Parks and Recreation

This ensemble comedy developed into one of the cleverest comedies to appear on television, starring a humorous cast of character actors including Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, and Rashida Jones. As the sitcom experiments and develops alongside its characters, whose improbable yet all-too-ideal relationships generate a continual stream of bubbly hilarity, each season has its own distinct flavor.

Leslie Knope (Poehler) and her fellow Parks Department employees work tirelessly to improve Pawnee, Indiana, a parody of the American small town while upholding the values of friendship, hard work, and independence. Ron Swanson, a mustachioed libertarian who despises the very government he serves, provides the best representation of the latter (Offerman). Even though it occasionally struggled to attract a sizable audience, Parks and Recreation received accolades from critics for its sharp satire of various political practices, despite the fact that it almost always errs on the side of being overly optimistic and upbeat.

Years: 2009-2015
Creator: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur
Stars: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Retta, Jim O’Heir, Billy Eichner, Paul Schneider
Network: NBC