PART II: Parks and Recreation

Welcome to part two of this epic rivalry between the shows of two best friends that I completely made up.  Last week we took a look at Tina Fey’s 30 Rock. This week, Amy Poehler’s and Parks and Recreation is under the microscope. Debuting in 2009, and now in its fifth season, Parks is a staff favorite here at YPF (or at least of the three writers that I actually asked). The two shows have a lot in common: quirky, nerdy boss woman who is trying to have it all with a politically right leaning middle-aged bachelors who play her mentor figure, the simpleton co-worker, the chick who might be a sociopath and the loveable doof. But in what ways are they different?

Ron Swanson is one of those pivotal characters and internet darlings that is all too easy to point out as a reason for the show’s popularity, but it can’t, and certainly doesn’t, all rest on his shoulders. I’ve got two words for you: work shopping. Look, Hollywood is full of egomaniacal artists that have a really tough time being criticized and changing their product, because A) They believe they have artistic integrity and B) They honestly think they are artist. If you do watch this show, you know what a disaster season one was. Leslie Knope was basically a Michael Scott rip off, but with none of the accidental charm. It was mediocre at best. But then something magical happened. The people involved, writers, producers and actors all got together and said “hey, this is a really talented group of people, what are we doing wrong?” The solution they arrived at was they had to stop being something they weren’t, and figured out what to do with the characters based on the natural talents of the actors playing them. It sounds simple, but this kind of thing does not happen very often. And I really, really think this happened in large part because Amy Poehler is a fucking tornado of awesomeness.

With awesome hair

And Tina Fey would agree with me on that; she even dedicates an entire chapter of her book, Bossypants, to gush about how cool Poehler really is. Fey describes an incident that happened on backstage at SNL when she, Poehler and Jimmy Fallon were all cast members. Poehler was telling a raunchy joke, and it must have upset Jimmy’s delicate sensibilities because he turned to Poehler and said, “That isn’t very ladylike,” to which Poehler replied, “I don’t give a fuck what you think is ladylike.” I wish someone would give me an opportunity to say that every damn day. And I wish even more that I had the guts to say what she said. She was telling a joke, and she didn’t care that it didn’t fit someone else’s ideal for what was an appropriate joke for her to tell. Let me remind you that Fey has said that her show was a failure because it was not huge, in the sense that Seinfeld or Friends was huge. 30 Rock is a farcical show; it goes for the sharpest joke every time. It is a show that cares what you and the rest of the cool kids think. Because of this, it is the uncool kind of nerdy. Parks and Recreation said screw being like everyone else, we are going to figure out how to make our show great by letting our people be great. It is a show that doesn’t give a shit what you think. It’s a show that is the cool kind of nerdy. Now that may sound like a swipe at 30 Rock, but the Rock’s ratings were actually better. Parks fans are just way more diehard.

So I guess I set this up as a competition, so I have to name a winner. It is clearly Parks and Recreation (you should have guessed that, already due to the fact it was the second article.) I hear over and over that Parks is better because it has more heart, and it’s true. It takes a lot of courage to do your own thing without worrying about what every else thinks, to let your freak flag fly. Though riskier, clearly, the results are better. Now in the words of my very wise old Nana, let’s get drunk!

• Take a shot when Leslie eats waffles
• Take a drink every time Chris (Rob Lowe) says someone’s first and last name
• Social (everyone drinks) when anyone makes fun of Jerry
• Take a drink anytime Tom Haverford smiles at the camera
• Anytime Leslie calls Anne beautiful, all the girls drink
• Take a drink anytime Andy runs
• Take a shot anytime Burt Maclin shows up
• Take a drink when you see a picture of breakfast
• Take a shot anytime Duke Silver makes an appearance
• Take a drink if Ron starts building something

Don’t agree? What’s your stupid opinion?