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The Kooky, Energetic Office Boss Figure: Michael Scott vs. Leslie Knope
After overnight remodeling between the first and second seasons for both shows, both of their main characters got the biggest facelifts by far. Producers Daniels and Schur gracefully turned their buzzkill of loser personality flaws into fun and innocent quirks for two leaders who we all just want to give a hug despite their still-obvious imperfections.
The strongest common denominator between both these characters is that they care too much. Literally. Michael makes himself the center of office commotion when he ruins the “20-dollar limit” Secret Santa for everyone by buying his inappropriate then-intern man-crush Ryan a damn video iPod, and then goes on to accidentally (and successfully) invite two undefined lovers of his to Casino Night — which he’s not supposed to host in the first place but does so for the sake of charity and because of his passionate hate for the HR guy who told him not to. Leslie gets her subordinate Tom arrested while he helps Leslie spy on her ex-lover in a creepy van, and then proceeds to cause Ron to get shot in the head because she insisted that everyone be included in the office hunting trip.
At the end of the day, if I were choosing a boss to have as an entry-level employee in either Scranton or Pawnee, I’d have to go with Michael in a heartbeat. Leslie may have a better head on her shoulders and actually know what the heck she’s doing, but I admire a guy who wants to fight for his employees’ respect and not boss them around like his or her opinion is the only one that matters.
“Sometimes, you just have to be the boss of dancing.”
Point: Michael Scott, The Office
FINAL SCORE
The Office: 4
Parks and Recreation: 5
Greg Daniels and Michael Schur changed television for the better by making The Office so special in the mid-2000s and beyond. Let’s compliment them for keeping the quality of content up to such a high standard throughout the series’ entireties, especially with Parks and Rec.
Agree? Disagree? I’m not being sarcastic when I say I want to hear your feedback on this pressing matter.
Ready, set, get back to work go.
Respond
It’s a weird concept, but I think P&R has the better cast of characters but somehow The Office was the better complete show.
Completely agree here. Putting characters side-by-side like this was a great idea for an article btw. Love both shows, but Office is my favorite. Pam got worse for me near the end, but the ending of the show redeemed a lot for me.
I don’t know, I think the greatness of the Office is that everybody works with the same characters from the show. They nailed the personalities so well, everyone knows the Angela at their office, the Kelly, the Dwight. And every guy thinks they are Jim.
I literally could not agree more with you more, teammate. Not a weird concept at all.
Thanks. I think we can all agree Rashida Jones is a major pool honey.
You can’t compare Dwight with Ron. I love Ron dearly, but Dwight Schrute is the ultimate character. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
I thought the same thing – Both of those two are in a league of their own.
At very least, they should have been a wash. Dwight K is a fuggin boss. Well, an assistant to a fuggin boss anyways.
“Assistant fuggin boss”
Assistant to the fuggin boss
The Christ Pratt bloopers should be NSFW, just got caught watching them from laughing way too loud.
I have a man-crush on Chris Pratt. There I said it.
You’re not alone
Michael, Jim, Pam, and Deight can only be rivaled by Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer.
Dwight*. I could hear my boss’s footsteps towards my cube and didn’t have time to proof read.
Personally I thought parks and rec got kind of repetitive in episodes. There was no real character development, and all Aziz Ansari did was annoy the hell out of me. Overall, it was a good show, but I think The Office wins this battle. The Office had character development, it was always coming up with new ways for each character to play a funny role in the show, and no two episodes were really the same as far as humor.
Where’s Creed at?
… Orin?
No way 3:58 is funnier than the “comeback story” clip, or the responses to his ice cream cone take.
Had to pick between going to bed at a decent time last night or watching the Season 5 finale of Parks and Rec…guess who’s tired today.
Give me your keys.
Evan you haven’t even graduated yet. Fuck outta here.
Guilty.