Top 10 'Parks and Recreation' episodes

Now that it’s just about over, I think it’s safe to call Parks and Recreation one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. It’s a show that’s not only completely laugh out loud hilarious, but which also has an incredible set of characters that the showrunners clearly really, truly care about. Watching Parks absolutely never fails to put a smile on my face. It’s such a positive and uplifting show, and I’ll without a doubt be rewatching my favorite episodes for years to come.

Parks and Recreation premiered in 2009 with a short six episode first season. It received decent ratings and okay reviews, but there wasn’t a whole lot of fanfare for it. At the time it was kind of seen as an Office ripoff, and I remember it being talked about like it was The Office but with a female Michael Scott and set in a government office. That kind of is what it was during the first six episodes, which were decently funny but nothing really spectacular.

Then shortly into the second season, the show started to find its footing and become comfortable becoming its own entity. Leslie Knope was no longer as much of a cringeworthy doofus like Michael Scott; she became defined by her incredible passion for government, and a lot of the humor would come from Leslie being too enthusiastic rather than her just being dumb or oblivious. Leslie became a character that we loved and rooted for rather than a character we pointed and laughed at. And it wasn’t just Leslie that changed. The show slowly became more confident in the world of Pawnee, fleshing out all of these incredible characters and this wonderful town that we just never wanted to leave.

Though it started as sort of an Office ripoff, Parks and Recreation would go on to far surpass that show. Unlike The Office, which had a great first few seasons but slowly began to drag until the final episode just put a dying show out of its misery, Parks and Recreation has been completely consistent throughout its run. It’s debatable what season is the best, but the show definitely never had any sharp decline, and if anything it only improved as it went and as it added new characters like Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger.

It’s pretty sad that the show will be airing its final episode this Tuesday, but at the same time I’m incredibly happy that it is. Very few sitcoms are totally consistent through their run, as the network drags them out too long, writers or cast members leave, and the show eventually ends long past its glory days. Parks and Recreation will be remembered as one of the most consistently strong sitcoms of all time, only improving as it goes and ending strong before the show got stale. It’s the Breaking Bad of comedy.

In celebration of the finale, let’s take a look at the 10 best episodes from the series.

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