Prior to filming "Telethon", Schrempf's acting skills had been limited to appearances on the American comedy series Married with Children and the German soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. When she appears in Season 7 her father offers an embarrassed explanation for her insanity by telling Ben and April one word: "pills.". [15][62] While Ben never previously established roots in a town due to the constant traveling from his job, Ben gradually came to develop a love of Pawnee, which coincided with his developing romantic interest in Leslie herself. Trish Ianetta (April Marie Eden) is an attractive young woman who won the title Miss Pawnee in "Beauty Pageant". In "Women in Garbage", Ron is babysitting her daughters in the office with Ann, and accidentally allows them to lock themselves in his office with the contents of Ann's medical bag. See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Series Directed by . When Leslie insisted there was nowhere she could move the festival without being offensive due to Pawnee's extremely bloody history, Ken threatened to place a curse on the festival. [22] In the first-season finale "Rock Show", a drunken Mark tried to kiss Leslie, but she rejected him and he accidentally falls into the pit. Parks and Recreation (TV Series 2009-2015) - IMDb Perhaps one of the most notable guest stars in 'Parks and Rec' history comes about at the National Parks Conference where Michelle Obama imparts words of wisdom to a flabbergasted Leslie. [nb 4] Perd reported on the sex scandal involving Councilman Bill Dexhart in "Practice Date",[103] the rumors of Leslie's sexual affair with Dexhart in "Christmas Scandal",[101] and the supposed Indian curse on the harvest festival in "Harvest Festival". Josh Groban. On Election Night, she tries and fails to keep pro-Newport voting machines in place, and later is rebuffed when she doesn't want an automatic recount to be triggered by Bobby's initial 21-vote victory margin. Guest Stars | Parks and Recreation | Comedy Bites - YouTube He then points out that if there was any blame, it was the citizens' fault. Wendy came to Pawnee from Ottawa, Canada and married Tom so she could remain in the country. [210][211] In Season 4, he remained at Entertainment 720, and was hanging out with Roy Hibbert, who had the free time to work with them due to the NBA lockout; both men roundly mocked Tom and Jean-Ralphio's lack of business sense. [30][91], Though not seen after early in season 5, Marlene is still referenced from time to time. Derry Murbles (Dan Castellaneta) and August Clementine (John Hodgman) are the hosts of the public radio talk show "Thought for your Thoughts." [53] Andy is the lead singer and guitarist for his band, Mouse Rat. [17][49] He has two ex-wives, both named Tammy, both of whom he hates. He has a very serious and gruff personality, and speaks in a dry, monotonic manner. Kristen Bell was perfectly terrible as Eagleton councilwoman Ingrid de Forest. Speaking with a slight Southern accent, Jessica is a superficial woman who cares deeply about her own physical appearance and tries hard to charm others around her. His first cameo came on season five. She had been in discussions with the Parks and Recreation staff to make a guest appearance since the show debuted, and grew frustrated when it took several months before she received an invitation. 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 Newport family are the owners of the Sweetums candy manufacturer in Pawnee and one of the city's richest and most prominent families. She is put in charge as the deputy director of the animal control part of Parks and Recreation. [53], Dr. Harris (Cooper Thornton) is a doctor who works at the hospital with Ann Perkins. [216] Since leaving Pawnee, Lindsay lost 35 pounds, had a nose job,[83][218] adopted a slight aristocratic accent and developed a snobbish, nouveau riche personality. In the Season 6 episode "Doppelgangers", he was brought over to the Pawnee offices along with other Eagleton employees when the towns merged. The two instantly go to the fourth floor of City Hall and are married in an extremely fast-paced wedding, with Leslie as maid of honor and April as Ron's "best man". Megan Mullally, Offerman's real-life wife, played his character's ex-wife Tammy Swanson, and Poehler's former husband Will Arnett made an appearance as a man on a blind date with Leslie. [196] Shauna also appeared in "Media Blitz" as one of the many reporters who wrote about Ben Wyatt's past as a failed teen mayor. He called me park lady. After recurring heavily during the show's sixth season, Eichner was promoted to a starring cast member in the seventh season, beginning with the fourth episode "Leslie and Ron". ", "Parks and Recreation Review: American, Buffets, Honor", "Parker Posey guests on "Parks and Rec" this week; go behind the scenes! // The Observer", "Parks and Recreation: "Freddy Spaghetti" Review", "Parks and Recreation Recap: The World is a Vampire", "Parks and Recreation: "Sister City" Review", "Parks and Recreation: "Ron and Tammy" Review", "Parks and Recreation, "Ron and Tammy": Megan Mullally guests", "Parks and Recreation: "Park Safety" Review", "Parks and Recreation: "94 Meetings" Review", "Parks and Recreation Review: "Ron & Tammy, Part 2", "Review: 'Parks and Recreation' 'Ron & Tammy II': Rock the cradle of love? In Citizen Knope, Leslie gives a Christmas ornament with "Knope 2012" written on it, to William as a present, and attempts to give Elizabeth a Knope 2012 menorah because she thinks but is not sure Elizabeth