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''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American
political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...
mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...
television series created by
Greg Daniels Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''The Simpsons'', adapting ''The Office'' f ...
and
Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born 1975) is an American television producer, writer, director and actor. He was a producer and writer for the comedy series ''The Office'', and co-created ''Parks and Recreation'' with ''Office'' producer Greg Daniels. ...
. The series aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 episodes, over seven seasons. A special reunion episode aired on April 30, 2020. The series stars
Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy tro ...
as
Leslie Knope Leslie Barbara Knope ( ) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. For most of the show's run, she serves as deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Depart ...
, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks Department of
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska ...
, a fictional town in
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...
. The ensemble and supporting cast features
Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...
as
Ann Perkins Ann Meredith Perkins, RN, portrayed by Rashida Jones, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is a nurse and Leslie Knope's best friend. Storyline Season 1 At the start of the series, Ann Perkins is living wit ...
, Paul Schneider as Mark Brendanawicz,
Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Maste ...
as
Tom Haverford Thomas Montgomery Haverford (born Darwish Sabir Ismail Ghani) is a fictional character on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation''. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who—in his own mind—is revered fo ...
,
Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics ...
as
Ron Swanson Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman from the situation comedy television series ''Parks and Recreation'' on NBC, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. In the series, Ron is the director of the Parks and ...
,
Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom ''Park ...
as
April Ludgate April Roberta Ludgate-Dwyer, née Ludgate, (portrayed by Aubrey Plaza) is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is first seen as an apathetic college student working as an intern in the Pawnee Department of Parks ...
,
Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...
as
Andy Dwyer Andrew Maxwell Dwyer KBE () is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation'' portrayed by Chris Pratt. Originally meant to be a temporary character, Andy was so likable that producers asked Pratt back as a series regular. He ...
, Adam Scott as
Ben Wyatt Benjamin Wyatt or Ben Wyatt may refer to: * Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852), English architect * Ben Wyatt (footballer), English footballer * Ben Wyatt (politician), Australian politician *Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation) Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt ...
,
Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom '' A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles i ...
as
Chris Traeger Christopher "Chris" Traeger is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the NBC comedy series '' Parks and Recreation''. He began on the show as an Indiana State Auditor who visits the fictional city of Pawnee to help solve their crippling ...
,
Jim O'Heir Jim O'Heir (born February 4, 1962) is an American actor and comedian, perhaps best known for portraying Jerry Gergich on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. O'Heir first became active in Chicago theater and improv during the late 1980s an ...
as Garry "Jerry" Gergich,
Retta Marietta Sirleaf,Jung, E. Alex Vulture.com, May 23, 2018. rchived https://web.archive.org/web/20180523214634/https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/retta-has-a-story-to-tell.htmlon 05-23-2018
as
Donna Meagle Donna Marie Meagle is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is portrayed by Retta and has appeared in the show since the pilot. For the first two seasons of the show she appeared as a recurring character; she becam ...
, and
Billy Eichner Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's ''Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show ea ...
as Craig Middlebrooks. The writers researched local California politics for the series and consulted with urban planners and elected officials. Leslie Knope underwent major changes after the first season, in response to audience feedback that the character seemed unintelligent and "ditzy". The writing staff incorporated current events into the episodes, such as a government shutdown in Pawnee inspired by the real-life global
financial crisis of 2007–08 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...
. Real-life political figures have cameos in later episodes such as
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
,
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
, and Joe Biden. ''Parks and Recreation'' was part of NBC's "
Comedy Night Done Right Must See TV is an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series of ...
" programming during its Thursday night prime-time block. The series received mixed reviews during its first season (including comparisons to ''
The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...
'', a sitcom also produced by Daniels and Schur), but, after a re-approach to its tone and format, the second and subsequent seasons were widely acclaimed. Throughout its run, ''Parks and Recreation'' received several awards and nominations, including 14
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
nominations (two for Outstanding Comedy Series), a
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
win for Poehler's performance and a nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy The Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy is one of the annual Golden Globe Awards, given to the best comedy television series. From 1962 to 1968, the category was Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series, and grou ...
. In ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
''s 2012 year-end lists issue, ''Parks and Recreation'' was named the number one television series of that year. In 2013, after receiving four consecutive nominations in the category, ''Parks and Recreation'' won the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.


