Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt
KBE is a fictional character portrayed by
Adam Scott in the TV series ''
Parks and Recreation
''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...
''. The character is introduced in the final two episodes of
season two Season 2 may refer to:
* ''Season 2'' (Infinite album)
* ''2econd Season
''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk.
Release
It was released on November 4, 2008.
Guest Performers
The album features gu ...
, before being added to the main cast in
season three
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
. Ben is initially a
state auditor
State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, state examiners, or inspectors general) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, financial ...
who comes to
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
* ...
with
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 bud ...
to evaluate the town's funds at the end of the second season. He began dating
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 Departm ...
in the
season 3
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...
episode "
Road Trip
A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile.
History
First road trips by automobile
The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by t ...
" and married her in the
season 5
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
episode "Leslie and Ben". In the
season 7
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
episode "2017", Ben was named Pawnee's Man of the Year for 2017. In the season finale, it is implied that either he or Leslie eventually became the
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 Stat ...
; Leslie taking office would make him the
First Gentleman
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the t ...
.
Character biography
Ben is from
Partridge, Minnesota. When he was 18, he ran for
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and won on the strength of, in his words, "anti-establishment voter rebellion." However, being so inexperienced, he quickly ran the town's finances into the ground mainly due to the construction of a winter sports complex called "Ice Town", which was never completed. He was then impeached after two months in office.
His complete blunder bankrupted the town, caused its unemployment rate to hit 30%, and led to the newspaper headline "Ice Town Costs Ice Clown His Town Crown."
Ben attended
Carleton College
Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...
, where he was the host and DJ for a
swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
college radio show called Zoot Suit Wyatt, a reference to the swing song "
Zoot Suit Riot" (1997). After becoming an accountant, he and
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 bud ...
assumed the nicknames Butch Count-sidy and the Sum-dance Kid, with the names referencing the outlaws
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.
Parker engaged in crimina ...
and the
Sundance Kid
Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – November 7, 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the American Old West. He likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker) during a huntin ...
as well as being accounting puns.
Ben is very serious, mature and work-oriented, and usually does not seem fazed by much of the immature, eccentric behavior from some of the other members of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department, primarily
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 for ...
,
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 Departm ...
, and
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. H ...
. Ben is often teased by Tom (and, early on, Leslie as well) for his affinity for, references to and vast knowledge in ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'', ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'', ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'' and other things considered to be "nerdy". His love for
calzone
A calzone (, , ; "stocking" or "trouser") is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza, often described as a turnover, made with leavened dough. It originated in Naples in the 18th century. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in ...
s is also a recurring joke in the series. Ben is shown to have a hard time socializing, and connecting with people by having work as his main focus. During a period of joblessness in season six, he creates a game called ''The Cones of Dunshire'' which becomes wildly popular, a fact that he realizes while visiting San Francisco. Initially dejected that he didn't copyright it, his former boss,
Barney Varmn, surprises him with the copyright papers.
Season two
When Ben comes to Pawnee, he immediately clashes with Leslie, who is appalled by his unsentimental attitude towards firing people and his penchant for slashing her department's budget. However, when he asks her out for a beer, they begin to show respect for one another. He shares his past as the mayor of Partridge, and that he became a state auditor to prove he can be responsible and eventually run for office again.
Their new friendship turns sour when Ben and Chris reveal that the town is virtually out of funds and the government will have to be shut down until further notice.
Despite the seriousness of the problems, Chris presents the situation in an extremely positive light and tries to make all the city hall employees around him happy, leaving the hard decisions and delivery of bad news up to Ben; meaning, Chris is the good cop and Ben is the bad cop in this partnership.
Chris and Ben form a budget task force, consisting of several government employees including Ron. When Ron accidentally reveals that Leslie was trying to set up an annual children's concert that was supposed to be canceled on Lot 48 behind Ann's house, Ben tries to shut it down. However, after seeing the effort Leslie put into it, which included having the equipment donated from local vendors, he pays the entertainer Freddy Spaghetti to come back after he booked another event, getting back on Leslie's good side. Ben is also surprised, but quietly pleased when Ron authorizes Leslie to take his place on the budget task force.
Season three
When the government shutdown ends, Ben informs the department that due to the shoestring budget, they will only be on maintenance for the time being. Ben suspects that Leslie is trying to have Ann convince Chris to distribute more funds to the department and confirms his suspicions when he crashes their date at the same time Leslie crashes it, but Ben decides to let it play out. While at a gay club, Ben mentions the failure of the Ice Town project, showing that he used to be just as ambitious as Leslie, but Leslie gives him credit for trying. Ben listens to Leslie's presentation regarding the Pawnee Harvest Festival idea that will allow them to do their jobs properly and bring funds into the department. When Ben asks what will happen if it does not bring in funds, Leslie says they can shut down the department, and Ben allows them to go forth with the festival.
