Get ready to light five thousand candles in the wind and say your prayers for Lil’ Sebastian, because this is your sign to binge-watch one of the best sitcoms ever made on streaming. NBC dominated the sitcom space during the late 00s and early 2010s. The four-show run that contained The Office, 30 Rock, Community, and, of course, Parks and Recreation was arguably the golden age for modern sitcoms. The 20th century had Seinfeld, Cheers, and Friends, and 21st-century sitcom fans had those four shows to pick from. But, while The Office tends to get most of the attention, it’s the latter show on the list that audiences need to dive back into on streaming.
Parks and Recreation is currently streaming on Peacock, and what better way to end 2025 than by binge-watching one of the most wholesome sitcoms ever made. The series famously started life as a spin-off of The Office. However, the writer’s room decided to separate Parks and Rec from The Office, and that decision gave The Office one of its most worthy competitors. The through line between the two is most prevalent in the first season, as Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope is almost a female version of Michael Scott (Steve Carell). But, after the otherwise forgettable first season (which, thankfully, only ran for six episodes), Parks and Rec found its footing, and a die-hard fan base to boot. The official synopsis reads:
“Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges. Leslie’s colleague Tom Haverford, who delights in exploiting his position for personal gain, is as likely to undermine her efforts as to help her, while her boss, Ron Swanson, is adamantly opposed to government in any form, even though he’s a bureaucrat himself.”
During its initial run on NBC, alongside the three aforementioned shows, Parks and Recreation was the dark horse of the four. The series was in constant threat of cancellation — a fate which later befell Community. Thankfully, Parks and Recreation was able to survive until the end, coming to a close in 2015 after seven seasons. Parks and Recreation‘s two-part finale is often considered to be one of the best and most satisfying in TV history.
‘Parks and Recreation’ Has One of the Most Legendary Ensemble Casts in Sitcom History
Parks and Rec‘s cast should need little introduction. Alongside Poehler, the show also starred Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Jim O’Heir, Aziz Ansari, Retta, Chris Pratt, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, and Rob Lowe. While The Office‘s supporting characters, like Jim and Pam, were iconic, some of its tertiary characters, like Stanley, Phyllis, and Creed, felt underdeveloped in comparison. But Parks and Recreation gave proper attention to everyone in the Pawnee Parks Department (and Ann the nurse). Even Jerry/Gerry/Larry/Barry/Terry Gergich, who was the butt of the office’s jokes, was developed into a three-dimensional, sympathetic character.
The series holds an overall Rotten Tomatoes rating of 93%, with a similarly strong audience score of 89%. “The jokes are next level, and the addition of Ben and Chris makes it feel whole. Absolutely perfect!” wrote one user after watching the show’s third season.
- Release Date
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2009 – 2015
- Network
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NBC
- Directors
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Dean Holland, Ken Whittingham, Troy Miller, Craig Zisk, Morgan Sackett, Randall Einhorn, Michael Trim, Nicole Holofcener, Tristram Shapeero, Wendey Stanzler, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Jason Woliner, Charles McDougall, Daniel J. Goor, Nick Offerman, Tucker Gates, Alan Yang, Alex Hardcastle, Jorma Taccone, Seth Gordon, Adam Scott, David Rogers, Jaime Eliezer Karas, Jeffrey Blitz
- Writers
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Harris Wittels, Aisha Muharrar, Dave King, Katie Dippold, Joe Mande, Megan Amram, Matt Murray, Donick Cary, Mike Scully, Rachel Axler, Alexandra Rushfield, Chelsea Peretti, Matt Hubbard, Greg Levine, Sam Means, Jen Statsky, Emma Fletcher, Rachna Fruchbom, Emily Kapnek, Emily Spivey, Greg Daniels, Tucker Cawley, Nate DiMeo
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