Parks and Recreation’s best episode was part of season 3, and after all these years, it keeps confirming the show’s biggest strength. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur,Parks and Recreationbegan as a spinoff ofThe Office, but thankfully, it became its own thing.Parks and Recpremiered on NBC in 2009, and though it had a rough start as its first season wasn’t the best, it lived on for six more seasons, which were a lot more successful than season 1.Parks and Recended in 2015, and it’s regarded as one ofthe best TV shows of all time.
Parks and Recreationtook the audience to the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, and more specifically, to its Parks Department to meet Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).Parks and Recshared the spotlight with Leslie’s friends and coworkers, such as Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), and Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), among others.Parks and Recis packed with fun moments that highlight the cast’s comedic skills, and one specific moment in the show’s best episode confirms its biggest strength.
Parks & Rec’s “The Fight” Has The Show’s Best Improv Scene
The Effects Of Snake Juice Were Improvised
Parks and Recreationseason 3 is home to “The Fight”, written by Poehler. In it, Leslie encourages Ann (Rashida Jones) to take the job of health department public relations director, mainly so they can spend more time together. Leslie, being herself, gives Ann a bunch of reading material to prepare for the interview, but is surprised to find her later that day at the Snakehole Lounge with her new boyfriend, The Douche (Nick Kroll), instead of preparing for the interview.
The Parks Department crew are encouraged by Tom to attend Snakehole Lounge, which he partially owns, as he’s going to present his new alcoholic beverage, Snake Juice. The crew attends, but April is not interested in going, so Andy (Chris Pratt) suggests they dress up as different people and role-play at the bar – and that’s how Burt Macklin and Janet Snakehole take over that night. Back to Leslie and Ann, they have a big fight at the bar, and ultimately decide that it’s best that they don’t work together – however, Ann ends up getting the job, and the two reconcile.
“The Fight” has a lot of improvised moments, and its best one by far is the Snake Juice montage. Tom’s beverage turns out to be delicious but very high in alcohol, so much so that everyone gets extremely drunk pretty fast.Parks and Recthen shows how every Parks Department member (except Donna and Chris) acts when drunk, and this scene was completely improvised by the cast. What makes this scene so great, aside from the comedy gold of the cast’s improv, is how well they knew their characters.
Leslie keeps rambling about her fight with Ann, Ron is happily dancing (and is the only one without a hangover the next day), Ben laughs at his own made-up word, Tom hypes himself up, April says a lot of gibberish in character, and Andy breaks out into a song. Most of them are surprising reactions from the characters, but still fitting, and that it was improvised makes it even better.
Why “The Fight” Is Parks & Rec’s Best Episode
“The Fight” Is Funny & Key To Some Characters’ Development
“The Fight” is widely consideredParks and Recreation’s best episode, and with good reason. “The Fight” is a consistently funny and entertaining episode from beginning to end, while also adding to the characters’ stories and dynamics.“The Fight” has one of the best cold opens of the show, in which Ron confronts the Parks Department about the broken coffee machine. This episode also sees more of Burt Macklin and Janet Snakehole, who had previously had brief appearances.
The Snake Juice montage is this episode’s peak moment, butthe development of Leslie and Ann’s fight and reconciliation is a key part of the episode, and it helped develop their friendship. The cast’s improv skills were one of the show’s biggest strengths, bringing some ofParks and Rec’s funniest moments.
Some Of Parks & Rec’s Funniest Moments Were Improvised
Parks & Rec Seized Its Cast’s Amazing Improv Skills
Parks and Recreationknew how to seize its cast’s improv skills, and many of those moments made it to the final cut of various episodes.Chris Pratt had many improvised moments inParks and Rec, such as the famous “network connectivity problems” line, his dramatic reenactment ofRoad House, and when Leslie opens the door and finds him naked (Pratt decided to take off his skin-colored briefs, which got him into trouble with NBC).
Other notable improvised moments inParks and Recare Chris’ “stop poopin'” line, April torturing the intern, Donna’s “do I look like I drink water” line, and Andy’smany names for his band Mouse Rat, among many others.Parks and Recreationgreatly benefited from its cast’s improv skills, making the show funnier, more entertaining, the cast’s chemistry more special, and their dynamics more natural.