Plot

The first season focuses on
Leslie Knope Leslie Barbara Knope ( ) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. For most of the show's run, she serves as deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Depart ...
, the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department in the fictional town of Pawnee,
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...
. Local nurse
Ann Perkins Ann Meredith Perkins, RN, portrayed by Rashida Jones, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is a nurse and Leslie Knope's best friend. Storyline Season 1 At the start of the series, Ann Perkins is living wit ...
demands the construction pit beside her house created by an abandoned condo development be filled in after her boyfriend,
Andy Dwyer Andrew Maxwell Dwyer KBE () is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation'' portrayed by Chris Pratt. Originally meant to be a temporary character, Andy was so likable that producers asked Pratt back as a series regular. He ...
, fell in and broke both legs. Leslie promises to turn the pit into a park, despite resistance from the parks director
Ron Swanson Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman from the situation comedy television series ''Parks and Recreation'' on NBC, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. In the series, Ron is the director of the Parks and ...
, an anti-government
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...
. City planner Mark Brendanawicz – for whom Leslie harbors romantic feelings – pragmatically insists the project is unrealistic due to government
red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to ...
, but nevertheless secretly convinces Ron to approve the project. Leslie and her staff, including her assistant
Tom Haverford Thomas Montgomery Haverford (born Darwish Sabir Ismail Ghani) is a fictional character on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation''. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who—in his own mind—is revered fo ...
and intern
April Ludgate April Roberta Ludgate-Dwyer, née Ludgate, (portrayed by Aubrey Plaza) is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is first seen as an apathetic college student working as an intern in the Pawnee Department of Parks ...
, try encouraging community interest in the pit project, but meet resistance. In the second season, the pit is eventually filled in because Leslie takes it upon herself to fill in the pit without permission, not realizing Andy was in the pit. Andy became injured and works with Leslie to threaten to sue the city of Pawnee unless the pit was filled. Mark leaves his city hall career for a private sector job and is never seen, heard from, or even referenced on the show again. Meanwhile, a crippling budget deficit leads state auditors
Chris Traeger Christopher "Chris" Traeger is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the NBC comedy series '' Parks and Recreation''. He began on the show as an Indiana State Auditor who visits the fictional city of Pawnee to help solve their crippling ...
and
Ben Wyatt Benjamin Wyatt or Ben Wyatt may refer to: * Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852), English architect * Ben Wyatt (footballer), English footballer * Ben Wyatt (politician), Australian politician *Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation) Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt ...
to shut down the Pawnee government temporarily. The third season opens with the Pawnee government reopened, but with budget cuts frustrating Leslie's attempts to provide services. Leslie makes a deal with Chris and Ben to bring back the Pawnee Harvest Festival, but if the festival fails the Parks Department will be eliminated. After weeks of planning, the festival becomes a tremendous success through Leslie's efforts. Later, Chris returns from
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
to become Pawnee's acting city manager, while Ben also takes a job in Pawnee. April and Andy start dating and, only a few weeks later, marry in a surprise ceremony. Tom quits his city hall job to form an entertainment company called Entertainment 720 with his friend, Jean-Ralphio. The business cannot maintain its lavish spending and quickly runs out of money, leaving Tom to return to the Parks Department. Leslie and Ben show romantic interest in each other; however, Chris has implemented a rule that would prevent a superior (Ben) from dating his employee (Leslie). In spite of this rule, Leslie and Ben begin secretly dating. The fourth season deals with Leslie's campaign to run for city council. As Leslie begins preparing a campaign, she realizes she must break up with Ben to avoid scandal. Ben and Leslie restart their relationship and Ben sacrifices his job to save Leslie from losing hers, due to Chris' policy against romantic relationships in the workplace. The Parks Department volunteer to become her campaign staff, with Ben as Leslie's campaign manager. Leslie's campaign faces myriad setbacks against her main opponent, Bobby Newport, and his famous campaign manager Jennifer Barkley. In the fifth season, Leslie begins working as a City Councillor but finds opposition from angry locals and her fellow councilmen. Ben is at his new job on a congressional campaign in Washington DC, alongside April whom he brought along as an intern. Ron begins a romantic relationship with a woman named Diane. Ben returns to Pawnee and proposes to Leslie. They get married midway through the season. Tom starts a successful business renting high-end clothing to teenagers. Leslie and Ben plan a fundraising event for the park, now called the Pawnee Commons, and decide to have an impromptu wedding that night in City Hall. Later, Leslie's changes to Pawnee lead to several locals petitioning for her to be recalled from office. The sixth season begins with the absorption of Eagleton by Pawnee after the former town declares bankruptcy. As the governments merge, Leslie loses the recall vote and returns to the Parks Department full-time, while Ben is voted in as the next City Manager. Tom sells Rent-A-Swag to Jean-Ralphio's father, Dr. Saperstein in a cash settlement and opens a restaurant called "Tom's Bistro". Ann and Chris, now in a relationship and expecting a baby, leave Pawnee for Michigan. As a way to garner public support for the unpopular merger, the Parks Department hold a Unity Concert. Later, Leslie reveals she is pregnant with triplets. Leslie takes the job as Regional Director for the National Park Service in Chicago, immediately submitting a proposal to bring the job to Pawnee. The seventh season, though it aired in 2015, takes place in 2017. Ron and Leslie are shown to be enemies due to Ron's company having torn down Ann's old house in order to build an apartment building. Ben convinces a technology company, Gryzzl, to bring free Wi-Fi to the city of Pawnee. Gryzzl engages in intense data mining, inducing Ron, whose new construction company, Very Good Building and Development Company, has been handling their construction needs, to reconnect with Leslie to correct the issue.


