10 Movies To Watch If You Love Parks & Rec

The show Parks and Rec was created by the same people behind the American version of The Office. This satirical comedy premiered on NBC in 2009 and aired for seven seasons until 2015. This series follows Leslie Knopp and her inner circle of colleagues and friends. Leslie is the deputy director of parks and recreation for the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana.

Similar to The Office, this series did not have a very successful first season with audiences and critics responding with little praise. and more criticism. The creators took their critiques to better the second season, and that’s when this series really looks off and garnered a massive fan base. The series is available to stream on Netflix in its entirety, but if you’re taking a break from binging old seasons, here are a few films you might like as well.

10 Inside Out

Leslie Knopp, played by the hilarious and incredibly talented, Amy Poehler, knows how to stay positive in any situation. Audiences, in the beginning, deemed Leslie a “ditz”, but after a few adjustments, she came back for season two more grounded, but still with that same glowing attitude.

For fans of Poehler who love the joy and positivity she naturally brings to every role, Pixar’s Inside Out is a must-see. Poehler voices a character named Joy, and it’s just as perfect as it sounds.

9 Anchorman

One of the best parts of each episode of Parks and Rec is watching these very different characters interact with one another both on a professional and a personal level.

On paper, it’s hard to imagine that Ron, April, Leslie, and Andy could ever like and respect each other enough to have a successful workday, but they do and they do it well. The characters in the hilarious workplace satire, Anchorman have a similar setup, where an unlikely group work together and find success despite the odds.

8 Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates

Aubrey Plaza became a household name when she premiered on Parks and Rec as April, the dry and somewhat sassy intern in Pawnee’s parks and rec department. Aubrey Plaza’s humor is different and unexpected and brings a new layer to an already diverse cast, making moments between April and the rest of the cast always funny.

Aubrey brings that same dry wit and charm to her character Tatiana in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.

7 Monty Python And The Holy Grail

If you ask any comedian working today what film influenced them the most or inspired them to pursue a career in comedic film and television, they will most likely say it was Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

This film is the epitome of an ensemble comedy group, creating their own content, and finding a lot of success in the process. If you love Parks and Rec because of the chemistry within the cast and the brand of comedy the show’s creators are able to reinvent with every project and you haven’t yet heard of Monty Python, you’re missing out and have a lot of binge-watching to do this weekend.

6 Waiting For Guffman

Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the creators of Parks and Rec and The Office, clearly have a certain style of comedy where they thrive. They enjoy mockumentary-style filmmaking with their characters frequently addressing the camera and supposed interviewers off-camera.

If you watch these shows because you too are a fan of this style, then you should check out Waiting for Guffman or any of the other films by Christopher Guest who also enjoys the humor that comes from mockumentary-style filmmaking.

5 The Big Lebowski

The cast of Parks and Rec always seem to find themselves in trouble or down a rabbit hole on their next adventure. They don’t fight crime, but they always seem to be fighting for something that they believe in and their viewers love cheering them and watching them succeed.

For fans of the series who love rooting for these underdogs, you should watch The Big Lebowski, a crime comedy that also tells the story of an unlikely hero who finds himself mixed up in a hysterical situation.

4 Office Space

The monotony of working in an office is enough to drive even the sanest person, a little bit crazy. Parks and Rec creators, Schur and Daniels do a hilarious job of exploring this idea in their series The Office, but do the same thing in this series as well, just under slightly different circumstances.

Office Space, a 90’s film by Mike Judge, explores similar tones of the average nine to five job and adds a funny storyline and characters to a not-so-funny setting, which makes for instant laughs.

3 Waiting

One thing Leslie and her colleagues and friends do really well is get into trouble. It seems that in every episode, someone has an urgent problem that needs to be solved.

A lot of times, these problems are self-inflicted, which somehow makes them funnier. In the comedy feature film, Waiting, starring Ryan Reynolds, servers at a chain restaurant often find themselves causing some kind of mischief to pass the time, which benefits their audience because the trouble they create delivers lots and lots of laughs.

2 The Lego Movie

Chris Pratt burst onto our screens as Andy in Parks and Rec and hasn’t slowed down since. Pratt has recently been regarded as one of the smartest actors currently in the industry in the way he’s been able to flip the script and become one of Hollywood’s most sought after leading men.

Pratt manages to carry his same lovable humor into all of his roles, making the actor a favorite, not just in the industry, but for fans as well. One of Pratt’s most recent and biggest successes was voicing the lead character, Emmet, in The LEGO Movie, which also stars Parks and Rec‘s Nick Offerman.

1 30 Minutes Or Less

Aziz Ansari was already pretty well-known in the comedy world when Parks and Rec premiered, but he was catapulted into another tier of success because of this series.

Ansari has gone on to star in a number of his own comedy stand-up specials and in recent years, received fan and critical acclaim for his new series Master of None. Audiences and critics alike, can’t get enough of Aziz’s quick, genuine humor. If you’re looking for a film where Ansari’s humor takes front and center, you should definitely watch 30 Minutes or Less a comedy which also stars, Jesse Eisenberg.

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