'Parks and Recreation': The Show You Need to Watch

To be honest, I had no idea the show “Parks and Recreation” existed until one early morning (like 2:45 in the morning.) I was scrolling through my Tumblr when I should’ve been asleep and stumbled upon a gif-set of Leslie Knope describing the one time when she thought she ate a pot brownie in college, but it just turned out to be an extremely good brownie. I laughed too hard at this, but I thought it was just because I was up way past my bed time.

It was a few weeks later when I found my next "Park and Rec" gif set. Marvel’s, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” just premiered and -- BOOM! -- Chris Pratt was everywhere. (I can’t blame the world for that though. I’m quite grateful because not only is he super ridiculously good looking, he’s also incredibly funny and talented.) Because of this sudden stardom, all of Chris Pratt’s work was transformed into rebloggable gifs. The majority of the ones I found were outtakes from the NBC sitcom and each set cracked me up to the point where I was ugly laughing (the kind where you’re crying and snorting.) So, I decided to finally take some time and actually venture over to Netflix and see what the show was all about.

And, oh my goodness, I was hooked from episode one. I straight up binged watched all of season one and two in one sitting; THAT’S 10 AND A HALF HOURS OF STRAIGHT NETFLIX. There was just something about that quick, witty, and dry humor that pulls you in. But, the more I watched this show, the more I realized I wasn’t just it watching for the humor; I was watching it because it felt real.

What I mean by real is that it’s not just some silly sitcom designed to make you laugh and occasionally cry, which is does, but the show makes you feel like you’re actually there in Pawnee, Indiana, and that all the problems and fun times the characters experience are also real. It's honest. The show practically becomes your family because you start to truly care about these characters and their personality traits start to rub off on you. Each day you see a little more Leslie Knope attitude in you, your heart starts to soften and open up like Andy Dweyer’s, you become more positive like Chris Traeger, you take less bull from people like Ron Swanson, you become a better friend like Ann Perkins, you become more of a boss like Donna Meagle, you love your family harder like Jerry/Terry/Larry/Garry Gergich, you indulge in your fandoms like Ben Wyatt, and you go with your gut feelings more like April Ludgate.

"Parks and Recreation" isn’t just a sitcom, so do yourself a favor -- log onto Netflix and treat yo' self to this magnificent show.