Parks and Recreation Information

Department of Parks and Recreation}}

Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on the NBC television network, starring Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. It was conceived by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur and debuted on April 9, 2009. Currently in its fifth season, it uses a single-camera, mockumentary filming style, with the implication being that a documentary crew is filming everyone.

The writers researched local California politics for the show, and consulted with urban planners and elected officials. The Leslie Knope character underwent minor changes after the first season in response to audience feedback that she seemed unintelligent and "ditzy". The writing staff tried to incorporate current events into their episodes, such as a government shutdown in Pawnee inspired by the real-life global financial crisis. Several guest stars have been featured in the show, and these characters often appear in multiple episodes.

Parks and Recreation received generally mixed to negative reviews during its first season. However, after a reapproach to its format and tone, its second and subsequent seasons received much higher critical acclaim. Parks and Recreation has received several awards and nominations, including an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series and three Emmy nominations for Poehler's performance. The show also has a large online fan base devoted to the character Ron Swanson. In Times 2012 year-end lists issue, Parks and Recreation was named the number one television series.

Synopsis

Season one

Parks and Recreation revolves around Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), the deputy director of the parks and recreation department in the fictional Indiana town of Pawnee. Local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) demands that a construction pit in the abandoned lot beside her house be filled in after her boyfriend, Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), fell in and broke his legs. Leslie vows to turn the pit into a park, despite resistance from the parks director Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), an anti-government Libertarian. City planner Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider) " for whom Leslie harbors romantic feelings " pragmatically insists the project is unrealistic due to government red tape, but nevertheless secretly convinces Ron to approve the project. Leslie and her staff, including Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and the uninterested summer intern April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), try encouraging community interest in the pit project, but meets resistance. Later, Ann becomes furious to learn Andy has faked the severity of his injuries so Ann would pamper him. Meanwhile, a drunken and lonely Mark takes Leslie to the pit and kisses her, but she rejects his advances, not wishing to move forward while Mark is drunk. An embarrassed Mark accidentally falls into the pit and injures himself.

Season two

Ann breaks up with Andy and begins dating Mark, with Leslie's approval. It is revealed that Tom's marriage to the attractive surgeon Wendy (Jama Williamson) is actually a green card marriage which, to his disappointment, eventually ends in divorce. The pit is eventually filled in, after which Ron is visited by his horrible ex-wife Tammy (Megan Mullally), a librarian who unsuccessfully tries seducing him into turning the filled-in lot into a library branch. April becomes attracted to Andy, but he remains fixated on Ann. Just as Mark plans to propose to Ann, she reveals she no longer has feelings for him. They break up, and Mark leaves his city hall career for a private sector job. Meanwhile, a crippling budget deficit leads state auditors Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) to temporarily shut down the Pawnee government, much to Leslie's horror and Ron's delight. Meanwhile, Andy develops feelings for April, but she fears he is still hung up on Ann. Ann later kisses Andy due to conflicting emotions from her break-up with Mark, prompting April to angrily reject Andy. The season ends with Tom shockingly discovering that Ron is now dating his ex-wife, Wendy.

Season three

Leslie decides to bring back the defunct Pawnee harvest festival, the success or failure of which will determine the financial future of the department. After weeks of planning, the festival becomes a tremendous success through Leslie's efforts. Ann and Chris briefly date, but they break up after he returns to his old job in Indianapolis. Later, Chris returns to become Pawnee's acting city manager, and Ben also takes a job in Pawnee. Jealous over Ron dating Wendy, Tom briefly dates Tammy to get even, but the two eventually reconcile. Andy wins April back and they start dating. Only a few weeks later, they marry in a surprise ceremony. Leslie and Ben begin dating, but keep it secret due to Chris's policy against workplace romances. Leslie is approached about possibly running for elected office, a lifelong dream of hers, but when asked about potential scandals in her life she neglects to mention her relationship with Ben. Tom quits his city hall job to form an entertainment company with his friend, Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz). The season ends with a horrified Ron learning that his first ex-wife, also named Tammy, has come to see him.

