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 ...

'' is an American

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

created by

Greg Daniels Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''The Simpsons'', adapting ''The Office'' f ...

and

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. ...

. It has been billed as a companion piece to Daniels' and Schur's other comedy, ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

''. Produced and broadcast by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, ''Parks and Recreation'' is filmed in the same

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

style as ''The Office'' and follows

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 ...

(

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...

), a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department in the fictional town of

Pawnee, Indiana Pawnee, Indiana ( ) is the fictional city in which the NBC comedy series ''Parks and Recreation'' is set. Since the show's start in 2009, the city's colorful history and inhabitants have been the joke or focal point for many episodes. Overview ...

. Inspired by local nurse

Ann Perkins Ann Meredith Perkins, RN, portrayed by Rashida Jones, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is a nurse and Leslie Knope's best friend. Storyline Season 1 At the start of the series, Ann Perkins is living wit ...

(

Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...

), Leslie vows to turn a vacant lot with a large pit into a beautiful park. The show's original line-up was

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Master ...

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 ...

, an administrator;

Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics A ...

Ron Swanson Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman from the situation comedy television series ''Parks and Recreation'' on NBC, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. In the series, Ron is the director of the Parks and ...

, head of the Parks and Recreation department and Leslie's superior;

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom '' Par ...

April Ludgate April Roberta Ludgate-Dwyer, née Ludgate, (portrayed by Aubrey Plaza) is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is first seen as an apathetic college student working as an intern in the Pawnee Department of Parks ...

, an intern;

Jim O'Heir Jim O'Heir (born February 4, 1962) is an American actor and comedian, perhaps best known for portraying Jerry Gergich on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation''. O'Heir first became active in Chicago theater and improv during the late 1980s and ...

Jerry Gergich Garry Gergich, also known as Jerry, Larry or Terry, is a fictional character in the TV series ''Parks and Recreation'', portrayed by Jim O'Heir. The character has appeared in every episode of the series, with the exception of the first-season epis ...

and

Retta Marietta Sirleaf,Jung, E. Alex Vulture.com, May 23, 2018. rchived https://web.archive.org/web/20180523214634/https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/retta-has-a-story-to-tell.htmlon 05-23-2018

Donna Meagle Donna Marie Meagle is a fictional character in the NBC comedy ''Parks and Recreation''. She is portrayed by Retta and has appeared in the show since the pilot. For the first two seasons of the show she appeared as a recurring character; she becam ...

, other employees of the Parks and Recreation department;

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...

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 ...

, Ann's boyfriend who was injured in the pit; and Paul Schneider as

Mark Brendanawicz Mark Brendanawicz is a fictional character in the NBC comedy series ''Parks and Recreation''. He is the city planner for Pawnee, Indiana, as well as Leslie Knope's colleague and one of Ann Perkins' ex-boyfriends. He is portrayed by Paul Schnei ...

, a city planner. Schneider left the series after the second season and was replaced by Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt and

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...

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 ...

, state auditors tasked with evaluating the Parks and Recreation department. In the sixth season, Jones and Lowe left while

Billy Eichner Billy Eichner (; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny Or Die's ''Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truTV. The show ea ...

joined as series regular,

Craig Middlebrooks The primary characters of the American television comedy series '' Parks and Recreation'' are the employees of the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional Indiana town. The protagonist is Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), the deputy parks director as ...

. The series ran for 125 episodes over seven seasons from April 9, 2009, until February 24, 2015, with a special episode aired on April 30, 2020.

Series overview

Episodes

Average episode runtime is 21–22 minutes without commercials. ^† denotes a longer 25–28 minute episode while denotes a "double-length" 42-minute episode.

Season 1 (2009)

Season 2 (2009–10)

Season 3 (2011)

Season 4 (2011–12)

Season 5 (2012–13)

Season 6 (2013–14)

Season 7 (2015)

Special episode (2020)

In April 2020, amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, NBC announced they would air a new, special episode of the series, centered on Leslie trying to stay connected with the other residents of Pawnee during social distancing. The series' cast returned for the special, which benefited

Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...