N-Philes

Parks & Recreation

Posted April 28th 2009 by Jacob Barnes.

I really wanted to like this show. The promos I saw before the start of the series looked pretty hilarious and having two females as lead characters sounded intriguing. It's also created by the same people who did the U.S. version of The Office, probably one of the best shows on NBC right now along with 30 Rock, even after four years.

The first problem is that P&R is actually too similar to The Office. It has the same mockumentary camera style and almost the same types of characters. Amy Pohler plays an oblivious but upbeat employee of the parks and recreation department for a fictional Indiana town, similar to Michael Scott. Her boss is like a more serious version of Michael but mixed with Will Ferrell's impression of Robert Goulet. There's also an Indian guy who's like a male version of Kelly. There's another guy who's a sleazier version of Jim, a girl who's a mix of a young Meredith and Pam and Rashida Jones plays the same type of character she always does.

But a show can't go anywhere without humor, and that's where P&R really lacks content. The jokes either come from characters acting goofy in front of the "hidden" camera or jokes that are seen from a mile away. A lot of The Office humor comes from improv and strong characters, and we have none of that here. Amy Pohler's cute girly characters on SNL were never that entertaining to myself, so it's no surprise that I think the show won't last long.

It could be a little early to judge a show like this, but you can watch it for yourself this Thursday. But shows like 30 Rock and The Office are much better reasons to watch NBC on Thursday nights. Earl was surprisingly good last week too. I might even give Southland a shot since it couldn't be any worse than E.R.

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