Season four

With Ben's encouragement, Leslie decides to run for city council, and the two end their relationship. Leslie hires Andy as her assistant. Patricia Clarkson appears as Ron's first ex-wife, "Tammy One", who uses her power as an IRS employee to trick Ron into thinking he's audited and temporarily takes complete control over his life. Tom and Jean-Ralphio's company, Entertainment 720, quickly blows through massive amounts of promotional funding while performing little actual work; the company goes out of business and Tom returns to his old job. After struggling to move on both personally and professionally, Ben and Leslie get back together, and Ben sacrifices his job to save Leslie from losing hers. The scandal leads her political advisers to abandon Leslie's campaign, and the parks department volunteers to become her new campaign staff. Ben agrees to be Leslie's campaign manager. Leslie's ex-boyfriend Dave (Louis C.K.) reappears and unsuccessfully attempts to win Leslie back. Leslie's campaign faces myriad setbacks against her main opponent, Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd), and his famous campaign manager Jennifer Barkley (Kathryn Hahn). Ann and Tom begin an extremely rocky romantic relationship. April takes on more responsibility and is eventually given Leslie's old job. In the season finale, Jennifer offers Ben a job in Washington, which he reluctantly accepts, and after the race is initially called for Newport, Leslie wins the position in a recount.

Season five

On May 11, 2012 Parks & Recreation was picked up for a full 22-episode fifth season which premiered on Thursday September 20, 2012.

Production

Crew

Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios produced Parks and Recreation starting with the first season, and 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 and Michael Schur, who served as executive producers along with Howard Klein. Klein previously worked with Daniels and Schur on The Office, a half-hour NBC comedy Daniels adapted from the British comedy of the same name, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Schur served as the showrunner of Parks and Recreation, while Amy Poehler and Morgan Sackett worked as producers. Dean Holland, an editor on The Office, also worked as an editor on Parks and Recreation. Mike Scully, a former executive producer and showrunner for The Simpsons, 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, Harris Wittels and Katie Dippold, all of whom were Parks and Recreation screenwriters, also worked as executive story editors.

The pilot episode 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", and wrote or directed several other episodes including "Sister City", "The Master Plan" and "Time Capsule". Poehler wrote two episodes: the second season episode "Telethon" and the third season's "The Fight". Holland also directed several episodes throughout the series, including "The Master Plan". Norm Hiscock, a consulting producer on the show, wrote a number of episodes including the first season finale "Rock Show" and second season premiere "Pawnee Zoo". Other regular screenwriters included Katie Dippold, Daniel J. Goor, Aisha Muharrar, Emily Spivey, Harris Wittels and Alan Yang. Frequent Parks and Recreation directors include 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.

Cast

The principal cast starting in season one included:

• Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat with a strong love of her home town of Pawnee, who has not let politics dampen her sense of optimism; her ultimate goal is to become President of the United States. Poehler departed from the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, 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 general concept of the show and the script for the pilot was written.
• Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins, 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's girlfriend Karen Filippelli, who formerly worked at the Stamford Branch but was soon transferred to the Scranton Branch in the 3rd season. She eventually became Branch Manager at the Utica Branch.
• Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford, 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 as Ron Swanson, the parks and recreation director who, as a libertarian, believes in as small a government as possible. As such, Ron strives to make his department as ineffective as possible, 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 as April Ludgate, a cynical and uninterested parks department intern who 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."
• 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. He left the cast after the second season to pursue his film career.
• Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer, a goofy and dim-witted but lovable slacker. 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.

Two new cast members joined the show starting with the penultimate second season episode, "The Master Plan":

• Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, a competent 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 to join the show.
• Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger, an excessively positive and extremely health-conscious government official. Unlike Scott, Lowe was originally expected to depart after a string of guest appearances, but later signed a multi-year contract to become a regular cast member.

Jim O'Heir and Retta made regular appearances as Jerry and Donna from the start of the show, but their personalities did not become developed until the second season. Schur said the Parks and Recreation staff liked the actors so 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 co-worker the rest of the department affectionately picks on. It was not until the third season they became considered regular cast members.

