In a new Los Angeles Times article, staffer Christy Grosz analyzes how Parks and Recreation’s first season follows a similar trajectory to The Office.
By the end of The Office’s first season, it averaged a 2.5 rating and ranked No. 102 in prime time. It also faced criticism for failing to translate the original British version for an American audience. Likewise, Parks and Recreation’s performance in the ratings game isn’t spectacular, and critics have grumbled over its perceived similarity to The Office.
Yet The Office took off in its second season and hasn’t looked back since.
Grosz also interviews exec producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur about their show, and why they decided to set the show in a fictitious Indiana town.
Says Michael:
What we really wanted was a state or a location that didn’t skew the audience in a particular direction. Obama was from Illinois, and Michigan was the car industry, which was struggling. Even Ohio had a big election kerfuffle. Indiana just seemed like a state in America that doesn’t make people think in any particular direction.
