Do we like them?

Do we like Leslie Knope?

A character from Parks and Recreation (2009–2015)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, absolutely. She's a tireless, loyal friend who works for her town. Her flaws are bossiness and overkill, and they are very funny and very forgivable.

Leslie Knope is a mid-level government official in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. She is cheerful, ambitious, hard-working and endlessly optimistic. The show follows her and her Parks Department colleagues as she tries to make the town better, despite the small amount of power she has and a lot of bureaucratic resistance. It starts with her campaign to turn an abandoned pit into a park.

Her defining trait is that she cares about everything. She loves her town, her friends and her work, and she shows it with binders, waffles, handmade gifts and detailed plans. She is also competitive, controlling and sometimes blind to how much she demands of other people. Her best friends, including the libertarian boss who disagrees with her on almost everything, stay by her side because she shows up for them first.

That's why she scores so high. She works harder than anyone for the public good, and she treats her coworkers like family. She loses a few points because her enthusiasm can tip into stubbornness and tunnel vision, which occasionally hurts the people she's trying to help.

Her ambitions grow over the series: she runs for city council, and the show makes clear she's aiming for the presidency one day. Her career brings her tough choices between her principles, her loved ones and her goals, and she shows she's a leader worth following.