Parks And Recreation at 15: Top moments that make us miss Pawnee
To mark the NBC comedy's big anniversary, let's look back on Leslie Knope & Co.'s sweetest and silliest scenes
TV Features Parks And Recreation
Parks And Recreation debuted on April 9, 2009, to great expectations. Conceived as a spinoff of The Office before its producers, Office veterans Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, went in a distinctly different direction, it was Amy Poehler’s first project after an Emmy-nominated streak on Saturday Night Live. Initially, critics were not impressed. In that way, Parks And Rec would join The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, and, yes, The Office as shows that got an initial cool reception but were seriously reappraised by the end of their run. Today, Parks And Rec stands as a classic because of its sharp view of modern small-town life and Poehler’s portrayal of Leslie Knope. The associate director of the Pawnee, Indiana parks and recreation department, Knope is the classic type-A-minus personality whose natural idealism keeps bumping up against the imperfection of actual life, and Poehler turned her into a uniquely endearing lead. It also helped that Leslie’s orbit of co-workers (Nick Offerman, Rob Lowe, Aubrey Plaza, Jim O’Heir, Retta, Aziz Ansari, et. al.), BFF (Rashida Jones), and love interest (Adam Scott) were MTM-level strong, as was the writing, which tempered each character’s obliviousness and pretensions with a sly beating heart. So on the show’s 15th anniversary, we present, in no particular order, 15 of the (many) moments that make us miss Pawnee.
58 Comments
Having worked in local government, I could never watch this.
Found Brendanawicz everybody!
Brendanaquits, amirite?
Laugh all you fucking want, that “I drank the water in the park that says do not drink and I got sick” scene is not fucking fiction. Did they ever have a scene where some old biddy planted a fucking rainforest on the nature strip she thought she owned and then bitched and moaned at council because she now has to care for her disabled husband because he had a stroke and the ambulance didn’t get there in time because they had to spend five extra minutes trying to discern the house numbers behind the mass of greenery and now she’s further pissed because the council told her she has to get it under control else they’ll rip it out which they’re perfectly entitled to do and then she writes into the paper about how mean the council is because her husband was the one who used to tend and prune the garden and she can’t do it herself and why can’t the council send one of the crews around to trim it because she did the town a favour by planting some nice trees that shit both leaves and pollen in the atmosphere that clog the drains and cause asthma attacks and how dare they also blame her for her tree cracking the sewer pipes even thought they’ve got video evidence?
To answer your question honestly, weirdly yes. There was a recurring character named Gretel who was an older lady who lived in the town, and would show up with complaints and grivences at city council meetings and when encountered at random. At one point she is very angry that the city won’t remove the snails from her garden, then she is angry they want to kill the snails in her garden, she wants them to just move them somewhere but keep them safe and comfortable, but not TOO comfortable. Another woman threatens to sue the city because she ate a loose sandwich she found in a park that made her sick, AND it didn’t even have mayonnaise. If you deal with “The Public”, the show is very cathartic, similar to how The Office somehow makes you feel less bad working for corporate idiots.
They didn’t. But this sounds like a great episode. I hope you do get the chance to watch. It truly is a show that transcends typical 22 minute sitcoms.
she didn’t just drink it, she used it to make sun tea
Big anime fan, huh?
No.
comeback
The episode with the skating rink is the one I keep coming back to. Both the A plot and the B plot – with Ben getting depressed and making a claymation – are perfect. “Together we can defeat obese children” might be the best line in the series. This is Parks’ version of The Office’s “Dinner Party” or 30 Rock’s “Leap Day” – for a single twenty-two minutes, all the elements came together to create something magical.
Pizza? Never heard of it!
I don’t know if that Letter’s to Cleo shirt was just something they found because it looked like it would heighten the depths of Ben’s depression or it was Adam Scott’s old shirt, but boy did it finally pay off a few seasons later at the music fest.
I like how you said S5E4 had the series’ best line, but didn’t tell us what it was.
“It’s not my favorite shirt, but it is my least favorite shirt.”
Pawnee is a small city; it has its own television station. It is most definitely noty a “small town.”
Counterpoint: Utica, NY is a very small city (less than 65,000) and has at least 2 network affiliates.
Speaking as someone who grew up rural, my hometown was 6,000 people and the town we ended up moving to fifteen minutes away was 1,200. The only town with a movie theatre and a walmart was 20 minutes away and was 7,500.
I really feel like most TV writers writing small towns are people who think small towns are 65,000 people, so they’re allowed to have malls, TV stations, and multiple bars.
Trust me, I know. I grew up in a town with less than 3000 people and everything was at least 20 minutes away. The small cities around me that maybe had 10,000 to 20,000 people had the Walmarts, fancier grocery stores and some nightlife might fit how they describe Pawnee. But, your right, to hit that sweet spot between small city with TV, etc, etc. and rural settings very close by that 50-65K size is probably the sweet spot.
The more likely scenario is that TV writers who are trying to wring a season’s worth of material out of a small town setting throw in malls, TV stations, and multiple bars as a matter of narrative convenience. Not saying that’s a better reason necessarily but it’s less not knowing about small town demographics than fudging geography for narrative logistics. I’m guessing the only reason Sunnydale got itself a UC college was because it let the Buffy gang stay close to “home” during season 4.
But it has nobody who says steamed hams.
Of course not, that’s an Albany expression.
I grew up in Uttica and I’ve never heard of steamed hams on any of those network affiliates.
Since “town” and “city” are different words, you missed the point entirely. The article called Pawnee a “small town.” It did not call it a “small city.” Do you grasp the difference?
Cool
This is an obligatory comment about how much slideshows suck and how much the endangered commentariat hates them
Lightning in a bottle. There will be good and great shows but Parks and Rec will never happen again. There was no real cut off point, but Season 3 is TV nirvana.
