We all loved Parks and Recreation, although many of us cannot quite put our love into words. The antics of the fictional Pawnee government lit up our lives for seven wonderful seasons, and created a huge following. In case you're one of the few people who has been living under a rock since 2009, here are seven things that helped make Parks and Recreation the best show to ever hit network television:
1. The Characters' Relationships.
This does not mean the actual romantic relationships between each character, but if you didn't love the dynamic between April and Andy, you're wrong. Each character had the chance to interact with every other character, and each scenario worked flawlessly. The writers spent seven seasons making each character a web of complexity and humor that made any given situation a laugh-out-loud riot, regardless of who was in each scene. The show really felt like one large family, and when everyone started to move away from Pawnee, you actually felt the pain of loss through the TV screen.
And don't lie, everyone was cheering on Ben and Leslie.
2. The Satire.
The show started out as heavy satire about bureaucratic incompetence, and although it slowly deviated from satire to feel-good comedy, it never lost that satiric edge. Whether it was the constant gridlock caused by Jeremy Jamm, or Leslie being ignored during her full-hearted attempts to involve women in local government, Parks and Recreation managed to incite hope and joy for public service while also managing to highlight its low points.
Best of all, however, were the Reasonablists (the P&R version of Scientologists). Hail Zorp!
3. Andy. Dwyer.
Need I say more?
4. The Feel-Good Attitude.
On top of being unbearably hilarious, the show is imbued with positivity. Within the relationships, their situations, and all of their troubles, the show always tried to end on a positive note. You couldn't help but leave every episode with the fuzzy feeling of pure joy, either because of the humor, or because every episode is so cute that you couldn't help but smile.
5. The Message.
Throughout the show, the importance of hard work, friendship, kindness, and public service was everywhere. As Leslie Knope said (although quoting Theodore Roosevelt)...
"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
Every main character in Parks and Recreation ended the show in a better position than they did at the beginning, all while working hard and creating long-lasting friendships. The show acted as an inspiration for anyone going into public service, or anyone willing to work hard for their goals, and showed us all how important it is to make friends with people who will help you succeed.
We all need a Leslie Knope in our life.
6. The Utter Stupidity.
While this show utilized a beautiful mix of many genres of comedy, the best and funniest moments were those that were so fantastically stupid that they could only be the work of comedic genius.
Absolute.
Comedic.
Genius.
7. Garry/Jerry/Larry/Terry
Garry Gergich was the man everyone loved to hate. As the mindless factotum of the Parks and Recreation office, the hilarity of his clumsiness and scatterbrained attitude was second only to the deriding comments everyone else threw his way.
If you have not found yourself with the chance to watch Parks and Recreation yet, take the opportunity to do so. No show has quite the mix of humor, happiness and inspiration that this show has, and you'll find yourself loving every minute of it. And, when the finale comes around, you as well may find yourself wanting to work hard at work worth doing.
