Parks and Rec

Leslie Knope wants local government to work, even when the public meeting suggests that almost everyone present would prefer to make it impossible. Parks and Recreation finds comedy in the gap between a modest civic ambition and the enormous amount of personality required to obstruct it.

Amy Poehler makes Leslie's enthusiasm funny without making caring about the job the joke. Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson provides a wonderfully incompatible colleague, while the wider department gradually becomes a group worth spending time with independently of the week's project.

The first season is rougher and more uncomfortable than the programme it grows into. As the ensemble settles, affection becomes part of the comedy rather than something reserved for an emotional ending. Pawnee itself acquires enough habits and oddities to feel like a place.

For a warm workplace sitcom, it is an excellent alternative to the colder embarrassment of The Office. Ted Lasso shares the willingness to let sincere effort be appealing, even when the person making it is also ridiculous.