The last season of Leslie Knope and the rest of Parks and Recreation is on Netflix, which is bittersweet. The cast has given us the hot Chris Pratt and seven seasons of laughter. But do you know everything about the show? It’s time to find out! Here are 12 things you probably didn’t know about the comedy.
1. The show was pitched as a spin off to The Office
Some shows get a backdoor pilot by introducing the premise in an already existing show. That almost happened with this one as well. Ben Silverman wanted to do a spin off but couldn’t figure out how to work it into the show so he ditched the idea.
2. Michael Schur who played Dwight’s cousin on The Office is the show’s creator
3. Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally are married in real life
4. Actor Jay Jackson, who played news anchor Perd Hapley, is a retired broadcast journalist
5. The exterior shot of City Hall is Pasadena City Hall
6. Jean-Ralphio was supposed to be Leslie’s love interest but producers thought he was too young.
7. You can actually buy Leslie’s book, Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America
8. April’s sister, Natalie Renee Ludgate, is named after Plaza’s real sisters Natalie and Renee
9. Ron Swanson is based on a real official
The character is weirdly anti-government given his job. But there is a real Libertarian city planner who the producers interviewed. The planner told them, “I don’t believe in the mission of my job.” Nice!
10. Ron represents Republicans while Leslie represents Democrats
“The adage is when people want a dad they vote Republican and when they want a mom they vote Democrat,” Poehler explained. “Republicans are kind of like stern and tough and personal responsibility and war and stuff like that. Democrats are like, ‘More people should have food.’ At the beginning, the main conception of the show was that there would be a dad and a mom in the office, but the idea was like a stern, but loving dad and a loving mom.”
11. Jerry/Larry/Gary has an awesome family because of guilt
The cast felt bad for how terribly their characters treat him so they wrote him having a hot wife and beautiful daughters to compensate.
12. Originally Chris Pratt was supposed to guest star for only the first season
Thank GOD that changed.
