The 10 Best GIFs From Last Night’s NBC Comedies

Goodbye Parks and Recreation and Andy Bernard, though only one’s worth mourning.

Community: Origin stories are often lazy; they’re not so much telling us anything new as they are filling in blanks we never really wanted answered. They can work — I’m thinking of the flashback that opens Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where we see the dawn of Indy’s fascination with fedoras and fear of snakes — but mostly, they’re pure fan service, a way to self-reflect on old, once enjoyable stories, or in the case of sitcoms, jokes. “Heroic Origins,” while not a bad episode by any means, quickly got too buried in connecting as many Greendale dots as possible that it often forgot to be funny. (The exceptions were Troy, both past and present, and Little Annie Adderall.) The Dean picking up Shirley’s lingerie and Magnitude’s first “Pop Pop” were amusing, I guess, but there’s something to be said about keeping absurdities random; not everything needs an explanation, he said while writing a recap of a sitcom about a community college.
The Office: At least the writers hate Andy, too. All the stuff about him pursuing his Hollywood dreams, all the snide remarks about he’s “too character-y to be a leading man,” that has to be in reference to Ed Helms leaving The Office to film The Hangovers, right? If only he had never come back. The Andy stuff in the overstuffed “Livin’ the Dream” was as awful as Angela unfairly looks (related: it makes no sense that Angela would be broke after her split with the senator; she’d be rolling in talk show circuit money). A Sarah McLachlan song can’t make up for seasons worth of obnoxiousness, and in fact, may have made it worst. Dwight finally being named Regional Manager was a nice moment, as was Erin’s reaction to Jim and Pam saying they’re busy on weekdays. Speaking of, Jim and Pam. If he doesn’t go on his trip and they make Pam “the bad guy,” this.
Parks and Recreation: Burnsy called it: Ron done knocked Diane up with his Our Goo (sorry), and now there’s a Baby Swanson on the way. Despite “Are You Better Off?” being an excellent finale to an excellent season of Parks and Recreation, this is all I want to talk about; it’s never too soon to begin brainstorming names, after all. Ron, Jr.? Emmett? Tammy? Honor? F*cking? Those last two work for boys and girls. Renew this show now, NBC — WE NEED ANSWERS.