Ben assists Leslie with the festival preparations, and is thoroughly impressed when she gives a flawless presentation despite being stricken with the flu. When Leslie and Ben try to ask the police force to handle security for the festival, Ben is shown not to have very strong social skills, although in this case it could be attributed to the fact that he does not understand Pawnee as well as Leslie. He and Leslie continue to build a strong friendship over their development of the Harvest Festival, and it is implied he has developed an attraction to her when he asks the police chief about her relationship with Dave. He also becomes better friends with Tom, supporting him when he is rejected by a cologne magnate, although Tom does his fair share of ribbing Ben.
While doing the media blitz for the festival, he is continuously asked about his disastrous tenure as mayor of Partridge. After freezing up at the majority of questions asked, he then goes on a furious tirade at a later interview, prompting businesses to pull their sponsorships at the festival and putting the parks department in jeopardy. At the last interview at ''Pawnee Today'', Ben finally stands his ground, stating that everyone does stupid things when they were teenagers and that he has since saved at least five cities from bankruptcy as an auditor.
During the festival itself, a series of catastrophes leads Ben to feel he is cursed and leave the festival, returning later to admit he is not over his past. Leslie assures him that he is as responsible for the festival's success as she is, and has the local Native American chief Ken Hotate perform a fake ceremony to remove his "curse."
Following the conclusion of the festival, Chris is installed as interim city manager of Pawnee, and offers Ben a job as assistant city manager, which he eventually accepts. It is implied that he made the decision to be closer to Leslie and that they are mutually attracted to each other, but a new policy of Chris's forbids city employees to date each other, halting a potential relationship between the two.
Since he is staying in Pawnee permanently, Ben decides to move out of the motel where he has been living. Andy and April offer him a spare room in their house, since their previous roommate moved out and left the house to them. Although the two have been living by themselves for only a week, the house is a complete mess with no everyday items like plates or utensils available. Ben decides to teach a reluctant Andy and April how to properly live like adults.
In "
Road Trip
A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile.
History
First road trips by automobile
The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by t ...
" Ben and Leslie are sent to Indianapolis to state their case to host the State Little League Championship in Pawnee. They win the case, and go out for a celebratory dinner. There, Ben tells Leslie he likes her romantically, and Leslie confirms she likes him too, but Chris decides to crash their dinner, preventing them from addressing their feelings. At the end of the episode, Leslie approaches Ben to hand him receipts, and he kisses her.
In "
The Bubble", Leslie and Ben are officially dating, but are keeping their relationship a secret due to Chris's no-dating policy. They are enjoying what Leslie calls "the bubble", meaning the beginning of a relationship when everything is simple and fun. However, it is suddenly threatened when Ben has a meeting with Leslie's mother Marlene, who wants Ben to approve the purchase of four new school buses despite a difficult budget season. Afraid of ruining the bubble, Leslie initially tells Ben she is not related to Marlene. Right before Ben's meeting, however, Leslie admits Marlene is her mother, making him nervous and causing him to capitulate to all of her demands during the meeting, which makes Marlene consider Ben weak. Leslie trains Ben for his next meeting with her mother. He impresses Marlene so much with his tough negotiation skills that she becomes flirtatious with him. An uncomfortable Ben tells Leslie they should tell her about their relationship, but Leslie does not want to lose the bubble. Fed up, Ben storms into Marlene's office and tells her that he is dating her daughter and asks her to keep it secret. Marlene laughs off the situation and tells Leslie that she approves of Ben.
In the season finale "
Li'l Sebastian
"Li'l Sebastian" is the sixteenth episode and season finale of the third season of the American comedy television series ''Parks and Recreation'', and the 46th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May ...
", Leslie and Ben continue their romance, but are struggling to keep it secret. Ron soon finds out and warns them that if Chris learns about it, he will fire them. As the city prepares for the memorial service for Li'l Sebastian, Pawnee's beloved celebrity miniature horse, Leslie and Ben are caught making out by a maintenance worker, so they send him home in exchange for his silence. Unfortunately, the worker had the propane for Li'l Sebastian's memorial flame, which results in ongoing problems that Leslie and Ben struggle to fix throughout the night. Later, although the memorial turned out to be a success, things get even more complicated when Leslie is approached by scouts looking for potential candidates for elected office. They believe she would be a good candidate for upcoming city council seats, or possibly the mayoral position. With the expected increased media attention on her personal life, the scouts ask whether Leslie has any secret scandals they should know of. She denies this, thus omitting her secret relationship with Ben.