Cast and characters

The principal cast starting in season one included: *
Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy tro ...
as
Leslie Knope Leslie Barbara Knope ( ) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. For most of the show's run, she serves as deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Depart ...
, a mid-level bureaucrat with a strong love of her hometown of Pawnee, who has not let politics dampen her sense of optimism (which apparently has lasted six years in her job); her ultimate goal is to become
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United St ...
. Poehler departed from the NBC sketch comedy series ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves as ...
'', where she was a cast member for nearly seven years, to star in ''Parks and Recreation''. It was only after she was cast that Daniels and Schur established the series' general concept and the script for the pilot was written. *
Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...
as
Ann Perkins Ann Meredith Perkins, RN, portrayed by Rashida Jones, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is a nurse and Leslie Knope's best friend. Storyline Season 1 At the start of the series, Ann Perkins is living wit ...
, a nurse and political outsider who gradually becomes more involved in Pawnee government through her friendship with Leslie. Jones was among the first to be cast by Daniels and Schur in 2008, when the series was still being considered as a spin-off to ''The Office'', where Jones had played
Jim Halpert James "Jim" Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom ''The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder M ...
's girlfriend
Karen Filippelli ''The Office'' is an American television series based on the British television comedy of the same name. The format of the series is a parody of the fly on the wall documentary technique that intersperses traditional situation comedy segments wi ...
, who formerly worked at the Stamford Branch but was soon transferred to the Scranton Branch in the third season. She and Lowe departed in the middle of season 6, and she returned for a guest appearance later in the season. Jones and Lowe returned in the series finale, along with the COVID-19 pandemic special. * Paul Schneider as Mark Brendanawicz, a city planner who entered the field with a sense of optimism, but has since become jaded and disillusioned. Schneider said early in the series he was insecure in the role because he was still trying to figure out the character's motivations. Schneider left the cast after the second season and the character is not referenced at any point during the remainder of the series' run. *
Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Maste ...
as
Tom Haverford Thomas Montgomery Haverford (born Darwish Sabir Ismail Ghani) is a fictional character on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation''. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who—in his own mind—is revered fo ...
, Leslie's sarcastic and underachieving subordinate, who eventually begins to consider leaving his city hall job to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests. As with Jones, Daniels and Schur had intended to cast Ansari from the earliest stages of the development of ''Parks and Recreation''. *
Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics ...
as
Ron Swanson Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman from the situation comedy television series ''Parks and Recreation'' on NBC, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. In the series, Ron is the director of the Parks and ...
, the parks and recreation director who, as a staunch
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...
, believes in as small a government as possible. As such, Ron strives to make his department as ineffective as he can, and favors hiring employees who do not care about their jobs or are poor at them. Nevertheless, Ron consistently demonstrates that he secretly cares deeply about his fellow co-workers. *
Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom ''Park ...
as
April Ludgate April Roberta Ludgate-Dwyer, née Ludgate, (portrayed by Aubrey Plaza) is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is first seen as an apathetic college student working as an intern in the Pawnee Department of Parks ...
, a cynical and uninterested parks department intern who speaks in a monotonic voice. She eventually becomes the perfect assistant for Ron. The role was written specifically for Plaza; after meeting her, casting director Allison Jones told Schur, "I just met the weirdest girl I've ever met in my life. You have to meet her and put her on your show." *
Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...
as
Andy Dwyer Andrew Maxwell Dwyer KBE () is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation'' portrayed by Chris Pratt. Originally meant to be a temporary character, Andy was so likable that producers asked Pratt back as a series regular. He ...
, a goofy and dim-witted but lovable slacker and Ann's ex-boyfriend. Pratt was originally intended to be a guest star and the character Andy was initially meant to appear only in the first season, but the producers liked Pratt so much that, almost immediately after casting him, they decided to make him a regular cast member starting with season two. Several cast members were introduced or developed, and added to the opening credits over the course of the series: * Adam Scott as
Ben Wyatt Benjamin Wyatt or Ben Wyatt may refer to: * Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852), English architect * Ben Wyatt (footballer), English footballer * Ben Wyatt (politician), Australian politician *Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation) Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt ...
, a brilliant but socially awkward government official trying to redeem his past as a failed mayor in his youth. Scott left his starring role on the Starz comedy series ''
Party Down ''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd that aired on the Starz network in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The series follows a group of caterers in Los Ange ...
'' to join the series, starting with the penultimate second-season episode, "The Master Plan." *
Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom '' A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles i ...
as
Chris Traeger Christopher "Chris" Traeger is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the NBC comedy series '' Parks and Recreation''. He began on the show as an Indiana State Auditor who visits the fictional city of Pawnee to help solve their crippling ...
, an excessively positive and extremely health-conscious government official. Lowe was introduced with Scott and was originally expected to depart after a string of guest appearances, but later signed a multi-year contract to become a regular cast member. He and Rashida Jones departed from the series in the season 6 episode, "Ann and Chris", returning in the series finale and the 2020 special. *
Jim O'Heir Jim O'Heir (born February 4, 1962) is an American actor and comedian, perhaps best known for portraying Jerry Gergich on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. O'Heir first became active in Chicago theater and improv during the late 1980s an ...
and
Retta Marietta Sirleaf,Jung, E. Alex Vulture.com, May 23, 2018. rchived https://web.archive.org/web/20180523214634/https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/retta-has-a-story-to-tell.htmlon 05-23-2018
made regular appearances respectively as Garry "Jerry" Gergich and
Donna Meagle Donna Marie Meagle is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is portrayed by Retta and has appeared in the show since the pilot. For the first two seasons of the show she appeared as a recurring character; she becam ...
since the first season, but their personalities did not become developed until the second season. Schur said the ''Parks and Recreation'' staff liked the actors so he decided to include them in the show and "figured we'd work it out later". A throwaway joke at Jerry's expense in the episode " Practice Date" led him to be established as the inept co-worker the rest of the department callously picks on. Donna was developed as a sassy hedonist whose mysterious life is occasionally hinted at. It was not until the third season they became considered regular cast members, and were added to the credits during the sixth season. *
Billy Eichner Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's ''Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show ea ...
as Craig Middlebrooks, an overly passionate employee of the Pawnee local government, began working for Pawnee when Eagleton merged with Pawnee. He was recurring during season 6 and began being billed as a member of the regular cast in the fourth episode of season 7. Numerous actors have made recurring guest appearances throughout the series, including
Pamela Reed Pamela Reed (born April 2, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic police partner in the 1990 movie ''Kindergarten Cop'' and as the matriarch Gail Green in ''Jericho''. She appeared as Marlen ...
as Leslie's mother and fellow politician Marlene Griggs-Knope,
Ben Schwartz Benjamin Schwartz (born September 15, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. He has guest starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' and Clyde Oberholt on the Showtime series ''House of Lies''; voiced Randy ...
as Tom's fast-talking friend Jean-Ralphio and
Jenny Slate Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the ...
as his twin sister Mona-Lisa,
Jama Williamson Jama Williamson (born March 12, 1974) is an American actress. She was active in New York City theater throughout the early 2000s, during which she appeared in such shows as Avery Crozier's ''Eat the Runt'', Hunt Holman's ''Spanish Girl'', A. R ...
as Tom's ex-wife
Wendy Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...
,
Mo Collins Maureen Ann Collins (born July 7, 1965) is an American actress and comedian who was a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series ''Mad TV''. Collins became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show. She was a ca ...
as morning talk show host Joan Callamezzo, Jay Jackson as television broadcaster Perd Hapley,
Alison Becker Alison Helene Becker (born March 8, 1977) is an American actress. She is best known for appearing in NBC's ''Parks and Recreation''. Early life and education Becker grew up in Allamuchy Township, New Jersey. She attended Georgetown University ...
as newspaper reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep, Darlene Hunt as conservative activist Marcia Langman, and Andy Forrest as Andy's frequent shoeshine customer
Kyle Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshi ...
.
Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker (Will & Grace), Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received e ...
, the real-life wife of Nick Offerman, portrayed Ron's ex-wife Tammy in the second season's " Ron and Tammy", a role she reprised in later episodes.
Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' ser ...
and
Jon Glaser Jonathan Daniel Glaser (born June 20, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work as a writer and sketch performer for many years on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', creating and starring in the Adult Swim ...
have recurring roles in the fifth and sixth seasons as Ron's love interest and later wife Diane Lewis, and as Leslie's arch enemy on the city council Jeremy Jamm, respectively. Mullally's performance was well received, which made the ''Parks and Recreation'' producers feel more comfortable about using celebrity guest actors in later episodes. Other such celebrity guests included:
Blake Anderson Blake Raymond Anderson (born March 2, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, producer, screenwriter, and fashion designer. Beginning in 2006, Anderson helped create and join the sketch-comedy troupe Mail Order Comedy, which produced online videos ...
,
Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series ''Portlandia''. He ...
,
Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular chara ...
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Louis C.K. Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...
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Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He began his career as a member of Swing Mob in the early 1990s. Signing to Epic Records as a solo ...
, Michael Gross,
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,
Nick Kroll Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for creating and starring in the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show'', ''The Oh, Hello Show'', the FX comedy series ''The Lea ...
,
John Larroquette John Bernard Larroquette (; born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978), the NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' (1984–1992; for which he rece ...
,
Andrew Luck Andrew Austen Luck (born September 12, 1989) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. One of the most highly touted amateur prospects during his c ...
,
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, Natalie Morales,
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Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
,
Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...
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and
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.
Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...
appeared in several season four episodes as Bobby Newport, Leslie's opponent in the City Council race, and returned for two episodes in the final season. The series has had cameos by several real-life political figures, including then
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Joe Biden,
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the ...
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, former
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
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, Senator
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,
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
, former Secretary of State
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, and Senators
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,
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, and
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.


