Weiner's sitcom epitaph

By Jonathan Bradley in Sydney, Australia

5 October 2011

I'd like to tell you to watch the great NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation" because it's a marvellous satire on American politics and government, but I don't actually think this comedy about a department in an Indiana small town's city council reveals much about the workings of civic institutions. That said, parks department director Ron Swanson is the embodiment of libertarianism's coming out in popular culture:

The show's fourth season began on NBC last month, and it did include some political satire, which, somehow, went completely over my head. The episode featured one character, Ann, receiving lewd photographs in her email. Ann's a nurse, and after she notices symptoms of mumps in the offending photograph, she finds herself subject to an avalanche of offensive snapshots from men throughout the city government eager for a free check-up.

Then I read this article about the show's writing staff: 

Schur wants to keep incorporating ideas that seem "zeitgeist-y," and they discuss how to do their own take on the Anthony Weiner scandal.

Congratulations, former Congressman Weiner. You've been immortalised the best way American pop culture knows how: As a gag on a sitcom. 

Tags: Anthony Weiner, Libertarianism, Parks And Recreation, Ron Swanson

Bookmark and Share

Print This Post

Have your say

Name
Comment

Read our Comments Policy

Next: American Daily: May 17, 2012

Previous: The 99% are being heard... even in Sydney

Recent Posts

Archive