the Emmy and “Louie” & “Curb Your Enthusiasm” both had very strong summer outings, but the fourth-season premiere of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” (and the equally-hysterical episode that follows it) makes the case that the Amy Poehler vehicle is the best comedy on television right now. With incredibly smart writing and increasingly impressive performances from the entire ensemble, “Parks and Rec” just keeps getting funnier.

CHICAGO – With the Emmy Awards very nearly upon us (Sunday, September 18th, 2011), it seems the right time to take one last look at the Academy’s 2011 nominees before they turn into winners and runner-ups. Who will win? Who should win? And who should have been invited to the party?

CHICAGO – There’s quite a race for the best comedy of the year and I suspect that “Modern Family” will take the Emmy at Sunday’s awards (which we’ll get into more in-depth with a predictions feature later in the week), but the winner by a nose for this critic is NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” a show that just got better episode by episode as its brilliant third season progressed. See for yourself with the recently-released DVD from Universal.

CHICAGO – Release schedules keep rolling in lately with the Television Critics Association press tour heating up, now giving us a date to circle for the hottest new show of last season. NBC’s hit reality singing series “The Voice” is set to start season two on one of the most watched nights of television, Super Bowl Sunday.

CHICAGO – Brian Tallerico guests on Bill Moller’s show on WGN-AM 720 Radio in Chicago on July 16th, 2011 to take calls and discuss 2011 Emmy nominations and snubs with mentions of “Community,” “Fringe,” “The Walking Dead,” “Southland,” “Parks and Recreation,” and more.

CHICAGO – Before getting too deep into what the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences did wrong this year, they deserve a few moments of high praise. First-time Best Series nominations for “Boardwalk Empire,” “Game of Thrones,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “Parks and Recreation” — those were stellar choices to fill those slots.

CHICAGO – HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and ABC’s “Modern Family” were two of the big winners on Thursday morning when the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the 63rd Primetime Emmy Nominations.