Parks and Recreation is a brilliant feminist show and everyone should watch it.
This is what I have been told, anyway.
Parks and Recreation is a sitcom with a lead female character who is both a) good at her job and b) a warm, kind person who doesn’t fall into the “impersonal career woman” stereotype. Better yet, she’s a character who is openly feminist – a rarity on television in general, much less sitcoms.
Parks and Recreation is also a sitcom with a core female friendship between Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins, a friendship that doesn’t have the two women competing with each other or sniping at each other every other episode.
Parks and Recreation is also a sitcom that doesn’t rely on people being mean and vicious to each other, only to have a heel face turn in the last five minutes of the show (*cough* Glee *cough*).
For all of those reasons, I should love it. Right?
I’ve tried watching the show. At this point, I’ve seen about seven episodes in total, mostly from seasons two and four. Some of it’s charming. Some of it makes me chuckle. But every time I watch, no matter how much I feel I’m supposed to love it, I just…don’t. I don’t know if the show has ever made me laugh out loud.
I’ve tried to identify why the show just doesn’t do it for me. I may just be tired of the mockumentary format after I spent a fair amount of summer 2010 catching up on six seasons of The Office.
I may find the show too similar to The Office and maybe that style of humor doesn’t appeal to me much anymore.
It may be that I find Tom Haverford really, really annoying, and not funny-annoying, or “ha, let’s all laugh at how superficial and obnoxious he is!” annoying, but straight up annoying, to the point where I cringe and want to stick my fingers in my ears every time he opens his mouth.
It may be that I find April similarly obnoxious, and though I know I’m supposed to find her amusingly deadpan, I just look at her and see a rude brat.
It may be that Rashida Jones irritated the hell out of me on The Office and I like her just fine on Parks and Recreation, but I can’t tell whether that’s a credit to Parks and Rec for writing her a more interesting character, or if it’s a problem that Rashida Jones is only the third-most annoying cast member on a sitcom. (Keep in mind that I’m talking about performances here; I’m not bashing her on a personal level.)
Again, I appreciate that the show doesn’t take pot shots at any character and treats them all like people, but the only ones I have consistently liked are Ron Swanson and Andy – and Donna, but she doesn’t have as much to do. That’s simply not a good cast balance and a far cry from Community, where I love every single member of the study group even on their worst days.
I don’t wish the show ill. I hope it continues to be successful. I have a lot of friends who enjoy it, I want the cast and crew to remain employed, and I really like that this world has a popular sitcom with a likable, openly feminist character.
Now the world just has to come up with a popular sitcom with a likable, openly feminist character that I actually want to watch.
It’s not a bad show. I just can’t get excited about it either way. When I’m supposed to be laughing, I find myself saying a Shirley Bennett-like “That’s nice.” And that’s not something I want from a sitcom.
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>>I don’t know if the show has ever made me laugh out loud.<<
This is the bottom line for me, and I HATE that that is the case. Out of the roughly 5-8 episodes I've seen of this show over 4 seasons, I only LOL at ONE, the flu episode, when Amy throws her jeans around her neck and thinks it's a scarf. If only this show allowed itself to bubble along that giddy edge more often it would be a delight.
I do wonder if part of that is the mockumentary format that impedes that kind of…pace? And yet AD couldn't have been any giddy-er, but any given episode of P&R has the large dead zones of pacing where most lines are punctuated by .
Sigh, anyway it is disappointing that a woman I love, who I think is hilarious, seems to want to restrain herself to the point of being flat on her own sitcom.
No matter how many times I hear about how critics are “supposed” to love Community and don’t, I feel much much more prominent agenda to praise this show even though it isn’t especially, y’know, FUNNY.
>>but I can’t tell whether that’s a credit to Parks and Rec for writing her a more interesting character, or if it’s a problem that Rashida Jones is only the third-most annoying cast member on a sitcom.<<
Hee THIS. April and Tom are so offputting in exceptional ways, that Rashida's typical limp straight man schtick is a welcome respite.
What also KILLS me is the one thing I did find funny in the first season, Paul Schneider was the one thing they got rid of, apparently to give Ansiz more time to be irritating.
If only this show allowed itself to bubble along that giddy edge more often it would be a delight.
That’s a big issue for me, too. Everything seems so…normal. Normal and boring.
I do wonder if part of that is the mockumentary format that impedes that kind of…pace?
I’ve thought of that too, but it never bothered me with the earlier seasons of The Office. Then again, The Office was different in that it was a show about how much people hate work and try to find slivers of happy moments to get them through the day, and Parks and Rec seems to be about people who mostly like their jobs and lives. So, “that’s nice,” but people who are mostly normal and content don’t usually make great fodder for comedy.
But, I admit that some of this comes down to personal taste. All of my favorite half-hour sitcoms, past and present – Arrested Development, Scrubs, Community – all existed in very weird worlds with very weird people. Parks and Rec isn’t weird enough for me, and it isn’t far enough in the embarrassing/melancholy direction of The Office, either.
Sigh, anyway it is disappointing that a woman I love, who I think is hilarious, seems to want to restrain herself to the point of being flat on her own sitcom.
I don’t think she’s flat, necessarily, but she’s definitely not as funny as she’s capable of being.
OMG major post fail.