Episodes


Production


Development

Immediately after
Ben Silverman Benjamin Noah Silverman (born August 15, 1970) is an American media executive. He is the co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate. From 2007–2009, Silverman served as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universa ...
was named co-chairman of
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
's entertainment division in 2007, he asked Greg Daniels to create a
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work * Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
of ''The Office''. Daniels co-created ''Parks and Recreation'' with Michael Schur, who had been a writer on ''The Office''. The two spent months considering ideas for the new series and debating whether to make it a stand-alone rather than a spin-off. According to Daniels, they eventually abandoned the original spin-off plan because they "couldn't find the right fit". They considered a series about a local government official trying to rebuild a political career following a humiliating public spectacle. They eventually abandoned the idea, though it did end up being incorporated into the backstory for Ben Wyatt late in the second season. After Amy Poehler agreed to play the lead, they decided the series would revolve around an optimistic bureaucrat in small-town government. Production was delayed to accommodate Poehler's pregnancy. The idea was partly inspired by the portrayal of local politics on the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
drama series ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...
'', as well as the renewed interest in and optimism about politics stemming from the
2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...
. The staff was also drawn to the idea of building a show around a female relationship, namely Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins. Reports that Daniels and Schur were developing a show together led to press speculation it would, in fact, be a spin-off of ''The Office''. The producers insisted their new series would be entirely independent. Nevertheless, their concept for it shared several elements with ''The Office'', particularly the
mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...
approach and the encouragement of
improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
among the cast, even though the episodes were scripted. The series was scheduled as a mid-season replacement, and was rushed to meet the premiere date of April 9, 2009. Before the title ''Parks and Recreation'' was chosen, the name ''Public Service'' was considered, but ultimately rejected because network officials did not want to be accused of mocking the idea.


Crew

Deedle-Dee Productions Deedle-Dee Productions is an American television production company owned by Greg Daniels. It is known for producing the long-running series ''King of the Hill'', ''The Office'' and ''Parks and Recreation''. The Deedle-Dee Productions logo is a b ...
and
Universal Media Studios Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predec ...
produced ''Parks and Recreation'' starting with the first season; the production companies Fremulon and 3 Arts Entertainment also became involved with the show starting with the second season. The series was created by
Greg Daniels Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''The Simpsons'', adapting ''The Office'' f ...
and
Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born 1975) is an American television producer, writer, director and actor. He was a producer and writer for the comedy series ''The Office'', and co-created ''Parks and Recreation'' with ''Office'' producer Greg Daniels. ...
, who served as executive producers along with Howard Klein. Klein previously worked with Daniels and Schur on ''
The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...
'', a half-hour
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
comedy Daniels adapted from the British comedy of the same name, created by
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), ''Extras (TV serie ...
and
Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...
. Schur served as the
showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...
of ''Parks and Recreation'', while Amy Poehler and Morgan Sackett worked as producers.
Dean Holland Dean Holland is an American film editor, television director and producer best known for working on ''Entourage'' and the comedy shows ''The Office'' and ''Parks and Recreation''. In 2007, he was honored with the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding S ...
, an editor on ''The Office'', also worked as an editor on ''Parks and Recreation''.
Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, M ...
, a former executive producer and showrunner for ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'', joined ''Parks and Recreation'' as a consulting producer starting in the middle of the first season. Allison Jones, who worked as a casting director for ''The Office'', served in the same capacity at the start of ''Parks and Recreation'', along with Nancy Perkins, for whom the character Ann Perkins was named. Dorian Frankel became the casting director starting with the second season.
Alan Yang Alan Michael Yang (born August 22, 1983) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was a writer and producer for the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received his first Emmy nomination. With Aziz Ansari, Yang ...
,
Harris Wittels Harris Lee Wittels (April 20, 1984 – February 19, 2015) was an American comedian. He was a writer for ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', a writer and executive producer for ''Parks and Recreation'', and a recurring guest on ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' ...
, and Katie Dippold, all of whom were ''Parks and Recreation'' screenwriters, also worked as executive story editors. The
pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...
was written by Daniels and Schur, and directed by Daniels. Daniels also directed the second-season episode " Hunting Trip", while Schur made his directorial debut with the first-season finale "
Rock Show Rock Show may refer to: * "Venus and Mars/Rock Show", a 1975 song by Paul McCartney & Wings * ''Rockshow ''Rockshow'' is a 1980 concert film released by Paul McCartney and Wings, filmed during the band's 1976 North American tour. The film feat ...
", and wrote or directed several other episodes including "
Sister City A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...
", " The Master Plan", and "
Time Capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates b ...
". Poehler wrote three episodes: "
Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
" in season 2, " The Fight" in season 3, and " The Debate" in season 4 (for which she was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series is an annual award presented as part of the Primetime Emmy Awards. It recognizes writing excellence in regular comedic series, most of which can generally be described as situat ...
). She also co-wrote "Second Chunce" in season 6, the series' 100th episode, and "One Last Ride", the series finale, with Schur. Poehler also directed three episodes, "The Debate" in season 4, "Article Two" in season 5, and "Gryzzlbox" in season 7. Other cast members that wrote or directed episodes include
Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics ...
, who wrote "Lucky" in season 4, and directed season 5's "Correspondents' Lunch" and season 6's "Flu Season 2"; while Adam Scott directed season 6's "Farmers Market". Holland also directed about thirty episodes of the series.
Norm Hiscock Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
, a consulting producer, wrote a number of episodes, including the first-season finale "Rock Show" and second-season premiere " Pawnee Zoo". Other regular screenwriters included
Katie Dippold Katie Dippold (born January 10, 1980) is an American screenwriter. She was a writer on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' and wrote '' The Heat'' starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and the 2016 ''Ghostbusters'' reboot. Life and c ...
, Daniel J. Goor, Dan Goor, Aisha Muharrar,
Harris Wittels Harris Lee Wittels (April 20, 1984 – February 19, 2015) was an American comedian. He was a writer for ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', a writer and executive producer for ''Parks and Recreation'', and a recurring guest on ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' ...
, and
Alan Yang Alan Michael Yang (born August 22, 1983) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was a writer and producer for the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received his first Emmy nomination. With Aziz Ansari, Yang ...
. Frequent ''Parks and Recreation'' directors include
Dean Holland Dean Holland is an American film editor, television director and producer best known for working on ''Entourage'' and the comedy shows ''The Office'' and ''Parks and Recreation''. In 2007, he was honored with the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding S ...
, Randall Einhorn, Troy Miller, and Jason Woliner, with several others guest-directing one or two episodes such as Jeffrey Blitz, Paul Feig, Tucker Gates, Seth Gordon, Nicole Holofcener, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Michael McCullers, and Charles McDougall.


