It’s up to Leslie Knope to save the Parks Department in Season 3 of Parks and Recreation. With the town broke and the government shutdown, Leslie comes up with an audacious plan to get out of bankruptcy by reviving the old Harvest Festival. Adam Scott and Rob Lowe join the cast and bring new energy to the show, mixing up the character dynamics. Also, the reduction to 16-episodes helps to make the storytelling a little tighter and it’s more serialized. No longer a pseudo Office spin-off , Parks and Recreation comes into its own in Season 3, finding the right mix of characters and cementing its style of comedy.
It's OK but not hilarious. It think the setting is just too limited, the characters are too shallow and somehow there is something missing to make this third season (and Parks and Recreation in general) an outstanding season (sitcom).
Shout by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2022-02-05T18:18:12Z
It's worse than season 2. It explores more of the romantic stuff and personal lives. It does this reasonable well. Plus, it cranked up the absurdity level. Good. Plus, the budget was increased (translation: more permanent staff). Okay. Only Chris was a welcome addition though. Ben is not funny. I miss the dark political undertones of episode 1 and 2 though. Although season 3 ain't a The Office rip-off anymore (which is good), it scaled down many topics I actually found most intriguing: stories about the limits of government, the absurdity of bureaucracy, local government as a workplace, apathy and indifference vs. Leslie and Ann. If it wasn't for Ron, whose character is extremely hilarious you could almost forget that show probably wants you tell a thing or two about local government. Another downside: no penguins. The mini horse is not an acceptable substitute.