Several actors have made recurring guest appearances throughout the show, including Pamela Reed as Leslie's mother and fellow politician Marlene Griggs-Knope, Ben Schwartz as Tom's fast-talking friend Jean-Ralphio, Jama Williamson as Tom's ex-wife Wendy, Mo Collins as morning talk show host Joan Callamezzo, Jay Jackson as television broadcaster Perd Hapley, Alison Becker as newspaper reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep, Darlene Hunt as conservative activist Marcia Langman, and Andy Forrest as Andy's frequent shoeshine customer Kyle. Megan Mullally, 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. The 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 Fred Armisen, Will Arnett, H. Jon Benjamin, Matt Besser, Louis C.K., Will Forte, Michael Gross, Nick Kroll, John Larroquette, Natalie Morales, Parker Posey, Andy Samberg, Roy Hibbert, Detlef Schrempf, and Justin Theroux.

Conception

Immediately after Ben Silverman was named co-chairman of NBC's entertainment division in 2007, he asked Greg Daniels to create a spin-off 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 show 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 show would revolve around an optimistic bureaucrat in small-town government.

The idea was partly inspired by the portrayal of local politics on the HBO drama series The Wire, as well as the renewed interest in and optimism about politics stemming from the 2008 United States presidential election. 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 that 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 approach and the encouragement of improvisation among the cast, even though the episodes were scripted. The series was scheduled as a mid-season replacement, and was rushed into production 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.

Writing

The writers spent time researching local California politics and attending Los Angeles City Council meetings. Schur said they observed that 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" 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 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 Anne 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 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 was one 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 that 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" included a parody of the controversial arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, and a sex scandal involving a Pawnee councilman in "Practice Date" mirrored the real-life 2009 scandal 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). Schur explained that 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 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 the time of a number of states considering a shut down 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 that 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 is filmed with a single-camera setup in a cinéma vérité style simulating the look of an actual 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. Although the episodes are scripted, improvisation is permitted and encouraged among the cast, and dialogue or performances that are made up by the actors during filming often make 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 approach each episode as if they are filming a real documentary. They typically shoot 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 is shot that must be discarded for the final cut; for example, the original cut of the 22-minute pilot was 48 minutes long. The producers film 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 that, 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 developed a technique that would be used throughout the series. During a scene in "The Reporter" in which Leslie reacts to quotes read to her by the journalist, Poehler improvised a number of 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 Town 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, 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 are 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" was shot at the Toluca Lake Sports Center in the Toluca Lake district of Los Angeles. Other Eagleton scenes were also shot at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, located in San Marino. Elaborate festival setting and corn maze sets featured in "Harvest Festival" was filmed at a real-life festival setting at Los Angeles Pierce College, a community college in Woodland Hills, California. 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, 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 in order to find them a theme song. With less than three weeks until the show aired, BMI sent out a mass email to a slew of composers, giving them just 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 release of all rights to NBC. The winning entry was written by Gaby Moreno and 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 of Moreno's and Jones' song: "It 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 Andy Dwyer's character and his band within the show, "Mouse Rat". Chris Pratt, who plays Andy, sings and plays guitar in the band himself, while the drums are played by Mark Rivers, the guitar is played by Andrew Burlinson, and the bass guitar is played by Alan Yang, a screenwriter with the show.

Pratt and the other band members played live during filming of the episode, rather than pre-recorded and dubbed later. One song featured in "Rock Show" called "The Pit" is Andy's experience falling into a construction pit and breaking his legs. A ballad about Ann Perkins featured in the episode "Boys' Club", called "Ann", was written by Pratt himself. The lyrics to a song featured in "The Master Plan" about April Ludgate, called "November", were written by Michael Schur. In the episode "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 had sex because their hair is matted. In "Li'l Sebastian", Andy performs a tribute song called "5,000 Candles in the Wind", where he tries to write a song 5,000 times better than Elton John's "Candle in the Wind".

Reception

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 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 the fall of 2011, the show returned to its original 8:30 pm timeslot for the fourth season. In Canada, Parks and Recreation is simsubbed in most areas on Citytv. In the Philippines, it airs on Jack TV every Friday at 9:30 pm, Wednesday at 2:30 am and 10:00 am. In Australia, the series will air on Channel Seven's digital channel, 7mate, on Mondays at 10:00 pm, after having aired Season 1 and five episodes of Season 2 on Seven at a late timeslot of 11:00 pm. In South Africa, the show airs on Pay-TV operator MNET. In Portugal, the show airs on AXN White. In Sweden, it airs on TV4 Komedi. In India, it airs on Zee Cafe. In Denmark the series airs in high definition on DR HD. In the Republic of Ireland, it airs on RT"? Two. In the UK, the show will air on BBC Four from 2013.