Writing

The writers spent time researching local California politics and attending Los Angeles City Council meetings. Schur said they observed many community hearings were attended only by those opposed, often angrily, to the proposals under consideration. This fact became a major component of town hall scenes and was the basis for the "Canvassing (Parks and Recreation), Canvassing" episode. The writers consulted with real-life government officials such as urban planners and elected officials. Scott Albright, a California city planner, provided direct feedback for the Mark Brendanawicz character, and the inspiration for Ron Swanson's anti-government convictions came from a real-life encounter Schur had in Burbank, California, Burbank with a libertarian government official who admitted, "I don't really believe in the mission of my job." The concept of turning a construction pit into a park was seen as a device to bring all the characters together working toward a common goal. The writers originally envisioned the pit becoming a park only in the series finale, although those plans were later changed and the pit was filled in during the second season. While researching whether such a project could realistically last several months or longer, Schur spoke to urban planners in Claremont, California who said it was entirely plausible because they had recently broken ground on a park that had been in various planning stages for 18 years. Daniels and Schur wrote the script for the pilot episode in mid-2008. The original script portrayed Leslie and Mark as slightly less likable than they appeared in the final draft, and they were changed to be more appealing in response to feedback the episode received from focus groups and press tour screenings. For example, while an early draft of the pilot script had Mark saying he didn't care about Leslie or the pit but would support her plan because he liked Ann Perkins and wanted an excuse to spend more time with her, the finished pilot had Mark backing Leslie because he admired her passion and drive. Schur said the writing staff strove to avoid the type of cynical humor prevalent in most television comedies at the time and wanted the characters to have a genuine appreciation for each other. Schur said of this, "I've never liked mean-spirited comedy. The characters on our show make fun of each other, but not in a biting, angry way. And there's no shortage of conflict in the world of government." The first-season episodes were written and developed relatively quickly after each other, and Schur said the staff was treating the entire six-episode season as if it were a single television pilot. Daniels felt due to pre-expectations from viewers familiar with ''The Office'', the first-season episodes were "just about trying to tell people what we ''weren't''", and that the writers had a better understanding of the characters by season two and could better write to their strengths. During the first season, the writing staff received audience feedback that Leslie Knope seemed unintelligent and "ditzy". Schur said the writers did not intend for Leslie to be stupid, but rather an overeager woman who "takes her job too seriously," so a particular effort was made to present that character as more intelligent and capable at her job starting in the second season. The staff also decided to move on from the construction pit story arc, having the pit filled in the second-season episode "Kaboom". Although it was originally conceived the pit would only become a park in the series finale, Schur said the plotline was accelerated because early episodes were too focused on the pit and had led viewers to believe the entire show was about filling it in, which was not the writers' intention. Also starting with the second season, the writers made an effort to be more topical and incorporate current events into their scripts. For example, the episode " Pawnee Zoo" included social commentary about same-sex marriage. "The Stakeout (Parks and Recreation), The Stakeout" included a parody of the Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy, controversial arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, and a sex scandal involving a Pawnee councilman in " Practice Date" mirrored the Mark Sanford disappearance and extramarital affair, real-life 2009 scandal of South Carolina Governor of South Carolina, Governor Mark Sanford. Starting in the middle of the second season, the writing staff began to draw inspiration from the premise of ''The Contender (2000 film), The Contender'' (2000). Schur explained ''The Contender'' was about a female politician trying to succeed amid intense scrutiny in a political arena dominated by men, which is similar to challenges Leslie Knope occasionally encounters. The financial difficulties Pawnee experiences during the late second-season and third-season episodes were reflective of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, financial crisis facing the nation and much of the world when the episodes were produced. The introduction of Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt as state auditors visiting Pawnee, and the subsequent government shutdown, were inspired by news reports at a time when a number of states considered a shutdown of schools, parks, and other services due to the global recession. The third season included a seven-episode story arc about the characters organizing a harvest festival and staking the financial future of their department on its success. The festival served as a device to unite the characters, much like the construction pit had earlier in the show. Schur said this was done because the first six episodes were written and filmed early, and the writing staff felt having one concise storyline to tie them together kept the writers focused and, in Schur's words, helped "organize our tired, end-of-the-year brains". For the romance arc between Leslie and Ben in seasons three and four, ''The Remains of the Day'' was used as an inspiration, as a story about two people who are forced not to convey their romantic feelings for each other due to a repressive social system, which Schur compared to modern-day government.


Filming

Like ''The Office'', ''Parks and Recreation'' was filmed with a single-camera setup in a cinéma vérité style simulating the look of an actual Documentary film, documentary, with no studio audience or laugh track. Within the context of the show, the characters are being filmed by a documentary crew, the members of which are never seen or heard from on-screen. The actors occasionally look at and directly address the cameras, and in some scenes directly engage the cameras in one-on-one interviews with the documentary crew members. The episodes were scripted, but the production encouraged the cast to improvise, and dialogue or performances the actors made up during filming often made the final cut of the episodes. Schur said he believes the mockumentary style is particularly fitting for a show about city government because "It's a device for showing the ways people act and behave differently when they're in public and private [and] the difference between what goes on behind closed doors and what people present to the public is a huge issue." The ''Parks and Recreation'' producers approached each episode as if filming a real documentary. They typically shot enough for a 35 or 40-minute episode, then cut it down to 22 minutes, using the best material. Due to the improvisational acting and hand-held camerawork, a great deal of extra footage was shot that had to be discarded for the final cut; for example, the original cut of the 22-minute pilot was 48 minutes long. The producers filmed about nine pages of the script each day, a large amount by U.S. television standards. Despite the similarities in the mockumentary style with ''The Office'', Daniels and Schur sought to establish a slightly different tone in the camerawork of the pilot episode. The one-on-one interviews, for example, sometimes feature two separate camera angles on the same person; the footage is intercut to create the final version of the scene. This technique was inspired by ''The Five Obstructions'', a 2003 experimental documentary directed by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth, which Daniels watched at the suggestion of actor Paul Schneider. Another distinction from ''The Office'' is while almost all footage from that show is filmed in a workplace setting, the documentary crew on ''Parks and Recreation'' regularly follows the characters into more intimate, non-work settings, such as on dates or at their homes. ''Parks and Recreation'' also makes frequent use of the jump cut technique. For instance, one scene in the pilot episode repeatedly jump cuts between brief clips in which Leslie seeks permission from Ron to pursue the pit project. Early in the season, editor
Dean Holland Dean Holland is an American film editor, television director and producer best known for working on ''Entourage'' and the comedy shows ''The Office'' and ''Parks and Recreation''. In 2007, he was honored with the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding S ...
developed a technique that would be used throughout the series. During a scene in "The Reporter (Parks and Recreation), The Reporter" in which Leslie reacts to quotes read to her by the journalist, Poehler improvised several jokes, many of which were ultimately going to be cut from the episode. Holland thought they were all funny, so he created a brief montage intercutting several of the lines. Principal photography began on February 18, 2009, less than two months before the show premiered. The show faced early production delays because Poehler was pregnant when she signed on, and filming had to be postponed until she gave birth. The show was filmed in Southern California. The exterior of the Pawnee government building, and several of the hallway scenes, were shot at Pasadena City Hall. The parks and recreation department interiors, as well as the City Hall courtyard, were filmed on a large studio set sound stage. The set's windows were outfitted with water systems to simulate falling rain, and the windowsills included fake pigeons. The set also includes four hallways that make up the hospital setting where Ann Perkins works as a nurse. The construction pit featured throughout the first and second seasons was dug by the episode's producers at an undeveloped property in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, Van Nuys, a district of Los Angeles. The producers went door-to-door in the neighborhood, seeking residents' permission for the dig. The pit was guarded 24 hours a day. Scenes set in playgrounds and elsewhere outdoors were filmed on location in Los Angeles. Most scenes set in locations outside the usual ''Parks and Recreation'' settings were also filmed in Los Angeles-area locations. For example, public forum scenes in the pilot episode were filmed in one of the city's middle schools, and a town meeting scene in the episode "Eagleton (Parks and Recreation), Eagleton" was shot at the Toluca Lake Sports Center in the Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, Toluca Lake district of Los Angeles. Other Eagleton scenes were also shot at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, located in San Marino, California, San Marino. Elaborate festival setting and corn maze sets featured in "Harvest Festival (Parks and Recreation), Harvest Festival" was filmed at a real-life festival setting at Los Angeles Pierce College, a community college in the Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Schur said an aerial shot of the harvest festival at the end of the episode was the most expensive shot in the entire series. Toward the end of production on the second season, Poehler became pregnant again and the producers of the show were forced to go into production on season three early and film an additional six episodes to accommodate not only Poehler's pregnancy, but also a projected September 2010 air date. After the episodes were already filmed, NBC opted not to put the show on the fall schedule and instead delayed the premiere of the third season until the beginning of 2011. This allowed for the network to run its new comedy, ''Outsourced (TV series), Outsourced'', in two-hour comedy schedule block rather than ''Parks and Recreation''. The schedule change meant that all sixteen episodes from the third season were filmed before any of them were shown; the rest of the episodes, starting with the seventh, were filmed in the fall of 2010. NBC chief executive officer Jeff Gaspin said this move was not a reflection on ''Parks and Recreation'', and suggested the extended hiatus would not only have no negative effect on the show, but could actually build anticipation for its return. The move proved frustrating for the cast and crew of ''Parks and Recreation'', although Poehler also pointed out it gave them additional time to go back and re-edit episodes or shoot and add new material.


