My Latest Obsession (That Should Also Be Yours): Parks and Recreation

I hate to say this because everyone is going to start treating me like the boy who cried wolf, but I found another “funniest show on television” and this week’s episode was so epic that I felt I needed to publicly announce my obsession with it. I know I have already forced some of you to sit down and watch or have left messages and sent emails until you did start watching, but there are bound to be some of you that I have missed. That is why you need to take me seriously when I say this: drop whatever you are doing and go watch Parks & Recreation. You have to believe me when I tell you that you won’t regret it.

The show follows the employees of the Parks & Recreation department of Pawnee, Indiana, which is for the most part led by the intrepid Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). While Poehler alone should be enough to sell you, everyone on the show is hilarious. Everyone from Ron Swanson, the government employee who doesn’t believe in government, to Jerry Gergich, the office “schlamiel” and “schlimazel”, is brilliant. In fact, the ensemble here is very similar to my other love, Arrested Development, in that it is nigh impossible to pick a favorite character.

Parks & Recreation is like a fine wine that just seems to be getting better with age (in fact, Entertainment Weekly recently declared it “TV’s Smartest Comedy”). I didn’t know if it was possible but the third season, which the show is currently in, has been even better than the second, especially with the additions of Rob Lowe and my new gentleman lover, Adam Scott. That being said, season one is a bit of a slow start so I usually recommend starting with season two because it will more effectively and quickly give you an idea of the fun that is to be had with this show. And you are all in luck because the first two seasons are available for instant streaming on Netflix!

For my closing argument, I am going to let the show speak for itself and leave you with these delectable delights.

April: I passed up a gay Halloween party to be here. Do you know how much fun gay Halloween parties are? Last year I saw three Jonas Brothers make out with three Robert Pattinsons. It was amazing.

Ron: I've been developing the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness for years. It's a perfectly calibrated recipe for maximum personal achievement. Categories include Capitalism: God's way of determining who is smart and who is poor. Crying: acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon. Rage. Poise. Property rights. Fish: for sport only, not for meat. Fish meat is practically a vegetable.

Tom: On a scale from one to Chris Brown, how pissed off is he?

Leslie: One time when I was in high school, a guy's mom called me and broke up with me for him. There was another time where I was on a date, and I tripped and broke my kneecap, and the guy said he wasn't "feeling it," so he left and I waited for an ambulance. One time I was dating this guy for a while, and then he got down on one knee and he begged me never to call him again. One guy broke up with me while we were in the shower together. Skywriting isn't always positive. Another time a guy invited me to a beautiful picnic with wine and flowers, and then when I tried to sit down, he said, "Don't eat anything. Rebecca's coming." And then he broke up with me.
Ann Who's Rebecca?
Leslie: Exactly.