Parks and Recreation belongs in the same discussion with other great series that despite being, for the most part, consistently great, do have a weak first season. Other examples include Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and The Office (US). Sometimes it takes a few episodes to get the balance just right of the tone and characters. It's a hard thing to do to get a show exactly right from the very first episode. That's why I always applaud shows that do get it right away.
Watching Parks and Recreation's pilot now, after seeing the entire series, I noticed how some of the characters act almost like completely different people. Characters like Ron, Tom, and Ann seemed to be pretty much spot-on from the get-go. However, Donna, Jerry, and April are virtually silent. Andy is a complete jerk, and Leslie is kind of air-headed (almost like a female Michael Scott), and not the brilliant government worker that she would end up becoming. The series definitely has not reached its prime yet, but hey, not every pilot can be like Arrested Development!
To pick apart a sitcom's pilot is kind of ridiculous, and having already seen the series from beginning to end, I can forgive the writers and know that it gets much better, and things start to click real quickly. Just know that if you haven't seen the series yet, and are wondering if you should still continue despite it feeling like a direct rip off of The Office, know that it becomes its own original, brilliant series very soon. Trust me.
