Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is the most optimistic comedy in television history. After a rocky first season that leaned too heavily on The Office's cringe format, the show found its voice by making Leslie Knope — Amy Poehler's hypercompetent, waffle-obsessed parks department deputy director — the beating heart of Pawnee, Indiana. The ensemble is stacked: Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson, Aubrey Plaza's April Ludgate, Chris Pratt's Andy Dwyer, and Adam Scott's Ben Wyatt form one of the great comedy casts ever assembled. The show's thesis — that small acts of civic engagement matter, that public service is noble, and that communities are worth fighting for — is genuinely radical in its sincerity.