Agreed…so many great episodes of the series were in season 3. When things just clicked and you just knew everyone was having fun.
The addition of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe really was the final piece of the puzzle. How often do cast changes and additions actually *improve* a show?
S3, with the additions of Ben and Chris is really where the show takes off to new heights. That said, HOT TAEK ALERT: for a show that cares so much for its characters and shows them all a fair amount of heart and love, I find it odd that once he leaves, Brendanowicz is completely forgotten. No cameo, no offhanded mention, no picture, nothing. And I get it: he wasn’t particularly funny, didn’t have great chemistry with the rest of the cast, his usefulness as a straight man had run its course, etc. I am not defending him and the show definitely took off after he left. But, he was a main cast member for 2 seasons as the show found its footing and to never get any kind of recognition after that always struck me as a bit unusual.
I’ve always wondered about that, and I really liked Mark even if he was a little boring. The way he was left was this very definitive “I Am Leaving” scene, like they knew they were never gonna bring him back. Maybe something behind the scenes? I can’t imagine the issue was budgetary- even if they needed to make room for Rob Lowe’s salary, Mark could have easily been downgraded to a recurring character that floats around City Hall when the plot needs it.
Right? They didn’t need to make him a cast member post-S2, but even a “yeah, that reminds me of a guy who used to work here” mention would have been something. I vaguely recall some stories at the time that the actor, Paul Schneider, was interested in pursuing movies which is why he left. But I didn’t hear anything about bad vibes or bad blood; he simply wanted to pursue other things, the showrunners planned accordingly, and that was that.The more I think about it, Mark’s character was more relevant when the show was “The Office, but a female lead” like in S1. As they changed Leslie’s character and started building up the rest of the cast, the need for a Jim-esque straight man just decreased and the show did a great job of making different people (though it was usually Ann) the voice of reason depending on the situation. Ultimately, I think it was beneficial for both parties to Schneider to leave. Still, it surprises me that the show which even humanizes its antagonists and bit characters couldn’t find a single way to reference a person who was a main cast member for two seasons after they left.
The actor has said in interviews he never had interest in returning once his character got the boot. And honestly, I never saw an issue with it. In real life, some people move away and you never see or talk to them again. I can think of a handful of people I worked with for the first 3-4 years of my career, some who I even met up with socially, that I’ve never interacted with since.
Yeah, but Brendanowicz was such a drag on the show by the time he left. Would have been nicer to the actor true, but as a viewer I was frankly glad to have him gone.
I kinda feel like it did happen again in the form of Brooklyn Nine Nine.
I think I lasted about 2 seasons before I decided that it was a poor man’s The Office and gave up. Maybe I missed the better part.
You did! Its sweeter, better, and more consistent than The Office, even if if takes a bit to find its footing.
That bit where Andy is trying to teach a professional musician the Johnny Karate song and keeps haranguing the guy for not knowing how many times to sing “punch” and “kick” in the middle of the song has always stuck with me and it’s making me giggle even now.Shame they never did a D&D episode.
The visual of Ron driving away with a restaurant sized smoker/grill in anger attached to a late 90s/early 00s Buick Century will never not be funny to me.Also, Ron learning he loves puzzles is just pure joy.
“The Fight” is hands down my favorite episode of Parks and Rec and might be my favorite episode of a sitcom ever. It just makes me laugh from start to finish with no moment wasted. Overall Season 3 is my favorite overall, but God, I loved so many episodes of this show.
No Oswalt fllibuster?
That feeling when you realize Patton Oswalt’s Filibuster would’ve made a great Star Wars x Marvel What If? Special.
The exclamation of “Leslie, look at my hoop!” happens in my house more than I feel comfortable admitting
Fun list, but I find the absence of the Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness to be disappointing.
Probably not 15, but I still reference it a lot: Ron v Chris burger cook-off.Definitely not top 15, but I still enjoy it: the guys get their own bachelor parties in one night.
Ron “trying” vegetarian bacon and then April doing the same in that episode is gold. Not the same episode, but when Ron walks into a big box home improvement store, the employee starts to ask him if he needs help and Ron cuts him off with “I know more than you”.
Him eating a banana for the sake of his wife and the girls is also pretty great.
We still cook the Chris Traeger-burger sometimes. While the turkey might be a bit bland and the rest pretentious, it’s one hell of a fine burger. Also, I’m European, if that was not clear enough from context. (They posted a recipe back in the day, which we printed out.)
I wish they’d gotten rid of Chris Pratt, he’s turned out to be such a douche. Hard to watch the show because of him.
he wasnt a douche at the time.only when he found jesus and shit, which was even near the end or just after.so you are quite capable of separating early Pratt to late in life Pratt.
They did a great job of building a world.A world where Lil Sebastian made sense.And I don’t think I’ll ever say the word “literally” the same again.
My daughters were watching something when they were younger and giggling like maniacs. I walked in to see what was up and they thought they were in trouble. When they finally showed me what they were laughing at, it was Larry’s “Fart Attack” scene on YouTube. They both now have Lil’ Sebastian shirts and we’re on our third rewatch.
The Trial of Leslie Knope and then Citizen Knope also provided very nice heartwarming and memorable moments. At the end of Citizen Knope, when everyone reveals the model of city hall and bands behind Leslie for her election run, I get misty every time.
15 best moments and no Jean-Ralphio? But good choice not including any moments with his sister, since she is the wooorrrrst.
I hoped that the sale of The AVClub would mean an end to slideshows. Alas…
I struggle to rewatch, worst chris’ presence means I skip a lot of scenes and the “loveable libertarian” Ron is a hard pill to swallow now too
The lack of “Stop, Pooping” is a miss