Season four
Though their relationship had become rather serious, Ben and Leslie are forced to break up to avoid a scandal which could derail Leslie's city council candidacy. Ben understands, giving Leslie a "Knope 2012" button he had made. He then starts helping Tom run his business Entertainment 720, where he is shocked at how much money Tom spends without getting any revenue. He also helps Tom charm Joan Callamezzo to try to get her book club to include Leslie's new book, but Joan gets drunk and hits on them. He and Leslie end up sharing lovelorn looks with each other. Ben is dragged along to Tom and Donna's "Treat Yo Self", where he treats himself to a
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
costume and a good cry over his breakup with Leslie.
While Leslie attempts to keep him in her life, Ben insists that he needs distance from her since being around Leslie is too difficult for him. Leslie continually tries to spend time with Ben until, through the help of Ben and Ann, she sees that she has been ignoring what Ben wants and doing only what she wants. Ben and Leslie meet at the
Smallest Park, which is supposed to be their last project together. Leslie apologizes and tells Ben that she will leave him alone if that is what he wants. Ben responds that he does not want that but he thinks that it is for the best. As Ben starts to leave, Leslie declares that she misses him like crazy and wants to be with him. After she asks how he feels, Ben kisses Leslie and the relationship is reinstated.
Later, they confess to Chris about their relationship, and he launches an investigation to check for any possible acts of corruption, as Ben is Leslie's superior. It turns out that in the season three finale, Ben and Leslie had bribed a maintenance worker to keep quiet about them after the worker witnessed them kissing. As that was a possible reason for termination, Leslie was ready to take full responsibility only to find that Ben resigned from his job in order to save hers.
Following his termination, Ben takes some time to "explore his interests" which consists of him remaining in his house and attempting various hobbies like making
calzone
A calzone (, , ; "stocking" or "trouser") is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza, often described as a turnover, made with leavened dough. It originated in Naples in the 18th century. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in ...
s and stop motion films. His appearance becomes unkempt and after a visit from Chris, he realizes that, despite convincing himself otherwise, he is unhappy without some sort of direction in his life. After Leslie's campaign flops at the ice rink, Ann resigns (eagerly) from being Leslie's campaign manager and Leslie asks Ben to run her campaign given his experience with local politics. Ben takes over the duties of running Leslie's campaign for city council and helps turn the campaign around, making it competitive with Bobby Newport's bid for city office. Ben manages to secure the endorsement of Pawnee's retiring police chief and improve Leslie's likability at a bowling event (despite the spectacle of having punched a man who called Leslie 'a bitch'). In "
Dave Returns
The fourth season of '' Parks and Recreation'' originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network, and began on September 22, 2011, and ended on May 8, 2012. The season contained 22 episodes. It stars Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, ...
", it is revealed that not only is Ben socially awkward around police officers, but he is afraid of them, saying "I am not afraid of cops. I have no reason to be. I never break any laws ever because I'm deathly afraid of cops."
Towards the end of the campaign, Ben is offered a job working for a congressional campaign in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Initially conflicted, as it would mean several months away from Pawnee, Ben is ultimately convinced by Leslie to take the job.
Season five
Jonathan Banks
Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...
and
Glenne Headly
Glenne Aimee Headly (March 13, 1955 – June 8, 2017) was an American actress. She was widely known for her roles in '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', ''Dick Tracy'', and ''Mr. Holland's Opus''. Headly received a Theatre World Award and four Joseph J ...
guest starred as Ben's parents in the fifth season. He successfully runs a congressional campaign during the first five episodes of the season. When Ben returns to Pawnee, he proposes to Leslie, and they move into a house together. Later, Ben turns down multiple job offers in Pawnee to join Tom Haverford's company, Rent-a-Swag; concurrently, he ends up working for Sweetums, at a division dedicated to improving their public image by funding charities. He also takes on Andy as an assistant. Ben and Leslie throw a large event designed to help with fundraising for the Pawnee Commons instead of creating a wedding registry. During the event, Leslie tells Ben how much she hates the feeling of not being married to him. Ben responds by saying that they should just get married that night. After two hours of frantically finishing last minute details, a ceremony ruined by a drunk Councilman Jamm, and bailing Ron out of jail, they hold the wedding in the Parks Department. In the episode titled "Partridge" Ben is invited to return to Partridge, his hometown where he was elected and failed as mayor at the age of 18, for a ceremony to give him the
key to the city
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
. Ben falls ill with
kidney stones
Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...
, and when Leslie goes to receive the key in his name, it is revealed to be one big joke to mock Ben for his failure as a mayor.
Season six
After Leslie attacks Sweetums in a press statement, Ben is fired from his job with the company. He then takes on the accountant job he has accepted and declined three times prior. Shortly later though Chris offers him the Job of City Manager of Pawnee because Chris is leaving town and Ben accepts it, becoming the new City Manager of Pawnee and Leslie's boss as she returns to her job in the Parks and Recreation Department. At the end of the episode entitled "Flu Season 2" Ben has a fight with his father who sold their family lake house where Ben had many wonderful childhood memories. He realizes he wants to start a family with Leslie, when he returns home to tell Leslie, he discovers that she is pregnant with their first child. When visiting Dr. Saperstein, they realize she is having triplets.
