Yo ho ho, I TV critic am I part 1

I watched a couple of new shows this weekend. Behold my terrifying reviews!

Parks and Recreation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_%26_Recreation_(TV_series): The new series from The Office creators is, well, The Office. Instead of desolate midsized Scranton, PA it's set in desolate midsized (and fictional) Pawnee, IN (which is a fantastic name). I will start with what I liked about the show. The characters are very well realized for a first show outing. In half an hour I have a good understanding of who they are, what they are looking to accomplish and what their established relationships to one another are. The cast is very good to great. From Amy Poehler to Aziz Ansari, who I'm very glad to see more of, to newer faces to me, like Nick Offerman and Paul Schneider, everyone brought a lot to their characters' lives and outlooks. There is a sweet moment of sacrifice from one of the characters that I appreciated to establish the tone of this show, giving it a sense of generosity that makes the characters more real and human. At the same time, though, I felt Offerman's Ron Swanson could be the breakout character of the show as the boss of a small government office that believes very, very strongly in privatization of public services. His closing, Bobby Knight-inspired comments were brilliant. Given the nature of the sitcom format this is a very promising beginning. I would be interested to see where these characters take off from this platform. Giving the show the long term goal of establishing a park is a nice plot point and gives the show a solid if loose focus to work toward.

Most of my criticisms of the show are early pilot moments, places where both writers and cast are feeling out their characters. In one amusing moment Ansari's character reveals himself to be a self professed redneck. While funny I hope the series does not rely on these kinds of gags in the long term. My biggest problem with the show was Poehler's character, Leslie Knope. I had heard some initial comparison's to Michael Scott of The Office and for good reason. She is written exactly like that character minus some of the childish belligerence. She's going to need something to move her away from the Michael Scott role to establish P & R as its own series and get it out from under the shadow of its sister program. They are both delusionally optimistic in the face of a dreary, go-nowhere job and react to setbacks in too similar a manner. Much of her dialogue seemed written for Steve Carrel. I don't think this is insurmountable but it is a problem that should be addressed quickly by the producers before Knope simply becomes 'Lady Michael' to viewers.

Overall I find much more of promise than of dread in Parks and Recreation and look forward to the coming episodes of the series. (The pilot can be found at hulu.com)