Parks and Recreation (NBC) TV Show • Page 24

Yeah, skipping it on rewatches is totally fine, but to suggest doing it when not having seen any of the episodes is stupid.

 

I think stupid is harsh. There's a lot of shows that just have horrible seasons. There's also shows with a lot of terrible filler episodes and people skip those all the time. All about preference.

 

Skipping the first season on an initial watch makes no sense, especially for how short it is.

 

Skipping certain shows first seasons makes sense to me. I sometimes will tell people to skip s1 of halt and catch fire, or the leftovers, if they’re not feeling them within the first episode or two.

But this one is very short.

 

That's your choice, man. I clearly don't agree. It doesn't matter how short it is.

 

Lol wait what, it makes no sense to skip s1 of The Leftovers

 

Lol, no kidding. Even if you don’t think about the plot aspects, it’s over a third of the whole series, haha.

 

I can’t think of a single show where I’d recommend skipping an entire season

 

A few seasons of Weeds for sure and the last season of HIMYM is truly awful.

 

Dexter should be stopped after season 4.

 

There's no need to watch any of Pretty Little Liars

 

What the ... this is almost criminal.

 

But I did

 

Pretty Little Liars is so campy from the few episodes I've watched. How can you not be into it

 

I mean, the way they kept the show going after they revealed A and did the time jump? No thanks.

It's troubling because it totally works for the audience it's directed at (the show in general, not the time jump), but at the same time that doesn't make it a quality show. It doesn't have to be, I suppose. I understand the notion that things can just be extremely enjoyable without being "good". I definitely have some shows, movies and music I love that are not great, but I enjoy immensely.

This is a pretty good example:

 

It would be harder with Halt, but man I don’t like either of those first seasons at all lol and wouldn’t blame someone if they couldn’t make it through. I also think both shows re-invent themselves enough in s2 that you wouldn’t miss THAT much though, which is what I was trying to say.

 

Wow excuse u

 

You miss 1/3 of some of the most important relationships in the show. The entire arc of multiple characters depends on it. The emotional core of at least three main characters final scenes’ are call backs to it. Boy do I disagree.

The final line/message of the show and Joe is pulled directly from Season 1.

 

I probably wouldn’t ever tell people to straight up skip the first season of those shows. But if they had tried them (watched 1-2 episodes) and given up, I would probably tell them to try skipping to s2 to see if it grabs their interest more. I think both shows are DRASTICALLY improved in s2.

There’s so much tv these days, and it’s not that those shows first seasons aren’t worth it, but if it’s a choice between not watching them at all and skipping to the REALLY good stuff? I would always recommend someone get to the stuff they’re more likely to enjoy. They can always go back and watch those first seasons once they’re more invested.

 

They're really good and I'd argue, especially for Halt and Catch Fire, needed to actually get the most out of the show. The entire core of multiple relationships are built in season 1. I don't think the entirety of the show, the piece of art created, works as well without it. Some shows don't need their first act. That one does. Missing out on the full circle harms the piece of art. The show starts and ends with the same line. Gordon's entire arc doesn't work without seeing where he started. Who he is as a person is built from those episodes. I'd say that's true for almost all of the main characters. They're essential.

 

You get more out of Leftovers if you've seen all three seasons, the call backs and mythology helps, but you could watch each individually if you 'wanted.' I'd argue it would harm the overall experience of the show not to see all three, because you miss out on a lot of how they get to where they are in season 3. What happens there is because of season 1 and 2.

Skipping the first few chapters of a book/story may not harm your enjoyment of a book/story when you get to "the good stuff" but I would never recommend it.

Both of the shows mentioned carry with it an entire world/story that is not comparable to something like Parks and Rec.

 

I guess I see seasons of tv as something different than like a novel. I don’t see it as skipping the first few chapters of a story, I see it as skipping one entire story and moving on to the next, better story. I’d compare it to say, reading Silence of the Lambs before Red Dragon.

Agreed that it’s totally not comparable to parks and rec, I just wanted to give the argument that I can see in certain cases where people would want to skip first seasons. Obviously people disagree with my examples lol, but I think my point somewhat stands. :P

 

Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs are two standalone stories. H&CF is one continuing story. I don't think they're comparable.

Basically, anyone in the future reading this: please don't skip season one of H&CF. That show is incredible and absolutely worth watching from start to finish. The entire narrative arc plays off because of who you meet, and the relationships that are built, in the first season. The story is rewarding because you get to know the characters and what makes them tick, and their time in Texas at Cardiff Electric is the building block for who these people are. Gordon, Donna, Cameron, and Joe all have arcs and growth as people because of that season. I would implore you to not skip it if you want to get the most out of where the show goes and how it ends. (And you should watch it, it's fantastic.)

 

I still need to watch the leftovers

 

Well, at least the name fits