I checked out the series premiere of “Parks and Recreation” last night. It wasn’t as bad as I feared it might be (it’s gotten panned by critics and focus groups supposedly hated it), but it’s still too close of a clone of “The Office.” There were a few funny moments, and I think there’s potential. But the documentary-style camera work, the clueless boss, the dysfunctional workplace, the awkwardness. . . . we’ve seen it all before. “Parks and Recreation” didn’t do anything to distinguish itself, and if it wants to survive as a series, it needs its own identity.

Airing on a different night might help. Running right after “The Office” (and sandwiched between two episodes last night) only hammers home how similar the two shows are (and how much better “The Office” is), and I was getting tired of the format after a while. Maybe NBC should take a cue from “Law & Order” and “CSI” — fine, you have copycat spinoffs, but you space them out through the week so viewers don’t overload.

Aziz Asiri was the show’s bright spot. The guy’s flat-out funny, and his lines were the only ones that made me laugh out loud. The parks department boss wasn’t bad either — I loved the screaming Bobby Knight poster, and the shotgun aimed at the guest chair was a nice touch. But Amy Poehler’s character needs . . . . something. Michael Scott has his inflated ego and inherent selfishness to balance his bafoonishness, so we can laugh at him. Poehler’s character seems clueless but nice and well-meaning, and you kinda feel sorry for her. Without that edge, it’s just not as funny.

I’ll give the show some time to let the characters develop and see if it grows on me. And hey, at the very least, it’s better than “Kath & Kim.”