Season seven
Ben remains city manager, and is planning the Pawnee Bicentennial. This, along with greatly improving the economy of Pawnee, gets him the award for Man of the Year. He and Leslie have had their triplets, two boys and one girl, whom they have named Stephen, Westley, and Sonia. During the final episode of ''The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show'', Ben is made a Knight of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
by His Royal Excellence Lord Edgar Darby Covington, 14th Earl of Cornwall-Upon-Thames and 29th Baron of Hertfordshire. After being contacted by Jennifer Barkley, and with Leslie's full support, he decides to run for Congress in 2018. While campaigning, he earns IOW's Woman of the Year award for giving Leslie room to speak her mind instead of reading scripted speeches. Through a series of flash-forwards in the final episode, it is revealed that Ben's congressional campaign was successful and is now a representative from Indiana for the House of Representatives. In 2025, he and Leslie are both given the opportunity to run as Governor of Indiana, and Ben ultimately decides to let Leslie run, once again managing her ultimately successful campaign. By 2048, it is implied that at least one of them has been elected President of the United States, with Ben wearing a flag lapel pin and being acknowledged first by someone who appeared to be a member of the Secret Service.
Development
Adam Scott departed from his leading role on the
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...
comedy television series ''
Party Down
''Party Down'' is an American sitcom created and primarily written by John Enbom, Rob Thomas (writer), 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 c ...
'' to accept the role of Ben Wyatt on ''
Parks and Recreation
''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...
''.
''Parks and Recreation'' was one of Scott's favorite shows even before he took the role.
When he accepted a role on ''Parks and Recreation'', it was unclear whether ''Party Down'' would be renewed for a third season, and Scott said, "I couldn't pass up the opportunity on ''Parks and Rec'' for a show that could possibly not exist anymore."
Although ''Party Down'' co-creator
Rob Thomas said he believed the show could continue without Scott, and that the actor would continue to make guest appearances on the show,
''Party Down'' was cancelled just three months after Scott departed. Series co-creator
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. ...
said when the Ben Wyatt character was conceived, Scott was considered the "dream scenario" casting choice.
As part of Scott's contract with the series, he also signed a
first-look deal
A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...
to develop television projects for NBC.
Scott first appeared in ''Parks and Recreation'' starting in the penultimate second-season episode, "
The Master Plan", the same episode Rob Lowe joined the regular cast as Chris Traeger.
The idea of a character trying to rebuild a government career following a humiliating public failure was one of the original ideas for the protagonist of ''Parks and Recreation''. The idea was originally abandoned in favor of Leslie Knope's character, but those early ideas were ultimately incorporated into Ben Wyatt.
Ben's role as a state auditor, and Pawnee's subsequent budget problems, were conceived from
global economic crisis and news reports about government services getting shut down around the country. Scott described his character as "someone who jumped in on a moving train" in trying to integrate with the other characters.
Ben was expected to become a love interest for Leslie Knope from his earliest conception.
In addition to the growing relationship between Leslie and Ben, one of the biggest story arcs for season three was Ben's growing love of the city of Pawnee, which coincided with his romantic feelings for Leslie. Schur described Ben's character as one who never had a firm sense of home due to the excessive amount of traveling with his job, but who gradually grew to appreciate Pawnee due to the optimism and enthusiasm Leslie has for her job.
Reception
The character received extremely positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Alan Sepinwall
Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He th ...
of
HitFix
HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
called Scott one of the "rare but special" actors who can be both "the sane and deadpan center of the madness, but can also go convincingly, amusingly mad". ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' writer David Hinckley praised Scott's addition to the ''Parks and Recreation'' cast, claiming he "gets more of a character here than he does on Starz's entertaining ''Party Down'' and makes the best of it". Scott received particular praise for his performance in "Media Blitz", in which his awkward and panicked responses to media inquiries about his past led to what reviewers considered more outwardly comedic opportunities for the character, compared to his usual
straight man
The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...
role.
Several reviewers mentioned that Ben Wyatt closely resembled Scott's character on ''Party Down'', Henry Pollard. Ben's character is a politician who found great success at a young age, then suffered a downfall. Henry's character is an actor who became a caterer after his acting career declined.
Scott himself has said that he feels they are "vastly different characters and circumstances."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, Ben
Parks and Recreation characters
Television characters introduced in 2010
Fictional government officials
Fictional mayors
Fictional characters from Minnesota
Fictional Democrats (United States)
Fictional members of the United States House of Representatives
Fictional accountants
Fictional knights
American male characters in television