Both Parks and Recreation and The Office are some of the best comedies to have aired on television and there's a reason that each show has its large fan bases. The Office and Parks and Recreation have a lot in common as both look at the interpersonal relationships of close-knit employees in an office environment and both use a mockumentary setup.
Although The Office came first and there are many fans who would argue that they prefer The Office over Parks and Rec, there are a few things that Parks and Rec arguably did better.
Updated on January 14th, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: Although The Office and Parks and Recreation have both been off the air for a few years, both shows still have a dedicated fan-base that continues to rewatch their favorite shows again and again. Both shows are iconic and have made their way into popular culture. And with streaming services making both shows available to watch, many more are just discovering the hilarious characters of both Scranton and Pawnee. Although many prefer The Office over Parks and Rec, arguably Parks and Rec was more successful in some aspects including guest stars, supporting characters, and creating a recognizable location.
Pawnee Townspeople
Parks and Recreation has several scenes where the parks department interacts with Pawnee citizens and it's always insane and hilarious. Sometimes a constituent wants only some of their snails removed from their sidewalk but not all of them while other times they wanted to complain about getting sick after drinking from a water fountain even though they had read a sign saying not to drink from the fountain or they just wanted to yell their grievances at Leslie Knope. The Office didn't see the main characters interact with their clients very often and when they did it wasn't as funny as when Parks and Rec did.
Female Character Friendships
Leslie Knope being the main character of Parks and Rec and having several friendships with other female characters was great to see on such a popular show and something that The Office didn't fully commit to in comparison. There are moments where Phyllis and Pam or Pam and Angela are friendly, but it doesn't compare to Leslie and Ann or Leslie and April's friendships and even the hilarious animosity turning into mutual respect between Ann and April.
Detailed Location
It was clear that Parks and Rec took place in Indiana and it made several references to the fictional Pawnee while bringing in real-life references to the state as well. Pawnee always felt real whereas The Office didn't make as much effort to ground its location in comparison.
Philadelphia, Scranton, and New York were mentioned several times in the show, but Parks and Rec did a better job of showing its audience the location instead of only talking about it.
Wacky Supporting Characters
Most of The Office's supporting characters like David Wallace and Jan Levinson, in the beginning, were meant to act as straight-laced foils to Michael's zany behavior. Parks and Rec took a different approach and introduced wackier supporting characters that made the already pretty zany parks department look normal in comparison. Leslie running against the incompetent but lovable Bobby Newport or Tom interacting with his excitable best friend Jean-Ralphio is arguably funnier than David Wallace trying to calm down Michael Scott.
Consistently Got Better
The Office was pretty well-established from the start as a great show, even though it had a rocky beginning with its pilot, but Parks and Rec wasn't as successful in its first season. It took some time for Parks and Rec to get into a rhythm, but once it got there the show stayed consistent in its character development and brought satisfying arcs to each main character as the show went on. In comparison, The Office lost its footing when Michael Scott left and the show was reaching for storylines that weren't as successful in later seasons like the problems in Jim and Pam's marriage that were never fully resolved.
Better Antagonists
The Office has characters that are not great people, including a lot of the main cast and protagonists, but the audience still roots for them. In Parks and Recreation, however, the audience has fun antagonist characters to root against. Whether that's Tammy 2 or Councilman Jamm, Parks and Rec is well-populated with hatable jerks. The trouble they cause serves not only to give us a good bad guy but to also endear us to the heroes of the Parks and Recreations Department.
Not Dragging Out Relationships
The Office arguably stretched the Jim and Pam relationship out a bit too long, along with the Angela and Dwight relationship, and even kept Andy and Erin in a holding pattern as well. But on Parks and Recreation, relationships progressed a lot faster like April and Andy. Yes, there were still some ups and downs, but ultimately, and more realistically, the relationships in Parks and Rec were a lot more straightforward.
Characters Accomplishing Their Dreams
In the early seasons of The Office, we learn that Pam wants to be an artist and that Jim has ambitions of getting out of Dunder Mifflin. Pam drops out of graphic design school and pretty much stops painting, and Jim doesn’t leave Dunder Mifflin until the very last season. On Parks and Rec, however, Leslie is elected, April starts several fulfilling jobs, and Tom begins some successful businesses. Although it's realistic that not every character would fulfill their dreams, it was still satisfying to see most of the Parks and Rec characters get fulfilling endings.
More Real-World Stories
Neither The Office nor Parks and Rec. is known for its realism. However, the shows use their wacky, out-of-this-world characters in different ways. In The Office, those characters are there to make up hilarious situations. That's true of Parks and Rec too, but the latter show will also use their characters for another reason to tell allegorical stories to real-world situations. For example, there's an episode that tells a powerful story about love; but it just happens to be about penguins.
Casting Rashida Jones As A Lead
Rashida Jones is a fantastic actress and finally had a leading role in Parks and Rec. She appeared in The Office, but her character Karen's main purpose was to be an obstacle to Pam and Jim’s relationship and once Jim and Pam were together Karen was sidelined as a character. Ann Perkins of Parks and Rec is a likable delight, perfectly suited as Leslie’s best friend while also having storylines on her own and not only existing as an obstacle to a romantic relationship.
Building A Bigger World
The world of Scranton’s best paper company is pretty much limited to Scranton. Rarely do we see characters of The Office venture outside the tiny Pennsylvania city. That’s not the case in Parks and Rec. The adventures and characters on that show are hardly limited to Pawnee, Indiana, even though that’s where the show is based. Even within the show’s respective towns, Pawnee is a much bigger place. But in The Office, we spend most of our time in Dunder Mifflin.
Guest Appearances
Several recognizable Hollywood greats showed up on The Office like Will Ferrell, Amy Adams, and even James Spader. But Parks and Rec was simply packed with amazing guest appearances, and they win over The Office in this category. Pawnee had guest stars from Sam Elliott to Andy Samberg, and even while venturing to Washington DC Joe Biden and Michelle Obama made an appearance. The guests on The Office were amazing, but none of them were the coolest First Lady in American History.
Endearing Characters
In The Office, the audience fell in love with Jim and Pam as much as they fell for each other, and for all his faults, it was still incredibly sad when Michael Scott decided to leave. But for every endearing relationship or character on The Office, there were more on Parks and Rec.
From Andy and April’s marriage to the wacky but lovable Chris Traeger to the fearless hero Leslie Knope. The world of Parks and Rec is brimming with characters and relationships to love.
Families
The Office didn't delve into the families of the main characters very often. There’s Mose, Dwight's brother, Pam’s mom, and Stanley’s daughter showed up one time. But besides these and a handful of others, family members of The Office cast rarely appear on the show. In Parks and Rec, however, the characters’ families matter. Ron’s ex-wives, and eventually his current wife, are integral to what goes on in the show. The same can be said for Leslie’s mom and even Jerry's daughters. We know that The Office is supposed to focus on work relationships more than family ones, but it's still nice to see the families outside of the work environment.
The Ending
The ending of The Office is phenomenal. It is a beautiful, heart-wrenching return to everything the audience loved about the show; it serves as the perfect send-off to the series. The same is true of the Parks and Recreation series finale, but Parks and Rec didn't have a two-season controversial lead-up to the end. While both finales were great, The Office had a much bumpier road to get there. Parks and Rec, in opposition, had a brilliantly fulfilling final season; one that set-up a finale as only that show could. To argue that one finale alone is better than the other wouldn't be fair. But arguably Parks and Rec had a better overall final season.