The fifth season premiere of Parks and Recreation is fast approaching, and despite wide critical acclaim the shows viewership has shrunk from an average of 6.0 million for the first season to a 4.4 million average for the fourth season. NBC has scheduled Parks and Recreation in the Thursday, 9:30 pm time slot up against ratings juggernaut Two and a Half Men, which pulled in 14.64 million viewers on average last season. And while it’s true that Parks and Rec will likely never win over the majority of Two and a Half Men fans, many of you out there are still unaware of just how good Parks and Recreation really is.
The show has received numerous awards and nominations over the past four years, and attracts a seemingly endless number of critics who regularly lavish praise on each episode and invariably include the show in “Best of...” lists throughout the year. Beyond those accolades, Parks and Recreation has an extremely loyal fan-base that remains loyal because each episode is such a pleasure to watch. But some say it hasn’t always been so.
Many of the same critics who now praise Parks and Rec regularly, panned the first few episodes. In the beginning of the series Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) appeared to be a female Michael Scott whose position as Deputy Director of Pawnee, Indiana’s parks and recreation department seemed to be a dead-end that no amount of naive optimism could help her escape. In the first few episodes, Leslie is socially and sexually awkward. She is romantically stuck on Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider), with whom she had sex once six years prior to the first episode. The show’s action initially centered around the beginning and growth of Leslie’s relationship with Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) who she first meets at a public forum at which Ann asks her to do something about a lot next to her home that, due to some cancelled building project, has become a hazardous pit. If you’re not sold by this summary, you’re not alone. Some critics saw hope for the show in the last two episodes of the show’s six-episode first season, but most agree that the show really hit it’s stride throughout the second season.
The show began to gain ground as characters were fleshed out by the writers and actors. The prime example of this is Leslie Knope. Leslie begins to come off as driven and upbeat. By the second season, Leslie’s awkwardness appears to be a symptom of her shyness with the opposite sex and not an overall social inhibition. She also quickly becomes more assertive with men, bumbling through a relationship with the equally awkward Dave Sanderson (Louis C. K.) and then taking initiative in seeking and ending a relationship with Justin Anderson (Justin Theroux). Most importantly, where conflict in the first season often sprang from Leslie’s poorly thought-out actions, the blame for the conflict in the second season is more often circumstance. The audience is no longer cringing because of the protagonist’s bonehead moves, but is now commiserating in the challenges that spring from the uncontrollable effects of outside forces.
Other Parks and Rec characters maintain the show's often subtle but endless humor. I'll summarize a few of my favorites. Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) is a libertarian who loves meat, the outdoors, and wood-working. Ron oozes many aspects of traditional masculinity excluding any trace of misogyny as he has an affinity for strong, often domineering women. Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) is a gung-ho but clueless man-child that is just too awesome to grow up. April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) is uncomfortably low-energy and delivers lines and stares with a heaping load of irony. Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) is a straight man who brings a rational outside perspective that is most often ignored. Also, in a very small role, Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) is the charmingly over-the-top sidekick to Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) who smoothly says all the wrong things.
Parks and Recreation has become one of the most critically-acclaimed shows on television, and is one of my all-time favorite shows. The primary secret to the show's success is that it is the product of the combined efforts of so many extremely talented people. One major piece of evidence of the depth of Parks and Rec's talent pool is their body of work. Greg Daniels (co-creator) is a former writer for Saturday Night Live (1987-1990), a former writer and producer of The Simpsons (1993-1996) and King of the Hill (1997-2009), and he adapted the American version of The Office for which he has also been the show runner, a writer, and a director (2005-present). Michael Schur (co-creator) is also a former writer for SNL (1998-2004) and a producer and writer for The Office. Amy Poehler is part of the Upright Citizens Brigade and was an SNL cast member (2001-2009). Rashida Jones has been in twenty-four episodes of The Office, co-wrote and starred in Celeste and Jesse Forever, and created and writes for the comic book Frenemy of the State. Aziz Ansari was part of the sketch group Human Giant and has released two albums of stand-up. Aubrey Plaza was in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Safety Not Guaranteed. Adam Scott starred in Party Down and has had guest spots on Six Feet Under, Wonderfalls, The Sarah Silverman Program, Eastbound & Down, Childrens Hospital, and NTSF: SD: SUV::. This list could go on for a very long time. The point is that Parks and Rec is the work of some of the funniest people alive, and I highly recommend watching it. All four past seasons are available on Netflix Instant.
[I've tried to avoid any spoilers for the upcoming season, but if you're interested in knowing more about the following, just click on the links].
The Season 5 premiere of Parks and Recreation on Thursday, September 20 at 9:30 pm will find Leslie Knope, Ben Wyatt, April Ludgate, and Andy Dwyer in Washington, D.C. and features guest appearances by Senators John McCain, Barbara Boxer, and Olympia Snowe. Michael Schur has confirmed that Ben Schwartz will return as his character Jean-Ralphio this season. There will also be a few new characters introduced. Glenne Headly and Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks will appear together. Delocated's Jon Glaser will play a recurring role. Also, Lucy Lawless will play an interesting role. Surely someone will figure out that she's a Cylon.
P.S. I couldn't fit it in organically, but I wanted to throw a shoutout to Parks and Rec writer Harris Wittels who is beyond hilarious. Harris is a frequent guest on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast and on podcasts in general. Any episode of a podcast with Harris is well worth a listen. Harris has a book coming out on September 25, 2012 titled Humblebrag: The Art of False Modesty. Buy it ASAP!
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