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John Doe

Professor Jones

English 101

10 October 2020

Parks and Recreation

Most shows pepper viewers with gratuitous action and other adult content in order to

maintain a firm grasp on attention spans. While that trope can be very thrilling, it typically does

not lend itself well to long running series, at least not without more substantial content to back it

up. There is a show that I am exceedingly fond of which does not rely on this method for keeping

me entertained. The show mixes offbeat comedy and a heartfelt story about a parks and

recreation office in a small town called Pawnee, Indiana. Through this formula the show was

able to run for a total of seven seasons before coming to a satisfying conclusion. Parks and

Recreation is my favorite show thanks to its masterful use of humor, the familiar characters, and

the moments which vividly reflect real life.

First and foremost Parks and Recreation is a show about comedy. There are moments

that elicit small chortles as well as full on belly laughs. The main type of humor I noticed from

the show is the kind I most often identify with, and that is dry humor. A moment that exemplifies

this and stands out for brevity’s sake is the 4th episode of season 5: Sex Education. In this

episode Leslie Knope, deputy director of the Parks and Recreation office, leads a public event on
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sexual education for the elderly of Pawnee. The meeting opens like many do with Knope

querying, “Can everyone hear me?” to which the crowd of seniors reply “No” and the scene rolls

right along. This simple yet witty exchange does a great job of encapsulating the type of jokes

that are typically found throughout the show and keep the laughs going.

Next, there are the characters, of which there are many more than could reasonably be

listed. We begin with Ron Swanson who could be said to be on the extreme side of Do-It-

Yourself culture. His abilities with works of craft is matched only by his projection of a desire

for solitude. Contrasting Ron’s serious nature is Andy with a loveable goofiness that brings

levity to most situations. Andy has a happy-go-lucky nature bordering on oblivious at times and

stepping over that border at others. Lastly there is Larry who is more often than not the butt of

any office humor found in the show. A key feature of his character is that nearly every season

Larry is renamed by his workmates' forgetfulness in a crass display of office hazing. These

characters are only a small sampling of the diverse individuals that make up the story behind

Parks and Recreation.

Lastly there are times in which the show can flash moments of sobering reality otherwise

unexpected. Life is complicated and at times hard to deal with; however, Parks and Recreation

projects these emotions very well. In the 4th episode of season 7 a heart-wrenching exchange

between Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope brings into focus just how attached to characters on a

show one can become. The context is that the two have had a falling out and have been locked in

an office overnight by their friends in order to work out their issues. After many attempts to

escape and much malcontent on both sides, the two have a heart to heart on what really caused

the rift in their once strong friendship. In the exchange Ron reveals at one time he had committed

to the unthinkable (for a libertarian minded man such as himself) act of asking Leslie for a job as
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an employee of the federal government. However the lunch meeting they set up to discuss the

favor never comes to pass as Leslie is overburdened by appointments and does not show up.

After confronting this and resolving their individual faults in the matter they are able to reach a

warm moment of reunion.

It follows then that Parks and Recreation stands apart from other shows with many

wonderful qualities. There are uncountable moments of subtle and unique humor as well as good

old-fashioned satire and a bevy of other styles. The characters exemplify reality with their flaws,

personalities, and friendships. While not dramatic or grandiose, the storyline holds a compelling

display of how people develop and grow, both individually and together. These are the reasons

Parks and Recreation sits at the top of my favorite shows list: wonderful humor, fleshed out

characters, and an engrossing story.