Parks and Recreation

Submission 38,427

About

Parks and Recreation is an American comedic sitcom that premiered on NBC on April 9th, 2009. The show stars former Saturday Night Live cast member Amy Poehler as the central character Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat who is introduced in the beginning as the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation department, before working her way up to an elected city council member in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. The show is filmed in a single-camera mockumentary style similar to that of The Office, with an ensemble supporting cast.

History

In 2007, The Office's lead writer Greg Daniels was invited to create a spin-off series for his show. After spending months trying to decide whether or not to actually create a spin-off or start with something fresh, Daniels signed Amy Poehler, known for her work with Chicago improv troupe Upright Citizens Brigade in the 1990s and on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2008. With Poehler, The Office alumna Rashida Jones and comedian Aziz Ansari on board, Daniels began to write a political sitcom about a beaureaucrat (Poehler) and her subordinate (Ansari) helping a civilian (Jones) transform an empty pit outside of her home into a park.^[9] After attending local city council meetings and talking with Californian elected officials and city planners, the pilot script was written in 2008 and the show premiered on April 9th, 2009. As of September 2013, the series has aired five seasons, with a sixth scheduled to premiere on September 26th.

Reception

The first season received mixed reviews, only scoring 59/100 on MetaCritic^[11] with many reviewers calling Poehler's character Leslie Knope too similar to The Office's Michael Scott.^[10] This criticism led the writing team to hone the characters and storylines, resulting in a successful second season that received 72/100 on MetaCritic.^[12]

Accolades

The show and its cast have been nominated for dozens of awards since 2010^[13] including the Emmy Awards, the People's Choice Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. As of September 2013, the series has won Outstanding Individual Episode at the 2010 GLAAD Media Awards, Best Comedy Series at the Comedy Awards in 2012, and Outstanding Comedy at the 2013 Gracie Awards. Poehler has also won several awards for her portrayal of Leslie Knope including Best Comedy Actress in TV at the Comedy Awards in 2012, Best Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2012 Critics' Choice Television Awards and Outstanding Female Actor at the 2013 Gracie Awards. Nick Offerman also won Individual Achievement in Comedy at the 2011 TCA Awards for his portrayal of Ron Swanson.

Online Presence

NBC maintains a number of official social media accounts for the show including a Tumblr blog^[3], Twitter account^[2], Google+ profile^[13], a Pinterest account^[14], Instagram page^[16] and YouTube channel.^[15] As of September 2013, their Facebook fan page^[4] has accrued more than 1.1 million likes.

Fandom

Online, many of the characters have developed a cult fan following, including Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson^[35] and Aubrey Plaza's April Ludgate.^[36] In March 2009, the first Parks and Recreation fan community launched on LiveJournal^[37] and has since posted more than 1,200 entries. The subreddit /r/PandR^[5] launched in January 2011, accruing more than 40,000 readers as of September 2013. That May, Fuck Yeah Parks and Rec^[6] was establish on Tumblr, followed by the A Softer World parody blog, A Softer Pawnee^[7] (shown below), that August.

In December 2011, ParksAndRecFans.com^[8] was created as a fan news source for show updates. As of September 2013, there are dozens of Parks and Recreation themed Tumblr blogs, many of which are linked on Fuck Yeah Parks and Rec.^[38] Additionally, there are more than 3,200 pieces of fan art for the show on deviantART{39] and more than 350 works on fanfiction on Archive of Our Own.^[40]

Fan Art

Treat Yo Self

"Treat Yo Self" is a catchphrase first uttered in the season four episode "Pawnee Rangers" which originally aired on October 13th, 2011. In the episode, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) and Donna Meagle (Retta) are celebrating their annual "Treat Yo Self" day, in which they splurge on expensive goods and services including fancy clothes and massages. The show premiered to 4 million U.S. viewers.

The same day, a Facebook fan page^[17] for Treat Yo Self Day was created, gaining nearly 3,000 likes as of September 2013. The corresponding hashtag #TreatYoSelf is also frequently used on Twitter^[19], Tumblr^[20] and Instagram^[21], where there are more than 93,000 photos that use the tag. Additionally, a number of fashion and lifestyle websites including Self^[23], Style^[24], One Fine Day^[25] and Rookie^[26] have used "Treat Yo Self" for titles of editorial pieces. NBC has also launched an official Treat Yourself online game^[18] and maintains an official Pinterest board^[22] for the phrase, featuring photos of items Donna or Tom would purchase.

Tom Haverfoods

Tom Haverfoods is the name of a single serving site inspired by a scene in the third season episode "Soulmates," which originally aired on April 21st, 2011. After Knope invites Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) out to eat, he asks if she will buy "apps and zerts," his personal slang terms for appetizers and desserts respectively. The camera then cuts to a talking head of Haverford alone, where he lists off a number of other slang terms he has coined including "chicky chicky parm parm" for chicken parmesan and "big ol' cookies" for cakes.

[This video has been removed]

On April 25th, the generator TomHaverfoods.com^[27] launched, offering other slang terms made up as an homage to Haverford's style. Corresponding Tumblr^[28] and Twitter^[29] accounts launched the same day. The following week, the site was featured on Vulture^[30], The Frisky^[31], Eater^[32], The Laugh Button^[33] and Trend Hunter.^[34]

Ron [Paul] Swanson

On January 1st, 2012, a single topic blog titled Ron [Paul] Swanson^[41] was created, pairing photos of retired U.S. congressman and then-presidential candidate Ron Paul with quotes from likeable Libertarian Ron Swanson, a character from the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. The site was featured on Uproxx^[8] and the Atlantic Wire.^[9]

Patton Oswalt's Star Wars Filibuster

In April 2013, Patton Oswalt guest-starred in an episode of Parks and Recreation as a filibustering citizen who pitches his multi-verse script for the upcoming Star Wars film in a non-stop, nine-minute-long improvised speech. The clip, which was uploaded via YouTube as a sneak preview on April 17th, has received more than 2.3 million views in the first five days.

NRA Responses

On February 21st, 2018, following a Town Hall debate on gun control following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, the NRA Twitter account tweeted a GIF of Leslie Knope thanking spokeswoman Dana Loesch for defending them during the Town Hall (shown below).

Following the tweet, several former cast members and production members from Parks and Recreation denounced the NRA's use of a GIF from their show. Nick Offerman, who played Ron Swanson, denounced the tweet in a tweet of his own that gained over 66,000 retweets and 245,000 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user Michael Schur, a writer on Parks and Recreation who goes by @KenTremendous on Twitter, responded to the NRA saying Amy Poehler told him to pass on "fuck off," gaining over 102,000 retweets and 380,000 likes.