First season shows potential. It's definitely not hilarious but it it has some likeable characters, interesting political and social undertones that are probably worth to be explored.
It's enjoyable and I can see it's potential but honestly, nothing special at the moment. The first season will probably mean more to me once I have an attachment to the characters. I've been warned the first season is slow so I'm persevering.
This has the potential to be great. For someone seeing it in 2023, I get delighted to see some amazing of nowadays in their early days.
Parks and Rec season 1 is lighthearted and breezy, but not particularly innovative. I was surprised by how heavily the mockumentary style was inspired by The Office, and in such a short season we don't really see any significant character development so most of them feel like caricatures. Rashida Jones is a standout and Poehler is solid, but it's more silly character interactions than substance. It's a pleasant, inoffensive show but never has me laughing out loud, so while I don't mind watching it I am never itching to go back to it.
At this point I've watched the 3 first episodes. Having just last year (2021) watched The Office US for the very first time (Yes yes I know, but at least i had all seasons one after the other!), I started to watch this because these are the same creators. At this point I must say that Parks' Leslie is a faint and pale imitation of, of course, Michal Scott. The Actor is annoying is Mr. Scott, but not as charming, making her unlikable to me. The rest of characters didn't leave an impression on me. I see that this season has a rate of 69% while S2 is 81% , so i'll power through in hope this gets better.
Mid-S1 score: Meh .
The first season was quite funny to watch and I will probably give season 2+ a chance. Although I'm quite sure that Parks & Recreations will never be as good as Friends, Scrubs or Big Bang Theory.
Review by SLionsCricketBlockedParent2020-03-23T00:43:13Z
Parks and Rec is one of my favourite pieces of television and for the better part of its run on television, I was genuinely awestruck by its superb ensemble cast and characters and its emphatic sense of worldbuilding that gave way to so many memorable side characters on the show. The utterly unassuming first season therefore stands out in stark contrast relative to the show it would go onto become and its central saving grace is that the first season is as short as it is at just the six episodes.
In my opinion, the show manages to get right some aspects of Leslie's character such as her infectious joy and optimism in government work but it seems to get wrong her overall tone, opting more for bumbling and incompetent and less for confident and assured. In the early parts of the season in particular, she plays out like another version of Michael Scott, obnoxious and overbearing and it only spells out more clearly how Parks and Rec initially operated under the shadows of NBC's The Office.
Ann is perhaps the only character in my opinion that they manage to get right from the start but that might also have to do with her being one of the more easily defined characters on the show. She's effectively the "straight man" of the series and Rashida Jones plays that part without any difficulty whatsoever. Going back and seeing Ann and Chris being a couple on the show is so strange and difficult to re-adjust to seeing where these characters would go onto.
The problem with Mark's character is a) there is already a "straight man" in Ann on the show and b) Paul Schneider just isn't very charismatic onscreen and he just doesn't quite translate the more nuanced aspects of his character whereby he can be both sleazy and empathetic and what not.
A big problem with this first season is how April is almost blatantly pushed to the side. She gets so little screentime and only a handful of completely unsubstantial lines of dialogue in this season that she's not even a caricature of the apathetic adolescent. Through April's complete lack of character, the season loses one of its pivotal voices that makes the show so goddamn endearing. Speaking of personalities, Ron Swanson is also a weak voice in the first season even if he gets a handful of moments that work well in retrospect. To extend that idea another step further, Jerry and Donna are also pushed aside for the most part here or maybe, they weren't initially conceived to be part of the show's ensemble.
Season 1 barely hobbles its way to the finish line but it's not absolutely reprehensible or anything. It just isn't very convincing and at all and there isn't much humour or even fun to be found here. That all changes with the second season and by the end of that second season, the show would completely find its voice when two of the greatest personalities on the show make their entrance.