Even though these two shows are very different, there has been somewhat of a feud of which show is the superior one. Both shows are amazing and have episodes where we double over in laughter. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, here are some reasons that Parks and Recreation is better than The Office.
Character Development: First of all, The Office has so many characters it’s hard to keep them all straight. Because there are so many characters, it’s hard to be invested in all of them. Parks and Rec has the right amount of characters- there are enough to make it funny and enough to be invested. Each character has their own storyline with roots that run deep while most of The Office characters are just surface level. Because of this, viewers can become connected to the characters which makes the show more important to them.
Main Relationship: Look at Jim and Pam vs Ben and Leslie…while we die for both of these relationships, Ben and Leslie take the cake. Jim and Pam grow to be an amazing couple and have some iconic moments like Jim proposing at a gas station or their secret wedding. However, Jim and Pam’s relationship began while she was engaged to Roy. Throughout their engagement, Jim flirted with Pam nearly every episode, which was inappropriate. Now we turn to Ben and Leslie who started off hating each other. However, they quickly saw their similarities and grew to love one another. They had a few bumps in the road, but were able to make their relationship official in the fourth season. Ben and Leslie also win because they are a government power couple. Ben would be running a congressional campaign while Leslie cleaned up Pawnee as a city councilor. As a plus, in the last season Ben gave up running for governor so Leslie could. If that isn’t couple goals then I don’t know what it is.
The Office Overstayed its Welcome: To be fair, both shows overstayed their welcome to an extent. Shows fall into this when things start to really deviate from the original plot. In Parks and Rec this came in season seven, when everything jumped ahead three years. The Office also had this happen in season seven when Michael left. The difference is the seventh season of Parks and Rec was the final one while The Office continued for two more seasons without Michael. Both of the shows had a decline in episode quality during their seventh season, but Parks and Rec knew to end it before things became out of control.
Michael vs. Leslie: These shows are very different, but these two characters seem to play the same role respectively. They are the over-the-top boss who is way too involved in the lives of their coworkers. However, the point goes to Leslie because of how much she cares. Leslie would do anything for her coworkers while Michael could care less about some of them (like Toby). Since Leslie cares so much, this creates hilarious jokes which make the show even better.
When you get down to it, both of the shows have major differences which makes it hard to compare them. With that being said, both shows have their flaws, but that’s why we love them.