BY BLUE KAUFMAN
You could live 1000 years and still not be able to sift through all the TV shows Netflix has to offer. With so much to watch and so little time, we end up having to pick and choose the shows we indulge in, letting the others slip through the cracks. However, in this attempt to balance school, work, and leisure time, you’ve probably glossed over the one series you really should be tuning into. In the end, the show ends up being neglected, cast aside, buried deep beneath your other “priorities” until it’s almost forgotten. Slipping further and further into the depths of your queue, it waits patiently, unwatched, unloved, and under appreciated. This situation is inevitable, but you should do yourself a favor and make sure that the show isnt Parks and Recreation. NBC’s hit series truly is a shining jewel in the realm of modern sitcoms, and here are five reasons why.
1. Leslie Knope is an awesome female protagonist
Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, is the Deputy Parks Director of Pawnee’s Parks and Recreation Department, a member of the city council, and the focal point of the series. She is an ambitious workaholic, a strong-willed feminist, and a dedicated civil servant. Although she isn’t always successful in accomplishing her goals, Leslie has this knack for putting a positive spin on most of her failures by brushing off rejection and staying true to her convictions. She endures the ridicule of her coworkers, tolerates the angry gibberish yelled by citizens during public forums, and is the hard worker we all should strive to be. Most importantly she has her priorities straight: friends, waffles, work (not necessarily in that order).
2. It’s smart
At first, the show appears to be an amusing mixture of likable characters with far fetched dreams and quirky personalities. In a way, yes, Parks and Recreation is all of these things; however it also manages to dig deep enough to find the dirt to match its sparkle. House of Cards may illustrate the ruthlessness and corruption of government but Parks and Recreation satirizes the American system simply by poking fun at it. It’s light enough to be humanizing but peppered with enough comical one-liners to make it sharp. “Nothing bad can happen to me,” Leslie Knope once said, “I’m like a white male senator.”
3. Ron Swanson
Meet Ron Swanson, a staunch libertarian who would like to eliminate the parks department completely, not to mention the entire government. His rants about business and privatization are plentiful and yet they always manage to be entertaining without crossing the line into overbearing territory. He loves steak, whisky, and women named Tammy. Basically he’s the world’s most manly man. If you need to know more, just refer to his very own “pyramid of greatness.”
4. Pawnee
In the Parks and Rec universe, Pawnee is a small fictional town in the heart of Indiana. On top of being able to boast the fourth largest obesity rate in the nation, this shameful town also has and an ongoing rivalry with its neighboring city “Eagleton,” a village whose snotty rich residents often serve as the comedic basis for many of the episodes. However, the funniest part of Pawnee is arguably its disturbing mistreatment of the Native Americans and female pioneers who previously inhabited the town. This horrifying yet also hilarious history is depicted by the murals at Pawnee’s “Pioneer Hall,” the best of which include “The Trial of Chief Wamapo” and “Sunday Boxing,”.
5. It just makes you happy
When Parks and Recreation first aired, it looked as though it were pathetically trying to imitate the magic of The Office. However when season two began, stereotyped jokes and rehashed plots from season one were swiftly abandoned. Today, in the midst of season six, it’s become clear that Parks and Rec has evolved into so much more than just an Office copycat. Its episodes maintain a genuine sense of continuity and instead of just bickering; the characters grow and learn together, developing genuine character arcs. Though diverse in race, personality, and work ethic, they come to care about each other and we, the audience, come to care about them. While Parks and Recreation will surely keep you laughing, many of its episodes will also leave you smiling long after they end.