The above should have read:
but any given episode of P&R has the large dead zones of pacing where most lines are punctuated by :: insert pause for awkward embarrassment, where people are supposed to laugh not because a given joke is funny,but because someone is simply behaving in an embarrassing/awkward way:: I feel like the direction and conceit is forcing an Office framework on a show and characters who aren’t very Office-like, and like you said more average, that’s nice kind of people.
But in terms of weirdness, I do think Pawnee has got decent amount of absurdity to it, but for me it’s all about tone/pacing, there is no snap, crackle, and pop to the jokes, to the scenes, to the cast.
I feel like the direction and conceit is forcing an Office framework on a show and characters who aren’t very Office-like, and like you said more average, that’s nice kind of people.
Yes, that’s a great way of describing it. And I agree about the whole “this is awkward” pauses that are there because things are awkward, not because they’re funny.
I love Parks and Recreation, but I completely agree, Tom and April really wind me up to the point of not enjoying any scene with them in it, and Leslie too when she becomes super-neurotic.
It’s a shame, those scenes are the only thing that really annoy me about it, but I still really enjoyed it to the point of watching every episode.
This is kinda sad (because I LOVE Parks and Rec) and funny (because I feel the opposite way as you do about Parks and Rec vs. Community). I find this difference interesting because I’m generally on exactly the same page as you for the other pop culture properties you write about. If you ever find yourself in a more forgiving mood about the show, I’d suggest marathoning it with the understanding that they didn’t really figure out Leslie’s character til the end of the 1st season/beginning of the 2nd. Taken alone I might not be a huge fan of Tom or April, but I adore them in their interactions with their main foils/friends: Tom with Donna and Jean-Ralphio, April with Ron and Andy. With Community, I’ve watched about 20 episodes and somewhat enjoyed them despite finding Pierce and Jeff insufferably annoying. Dan Harmon’s public presence is also a strike against the show (where I love Michael Schur to pieces). I just wanted to put in my two cents as a fellow feminist and comedy lover to say that I laugh out loud at some point in every P&R episode (something which can’t be said for the Office, which I enjoy despite its uneven comedy). Also thanks in general for the great blog!
Thanks for the words of appreciation.
But I don’t think “forgiving” is the right word to use regarding Leslie, or the show in general. Leslie Knope isn’t my problem with the show. I don’t dislike her, she doesn’t get on my nerves, and I always like Amy Poehler. But the show just doesn’t make me laugh. I’ve tried to find it funny, and except for Ron Swanson and Andy, it doesn’t make me laugh.
So this isn’t an issue of me going into the show and nitpicking it – it’s an issue of me going into the show, trying very hard to like it, and just not getting it (again, unless Ron or Andy are involved). Ron and Andy have often made me laugh quite a bit. But two consistently funny characters are, for me, not enough to cancel out the grating annoying nature of Tom and April (especially Tom).
I might try it again at some point but it’s not for me right now, I’ve decided.
I used “forgiving” in the sense that I know how other recent pop culture consumption can affect how I feel about a new show, and you had mentioned that you marathoned the Office before trying out Parks and Rec. I just wanted to offer encouragement to try it again at some point in the future if your feelings about that kind of show change, since it makes me so happy and I think we have generally similar tastes.
I actually had seen a few P&R episodes before I started watching The Office, though, and it didn’t grab me then, either.
Right now the idea of marathoning it just seems like homework, and I don’t want TV to be homework. I might give it another chance in the future, but at this point, I can’t handle that much Aziz Ansari, I just can’t.
I think it’s just a matter of taste – I personally find every single character in Parks, from Leslie to Tom to April to minor characters who pop up time to time, to be absolutely heart-warming and amazing and I love them all. And I feel the same way about the Community characters as you do about the Parks characters – I like most of them, some of the time, but I find them difficult to connect with. I love both shows, but if I had to pick one it would be Parks hands down. But I don’t think either choice is better or worse than the other, it’s just a matter of preference.
Yeah, I definitely don’t think P&R is a bad show by any means. It just doesn’t do anything for me (except for Ron and Andy, and occasionally Leslie herself).
I love the series but almost stopped watching because I find Tom to be too annoying. The best thing the creators can do is to drop him and move on.
I actually love Parks and Rec AND Community. Community is just hilarious in its ridiculousness and how it pokes fun (and takes to extremes) trends in media (movies, comedies, and character dynamics).
Parks and Rec straddles a difficult line, but is more often than not successful. It succeeds in the lovable characters it has built. I love the contrast of Chris Pratt and Aubrey Plaza’s characters (plus Pratt is pretty much what my dream boyfriend would look and act like).
Amy Poehler and Ronald Ulysses are amazing in their portrayals of their character. 2 extreme opposites that share core similarities. That is what is great about Parks and Rec. The most recent episode where Ulysses real life wife, Megan Mullally (Tammy 2), chases Amy Poehler with an axe was one of the funniest scenes ever and it was the only time a sitcom made me laugh my a** off.
Like most sitcoms, it is the characters that make this sitcom great. Also, I can;t stand Thomas Montgomery’s character (Tom Haverford), but once you understand he is the immature and insecure character that relies on “pop culture swagger to get by, it becomes tolerable. Only because most of the character tolerate and call him on his BS.
This was painful for me to read, because I love Parks and Rec like it’s my own kid. That’s all I have to say.
I love P&R but I can’t stand April and I’m glad I’m not the only one. I would completely be ok if they got rid of her character. She would not at all be missed…
No potshots, Miss Lady T? What about the scapegoat Jerry? Jerry is put down and marginalized by everyone in the department, even by Leslie.