Some give NBC’s excellent “Parks and Recreation” the slightly back-handed praise of “best comedy on broadcast TV,” as if broadcast is a short-bus of lowered expectations and cable is vastly superior. Well…actually, for dramas that’s 100 percent true, but that’s beside the point…
Sure, FX has the critically beloved “Louie” (which I’ll admit is a damn good show), and HBO has the critically overrated “Girls,” but, even though they’re apples and oranges shows, I believe Parks and Recreation to be “better.” [And, yes, it’s now not even close between it and the diminished, Dan Harmon-less Community.]
But why? Because “Parks and Recreation” isn’t just a character-journey (which, inarguably, Louie and Girls are and rarely pretend to be more than that). It’s a quintessentially American show about small-towns, people, government, business, issues (it’s the only show I’ve ever seen that can get belly laughs out of whether or not to subsidize a small-town business), and relationships.
It has a distinct, panoramic approach to telling the stories of a town full of recognizably human characters. It’s really the “Great American Novel,” that just happens to be a broadcast sitcom featuring a buffoonish Chris Pratt (playing Andy, the show’s most, and arguably only, one-dimensional character).
So I enjoyed this entire season following Leslie Knope’s first year as a city councilwoman, and look forward to next year’s recall of her (for actually doing her job…thus pissing off more people than if she did nothing), a plot-line introduced in tonight’s episode. And how great is it that ultra-man’s-man Ron Swanson is going to be a dad, and Tom’s finally successful business will have to compete with a copy-cat? Great set-up…Grade for Season: A…Grade for Season Finale: A