REVIEW

“Parks and Recreation”

It’s a little too early to tell if NBC’s new half-hour comedy “Parks and Recreation” is promising.

The first two episodes are not able to arise from the shadow of “The Office” as SNL alumna Amy Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, a mid-level employee of the Parks and Recreation Department in the town of Pawnee, Ind.

Best described as a sister show of NBC’s most popular comedy, and not a spin-off as previously reported, “P&R” shares a lot of things with “The Office:” a clueless but determined mid-level manager in Poehler, mockumentary-style tone and direction, complete with cut-away cast interviews, cringe-worthy embarrassing moments and even former “Office” guest star Rashida Jones.

Jones’ character Ann Perkins is the catalyzing factor for the show’s central plot. She plays a good-natured nurse whose lazy musician boyfriend falls into a large abandoned lot across the street from her home and breaks both of his legs. Jones then displays her dedication at a town forum meeting, angrily speaking out against the dangers of the pit.

Then Poehler adopts her cause, deciding to go on a political quest to get the nasty pit turned into a beautiful neighborhood park. The two women’s struggle to get the project underway is the central premise of the show.

Much of “P&R’s” humor is “Office”-esque; Perkins is the gentler female analog to Steve Carell’s Michael Scott. She is completely overenthusiastic and naïve but with a social cluelessness that gets her in trouble with co-workers and townspeople. Jones is the loyal Dwight Schrute-like sidekick. However, she is calm, rational, overburdened and completely likeable.

None of the hijinks are as extreme as “The Office” counterparts, and what the show gains with sympathetic characters, it loses in edge. Yet, “Parks and Recreation,” with a cast rounded out by talented comic actors Paul Schneider and Aziz Ansari, is still in its early stages and eventually may prove worthwhile.