Parks And Recreation at 15: Top moments that make us miss Pawnee

Parks And Recreation debuted on April 9, 2009, to great expectations. Conceived as a spinoff of The Office before its producers, Office veterans Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, went in a distinctly different direction, it was Amy Poehler’s first project after an Emmy-nominated streak on Saturday Night Live. Initially, critics were not impressed. In that way, Parks And Rec would join The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, and, yes, The Office as shows that got an initial cool reception but were seriously reappraised by the end of their run. Today, Parks And Rec stands as a classic because of its sharp view of modern small-town life and Poehler’s portrayal of Leslie Knope. The associate director of the Pawnee, Indiana parks and recreation department, Knope is the classic type-A-minus personality whose natural idealism keeps bumping up against the imperfection of actual life, and Poehler turned her into a uniquely endearing lead. It also helped that Leslie’s orbit of co-workers (Nick Offerman, Rob Lowe, Aubrey Plaza, Jim O’Heir, Retta, Aziz Ansari, et. al.), BFF (Rashida Jones), and love interest (Adam Scott) were MTM-level strong, as was the writing, which tempered each character’s obliviousness and pretensions with a sly beating heart. So on the show’s 15th anniversary, we present, in no particular order, 15 of the (many) moments that make us miss Pawnee.

Ann does exposure therapy on Leslie (season 2, episode 4)

Even before its creators had nailed the premise, Parks And Rec was intended to be a show about female friendship. Leslie and Ann’s bestie relationship was as lopsided as any other, but it was enviably honest. When workaholic Leslie turns paranoid at the idea of actually going for dinner out with someone, Ann (Rashida Jones) takes her out for drinks and immerses her “in a tank of bad date.” The show would have been a lesser thing without Jones’ warm wingwoman, and Poehler’s microexpressions and stammery non-sequiturs in this scene show how well-developed Leslie was as a character, even at this point. Plus, Poehler’s impeccable timing should have earned her at least one Emmy out of those perennial nominations.