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On this week’s 51%, WAMC’s Sarah LaDuke learns about everyone’s favorite comfort show, Parks and Recreation, with pop-culture writer and historian Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. “Parks and Rec” ran on NBC from 2009-2015, capitalizing on the success of The Office and a sense of political optimism following the election of then-President Barack Obama. It brought us Little Sebastian and Galentine’s Day — but it was also always on the verge of cancellation. Keishin Armstrong’s new book, Parks and Rec: The Underdog TV Show that Lit’rally Inspired a Vision for a Better America, dives into the program’s history and what it means to viewers today.

On this week’s 51%, WAMC’s Sarah LaDuke learns about everyone’s favorite comfort show, Parks and Recreation, with pop-culture writer and historian Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. “Parks and Rec” ran on NBC from 2009-2015, capitalizing on the success of The Office and a sense of political optimism following the election of then-President Barack Obama. It brought us Little Sebastian and Galentine’s Day — but it was also always on the verge of cancellation. Keishin Armstrong’s new book, Parks and Rec: The Underdog TV Show that Lit’rally Inspired a Vision for a Better America, dives into the program’s history and what it means to viewers today.

(Airs 01/24/25 & 01/26/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and David talk about when the TV “standup” is a mistake, the Trump Administration and the FCC, A-I’s influence on journalism, a cat named Mittens and the Golly Martha, and much more.

Twenty-five years after its first season aired, "Friends" remains incredibly popular. If it were counted in the Nielsen ratings as a new show, it would…

David Thomson is a film critic and frequent contributor to the New York Times, the Guardian, and more. He is the author of The Biographical Dictionary of…

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond.Today's panelists are WAMC’s Alan Chartock, SUNY at Albany journalism…

Obsessively watched and critically ignored, sitcoms were a distraction, a gentle lullaby of a kinder, gentler America—until suddenly the artificial…

Network TV's fall season formally starts this week, when most networks are unveiling their new shows, and Nielsen starts counting ratings for the season.…