The Office is, was, and always will be a better show than Parks & Recreation.

The Office pioneered the format of “sitcom-as-documentary.” It was the first American TV show ever to be presented like it was, with cutaway confessionals and all the trappings of a real documentary. Even as Parks and Rec moved away from being a direct clone of The Office, the fact remains: without The Office, there is no Parks and Rec.

There’s no disputing that The Office declined in quality in its later years. So, yeah, if you assess how funny a comedy is by how consistently good it was, Parks & Rec fares better. However, this ignores a crucial fact: The Office’s early seasons were some of the best television in history, unanimously lauded by critics and adored by audiences to this day. Episodes like The Dinner Party more than make up for any later-on slump — and, arguably, exceed anything Parks and Rec has to offer.

Nobody disputes that both of these shows are good. I consider myself a fan of both. However it’s as simple as this: when I’m trying to laugh my butt off for twenty minutes on a lazy Sunday morning, I flip on The Office.

—

Parks and Rec is a show full of comedy and what “facial zooms” should really be like. With hilarious characters such as Ron Swanson, Leslie Knope and Tom Haverford the show comes to life with the dry, enriching comments that capture what true humor is all about. Although many people love the well known show ‘The Office’ and compare the two shows as if they are on the same level, those people are wrong on so many levels. Yes, both shows have an abundant amount of zooming in and outs but the two are completely different and Parks and Rec is the funnier show of the two, which is why I enjoy watching Parks and Rec ten times better than the basic show, The Office.

Parks and Rec is a show molded with humor that only a few can appreciate which is why I enjoy it because we all know that Parks and Rec is constantly being overshadowed by The Office. Sadly, Parks and Rec came to end on February 24, 2015 and the show completed with seven amazing seasons. I do wish Parks and Rec got the recognition it deserves and I hope people can view it as one of the funniest shows ever made like I do.