Parks and Recreation

Network: NBC
Episodes: Ongoing (half-hour)
Seasons: Ongoing

TV show dates: April 9, 2009 – present
Series status: Has not been cancelled

Performers include: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Paul Schneider, Nick Offerman, and Chris Pratt.

TV show description:
In this Office-style comedy, documentary cameras follow mid-level bureaucrat Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) in her job at the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana. She hopes to improve her town while advancing her career and helping her to ultimately become the first female President of the United States.

Leslie takes on what should be a fairly simple project; to help a local nurse, Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), turn an abandoned construction pit into a community park. Ann has a personal interest in the project since her boyfriend, Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), is a musician who broke his legs falling into a pit on the site.

This plan is opposed by Leslie’s fellow bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, real estate developers, and single-issue fanatics. Their weapons are lawsuits, the jumble of city codes, and the very democratic process that Leslie loves so much.

Leslie is alternately helped and undermined by her sarcastic, underachieving colleague, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari). He cheerfully exploits his government position for personal gain and frequently spends his days playing Scrabble online with his department boss, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman). Ron is philosophically opposed to government in any form and would prefer to see parks privatized anyway.

Helping Leslie and Ann navigate through Pawnee’s bureaucracy is the charismatic city planner, Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider). He’s a man whose outlook has been soured after 15 years of public service.

If Leslie and Ann can pull it off, Leslie hopes that she can also inspire her apathetic college intern, April (Aubrey Plaza), and April’s whole less-than-enthusiastic generation.

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