Parks and Recreation: Season 1

When I first heard that the guys behind the U.S. version of The Office were planning on making a spin-off, I was worried. Spin-offs are almost never a good idea when the original show is still on TV. For proof, look no further than Seth MacFarlane's Sunday night shitfest on FOX. Showrunners should focus on the quality of one show and not try to expand a franchise and spend less time on each show. Fortunately, Parks and Recreation ended up not being a spin-off at all, but more of a companion piece to The Office - similar in style but entirely separate. Unfortunately, my fears did somewhat come true as its first season was not quite up to par with The Office while The Office itself peaked long ago. The good news? The Office had a pretty bad first season before it became one of the defining comedies of the decade. And I have no reason to believe Parks can't pull a similar turnaround. Why? Because I've been watching Season 2 this year and so far not a single episode has been a dud. Having spent the morning watching all six episodes of Season 1, I can attest that they aren't even close to bad. I think the problem was that everyone, myself included, judged this show the same way they'd have judged The Office. Amy Poehler was unfairly compared to Steve Carrel's Michael Scott by the masses and no one really wanted to give the show a chance. But where Carrel gets his laughs from being comically childish and charmingly stupid, Poehler plays an undying optimist who works hard at her meaningless city government position and never complains about how shitty it is. She's not really dumb or flakey; instead, her charismatic flaw is that she's an enormous dork. That's really the only word I can think of to use. And while Carrel is undoubtedly the best part of his show, Poehler is outshined by several of her castmates. Among them are Chris Pratt (you may vaguely remember him as Che from Season 4 of The OC), Aubrey Plaza (an intern who couldn't give less of a shit), Nick Offerman (the boss with an overly hardened exterior but no bark or bite at all), and, best of all, Aziz Ansari (the Indian guy from Human Giant whose minor recurring role in Scrubs was the greatest part of Season 8). Rounding out the cast are the not-so-funny Paul Schneider (he plays the straight man amid all the nonsense) and Rashida Jones (Karen from Season 3 of The Office - she once again plays Karen from Season 3 of The Office). There are a few minor roles too, but those characters don't really get fleshed out until Season 2. The main thing with Season 1, I think, was that it served to set up the characters and familiarize the audience with each of them on a personal level - this isn't unlike what The Office did, and it definitely pays dividends as soon as Season 2, which hits the ground running thanks to the legwork put in in Season 1. I guess ultimately Season 1 could be described as decent. If you try not to compare to The Office immediately, you'll probably even enjoy it. And don't be turned off by Amy Poehler. I hated her in SNL too but she's really much less annoying in this role. This isn't exactly a show that you need to watch from the beginning, but then, there have only been like twenty episodes total so far, so it can't be that hard to catch up. I wouldn't have recommended this show based on Season 1 alone, but honestly, it's winning me over week after week here in the midst of Season 2. In fact, I would even dare to say that it's currently the most enjoyable show in that NBC Thursday night block that features the Emmy-juggernaut 30 Rock, the critically acclaimed upstart Community, and even the much-beloved Office. Of course, all of this is just my opinion. But seriously, give this show a shot if you haven't, and know that like any show it might not find its feet for the first several episodes. Once you clear those, you're golden.