10 Bad Seasons Of Otherwise Great TV Shows

Parks and Recreation is one of the greatest sitcoms of the 21st century, quite possibly the greatest, but that's a statement that would be rather surprising to someone who had only seen the first season. The show really didn't find its voice until Season 2, and this first season was essentially a not that interesting clone of The Office except with a female Michael Scott and in a government building.

The decision that really saved Parks was the idea of making Leslie a likable person. In later seasons, Leslie is a great role model, a person who cares so much about what she does and about loving everyone around her. When things go wrong for Michael Scott, it's because he's a buffoon who doesn't know what he's doing. When things go wrong for Leslie Knope, it's because she's too enthusiastic and cares too much.

But Season 1 didn't establish that yet, and for the first six episodes, the series was basically not on Leslie's side, with the audience meant to laugh at this idiot woman who doesn't know what she's talking about. By abandoning that cynicism the following year, the show really became its own thing. It was now a series with likable, honest people trying their best to do great things, and it very quickly grew from an uninteresting Office clone to the best thing on TV.