Parks and Recreation [Television]

Amount Viewed - Up-to-date as of this entry.

I ignored Parks and Recreation for the first four seasons. I only heard about it in passing. Eventually I decided to check it out and found the first season to be a mixed bag. There was a lot of potential in everything but the main character... who was a bit of a dopey moron. Fortunately the writers/producers/warlocks found that Leslie's character was not working out and was modified to be more intelligent but still ultra blindingly passionate about her beliefs.

Much of the fun of the show is the presentation of political views through different characters (main or episode specific). As the show targets a mostly left leaning audience it is humorous to see right leaning characters generally demonized (though not as badly as possible). The show has a bit of a propaganda edge to it though arguably subtle.

The main cast of actors/characters all bring something special to the show. The swap of actors/characters at the end of season 2 into season 3 actually worked out for the best. The Mark character was an alternative "normal" person which meant that he was actually second in line for the "normal" person to Ann. Everyone else has quirks that push them well out of the realm of normality (which is why the show is so fun).

Gut - Well worth watching even with a short-but-rough first season (only 6 episodes). The show shines best when it takes on issues, even when it's a single joke. Fortunately it also does well when it simply falls back on having the cast just interact in different pairings.