Music

The producers hired BMI as music consultants to find a theme song. With less than three weeks until the show first aired, BMI sent out a mass e-mail to a slew of composers, giving them five days to submit an entry. According to the terms of the submission request, the only compensated composer would be the winner, who would receive $7,500 in exchange for the release of all rights to NBC. The winning entry was written by Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones (musician), Vincent Jones. Michael Schur said this theme song was chosen because producers wanted something that would immediately make the viewer associate the music with the series and the characters. He said Moreno and Jones' song "does a really good job of explaining what the town is like. (The) credits do a really good job of establishing it's just sort of a normal, every-day town in the middle of the country." Due to its realistic mockumentary-style cinematography technique, ''Parks and Recreation'' does not use composed background music. Several songs were written for the show to be performed by Chris Pratt's character, Andy Dwyer, and his band within the show, Mouse Rat. Pratt sings and plays guitar in the band himself, while the drums are played by Mark Rivers, the guitar by Andrew Burlinson, and the bass guitar by Alan Yang, a screenwriter with the show. Rivers also wrote most of the music performed by Mouse Rat. Pratt and the other band members played live during filming of the episode, rather than being pre-recorded and dubbed later. One song featured in "Rock Show", called "The Pit", chronicles Andy's experience falling into a construction pit and breaking his legs. Pratt wrote "Ann", a ballad about Ann Perkins, featured in the episode "Boys' Club (Parks and Recreation), Boys' Club". Schur wrote the lyrics to "November", a song featured in "The Master Plan" about April Ludgate. In the episode "Woman of the Year (Parks and Recreation), Woman of the Year", Andy claims every song he writes includes either the lyrics, "Spread your wings and fly", or "You deserve to be a champion." As a result of that joke, every Mouse Rat song featured in the series since then has included one of those two lyrics. In the episode "Telethon", Andy plays the song "Sex Hair", about how one can tell whether someone has had sex because their hair is matted. In "Li'l Sebastian", Andy performs a tribute song called "5,000 Candles in the Wind", so-called because Leslie asks him to write a song like "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John, only 5,000 times better. The song was performed by the show's cast in the 2020 reunion special.


''The Awesome Album''

A Mouse Rat album, ''The Awesome Album'', was released by Dualtone Records and Entertainment 720 (a fictional company within the show, created by Tom Haverford) on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital download on August 27, 2021. The album was announced with the release of two singles: "The Pit" (from the season 1 finale, "
Rock Show Rock Show may refer to: * "Venus and Mars/Rock Show", a 1975 song by Paul McCartney & Wings * ''Rockshow ''Rockshow'' is a 1980 concert film released by Paul McCartney and Wings, filmed during the band's 1976 North American tour. The film feat ...
") and "Two Birds Holding Hands" (from the season 3 episode, "Andy and April's Fancy Party"). The album features guest vocals from Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson and Jeff Tweedy as Scott Tanner. Pratt stated on Rob Lowe's podcast ''Parks and Recollection'' that he was not involved with the project or its promotion. On the weekly Billboard charts, ''The Awesome Album'' debuted at number 2 on Comedy Albums, number 11 on Top Heatseekers, Heatseekers Albums, and number 17 on Top Album Sales.


Broadcast

''Parks and Recreation'' was broadcast in the 8:30 pm timeslot Thursdays on NBC, in the United States, during its first two seasons, as part of the network's Must See TV, Comedy Night Done Right line-up. It was moved to a 9:30 pm timeslot during its third season, where it premiered as a mid-season replacement. In September 2011, the show returned to its original 8:30 pm timeslot for the fourth season. In 2012, the fifth season moved back to 9:30 pm on Thursdays.


International

In Australia, ''Parks and Recreation'' aired on Seven Network, Channel Seven's digital channel, 7mate. In Canada, the series was Simultaneous substitution, simsubbed in most areas on City (TV network), City. In India, it airs on Zee Café. In the Philippines, it airs on Jack TV. In South Africa, the show airs on Pay-TV operator M-Net. In the UK, the show began airing on BBC Four in 2013. The first three seasons aired on this channel before moving to Dave (TV channel), Dave in the summer of 2015, starting with season 4.


Syndication

In March 2011,
Universal Media Studios Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predec ...
announced its intentions to sell the Broadcast syndication, syndication rights to ''Parks and Recreation''. Comedy Central, FX (TV channel), FX, and Spike (TV channel), Spike were all described as possible contenders to buy the syndication rights. Syndicated episodes have aired on multiple cable networks including NBCUniversal owned Esquire Network (after relaunching from Style Network, Style) and WGN America. The pilot episode also served as the first official broadcast of FX sister network, FXX, when it launched on September 2, 2013, followed by an all-day marathon, marking the first time the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
comedy appeared off-network. The series debuted on Comedy Central in the United States on January 21, 2019, and select episodes are available to stream on their website and app. Comedy Central has the rights to air ''Parks and Recreation'' through 2024. In June 2020, the show also began airing on IFC (American TV channel), IFC in the United States.


