Parks & Recreation won the audience over with its sense of humor, relatable characters, and fun and heartwarming stories, and there are a couple of behind-the-scenes details that make the series even better. In 2009, Michael Schur and Greg Daniels took viewers to the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, to meet the characters of Parks & Recreation. Led by the always cheerful Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), Parks & Recreation followed Leslie and her closest friends and coworkers from the Parks Department through both their professional and personal lives.
Every character in Parks & Recreation had their own comedy style, which was key to the series’ success and the popularity of the characters. While Parks & Recreations has a lot of memorable moments, thanks to the comedic talents of its cast, its various celebrity cameos, and some Easter eggs here and there, a big part of the magic of Pawnee comes from behind-the-scenes details that were reflected in the final product of Parks & Recreation – and here are 10 of those details that make Pawnee and Parks & Recreation so great.
10 Leslie Knope’s Book About Pawnee Actually Exists In Real Life
Leslie Knope was full of surprises, and among the most memorable things about her was her deep and undying love for Pawnee. Leslie loved her town so much that she worked hard to make it a better place for everyone living in it, and she even channeled her love into a book. Titled Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, Leslie’s book made its debut in Parks & Recreation season 4, and it was during a TV appearance with Joan Callamezzo that it was revealed that Leslie wasn’t born in Pawnee. Still, that didn’t stop Leslie’s love for the town that watched her blossom.
Leslie Knope is a fictional character, but her book isn’t, and fans can actually buy a copy of Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America. The book lists Leslie Knope as its author and has a chapter on what to do if you visit Pawnee for 24 hours, a chapter on local media, and even Ron Swanson’s Pyramid of Greatness, as seen in Parks & Recreation season 3. A real treat for fans of the series.
9 Ben Schwartz Originally Auditioned For A Very Different Character
Ben Schwartz played the unforgettable Jean-Ralphio Saperstein in Parks & Recreation, but he almost played a completely different character that wouldn’t have been memorable. Schwartz originally read for the part of Dave Sanderson, a cop that goes on to become Leslie’s boyfriend for a while. However, the producers of Parks & Recreation felt Schwartz was too young for the part and cast Louis C.K. instead, but they gave Schwartz a much better character. Although Jean-Ralphio wasn’t a main character and he appeared sporadically, Schwartz turned him into one of the most memorable characters of the series.
8 Aubrey Plaza Takes Full Credit For April & Andy’s Relationship
Parks & Recreation had some of the best couples in modern TV, among them that of Andy Dwyer and April Ludgate. The dim-witted, cheerful, and lovable Andy fall in love with the sarcastic and apathetic April, but to everyone’s surprise, they were the most stable couple in the series. Speaking at Paley Fast in 2019 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Parks & Recreation (via Entertainment Tonight), Aubrey Plaza took credit for Andy and April’s relationship, sharing that she came up with the idea of April being attracted to Andy. Plaza recalled that she decided to play April as secretly into Andy in season 1, which eventually evolved into them getting married and having a family.
7 The Writers Of Parks & Rec Felt Bad For Jerry
The main characters of Parks & Recreation spent a lot of their time bullying their friend and colleague Jerry Gergich, and though all those moments were supposed to be funny, more often than not they were cruel and worrying. The writers of Parks & Recreation felt bad for how Jerry was treated by everyone, so they decided to make it up for him by giving him the perfect family. The contrast between the submissive Jerry everyone bullied at the Parks Department and family man Jerry with his beautiful wife and beautiful daughters ultimately added to the comedy of the character, but it was heartwarming to see that, at least in one area of his life, Jerry was succeeding.
6 Chris Pratt Was Initially A Guest Star
Andy Dwyer become one of the most popular and beloved characters from Parks & Recreation, but he originally wasn’t planned to stay in Pawnee for long. Andy’s accident in the pit is what kicked off the events of the series, but Chris Pratt was credited as a guest star throughout Parks & Recreation season 1 because he was planned to be a temporary character. However, Pratt’s charm and sense of humor quickly won over the hearts of viewers, and the producers of Parks & Recreation wisely decided to promote Pratt to the main cast in the second season, fully developing his character as the series continued to evolve.
5 Rob Lowe Inspired Chris Traeger’s Catchphrase
Rob Lowe played the always cheerful Chris Traeger, who had a catchphrase he used all the time: the word “literally”. During the above-mentioned Paley Fest panel, Parks & Recreation co-creator Michael Schur revealed that, when he met Rob Lowe, the actor used the word “literally” a lot in his high-energy mannerisms, adding that Chris Traeger “didn’t exist before that”. “Literally” became Chris’ catchphrase, and it’s easy to see now why it came out so naturally for Lowe.
4 Ron Swanson’s Similarities To Nick Offerman
Rob Lowe isn’t the only one who heavily influenced his character, as Ron Swanson and Nick Offerman have a lot in common as well. Just like Ron, Offerman is a woodworker (and ran an independent carpentry business at one point), he plays the saxophone like Ron/Duke Silver, and he loves Lagavulin whisky, so much so that he partnered with the brand and even bought a 51% stake of the Lagavulin distillery. Offerman is also married to Megan Mullally, who played Ron’s highly manipulative ex-wife, Tammy 2, in Parks & Recreation.
3 Parks & Rec’s “Getting Drunk On Snake Juice” Scene Was Fully Improvised
Arguably, the best Parks & Recreation episode is season 3’s “The Fight”, and one of its funniest and most memorable scenes takes place at the Snakehole Lounge. Tom unveils his new alcoholic beverage, Snake Juice, and after Leslie and Ann have a big fight, they, along with the rest of the Parks Department employees, get extremely drunk on Snake Juice (except Donna, who is on a juice cleanse). What follows is a montage of each character acting drunk, and many of them show sides of them unknown to everyone else: Ron is dancing while wearing a very small hat, April speaks gibberish, Leslie is sobbing, and Ben is giggling at everything. What makes this scene even better is that each character’s drunk reactions were improvised by the cast.
2 The True Story Behind Bill Murray’s Cameo In Season 7
Parks & Recreation had a variety of celebrity cameos – from fellow comedians to politicians and musicians, and one of its biggest ones was that of Bill Murray. The legendary actor played Mayor Walter Gunderson in one episode… where Gunderson dies. After failing to get Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Mayor Gunderson, Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza, and Rashida Jones tried to convince Bill Murray to do it but nothing came out of it. In one final try, Plaza and Poehler reached out to Murray and explained to him that Gunderson was dead, and if he “wanted to come lie in a coffin”… and that’s how Bill Murray finally agreed.
1 Chris Pratt’s Improv Moments That Made The Cut
The cast of Parks & Recreation was free to improvise on set, and some of those moments made it to the final version of the episodes – and in Chris Pratt’s case, three of Andy’s best moments were completely improvised. First, Pratt decided to take off his skin-colored briefs and go fully nude in season 2’s episode “Kaboom”, with Poehler’s reaction to opening the door and finding a naked Andy being 100% genuine. Later, in season 3’s episode “Flu Season”, Pratt improvised the line where he types Leslie’s symptoms on the computer and says that she “could have ‘network connectivity problems’”, and in the episode “The Debate”, Pratt improvised his reenactment of Road House, including the smashing of the TV.
