Parks and Recreation was developed by the creators of the American incarnation of The Office for Saturday Night Live alumnus Amy Poehler, who plays Leslie Knope, the passionately driven deputy director of the Pawnee, IN, Parks and Recreation Department. Directed in the same reality series/mock-documentary style but set in the world of office politics and petty turf wars within municipal government and small town bureaucracy, the series was never as popular as The Office, but it developed into a more clever and funnier show thanks to sharp writing and a crack ensemble cast. Poehler's supercharged, idealistic Leslie remains at the center of the seventh and final abbreviated season, but the supporting cast (which includes Adam Scott, Aubrey Plaza, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, and newly-minted action star Chris Pratt as the show's lovable doofus Andy) receives equal time. These last episodes transpire in 2017 (giving the writers free reign to imagine their own near-future), cramming in complicated conflicts and happy endings for the entire cast in a valedictory lap that is both funny and satisfying. One installment plays out as an episode of Andy's local kids show, right down to the credits and the snazzy editing gimmicks, with Andy playing superhero Johnny Karate like an overgrown kid with a heart as big as his imagination. Where so many sitcoms find their humor in incompetence, this was the rare comedy that celebrated talent, commitment, and public service, and still was able to find humor. Compiling all 13 episodes from 2015, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. [Note: also available is Parks and Recreation: The Complete Series, priced at $149.98.] Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Parks and Recreation: Season Seven
Universal, 2 discs, 280 min., not rated, DVD: $39.98 Volume 30, Issue 5
Parks and Recreation: Season Seven
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