Two of the Funniest Comedies You Should be Watching: NBC's "Community" and "Parks and Recreation"

It really upsets me that more people aren't watching Community and Parks and Recreation on NBC.

The two series--now back to back on Thursday nights--are two of the funniest and sharpest comedies on television but the ratings, while not horrible, aren't great and are nowhere near where they should be for such fantastically funny comedies.

Granted, there is a hell of a lot of competition on Thursday nights at 8 pm. Viewers have their pick between these two comedies and FlashForward on ABC, Bones on FOX, Survivor on CBS, and The Vampire Diaries on CW. (And that's just at the broadcast level.) Things get even more complicated when you look at Thursday as a whole; there's an overabundance of quality programming to watch, making it even more difficult to decide just what you should be watching live.

Personally, I ended up watching Community and Parks and Recreation live last night and TiVo'd FlashForward to watch tonight after I was rather disappointed with the series' second episode. And after the Skins season finale, I wanted something lighthearted that would make me laugh until I was in danger of incontinence. Which is where Community and Parks and Recreation came in.

Last night marked a new timeslot for Community, which moved from its post-Office timeslot at 9:30 pm ET/PT to a much earlier slot at 8 pm. But the series' inherent charms haven't been dimmed by an earlier home on the schedule. Last night's episode ("Social Psychology") was one of the funniest yet. (I happened to have been on-set during the filming of the episode to shoot some video interviews with the Community cast).

In addition to seeing Ken Jeong's "erratic" Senor Chang get to flip out as part of a psych experiment overseen by Annie (Alison Brie) and Dr. Ian Duncan (John Oliver), the episode offered a hilarious storyline between Jeff (Joel McHale) and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown)--two words: tiny nipples--and yet another speed bump in the not-quite-friendship between Jeff and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) in the form of often shirtless guest star Eric Christian Olsen.

I do think that there is a logic in pairing Community with the somewhat similar alt-comedy appeal of Parks and Recreation, but I worry about the series kicking off the night without the benefit of a lead-in. Still, I think that Community is one of the more original and rewarding comedies to come along in a long time and episodes like last night point to the series finding its footing in a major way. I can only see this already great series just getting better and better.

Despite the shakiness of its first few episodes, Parks and Recreation has built on the strength of its latter freshman episodes to deliver a second season that's overflowing with hysterical and often underplayed comedic bits. (Hell, as others have suggested, even the theme music for Parks and Recreation fills me with giddiness on a weekly basis.)

Last night's episode ("The Practice Date") was no exception, focusing on the titular practice date between the panicky Leslie (Amy Poehler) and BFF Ann (Rashida Jones), who decided to use immersion therapy as a way of giving Leslie more confidence for her date with Dave (Louis C.K.) but instead led her to drunkenly embarrass herself in front of her new beau. Ouch. Back at the office, the rest of the gang embarked on a mission to dig up as much dirt as they could on each other, leading Tom (Aziz Ansari) to make a shocking discovery about Ron (Nick Offerman) that involves jazz saxaphone and an alter ego named Duke Silver.

Parks and Recreation makes me laugh in a way that The Office used to back in the day and the second season has found creators Greg Daniels and Mike Schur mining some familiar office politics territory but with some additional layering and absurdity. Additionally, Leslie Knope is being written less as a buffoonish Michael Scott clone and more like an ambitious--if slightly less-than-savvy--woman who's out of touch with her position in the world. The result is one of the best comedies on television but it's one that people sadly aren't watching.

What do you think of these two series? Are you watching? And why aren't more people tuning in for the awesome one-two punch of Community and Parks and Recreation? Discuss.

Community and Parks and Recreation air respectively at 8 pm ET/PT and 8:30 pm ET/PT on NBC.