31 August 2007

thank you for visiting the Parker

Tonight's was the last episode of Welcome to the Parker, which I have found oddly enjoyable to watch (I love John the concierge, and Nathan the room service guy, for no apparent reason). Tonight the big non-surprise was the "we're letting you go" of Michael Twomey. The only surprise was that it happened in the first 15 minutes of the show.

Two guests were featured this week: Chris Anthony, a photographer/prima donna, who does what looks like pretty neat gothic/faux-victorian kinds of photography. He turned out to be a royal bitch, and came off like an asshole. The best bit about his stay at the Parker is that he brought along his hair stylist...............and it was DR BOOGIE! my favorite contestant on Shear Genius!

the other guests were a family of assholes; the parents (who had been together for 15 years) were renewing their vows in some shoddily planned ceremony organized by their lame children (the two boys are 16 and 18; so I wonder who their parents actually are?). The younger girls came off as bratty rude children, and were indecisive, poorly organized and weirdly demanding. yuck. but the vows were renewed and the mother cried while clutching her designer white poodledoodle or whatever the hell it was.

The show - and series - ended with the Parker holiday party. AGAIN, we were subjected to the clueless self-promotion of Twit and Twat the cocktail waitresses (danielle? andrea? angela? who cares?). These were the two "A-listers" who gave Annette a makeover and bitched and snarked about her appearance.....and patted themselves on their faux-tanned backs over how great they made her look in the end. Neither Twit nor Twat is terribly attractive; Twit especially, the blonde, has a face like a horse's ass. but whatever. Their screen time was weird; I felt like the show was trying to make fun of them, but at the same time, giving those bitches any screen time at all is just playing to their desires. Neither has the brains god gave a goat, so I'm sure they would only see "LOOK WE'RE ON TV! OMG!!!" and not understand how crappy and self-centered they appeared.

Darling Nathan looked great in his suit.
John the concierge can't dance for beans.

Michael Twomey, the show tells us in little blurbs, is now happily catering high-end horse show events. um, okay.

Andrea, his buddy and senior sales manager at the Parker, left the Parker not long after Michael did.

everyone else is still there, working away at pleasing unruly, entitled guests and maintaining an aura of happy chic!

I enjoyed this show, and I'm sorry it's ending, but I don't think I'll really miss it. I really enjoyed seeing all the "behind the scenes" stuff, especially in the details and logistics of running a swankery. And I like the Parker's "happy chic" aesthetic (thanks, designer Jonathan Adler). In particular, I loved the casual dining/poolside bar Lemonade Stand. Something about that just signalled vacation, relaxation and fun indulgence.

3 comments:

Vic said...

Yup, I totally agree with your assessment of this show. I liked seeing the behind the scenes machinations, but I didn't care for many of the guests and staff. It was an ok show, but I won't miss it.

Great recap.

Marius said...

Michael Twomey . . . is now happily catering high-end horse show events.

I love the sound of that. LOL. I watched a few episodes. And I can see why you and others enjoyed it. I do want to point out that this show made me appreciate Jonathan Adler a lot more. He used to annoy me on Top Design. But watching him play ping pong in defense of domesticated animals was so much fun. I almost developed a crush on him, but then I came to my senses.

kora in hell said...

hilarious commentary. I agree with you completely. I agree with Marius. This show made me like Jonathan Adler much more than Top Design. I did not like the idea that they were going to start banning dogs!! I thought the manager that wanted to ban dogs did not seem like a good fit with "happy chic." He was a bit too "hard-ass rigid." Utterly lacking in humor.

Poor Michael -- he was utterly inept! I can't believe he lasted as long as he did. I never saw anyone less capable of doing a job. I kept thinking two things:
1. shouldn't you have asked about this/planned this earlier? and
2. don't you have any notes/aren't you going to write any of this down?