Parks and Recreation - Sweetums, 2.15

Of the four Thursday night NBC comedies this season, Parks and Recreation has been the most consistently strong. From Leslie's practice date, to Fred Armisen guest starring as a delegate from Venezuela, to the office hunting trip, the cast and crew has been on top of their game. I could gush on for hours about each character, each actor, each storyline. Parks and Rec is a comedy with so much heart it's easy to get attached to these citizens of Pawnee, Indiana.

Lackluster first season notwithstanding, I vote Parks and Rec for best comedy on TV today. And that's an understandably tough statement to make, with outstanding shows such as Better Off Ted and Community on (in BOT's case, perhaps currently off) the air. Questlove of The Roots got it right when he tweeted that Parks and Recreation is like the Wu-Tang Clan of comedy. The cast is flawless. Ron F****** Swanson/Nick Offerman is a beast. April Ludgate's poker face is gold (and Aubrey Plaza is gorgeous). Tom Haverford/Aziz Ansari is hilarious yet heartbreaking with his Wendy dilemma. Rashida Jones and Paul Schneider work well together as the straight couple, yet have proved to be good comic actors as well (see Ann helping Leslie through a Hell date in Practice Date). Andy Dwyer/Chris Pratt is funny with the right amount of clueless. Leslie Knope is dedicated and caring, and decidedly NOT Michael Scott, which is one of the show's principle strengths; Mike Schur & co. made the right decision, and it paid off.

In short, the cast is extraordinary. They can pull off physical humor (Andy jumping into the pit, Ron trying to eat a hamburger with a hernia) as well as more subtle comedy (the looks April gives the camera a la Jim Halpert, albeit with more teenage girl derision). And because some of them come from improv backgrounds, the scenes where the actors are given the chance to improvise are some of the show's funniest. See: Leslie's woman-excuses for shooting Ron in Hunting Trip.

Anyway, Sweetums:

• Loved Leslie's "Look how healthy they are, they're all wearing vests!" line, along with wholesome American Dakota, Denver, and Shoelace.
• April/April's gay boyfriend/April's gay boyfriend's boyfriend/Andy love quadrangle is hilarious. Hope they make more appearances soon. "You know, for a gay couple, you guys are being really gay." -April
• Leslie Knope is one of my heroes. I decided this during the Christmas episode when she told Dave she couldn't leave Pawnee. I love that she and Ann stand up for what they believe in.
• Since Tom has pretty much fully moved out, I wonder if and when he will ever tell Wendy his feelings. I anticipate a Ron/Wendy/Tom triangle in the near future.
• DJ ROOMBA. Why has no one thought of this before. In the episode's tag, after Jerry steps on it: "This is the ghost of DJ Roomba. Why did you kill me? I'm gonna haunt you, Jerry. I'm gonna follow you and I'm gonna play the Black Eyed Peas in a looooop!" -DJ Roomba
• "I call this turf-and-turf." -Ron Swanson