Michael Schur's birthday: Dissecting common denominators across his successful comedies
Hollywood actor, writer, producer, director, and creative tour-de-force Michael Schur is the brain behind some of the most iconic, rewatchable comedies: The Office, The Good Place, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Schur's projects are not only creatively inimitable but also extremely soothing and comforting, and one can't get enough of them in only one watch! On his 48th birthday, let's dissect his work.
Workplaces he creates make us want to work there!
Be it The Office's Dunder Mifflin—where Michael Scott treats his employees less like his colleagues and more like his close friends—or the NYPD's 99th Precinct of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where dull days don't exist, Schur's workplaces make us hope they were real, and we were part of them. Not to forget the eponymous department in Parks and Recreation—who wouldn't want to exist in Schur's world?
Friendships and frolic: He gave us memorable fictional friend groups
The friendships in these projects might be fictional, but when they seep so strongly and firmly into our lives, can they really be called fictional anymore? Dwight-Jim's love-hate (but eventually, love) friendship in The Office, the "Cockroaches" in The Good Place, Jake and Gina in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Donna and April in Parks and Recreation, Schur is a master at concocting magical, memorable friendships.
Love and romance: All shows have beloved couples that resonate
Schur is as ingenious at writing iconic TV couples as he is at sketching fictional friendships. While The Office's Jim and Pam are a couple for the ages, everyone felt it when Jake fell for Amy (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), and Leslie couldn't have found a better partner than Ben (Parks and Recreation). The Good Place's Chidi-Eleanor top them all—they fall in love in the afterlife!
Madness, fun, zest: Shows teem with sprightly enthusiasm
Schur's shows are immensely rewatchable and feel like a mug of warm cocoa on chilly evenings. While B99 teems with hilarious antics, The Office was a pioneer in acing the mockumentary style and fleshing out hysterical cold opens between Jim and Dwight. The Good Place is another good example—it's sprightly, drenched in vibrant colors, and the jokes never fail to elicit laughter.
He often collaborates with same people
When audiences warm up to an actor in a show, it becomes easier for them to connect with them in a different project, too. Tapping into this psyche, Schur's shows often brim with the same actors: Adam Scott (P&R, TGP), Jason Mantzoukas (TGP, B99, P&R), Maya Rudolph (TGP, B99), Kristen Bell (TGP, P&R), Craig Robinson (The Office, B99), and Marc Evan Jackson (TGP, B99).
Schur presents version of world as it should be
Another reason why it's so easy to snuggle into the comfort of Schur's projects is that he presents a version of the world as it should be. Workplaces should be more employee-friendly, and we all deserve a boss like Scott from The Office. And The Good Place has characters learning from their mistakes and re-setting their moral compass. May Schur's creative elixir never perish!
