By Shoshi Gibbons

Parks and Recreation, the sister-show to The Office, is about a parks department operating in a dysfunctional town prone to many problems. One can be confronted when you first come to their town of Pawnee, Indiana: “First in friendship, fourth in obesity”. Others can be addressed at their town hall, their many unhealthy eating establishments, like “Paunch Burger” and their obvious inferiority to their sister town, Eagleton. However, Leslie Knope, part of the parks department for this sick little town and now mayor, is played by Amy Poehler. The show really represents the efforts of a small number of people who just want to make a big change in their communities. This show’s theme can be compared to that of America’s government: small amounts of good, willing people ready to change the nation but can’t due to lack of support and majority bigotry.
Like other shows of today, Parks and Recreation has a family dynamic: not in that it has a family structure, just that it has the bonds of a family inside their office. The glue that holds them together as a department in their corrupt Town Hall is Leslie Knope, who always seems to have the solutions to all of their problems. Her character is well played in the sense that she is much needed. Other funny characters include Ron Swanson, a libertarian who believes in a very small government, yet works in the parks department. However, because of his beliefs, he goes against most of the proposals at work to keep the influence of the government in Pawnee to a minimum. Other characters, like April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer, add a sense of childish goofiness to the show, since Andy is practically a grown-up child and April is his emotionless wife. April really puts the emphasis on the young adults who don’t really seem to care about a lot of things when they are in college, but ends up in an unusual romantic relationship. However, April’s sarcasm is one of the best components of the show. Andy’s obliviousness to the world can only be measured in how much he loves April and takes any advice he can from anybody, including the usually bad advice from her. Tom Haverford, the narcissist of the department, really adds to the show by emphasizing how young adults are so reliant upon their electronic devices and the Internet. This usually clashes with Ron’s sense of simpler living, making for a funnier perspective between old, traditional ways with new, mainstream ways of technology and living. The other characters, like Ann Perkins, Chris Traeger, Ben Wyatt, Donna Meagle and Gerry (Jerry) Girgich finish the family.
Overall, Parks and Recreation is a fantastic show, produced by Amy Poehler and starring Amy Poehler, and is really a show that makes you want to laugh the whole time while watching it. It really shows what can go wrong in a small town.