TV Tonight: Parks and Recreation

Everything about NBC's new Parks and Recreation suggests that it's going to be worth watching: Greg Daniels, whose track record is hard to ignore (The Simpsons, King of the Hill, The Office US), co-created along with Mike "Ken Tremendous" Schur. It stars Amy Poehler, who'se been awesome since 2001's Wet Hot American Summer, and Rashida Jones, who was so likeable on The Office that some people were rooting for Jim to stay with her instead of getting together with Pam.

Yet stakes are probably unreasonably high for this show, as NBC is not doing so hot these days under the leadership of Ben Silverman. So Parks and Recreation is basically the network's only remaining hope for a hit until next fall, which is not a good position for a quirky show with cult appeal to find itself in. Of course, The Office and 30 Rock are also both quirky shows with cult appeal, and they're at the very least doing well enough to stick around. It'd be great if this show could live up to the quality of those two, but both NBC and the show's potential Thursday audience are going to have to stay patient