Parks and Recreation
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Parks and Recreation is an American mockumentary political satire sitcom created by Greg Daniels (who also created The Office) and Michael Schur (who was a writer on The Office). Though it received low ratings throughout its run, it has received positive reviews from critics and has developed a large fanbase, and has also been featured frequently in memes.
Synopsis
The show follows the parks and recreation department of a fictional town in Indiana called Pawnee, and shows their attempts to make their town better, while poking fun at several facets of American culture.
Why It Rocks
- It is a clever take on the mockumentary genre and also does a great job of blending it with political satire.
- The humor in the show is very clever and creative, as it pokes fun at American politics, American news media, and other facets of American culture.
- A lot of likeable and memorable characters:
- Lesile Knope is the well-meaning head of the Parks and Recreation department, who is very kind and friendly to all of her friends, as she always gives them gifts, and she cares deeply about her town.
- Ann Perkins is Lesile's close friend and is there for emotional support.
- Tom Haverford is a charismatic and smooth-talking entrepreneur who started out as Lesile's subordinate, though eventually branched off.
- Ron Swanson is the strict, no-nonsense director of the parks and recreation department, who values small government and the outdoors.
- April Ludgate is a snarky and sarcastic teenage girl who becomes Ron's assistant, and is in a relationship with Andy Dwyer.
- Andy Dwyer is April Ludgate's boyfriend and eventual husband who is dim-witted and goofy.
- Ben Wyatt is Lesile Knope's boyfriend and eventual husband, a smart and number-oriented accountant.
- Chris Traeger is a government official who is shown to be very positive and conscious about his health.
- Several other characters that contribute comic relief.
- The show's setting of Pawnee, Indiana is very well-developed.
- The show also has a fair share of heartwarming and sad moments in addition to the funny moments.
- Almost all of the episodes are great and there are almost no bad episodes.
- It helped launch the careers of Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, and Adam Scott.
The Only Bad Quality
- The show's first season, while not terrible, wasn't a very good start as the show was trying to hard to be The Office.
Reception
The show has received positive reviews from fans and critics and has been favorably compared to Greg Daniels's other show, The Office. It has an 8.6/10 on IMDb based on over 298,000 reviews. It has also become very popular through internet memes.