Tonight comedy fans will rejoice with the return of NBC's Thursday night lineup. Despite the network's recent struggles and questionable programming elsewhere (I'm looking at you, ""The Cape""), NBC has compiled one of the most solid evenings in television with its latest Must See TV bloc. But sandwiched right in between ""The Office"" and ""30 Rock"" is the sadly forgotten ""Parks and Recreation,"" a show regrettably assigned to midseason replacement status that really deserves more love.
While ""Parks and Recreation"" certainly has a passionate––albeit undersized––following, it is easily the NBC comedy most vulnerable to cancellation, which is a damn shame. The show admittedly had a rough start, as it felt far too much like an ""Office"" clone and its characters, particularly lead actress Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope, were too broad and lacked humanity. The first season was trite enough that I stopped watching after the first couple episodes.
But somewhere in between seasons one and two, something must have shaken up the ""Parks and Recreation"" writers' office, because the show jumped to a new level of quality. A lot of the show's new success is owed to one key change: The characters of ""Parks and Recreation"" became competent.
As the show shares its creators, Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, and its mockumentary style with ""The Office,"" comparisons are inevitable. But ""Parks and Recreation"" has succeeded in an area where ""The Office"" has largely faltered by grounding its collection of city government misfits in reality. Unlike Michael Scott of ""The Office"", whose boorishness and buffoonery have grown to such great heights that he is hard to watch, Leslie actually seems like a person who could succeed in the real world.
Most of the humor in Leslie's character results from her obliviousness and naiveté, which Poehler has fine-tuned to become sharper and more believable. Yet at the same time, Leslie's dedication to hard work and good intentions makes her much easier to root for than possibly any other character on NBC's sitcoms.
Similar can be said for Leslie's boss, Ron Swanson, played with perfect comic timing by Nick Offerman. On another show, Ron could have easily devolved into caricature. As a hard-line libertarian heading the bureaucracy of the Pawnee Parks and Rec department, it would be tempting to make Ron a walking punchline for anti-government types (and if I may continue to use ""The Office"" as a punching bag, Dwight Schrute has basically become just that for workplace managerial nerds). But the show has imbued him with a strong emotional footing, not only showing that he is a fairly competent (if lazy) leader, but also that he has a truly genuine fondness for his employees.
Even further, the second season of ""Parks and Recreation"" added a great deal of depth to Aziz Ansari's materialistic department subordinate, Tom, and Aubrey Plaza's jaded office assistant, April, both of whom saw their comedic talents mostly wasted in the show's first season.
And while all this adds up to make ""Parks and Recreation"" the heart and soul of NBC's comedy collection, it doesn't seem to be helping it stay on the air. While ""The Office"" pulls in the ratings, ""30 Rock"" pulls in the awards and ""Community"" pulls in the flavor-of-the-month critical support, ""Parks and Recreation"" gets left by the wayside, likely facing the ax at the end of this season if ratings don't improve.
However, that doesn't mean there isn't any hope. Season two guest star Rob Lowe has now become a series regular, along with my personal man-crush Adam Scott, so at least some effort is being made to gain a larger following.
But really, what will sell ""Parks and Recreation"" isn't big guest names, but the characters who manage to be both hilarious and affecting at the same time. So while you're sitting on your couch at 8:30 tonight, avoiding that first week of reading for discussion on Monday, flip the channel to ""Parks and Recreation"" instead of watching whiny surgeons hook up on ""Grey's Anatomy."" If you don't like it, that's fine. It just means you're a heartless bastard.
The only thing Todd loves better than insulting his readers is responding to insults from his readers. Please send counter insults to ststevens@dailycardinal.com.
