Television Shows Parks and Recreation and the

¶ … television shows Parks and Recreation and the American version of the Office deal with similar themes regarding the nature of the modern workplace and the relationships which populate it, but although both shows are shot in the same single-camera, mockumentary style, they end up saying very different things about their shared subject.

This is ultimately a result of each particular show's setting; in The Office, the story follows the employees of a small paper company, but in Parks and Recreation, the story is about the public employees of the parks department in a small town. This difference is ultimately responsible for the different interpretations of similar themes seen both shows, and examining the ramifications of this distinction will serve to explicate the particular meaning of either show.

For much of its history The Office focuses on the ineptitude of management and the failure of the commercialized masculine ideal, implicitly critiquing both the hubris of America's corporate state as well as the image of success that is sold to the less powerful in order to make them acquiesce to their position of subservience (or at least, this has been the trend for the majority of the show's history; the latest season has been the first without Steve Carrell in the role of branch manager Michael Scott, so the tone and focus has shifted somewhat).

The employees of the local branch which is the focus of the show are disregarded by upper management, and the entire series opens with the threat of imminent layoffs. As branch manager, Michael Scott must balance position of authority with his desire to engage with his coworkers on a more fundamental, human level, but this conflict often results in mediocrity or ineptitude, as Michael is incapable of committing to one side or the other (although he does have rare flashes of brilliance).

Thus, he ends up coming "across as an egotistical braggart," but it is clear to the rest of his coworkers that this only just barely "masks a deep-rooted insecurity" (Griffin, 2008, p. 157). Parks and Recreation, on the other hand, focuses on a small group of public employees who for the most part must deal with the hubris and ineptitude of the public, as well as the occasional representative of the corporate state.

Because the goal of the characters working in the parks department is to successfully provide for the public, the lead character of the show, Leslie Knope, succeeds at integrating her work and personal life where Michael Scott fails due to the fact that his goal must always ultimately be profit, rather than successful and productive human interaction.

Leslie more easily forges friendships with her coworkers because they are not bound by the ever-present need to make money and the inherent competitiveness which necessarily arises; rather, because of their status as public employees providing service directly to the public, Leslie and her coworkers must function as a cohesive, (relatively) well-socialized unit.

Thus, where Michael Scott is fickle, ineffective, and lacks self-awareness, Leslie Knope is hyper-competent, with much of the humor stemming from the show's "ability to weave the personal motivations of Leslie and her supporting cast into themes about government's ability to get things done" (Aronstein, 2011). Taken together, the shows seem to making the same criticism of a society largely controlled by corporations through advertising and political influence, but they approach this same topic from opposite angles.

Parks and Recreation shows a kind of ideal, in which public service and friendship go hand in order to improve life for everyone in the group, but The Office demonstrates what is.