On Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is my favorite television show at the moment. It's hilarious. It's about local government (which I'd like to be involved with some day). And it has great characters.

People who don't like it seem to be put off by Leslie Knope, which I can understand because I really don't like her very much on Saturday Night Live. But I do think that she's not as annoying and more lovable than Michael in The Office, while being a similar character.

I think that's what I like about Parks and Rec: the characters are all really lovable. There's no Dwight Shrute (everyone shuns Jerry, but he seems to be one of the saner ones of the bunch, actually--it's sort of random that he's shunned). The characters are deep down really good people (with the possible exception of Tom and that pumped up manager, Chris). It's about friendship and care for the community.

Wystan linked to this article on "Parks and Recreation and the Comedy of Super Niceness." The article captures the show well when it describes how nice all of the characters are:

"The driven sweet, kind Leslie; the goofy sweet, kind Andy; the grounded sweet, kind Ann; the guarded sweet, kind Ben; and Ron, whose mustache only hides the sweet, kind guy lurking underneath."

I disagree with a couple of small points in the article: it puts 30 Rock in the category of comedies about discomfort, but I think that 30 Rock also contains a good chunk of that same niceness--especially with Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy and Kenneth Parcell, obviously. Also, I disagree with this article's take on Chris:

"Late last season, the nicest guy of all joined this feel good ensemble. Chris (Rob Lowe) is a singular sitcom creation, one who could only exist in Parks’ universe of positivity. Chris is a perfect, perfect looking, supremely enthusiastic eternal optimist who compulsively exercises and doesn't seem to know any synonyms for the word "bad." In real life, Chris would be insufferable."

I think that he not only would be insufferable in real life, but that he's also insufferable in the show. His shallow "niceness" only serves as a contrast that highlights the parks and recreation office's niceness. He cares about himself more than about other people, I think. He relies on Ben to make the real connections with people--Chris only says a couple of words to them.

This focus on niceness also helps explain what makes White Collar so good, even though it isn't a comedy. Not only is the relationship between Neil Caffrey and Peter Burke quite good, but so is the relationship between Peter and his wife, Elizabeth. Their relationship is my favorite tv relationship: stable, calm, loving--they repeatedly emphasize that they love each other as they are. That's not to say that there aren't little understandings and coldnesses, but they are ultimately quietly happy with each other. And Elizabeth has a lot of influence over Peter--she always encourages him to trust Neil, which always turns out to be the right thing to do (she is portrayed as beautiful and classy and Peter as slightly bumbly). And she supports him in his work and gives him plenty of space in which to do it. Niceness wins.


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