In March 2011, Universal Media Studios announced their intentions to sell the syndication rights of Parks and Recreation. Comedy Central, Spike and FX were all described as possible contenders to buy the syndication rights.

Reviews

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 television journalist 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 to negative reviews. Many critics said the series was too similar to The Office,</ref> USA Today writer Robert Bianco said that Parks and Recreation was an attempt to "replicate that almost-hit [The Office], from the small-is-stupid tone to the mockumentary visuals".|group="nb"}} and several commentators said Leslie Knope too closely resembled Michael Scott, the well-intentioned but dimwitted protagonist of The Office.s Alan Sepinwall said the two shows featured "central character[s] ... so similar" that Parks and Recreation "could very easily be sold as" a spin-off. Linda Stasi of The New York Post said The Office and Parks and Recreation have an "identical lead character " the self-important middle manager who has no idea that underlings consider him (or in this case, her) an officious fool". The A.V. Club writer Scott Tobias wrote, "Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope is conceived too much like the Michael Scott of petty, inept small-time government", and that Parks and Recreation suffers from the comparison.|group="nb"}} 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. However, the season finale "Rock Show" received far better reviews, with several commentators declared that Parks and Recreation had finally found the right tone both generally and for the Leslie Knope character in particular.s Alan Sepinwall described "Rock Show" as "by far the strongest episode of that uneven [first season]", and said, "I think they may have found a good tone for both the series as a whole and Leslie in particular." The A.V. Club writer Leonard Pierce wrote, "This show has managed to conquer the first-season learning curve with lightning speed; starting with 'Rock Show' at the end of last season, it got on a roll like poppy seeds." The A.V. Clubs Keith Phipps, who had previously been critical of the series, said he was "back on board" after "Rock Show" because, "I felt like this revived the pilot's feel for small-town life and it made me like Leslie again." The Hollywood Reporter writer Tom Goodman said while the first five episodes of the season had been disappointing, "Rock Show" marked an improvement in which "the characters were more defined, their quirks and rhythms understood".|group="nb"}}

Season two was better received,</ref> E! Online writer Kristin Dos Santos wrote of the second season, "The storylines are solid, the one-liners hilarious, and the characters much more developed than in season one."|group="nb"}} with several publications declaring it among the best shows of 2009 including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, New York magazine, The Star-Ledger, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Paste magazine, IGN, and 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, to be recognized as one of the best seasons of any sitcom ever", and that the characters and setting of Pawnee were so fully developed that he felt a close, personal connection to them. Henry Hanks of CNN called it a "a near-flawless season".|group="nb"} Scott Meslow of The Atlantic said during the third season, Parks and Recreation was "the funniest, sweetest, most consistent sitcom on television".|group="nb"}} which Time magazine writer James Poniewozik called it "a fabulous season " the best thing on TV in 2011 so far", and which TV Squad writer Maureen Ryan, who previously criticized the series, called one of the ten best shows of 2011. Parks and Recreation was featured on the February 11, 2011 cover of Entertainment Weekly, where it was called "the smartest comedy on TV" and which included the article "The 101 Reasons We Love Parks and Recreation". In Time magazine's 2012 year-end top 10 lists, Parks and Recreation was named the top TV series.

