Jack Attack Tuesday – 8/26/14

Fantasy Football, Parks and Rec and The Wire

As of this writing both of my fantasy drafts this year are in the books.  This, being year 2 of my fantasy football life, was a much stronger draft than last year.  For instance, I took my boy Tom Brady in the first round last year.  Yep, I know.  As such, I had a format this year, stuck to it and was rewarded because of it.  I lucked out and got first pick of the draft, had to take my boy LeSean.  He was my go-to horse last year and the fact that I lucked out and grabbed him in both of my teams this year is fantastic.  I am flirting with the idea of dropping Brandon LaFell and picking up Josh Gordon, just in case that suspension gets lifted at some point, but we’ll have to see what happens.  Fellow Bingers, whaddayathink (looking at you, Norris)?

So this fantastic thing is happening where I want a few years for a show to blossom, then pick it up once it’s hit its stride and fall in love with it.  Such is the case with Parks and Rec.  I was a big fan of The Office when it was airing, up until about Season 5 where things really dipped off.  I tuned in for Michael Scott’s last episode and then came back again for the series finale, but felt ultimately that show just went on too long.  Having said that, Parks and Rec just looked like an unoriginal ripoff of a show that was a remake of another show.

I’m glad to say that while this show is most definitely trying to capitalize on that format it does have its own identity and style.  In fact, I would say that if one were to stop watching The Office around Season 5 and then pick up Parks and Rec, you’d have a better time than hanging around to the end of The Office.  Ron Swanson is a solid Dwight Schrute stand-in with some fantastic comedic timing, Aziz Ansari is perfect as a doucebag and any time Louis CK shows up in anything, no matter how terrible, it gets some respect.  I’m almost finished with Season 2 and will continue watching in between episodes of another show I’m currently hooked on…

Yes, if you listened to the Binge Cast this week you know I’ve jumped back into The Wire for viewing #3.  How am I feeling about this?  Well, The Wire is such a dense story that I often forget how amazing it is.  I fully admit I’ve never been able to get through The Sopranos.  I think I tapped out somewhere at the start of Season 3 and never went back, a lot of which has to do with the fact that it couldn’t compare to The Wire.  Still criminally underrated by comparison, it is really impressive how well the tone and theme of this show holds up today.  To see someone tackle the failure of the American dream in such a logical, concise and unforgiving way makes this, in my estimation, the greatest TV drama ever made, even though I still would probably call Breaking Bad my favorite.  Without going into details, Season 1, once again, delivered at every turn.  I’ve always loved the way the series opens on the story about Snot Boogie with McNulty, and how that story compares to the rest of the season.  It’s a great conversation that doesn’t wait to let you in on what’s going on, but rather challenges you as an audience member to pay attention and invest in this story.  Moreno and I will have some commentaries for you soon, so keep an ear out for those, as well as our daily blogs and this week’s Strain commentary.  Check out the video below for some footage of Kupka when he was younger and, as always, Binge On!