NBC’s Parks & Recreation is the Death of the Sitcom Era

Fact: Must See TV > Comedy Night Done Right

NBC’s Parks & Recreation premiered on April 9th with a respectable rating and a Pilot that felt eerily familiar. Created by Michael Schur and Greg Daniels of The Office fame, the mockumentary geniuses replicated the critically acclaimed show in Parks & Rec; shaky cameras, talking heads, and a naive, crazy lead character played by the impeccability loveable Amy Poehler.

The SNL alum plays Leslie Knope, a chairwoman of the Department of Parks and Recreation in Pawnee, Indiana, who likens herself to Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah Palin. The writers, obviously playing on Poehler’s strength in portraying political powers to perfection, use the character to represent the stupidly goofy and naïve counterpart to the grounded co-workers surrounding her. It’s no wonder she’s been referred to as the female Michael Scott.

But as I sat down to watch the second episode wondering if the show stood up to it’s mediocre premiere, I realized I wasn’t laughing nearly as much as I do watching reruns of Seinfeld. I mean, Knope just tried to convince a woman that not wanting a park in her neighborhood is on par with 9 out of 10 meth users. Who doesn’t laugh at a good meth joke? Oddly enough, the one-liner had me wondering what happened to NBC’s Thursday night brand.

Huh, meth can help you think.

NBC currently devotes hours to the same type of absurd television comedy. My Name is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock (which has never been as funny as the critics proclaim), and now Parks & Rec, all could have interweaving crossover episodes, and the viewer wouldn’t notice the difference. While Parks & Rec may be an entertaining 22 minutes, and its ratings aren’t nearly as bad as other shows on the peacock network, its recipe is made of the same ingredients as the shows coming before and after it.

Sure, recreating something that works is smart, right? But with NBC’s overall dwindling ratings, and most shows merely garnering critical acclaim as opposed to viewer worship, will the comedies last?

This brings me to Must See TV.

Remember the Thursday night line up of solid half-hour comedies? Where art thou laugh tracks and multiple camera set ups? What used to be an iconic night with such television classics as Seinfeld, Friends, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Will & Grace, Mad About You, and Frasier (Joey never happened, mkay?), has now been replaced with trite and forgettable comedies; shows that have made a quick buck but probably won’t last the test of time. My Name is Earl, I’m lookin’ at you.

I can’t help but miss the quirky, relatable characters of Seinfeld and Friends because they were true to life. Who hasn’t had to deal with the friend who was a shockingly bad dancer (I adore you, Elaine Benis) or a BFF who could only respond to you in snarky borderline insults (Could Chandler BE anymore missed?). Instead, these shows have been replaced with over-the-top comedy; ridiculous one-liners utilized for a quick laugh, and slapstick humor that’s predictable and cheesy. Its characters have been traded with unfeeling, unredeemable caricatures. Does anyone really know a Michael Scott or Leslie Knope in real life? And if you do, my deepest condolences.

The dialogue of Thursday night TV is filtered with sarcastic, unbelievably naïve statements. The storylines are rabidly unrealistic and exaggerated. The half hour shows are filled with shockingly ridiculous scenarios. It wouldn’t matter if this was all showcased in one show, but the night is blocked off with the same type of humor.

“When I was in 6th grade, I was voted best dressed by 87 votes. And there were only 63 people in my class,” says Michael Scott, er… Leslie Knope.

Although Leslie isn’t nearly as offensive as Michael, and the lines are smile-crackin’ worthy, it’s all the same. There’s nothing significant that differentiates Parks & Rec from The Office. The humor, the randomness, and the facial expressions of each character are reminiscent of the characters at Dunder Mifflin and 30 Rock. And it features The Office’s Rashida Jones, who may be beautiful, but the chick sucks the life out of my television.

While it may be too soon to judge Parks & Rec’s entertainment value, it represents the birth of the same, and the death of snappy and sophisticated comedies of years past.

This should be a wakeup call for NBC, as the network has been struggling for years. They’ve significantly lost Thursday night viewership since the series finale of Friends. It’s hard to believe this is the same network where 75 million viewers gathered to watch the series finale of Seinfeld. Although I’m pretty certain they think they’re doing well. Anything can be successful on NBC compared to what they’ve been airing. Momma’s Boys, anyone?

Sure, less American’s are tuning into television overall. Time Magazine reports that only 27% of U.S. households are watching the Big Four network in primetime. More viewers are converting their viewership to cable and online mediums, making it hard to measure if it’s the lack of quality shows or merely the new media reeking havoc that has caused some Nielson ratings to dip so drastically.

The writer’s strike of 2008 definitely didn’t help.

But with American Idol, Survivor, CSI, and Grey’s Anatomy bringing in the viewers in massive droves, it’s clearly not a lost cause to have a hit show.

So I choose to blame NBC.

The Office is one of the funniest shows on television, and I’m guilty of owning all the DVDs and quoting Michael Scott on a daily basis. But while The Office was semi-groundbreaking at the time, there’s no need for a replication in Parks & Rec, or a line-up filled with the same type of comedy. What is needed is a little bit of nostalgia.

One significant question remains. Why would NBC choose to stray away from a proven workable formula? Friends, Seinfeld, and Will & Grace, to name a few, all featured a group of friends and their hilarious antics regarding friendship, dating, and work.

CBS learned, becoming the most successful network in the 2008-2009 season. Airing such hits as The Big Bang Theory, the legen-wait for it-dary How I Met Your Mother, and Two & a Half Men (the highest rated comedy on television today… I’m as shocked as you are, Charlie Sheen), they’ve taken NBC’s previous formula and used it to their own advantage.

So, what do you think? Tired of NBC’s same old Thursday night comedy line up? Disagree? Think viewership is down because technology is changing? Leave me a comment below.

FYI: Aziz Ansari is free to call me to discuss this at any time.

George avoids a phone call with a very catchy answering machine message.

Advertisement