Amy 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 that 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.</ref> 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".|group="nb"}} Nick Offerman received particularly strong praise for his minimalist and understated performance as Ron Swanson, who many considered the show's breakout character.</ref> The Star-Ledger writer Alan Sepinwall said, "The Parks and Rec writers have combined to turn Ron F'ing Swanson into a man who can say completely demented things with absolute certainty, as if they were the most natural thing in the world." Kat Angust of Dose magazine said, "Thank God for Nick Offerman, who plays Ron F**cking Swanson so perfectly deadpan that you actually believe in the ridiculous things he says, which makes it that much funnier." Eric Hochberger of TV Fanatic wrote, "If you read my Parks reviews in the past, you know there's certain character I watch this show for: Ron Swanson. [...] This man has the ability to make us laugh whenever he's on screen."|group="nb"}} By the end of the second season, the character had taken on a cult status; Jonah Weiner of Slate magazine declared Swanson "Parks and Recreation's secret weapon". Reviewers also consistently praised the performances by supporting actors Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford,</ref> Andy Daglas of ChicagoNow praised Ansari's "boisterous, smarmy, ingratiating portrayal" and said the character evolved greatly as the series progressed.|group="nb"}} and Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer.s Keith Phipps praised the performance of Chris Pratt, who he said provided a considerable number of laughs. Phipps also wrote, "If the show sticks around, [the Andy Dwyer character] definitely deserves an upgrade." IGN writer Matt Fowler said of "Rock Show", "The antics on this episode really belonged to Andy." In an Entertainment Weekly article, writer Jeremy Medina made a personal appeal to Greg Daniels and Michael Schur to retain Pratt, credited throughout the season as a guest star, as a regular cast member for the show's second season. He wrote, "Pratt, and his goofball fratboy-past-his-prime charm, dominated the show's season finale, delivering some of the best moments ever in the fledgling series." New York magazine writer Steve Kandell said, along with Ron Swanson, Andy Dwyer usually steals the episodes he appears in.|group="nb"}}

Ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Thursday 8:30 pm	6	April 9, 2009	6.77	May 14, 2009	4.25	2008"2009	#96	6.0
2		24	September 17, 2009	5.00	May 20, 2010	4.55	2009"2010	#108	4.6
3	Thursday 9:30 pm	16	January 20, 2011	6.14	May 19, 2011	3.72	2010"2011	#116	5.1
4	Thursday 8:30 pm Thursday 9:30 pm	22	September 22, 2011	4.11	May 8, 2012	3.42	2011"2012	#134	4.4
5	Thursday 9:30 pm (2012) Thursday 8:30 pm (2013)	22	September 20, 2012	3.50	May 16, 2013		2012"2013

Parks and Recreation has struggled in the Nielsen ratings throughout its entire run on NBC. The series premiere was seen in 6.77 million households, which media outlets described as a strong opening, comparable to the average Nielsen ratings for 30 Rock, another Thursday-night show on NBC. However, viewership declined almost every week over the rest of the season,</ref> The subsequent ratings were 5.24 million households for "The Reporter", 5.29 million for "Boys' Club", 4.64 million for "The Banquet", and 4.25 million for "Rock Show".|group="nb"}} culminating in a season low of 4.25 million households for the final episode. Parks and Recreation ended the first season with an overall average rating of 5.97 million household viewers, ranking 94th in a list of 193 network shows for the 2008"09 television season. The Office experienced similarly poor ratings during its first season and later became a success. However, the low viewership presented a greater challenge for Parks and Recreation because NBC now trailed CBS, ABC and Fox in the ratings, and the move of comedian Jay Leno from The Tonight Show to 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 households, which was lower than the average ratings other Thursday-night NBC comedy shows like Communitys 6.5 million households, 30 Rocks 7.3 million and The Offices 10.1 million. For the overall second season, Parks and Recreation had an overall average viewership of 4.6 million households, making it the 108th ranked network series for the 2009"10 season. The poor ratings continued into the third season, which ended with an overall average rating of 5.1 million households, the 116th ranked network series of the 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 amount of available channels.

Awards

In 2010, Amy Poehler was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, based on her performance in the second season episode "Telethon". Also that year, the Parks and Recreation theme song by Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. Parks and Recreation was also nominated for a 2010 Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, and Nick Offerman received a nomination for Individual Achievement in Comedy; The second season premiere episode, "Pawnee Zoo", won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Individual Episode. Also in 2010, Parks and Recreation received two nominations from Entertainment Weekly's Ewwy Awards: one for Best Comedy Series, and one for Nick Offerman as Best Support Actor in a Comedy. Aubrey Plaza received a Best Supporting Actress in Television nomination from the Imagen Awards, which honors positive portrayals of Latinos in entertainment.

