Parks and Rec or The Office

Which series do your prefer?


  • Total voters
    161

SJSharksfan39

Registered User
Oct 11, 2008
27,290
5,376
San Jose, CA
I never watched The Office. Parks and Rec is one of my favorite sitcoms of all time.

The Good Place is getting up there as well, by the way.
 

OzzyFan

Registered User
Sep 17, 2012
3,653
959
Both are good, I've always liked The Office's main characters better, especially during the Michael Scott era. The Office was also more quotable/memorable to me. I believe The Office also had more audience viewers on average and lasted more seasons.
 

Trap Jesus

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
28,686
13,456
Parks and Rec went downhill as well, but to nowhere near the degree that The Office did. It went from great to horrible almost immediately as the 4th season hit. First 3 seasons of the Office are better than anything in Parks and Rec, but I'd give the edge to Parks and Rec for being more consistent.
 

Unholy

kesbae
Jan 13, 2010
13,598
150
Southern California
Yeah Parks and Rec overall but The Office had some really great moments. Michael Scott could be too cringy for me at times causing me to skip quite a few episodes.
 

x Tame Impala

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Aug 24, 2011
27,428
11,774
Parks and Rec went downhill as well, but to nowhere near the degree that The Office did. It went from great to horrible almost immediately as the 4th season hit. First 3 seasons of the Office are better than anything in Parks and Rec, but I'd give the edge to Parks and Rec for being more consistent.

What? The 4th season was excellent
 

EON

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
May 31, 2013
8,039
1,677
Raleigh, NC
Parks and Rec. The show went downhill after the Pam/Jim got together and got hit even harder when Michael left. Parks and Rec was consistently good to the end imo.
 

Nalens Oga

Registered User
Jan 5, 2010
16,780
1,053
Canada
It was The Office on their initial runs but after time settling them in and re-watches, it's easily Parks & Rec.

The Office is pretty special at its best but Parks & Rec was more consistent and I just got a tonne out of it. It's also the most positive but not cheesy sitcom I've ever seen. Community is probably my favourite but Parks & Rec's wholesomeness makes me wanna put it ahead of Community as well.
 

NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
95,345
59,250
Ottawa, ON
I think I laughed harder at Michael Scott but as was said in this thread, the Pam and Jim storyline took over everything.
 

HanSolo

DJ Crazy Times
Apr 7, 2008
96,405
30,656
Las Vegas
The Office never clicked with me. I just found the cringe humor so formulaic and repetitive. Not that Parks and Rec's characters weren't formulaic and repetitive but I found them more amusing and it made for a better dynamic between the cast. The Office could make me chuckle here and there but I remember asking around after I finished season 3 "does this show ever get better? Like should I wait around for the peak?" then found out I had seen the peak.

To me it's Parks and Rec and not close but I don't begrudge anyone liking the Office more than me. I just couldn't get into it. Also the Jim and Pam "will they won't they" may be the most insufferable and cliche romance story line ever put to screen.
 

Nizdizzle

Offseason Is The Worst Season
Jul 7, 2007
13,861
6,874
Windsor, Ontario
twitter.com
I'm surprised with the results so far (57%/43% in favor of P&R). I love both of these shows and have binged them start to finish a few times. For me however, the Office is a huge step up because of a few factors:

1. Combined the comedy and drama perfectly (Jim+Pam is legendary). Parks never really got this right IMO, I never felt really invested in the relationships of Andy/April, Anne/Chris, Leslie/Ben, definitely not to the same degree
2. The casting of the backup casting was better in the office, IMP. Stanley, Phyllis, Toby, Creed, Meredith were all great characters, whereas in Parks/Rec I wanted the show to stay focused around Ben/Leslie/April/Ron/Andy at all times. Gerry and Donna episodes put me to sleep.
3. The Office always seemed like a few crazy characters (Micheal + Dwight) in a normal world (Scranton seems like it could be a normal place) and Parks and Rec was more a few normal characters (Anne Perkins + Ben Wyatt) in a crazy world (Pawnee is a strange, goofy place). That appealed to me way more.

That said, both great shows. Throw in Community and you have my favourite 3 shows to binge watch over the last 10 years.
 
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Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
8,587
3,597
During its run, The Office may have been my favorite show, but it didn't have nearly as many quirky/likeable characters as Parks & Recreation, and as a result wasn't nearly as funny
 

Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
8,587
3,597
I'm surprised with the results so far (57%/43% in favor of P&R). I love both of these shows and have binged them start to finish a few times. For me however, the Office is a huge step up because of a few factors:

1. Combined the comedy and drama perfectly (Jim+Pam is legendary). Parks never really got this right IMO, I never felt really invested in the relationships of Andy/April, Anne/Chris, Leslie/Ben, definitely not to the same degree
2. The casting of the backup casting was better in the office, IMP. Stanley, Phyllis, Toby, Creed, Meredith were all great characters, whereas in Parks/Rec I wanted the show to stay focused around Ben/Leslie/April/Ron/Andy at all times. Gerry and Donna episodes put me to sleep.
3. The Office always seemed like a few crazy characters (Micheal + Dwight) in a normal world (Scranton seems like it could be a normal place) and Parks and Rec was more a few normal characters (Anne Perkins + Ben Wyatt) in a crazy world (Pawnee is a strange, goofy place). That appealed to me way more.

That said, both great shows. Throw in Community and you have my favourite 3 shows to binge watch over the last 10 years.

I didn't find any of them particularly funny, except for Toby, and occasionally Meredith

Stanley was just awful. He brought nothing comedic to the show

Kevin and Phyllis weren't funny either
 

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