Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation

by Jim O’Heir

Super Bowl slot is a short-term decision; that’s a decision you make to be explosive and firework-y and get as many people to see the pilot as you can, but getting Amy Poehler in your show is a long-term decision. It’s the thing that’s going to make the show work.

The message of the show that Amy and I used to talk about all the time was that optimism beats pessimism. As tempting as it is to give in to pessimism or denialism, and to throw up your hands and say, “None of this matters; it’s all bullshit. The world is screwed up, we’re all going to die, and climate change is going to ruin the planet.” Yes, that is an option and if you do that, congratulations. Now what? Or you can be Leslie Knope and you can say, “I’m going to keep fighting. I don’t know, maybe it won’t work, but I’m going to keep fighting. I’m going to keep trying.”