In 2011, Parks and Recreation was nominated for a 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 of the inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards. The show itself was nominated for "Best Comedy Series", Amy Poehler was nominated for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series" and Nick Offerman was nominated for "Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series". 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 awards for Offerman and Poehler. Offerman will also host the TCA Awards ceremony this year.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2010	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Amy Poehler
	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Main Title Theme Music	Gaby Moreno and Vincent Jones
	People's Choice Award	Favorite TV Comedy Actress	Amy Poehler
	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy	Nick Offerman
		Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Parks and Recreation
	GLAAD Media Award	Outstanding Individual Episode	Parks and Recreation (For episode Pawnee Zoo)
	Ewwy Awards	Best Comedy Series	Parks and Recreation
		Best Support Actor in a Comedy	Nick Offerman
	Imagen Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Aubrey Plaza
2011	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Comedy Series	Amy Poehler
		Best Comedy Series	Parks and Recreation
		Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Nick Offerman
	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy	Amy Poehler
			Nick Offerman tied with Ty Burrell from Modern Family
		Program of the Year	Parks and Recreation
		Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
	ALMA Award	Favorite TV Actress " Supporting Role	Aubrey Plaza
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Amy Poehler
		Outstanding Comedy Series	Parks and Recreation
	Satellite Award	Best Actress in a TV Series " Comedy or Musical	Amy Poehler
	AFI Awards	Television Series	Parks and Recreation	Honoured
2012	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress in a TV Series " Comedy or Musical	Amy Poehler
	Peabody Award		Parks and Recreation	Honoured
	Producers Guild of America Award	Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy	Greg Daniels, Dan Goor, Howard Klein, Amy Poehler,Morgan Sackett, Michael Schur
		Web Series	April and Andy's Road Trip
	Writers Guild of America Award	Comedy Series	Greg Daniels, Katie Dippold, Daniel J. Goor, Norm Hiscock, Emily Kapnek, Dave King, Greg Levine, Aisha Muharrar, Chelsea Peretti, Amy Poehler, Brian Rowe, Michael Schur, Mike Scully, Emily Spivey, Alan Yang, Harris Wittels
	The Comedy Awards	Best Comedy Series
		Best Comedy Actress in TV	Amy Poehler
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Comedy Series	Amy Poehler
		Best Comedy Series	Parks and Recreation
		Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Nick Offerman
		Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Kathryn Hahn
		Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Paul Rudd
	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy	Amy Poehler
		Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Parks and Recreation
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Amy Poehler
		Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Amy Poehler for "The Debate"
			Michael Schur for "Win, Lose, or Draw"
		Outstanding Special Class "? Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Programs	Parks And Recreation: April And Andy's Road Trip
		Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation	'End of the World'
2013	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress in a TV Series " Comedy or Musical	Amy Poehler
	The Art Directors Guild	Excellence in Production Design In Television, Episode of a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series	Ian Phillips for Soda Tax
	Writers Guild of America Award	Comedy Series	Megan Amram, Greg Daniels, Nate Dimeo, Katie Dippold, Daniel J. Goor, Norm Hiscock, Dave King, Greg Levine, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Nick Offerman, Chelsea Peretti, Amy Poehler, Alexandra Rushfield, Mike Scully, Michael Schur, Harris Wittels, Alan Yang
		Episodic Comedy	The Debate, written by Amy Poehler
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Comedy Series	Amy Poehler
	Gracie Awards	Outstanding Comedy	Parks and Recreation
		Outstanding Female Actor	Amy Poehler

DVD and streaming video

The first season of Parks and Recreation was released on DVD in 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". Parks and Recreation can be viewed on the streaming video service Hulu, as well as the "Instant Watch" streaming feature of Netflix. Individual episodes can also be purchased on the Apple Inc. digital media iTunes Store and viewed on an NBC mobile browser on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Tie-ins

Books

• Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America  "? Book featured in the fourth season episode "Born & Raised," with credited author Leslie Knope.

Websites

•  "? Fictional city of Pawnee website.
•  "? Dating website featured in the third season episode "Soulmates."
•  "? Website for Andy's band Mouse Rat (formerly Scarecrow Boat), Pawnee, Indiana's #1 band.
•  "? Website for Tom and Jean-Ralphio's failed business venture, Entertainment 7wenty.
•  "? Andy and April's wedding site.
•  "? Knope 2012 campaign site.
•  "? Website for the Snakehole Lounge, "Pawnee's sickest nightclub."
•  "? Twitter account featured in "The Debate."
•  "? Ann's personal blog (Tumblr), seen in the fifth season episode "Ann's Decision."