Streaming

By 2018, ''Parks and Recreation'' was available for streaming on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. Viewership on Hulu increased by 32% in 2017 over the previous year. According to Nielsen ratings, Nielsen data, ''Parks and Recreation'' was one of the ten most-streamed shows on Netflix in 2018 based on time spent watching. Analytics from Jumpshot measured ''Parks and Recreation'' as the show with the third most views for 2018. In September 2019, it was announced that ''Parks and Recreation'' would leave those services for Peacock (streaming service), Peacock, NBCUniversal's then-forthcoming streaming service, in October 2020. Variety (magazine), ''Variety'' reported the streaming deal was worth nine figures. A limited number of rotating episodes are also available through the Comedy Central app and website.


2020 special episode

In April 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, NBC announced they would air a new, special episode of the series, centered on Leslie trying to stay connected with the other current and former residents of Pawnee during social distancing. The series' cast returned for the special, which benefited Feeding America's COVID-19 response. The special episode aired on April 30, 2020. According to Schur, the special took about three weeks to complete. Morgan Sackett, who previously directed episodes of the series, was asked to direct, and many of the original writers on the series (including Megan Amram, Dave King, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Matt Murray, and Jen Statsky) created the script in three days. The cast members were sent camera rigs and iPhones to record their parts, taking four days to do so. The visual effects team from the series ''The Good Place'' (also created by Schur) provided visual effects on the special to help "make it look like not everyone was just sitting alone in their houses staring at their computers".


Reception


Critical response

The first season of ''Parks and Recreation'' started to receive criticism before the premiere episode aired. According to a March 18, 2009 report that was leaked to writer Nikki Finke, focus groups responded poorly to a rough-cut version of the pilot. Many focus group members felt the show was a "carbon copy" of ''The Office''. Some found it predictable, slow-paced, and lacking in character development; others said the show lacked strong male characters, particularly a "datable" lead. Schur insisted the pilot had been completely re-edited at least four times since the focus groups described in the report were held. Nevertheless, the early feedback left many critics and industry observers skeptical about the show's chances of success. After it aired, the first season received generally mixed reviews; it holds a Metacritic score of 58 out of 100. Many critics said the series was too similar to ''The Office'', and several commentators said Knope too closely resembled Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott, the dimwitted protagonist of ''The Office''. Some critics said the show's characters and overall tone were too mean-spirited in the early episodes, and although reviewers praised various cast members in individual episodes, some said the supporting characters in general needed to be more fully developed and provided with better material. The season finale "
Rock Show Rock Show may refer to: * "Venus and Mars/Rock Show", a 1975 song by Paul McCartney & Wings * ''Rockshow ''Rockshow'' is a 1980 concert film released by Paul McCartney and Wings, filmed during the band's 1976 North American tour. The film feat ...
" received far better reviews, with several commentators declaring that ''Parks and Recreation'' had finally found the right tone both generally and for the Leslie Knope character in particular. Season two was better received and holds a Metacritic score of 71 out 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Several publications declared it among the best shows of 2009 including the ''Los Angeles Times'', the ''Chicago Tribune'', ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', ''Entertainment Weekly'', ''GQ'', ''New York'' magazine, ''The Star-Ledger'', the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', ''Paste (magazine), Paste'' magazine, IGN, and Weblogs, Inc.#TV Squad, TV Squad. Several reviewers called the second season one of the most impressive comebacks in television history. Some reviewers said the supporting cast was now working with better material and that Amy Poehler's character had improved and become less over-the-top and more human than in the first season. Others praised the decision to drop subplots from season one that risked becoming stale, like Leslie's long-standing crush on Mark, as well as the decision to fill in the pit during the second season, which some commentators said freed the show up for more stories and better scripts. The critical acclaim continued into the third season, which holds a Metacritic score of 83 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". Steve Heisler of ''The A.V. Club'' said although he considered ''Parks and Recreation'' the funniest sitcom on television during its second season, "it somehow got even better" during the third. Henry Hanks of CNN called it "a near-flawless season". In ''TIME'' magazine's 2012 year-end top 10 lists, ''Parks and Recreation'' was named the top TV series. ''Parks and Recreation'' featured on the February 11, 2011 cover of ''Entertainment Weekly'', which called it, "the smartest comedy on TV." The magazine included an article called "101 Reasons to Love Parks and Recreation." Poehler said the first season struggled in part due to extremely high expectations from comparisons to ''The Office''. After the first season ended, she said, "I think it was something we had to work through in the beginning, and I'm kind of hoping we're on the other side of that and people will start to judge the show on its own, for what it is and realize it's just a completely different world in a similar style." Likewise, Schur said he believed much of the early criticism stemmed from the fact audiences were not yet familiar with the characters, and he thought viewers who revisited the episodes would enjoy them more with a better understanding of the characters. Poehler received wide praise for her performance from the beginning of the series; several reviewers, even those who did not enjoy the show, said her talent, timing and likability helped elevate the series above some of its flaws. Daniel Carlson of ''The Hollywood Reporter'', who felt the season needed some time to mature, wrote that Poehler was its strongest element and that "she proves instantly she's got the comic intelligence to carry a series like this one".
Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics ...
received particularly strong praise for his minimalist and understated performance as Ron Swanson, whom many considered the show's List of breakout characters, breakout character. Steve Heisler of ''GQ'' magazine wrote that Offerman's role as
Ron Swanson Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman from the situation comedy television series ''Parks and Recreation'' on NBC, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. In the series, Ron is the director of the Parks and ...
was a major part of the show's "creative resurgence". By the end of the second season, the character had taken on a cult following, cult status; Jonah Weiner of ''Slate (magazine), Slate'' magazine declared Swanson "''Parks and Recreation'''s secret weapon". Reviewers also consistently praised the performances by supporting actors Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford and Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer. Jonah Weiner of ''Slate'' said he did not enjoy the first season, but that "the brightest spot was Aziz Ansari as Leslie's subordinate Tom Haverford. In Ansari's hands, Tom came wickedly alive as a faux player". Scott Meslow of ''The Atlantic'' said Ansari "has somehow found a way to make Tom petulant, sexist, and materialistic without ever being unlikable." ''New York'' magazine writer Steve Kandell said, along with Ron Swanson, Andy Dwyer usually steals the episodes he appears in.


