1. It's a comedy I actually LOL at.
2. The character development of Andy Dwyer, played by Chris Pratt. Andy is a pretty unappealing boyfriend when we first meet him mooching off his girlfriend, Anne, after breaking both his legs. But once those huge casts come off and he doesn't have to use a claw to reach for things, Anne throws him out and he must learn to fend for himself. Once he gets a job at Leslie's office as a shoe shiner, he shows all kinds of likable sides to his personality. And also those confused camera looks, he's definitely not the brightest bulb in... the box... is that it?
3. The politics. Leslie is so eager to succeed at everything she does and wants to live up to her successful mother's expectations that she'll do anything to cross that finish line, even if it means pulling down her pants on television. Twice. That's pretty admirable ambition.
4. Rashida Jones and Amy Poehler are best friends. It's interesting how this came about. In the pilot epsiode, Leslie is introduced to Rashida's character, Anne Perkins, because of this giant, dangerous pit right in her backyard and Leslie makes it her mission to turn that pit into a park. They develop a friendship based on similar interest and Anne's maternal need to protect Leslie and motivate her.
5. Anne is a nurse. More power to her. She's always on the scene when someone gets injured (which is a lot) or about to be injured. Like when Leslie decides to attempt to drink eight glasses of milk in three minutes. Anne jumps in and says "No you won't. Because you will die." True that.
6. Paul Schneider plays Mark Brandanawicz (that's Bran-dan-ah-witz)! Squeal! Paul is probably one of the most underrated actors around. I've admired him from afar in plenty of movies like The Assassination of Jesse James, Lars and the Real Girl, Bright Star, and he just finished shooting Water for Elephants. As Mark B., he's plenty likable with his down-to-earth attitude and is the only guy in the show who keeps sanity nearby. Leslie must--just like me--admire him from afar after their one night stand five years ago that she can't quite get over.
7. Aziz Ansari's American-Lebanese/ghetto character, Tom Haverford. He seriously reminds me of a 10 year old in a suit. Whenever he finds himself too drunk to walk, his boss, Ron Swanson picks him up and carries him around like a daddy would.
8. Ron Swanson. A man of many quotes, cholesterol from all that meat (like a bacon-wrapped turkey leg), and perfectly groomed handlebar mustaches. He's President of the Parks and Recreation department and does as little work as possible. He barely opens his mouth wide enough to see his teeth, and finds it impossible to get over his ex-wife Tammy, played by Megan Mullally. She's constantly luring him back in by wearing thongs, rubbing beef jerky on herself, and using Tom as a fake date.
9. Rob Lowe plays an exercise-obsessed government employee who's highly optimistic and "needs someone here when I take my vitamin pill. It's a choking hazard." He has a body fat percentage of 2.8, runs 10 miles every single day, and calls his body "the microchip." When his body contracts a flu due to lack of fat to protect him, he quiet mutters "the microchip has been compromised." He also talks like this: "I'd like a beer. I'd like it in a bottle. I'd like the bottle to be cold." OCD much?
10. The blossoming and then dying relationship of Andy Dwyer and April Ludgate. April is played by the zombie-eyed, deadpan Aubrey Plaza, who was also in Scott Pilgrim vs the World. She's the underaged P&R college intern who can't stand her co-workers, nor can she stand Anne for keeping Andy's interest. Andy and April latched onto each other as friends, but April thought much more him, and he did of her--till he found out she was 20. He's 29. And just like that, all hope was lost.
11. Then April turned 21. Hope has returned.
12. Sweetums "nutritious bars"! They're actually really bad for you and loaded with sugar and 8 grams of fat per serving--there's 4 servings in 1 bar. And Leslie eats them like candy. Once a whole box arrived at the office, everyone shoveled them down and rode the sugar high by blaring rave music and dancing club-style at 10 AM. Then they crashed. Anne was at Leslie's side with a spray bottle filled with water. Whenever Leslie would start to droop, Anne would mist Leslie's face and she'd perk up again. Hilarious.
13. Leslie's adorable obsession with Belgium waffles and whipped cream.
14. These quotes, which are mostly Leslie's because she's awesome:
Leslie-"I know Tammy seems scary, but really she's just a manipulative, psychotic, library book pedaling, sex crazed She demon."
Andy-"God dang it, I cannot figure out who my boss is."
Leslie-"The floor and the wall just switched. Walk carefully."
Ron-"My ex-wife Tammy likes to check in every so often and make sure I'm doing okay. And if I am, she tries to fuck everything up."
Leslie-"Some guy handcuffed himself to a pipe in my office because we wouldn't put a copy of Twilight in the time capsule."
Andy-"Dude, that is the coolest sentence I ever heard somebody talk."
Leslie-"Was I wearing a tiara when I came in here? Because if you happen upon it, would you have Lady Pennyface retrieve it and send it post-hence?"
Parks and Recreation is on Thursdays on NBC.
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