Parks and Rec is the best written sitcom for one specific reason

Parks and Recreation is considered to be many people’s comfort show, but the series should be praised for its excellent writing.

It may be hard to believe, but Parks and Recreation — one of NBC’s most successful sitcoms — aired exactly 15 years ago this week.

The TV show ran for seven seasons and helped make the likes of Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Pratt into household names.

Over the years, Parks and Rec has become many people’s comfort shows in the same vein as Friends or The Office, but I believe the show has a leg up on all of its peers for one simple reason: its impeccable writing.

Parks and Rec’s writing puts the show above its contemporaries because it was never afraid to treat its characters like real people.

When it comes to sitcoms, it’s easy for characters to become caricatures of themselves as the years go on, but Parks and Rec avoided this trap by allowing all of their characters to develop organically without losing the core of who they truly are.

NBC

For example, when the series begins, Parks director Ron Swanson is a curmudgeon who hates the government, taxes, and other people.

He doesn’t go out of his way to get to know his peers, despite some of them trying, and he just walks through life doing the same old thing with no deviation.

However, by the time the series finale rolls around, Ron is a father to three children and openly acknowledges his close relationships with the people around him.

Yes, he’s still rude, cranky, and definitely doesn’t trust anything modern, but his character growth was still felt deeply throughout the seasons.

Every single Parks and Rec character undergoes this level of change, but they never lose that unique spark that drew fans into the show in the first place.

Leslie is more sure of herself, April cares about what she does with her life, Tom is more mature, Jerry gets his recognition, the list goes on and on.

Most popular sitcoms have a level of good writing, or else no one would watch them, but Parks and Rec’s sophisticated character work definitely elevated it.

In what turned out to be the smartest decision ever, Parks and Recreation treated their characters more like real people, and it showed within their writing, cementing the series as one of the best-written modern sitcoms.

All seven seasons of Parks and Recreation are currently streaming on Peacock, and if you’re looking for a new show to binge, check out all the cool shows premiering this month.