‘Nick Offerman and I used to make out every year for the blooper reel’: Oral history of Parks and Recreation
Can you believe it’s been 15 years since we first visited Pawnee? Beginning back on 9 April 2009, offbeat mockumentary Parks and Recreation first welcomed us to this weird and wonderful fictional town, courtesy of its relentlessly optimistic parks deputy director Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).
Together with her mustachioed boss Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), beautiful best friend Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), entrepreneurial assistant Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), utterly over-it intern April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), loveable layabout Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) and the rest of the show’s colourful ensemble, Knope and her adventures in small-fry bureaucracy gave us a comedic look inside the frequently bizarre and often all-too-relatable world of local politics.
That’s the elevator pitch. However, over time, Parks and Rec became so much more than a fly-on-the-wall workplace comedy that started its life as a spin-off idea, capitalising on the success of America’s take on The Office. Under the guidance of that show’s boss, Greg Daniels, Parks and Rec co-creator and writer Michael Schur defied near-constant cancellation threats to transform his new show into a fully realised world, packed with scene-stealing regulars, big-name guests like Paul Rudd, Bill Murray and Michelle Obama, and more moments of genuine heart than even its cast expected to find.
Its cheery vibe escaped screens and translated directly to viewers, too. Whenever real life gets a bit much, many of us often find solace in the comedy comfort food of sitcoms – and no show is more incessantly happy, uplifting and restorative than Parks and Rec.
So, as the series turns 15 years old, we return to Pawnee to catch up with many of its key players, including co-creator Schur and stars Poehler, Ansari, Jones and Jim O’Heir (aka office klutz Jerry/Gary/Larry/Terry Gergich), to reflect on the show’s rocky beginnings, eccentric world-building, impromptu dance parties, political guest stars and lasting legacy of hope.
‘It wasn’t exactly an Office spin-off but the tone and the ethos behind it was...’
After achieving what many deemed impossible and translating Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s gamechanger ‘The Office’ into an American TV megahit, showrunner Greg Daniels enlists ‘The US Office’ writer Michael Schur to start work on a new show with a similar mockumentary style
Michael Schur (co-creator): Greg Daniels was my mentor and taught me everything I know about writing half-hour TV. The British version of The Office was, among comedy writers at least, the most revered piece of art that had been created for TV. He had taken on the challenge of adapting it [for American audiences] and literally everyone thought it was a terrible idea. However, he’s so thoughtful about the way he broke things down to figure out how to Americanise it that [The US Office] became one of the most successful TV shows of all time.
I had been on for seven or eight seasons and knew is great but you have to know when to move on, so it was just great timing.