Cultural and political impact

In 2019, ''Parks and Recreation'' was ranked 54th on ''The Guardian''s list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century. ''Vox (website), Vox'' and the ''Rolling Stone'' both named ''Parks and Recreation'' as the television show that "defined" the Zeitgeist, cultural zeitgeist of the Presidency of Barack Obama, Obama Presidency. Alan Sepinwall wrote in ''Rolling Stone'':
Few series in recent memory have been as clearly tied to a moment — and, specifically, a presidential administration — as ''Parks and Rec''. The show's belief in the power of government to make people's lives better — and, more broadly, in the obligation members of a community (be they friends, family, or, as Ron Swanson once put it, "workplace proximity associates") have to help one another in times of need — made it the standard-bearer for the hopefulness of the Obama era.
The conservative political magazine ''National Review'' argues;
Even television shows that are legitimately funny, such as NBC's ''Parks and Recreation'', are designed to flatter the sensibilities of those in charge. In ''Parks and Rec'', self-proclaimed nerds and wonks have adopted liberal bureaucratic functionary and occasional elected official Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) as one of their own. Her overeager chirpiness and her constant ability to one-up her hyper-libertarian boss mark her as a role model for those who believe that government is a force for good rather than a necessary evil.
''U.S. News & World Report'' commented on the series finale: : ''Parks and Recreation'' never lost the Obama-like belief in government powered by goodwill and consensus. But the obstructionism of the Obama years made this vision seem fantastical, stoking a desire for hardheaded partisans who would get things done. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine's television critic James Poniewozik argued:
''Parks'' became network TV's best and brightest sitcom by embodying the slogan that all politics is local....But there's a big idea in ''Parks'' small-scale vision. In the frame of today's politics, it might be a liberal notion, but it's one that for much of the 20th century was centrist, and even championed by Republicans like park lover Teddy Roosevelt: that we need government to do things the private sector can't or won't, like preserving public spaces.... ''Parks'' argues not only that we need our neighbors' help but that helping makes us better ourselves; it's in the small-town, populist tradition of ''Friday Night Lights (film), Friday Night Lights'' and ''It's a Wonderful Life.''


Ratings

''Parks and Recreation'' struggled in the Nielsen ratings throughout its entire run on NBC. The series premiere was seen by 6.77 million viewers, which media outlets described as a strong opening, comparable to the average Nielsen ratings for ''30 Rock'', another Thursday-night show on NBC. Viewership declined almost every week over the rest of the season, culminating in a season low of 4.25 million viewers for the final episode. ''Parks and Recreation'' ended the first season with an overall average rating of 5.97 million viewers, ranking 94th in a list of 193 network shows for the 2008–09 United States network television schedule, 2008–09 television season. Low viewership presented a greater challenge for ''Parks and Recreation'' because NBC now trailed CBS, American Broadcasting Company, ABC, and Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox in the ratings, and the move of comedian Jay Leno from ''The Tonight Show'' to The Jay Leno Show, a variety show in NBC's 10:00 pm weeknight slot left less room on the network's primetime schedule. At the end of the season, members of the cast and crew were stressed because they did not know whether the show would be renewed. Although ''Parks and Recreation'' achieved critical success during the second season, the show continued to suffer in the ratings. By December 2009, the average episode viewership was 5.3 million viewers, which was lower than the average ratings for other Thursday-night NBC comedy shows like ''Community (TV series), Community''s 6.5 million viewers, ''30 Rock''s 7.3 million, and ''The Office''s 10.1 million. For the overall second season, ''Parks and Recreation'' had an overall average viewership of 4.6 million viewers, making it the 108th ranked network series for the 2009–10 United States network television schedule, 2009–10 season. The poor ratings continued into the third season, which ended with an overall average rating of 5.1 million viewers, the 116th ranked network series of the 2010–11 United States network television schedule, 2010–11 television season. Michael Schur partially attributed the continually low viewership to a decline in ratings for NBC in general, as well as changing viewer trends due to a large number of available channels. Despite the generally low ratings, ''Parks and Recreation'' was renewed for a sixth season on May 9, 2013. NBC had a financial incentive to continue the series, as it owns the distribution rights via its NBCUniversal Television Distribution company: the sixth season put the series over the 100 episodes milestone, making it more viable for Broadcast syndication, syndication.


Accolades

In 2010, Amy Poehler was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work in the second season. Also that year, ''Parks and Recreation'' was nominated for the TCA Awards, Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Individual Achievement in Comedy for Nick Offerman for his work in the second season. The second-season premiere episode, "Pawnee Zoo", won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Individual Episode (in a Series without a Regular LGBT Character). Also in 2010, ''Parks and Recreation'' received two nominations from ''Entertainment Weekly'''s EWwy Awards: Best Comedy Series and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Offerman. In 2011, ''Parks and Recreation'' was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and Amy Poehler received her second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In June 2011, ''Parks and Recreation'' was nominated for three awards for the inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards: Best Comedy Series, Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Poehler, and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Nick Offerman. Also that month, ''Parks and Recreation'' was nominated for four TCA Awards: Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, and Individual Achievement in Comedy for Offerman and Poehler. Offerman hosted the TCA Awards ceremony that year. In January 2014, Amy Poehler won her first Golden Globe award for her portrayal of Leslie Knope. Poehler co-hosted the ceremony with Tina Fey.


Home media

The first season of ''Parks and Recreation'' was released on DVD in DVD region code, region 1 on September 8, 2009. The DVD included all six episodes, as well as an "Extended Producer's Cut" of the season finale, "Rock Show". The disc also included cast and crew commentary tracks for each episode, as well as about 30 minutes of deleted scenes. The second season was released in a four-disc set in region 1 on November 30, 2010. They included extended episodes for "The Master Plan" and "Freddy Spaghetti", as well as two-and-a-half hours of deleted scenes, a third season preview, and additional video clips. Audio commentaries were recorded for the episodes "Sister City", "Ron and Tammy", "Hunting Trip", "Woman of the Year", "The Master Plan" and "Freddy Spaghetti". The complete series was released on Blu-ray from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on June 15, 2021.


Potential revival

In March 2019, during the tenth anniversary reunion at PaleyFest, the cast confirmed they would return for a revival of the series, if series creator Michael Schur "came up with an original, new idea". Schur stated, "I would never ever say never. The chance to do it again, should it arise, would be incredible, but we would only do it if we all felt like there was something compelling us to do it. If one single person said no, we wouldn't do it."


Special

In April 2020, the cast reprised their roles for a special episode that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic.


References


External links

*
''Parks and Recreation''
at NBC, NBC.com (2016 archive) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parks And Recreation Parks and Recreation, 2000s American mockumentary television series 2000s American political comedy television series 2000s American satirical television series 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2000s American workplace comedy television series 2009 American television series debuts 2010s American mockumentary television series 2010s American political comedy television series 2010s American satirical television series 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2015 American television series endings English-language television shows NBC original programming Peabody Award-winning television programs Political satirical television series Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series by Fremulon Television series by Universal Television Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in Indiana Television series created by Michael Schur Television series created by Greg Daniels