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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: June 21, 1979
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: In the Year of Our Lord 2017, Chris Pratt is no longer a TV star. He is, in fact, a movie star. He is, in fact, a blockbuster movie star. He is, in fact a comic-book hero of blockbuster movies. He is, at long last, a Chris. One of the Four Chrisses, anointed by the Hollywood gods to be the standard bearers of cinematic masculinity, then sent to the four corners of the world to bring worldwide box-office returns back home to Los Angeles.
But rewind the clock back only a few years, before Guardians of the Galaxy was a glint in the Minnesota-native’s eye, and Chris Pratt wasn’t a movie star at all. He was a TV star, yukking it up with the public-servant cut-ups in Pawnee, Indiana on Parks and Recreation. Pratt’s Andy Dwyer was initially a peripheral character, introduced as the problematic ex-boyfriend of Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones). But as he kept on stealing scenes, his character went from oblivious jerk to lovable doofus. And by the time Andy and April began their tentative romance, it was all over. Amy Poehler was the star of Parks and Recreation, but Chris Pratt was its biggest breakout star.
But rewind the clock back even farther than Parks and Rec. All the way back to the early 2000s. The Bush era was in full swing, the WB was still a network, and current mega-producer Greg Berlanti was quietly devastating audiences with Everwood. We have a hard time cultivating Everwoods, gentle family dramas that don’t feel artificially saccharine, that address real issues and tackle real emotions without feeling melodramatic. The cast was top-notch, including Treat Williams, Emily Vancamp, Gregory Smith, and Sarah Drew. And, of yes, Chris Pratt as Bright Abbott. Much like Andy Dwyer would years later, Bright was a character who evolved. Originally, Bright was Amy Abbott’s jock older brother, who existed to bully and intimidate new-kid-in-town Ephram. But Pratt’s irrepressible charm was hard to deny, and before too long, Bright went from being Ephram’s bully to being his BFF. From handsome jerk to handsome doofy weirdo. It’s a pattern!
So happy birthday, Chris Pratt. You may be a Chris, but you’ll always be more of an Andy or a Bright to us.