is Jewish (she isn't). Angry that Leslie blamed Carl's security measures for the mugging, he threatened to reveal the truth on Joan Callamezzo's morning news show, Pawnee Today. She first appeared in Smallest Park, where she made quite an impression on Andy, April, and particularly Ron. [131][133] Although sympathetic, Leslie cannot agree to Kelly's request or she would have to accept demands from all Pawnee residents. In the series finale, Ron shows Ben and Leslie a photo of his children, and reveals that Ivy has been accepted into Stanford University. Confident and lively, she has been described by NBC as the "parks diva". [53] She also became the manager of Andy's band, Mouse Rat, previously known as Scarecrow Boat. The company has operated and thrived in the city for years, as indicated in the episode "Sweetums", where Leslie screened 30-year-old video footage of a then-young Nick Newport Sr. discussing how corn syrup was used to fatten cattle at farms. ", Millicent "Millie" Gergich (Sarah Wright) is the beautiful eldest daughter of Gayle and Jerry. In later seasons, he offers Ben a job at his accounting firm on multiple occasions. Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider) was a Pawnee city planner who dated Ann Perkins for much of the second season. Impressed by Justin's worldliness, Leslie was so determined to impress him with a house party that, in "Leslie's House", she abused her government power by recruiting town employees to provide entertainment. [192][193] In his younger days on Pawnee TV, Perd was a film critic who famously gave E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial only 1 and 1/2 stars because "it's a good story, but it's just not believable". Afterwards, Bobby congratulates her performance during the debate and asks her if she would like to come to his house for a party. [28][64] In the episode "Camping", he took a job as acting city manager after the previous manager, Paul Iaresco, suffered a heart attack. She lives on the farm Ron grew up on, and has an entire room devoted to guns. After this, Ron tries significantly harder with the girls, growing more comfortable in his role as their caregiver and, ultimately, their stepfather. List of Parks and Recreation characters - Wikipedia While it appears she's being honest about this, she later trashes Leslie in a TV interview, edits Leslie's successful YouTube campaign ad to make her sound like an idiot, and swipes Leslie's building-ramp plan in favor of an electric lifts plan that leads Pawnee senior citizen powerbroker Ned Jones (played by Carl Reiner) to endorse Bobby. Jessica first appeared in "Beauty Pageant" as a Miss Pawnee panel judge along with Leslie and Tom. Meghan Cook Jul 18, 2018, 12:47 PM PDT "Parks and Recreation" had a star-studded cast and some famous guest stars. And while Ann might secretly still harbor some feelings for him, she agrees to set Leslie on a date with him after the case is done. Gayle has a solid and overly-affectionate relationship with Jerry, puzzling to his coworkers. [172] He first appeared in "Canvassing" at a forum Leslie held to raise support for her proposed park project. Imagine Ron Swanson's near-spiritual twin running the parks department in Eagleton, exactly like Ron but without all the bacon and steak eating, more of a vegan and hippie sort. [179] In season 5, she briefly dates Chris Traeger. The plan backfired, however, when Marlene became attracted to Ben and made a pass at him. The 20 Best 'Parks And Recreation' Recurring Characters (And The 5 Best She also appears again in "Jerry's Retirement". Annabel was the face of Eagleton's phonebook but decided to pursue her dreams and become friends with a bunch of celebrities. He then handcuffed Ben in the bathroom, but Ben had access to his cell phone and called Leslie, who then sat down for a friendly but firm chat with Dave where she said she was in love with Ben. It was also revealed that he has a Leap Day birthday and is 64/16 years old. [74] Carl appeared in "Park Safety", in which Jerry claimed to be mugged in Ramsett Park, which fell under Carl's territory. He also appears to have a grudge against the entire Parks Department, angry over the fact that Leslie ruined his Paunch Burger plan. Dave apologized for his behavior and accepted the situation, being glad to know that Leslie is happy. In season six, his coworkers take to permanently calling him Larry instead of Jerry. Jennifer tells Leslie that she's bored and took this job for the money, not much caring who wins and finding Bobby to be stupid. [61] In "Camping", Paul held a press conference to commend Leslie for her successful relaunch of the city's harvest festival. [58][63] When he learns Leslie is running for office in the episode "I'm Leslie Knope", they break up for fear of jeopardizing Leslie's chance of winning the election in the event they could get caught and create a scandal. [39][101] His character was inspired by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and his 2009 scandal, in which he admitted to a long-time extramarital affair with an Argentinian woman. She and Ron remain married as of the series finale, "One Last Ride". In contrast to his awkwardness at work, Jerry leads an idyllic family life with his gorgeous wife, Gayle (played by Christie Brinkley), and their children, as shown when he hosts a holiday party in the Season 5 episode "Ron and Diane". Detlef Schrempf is a real-life retired basketball player for the Indiana Pacers who portrays himself on Parks and Recreation. [168][169] Andy, who helps Leslie capture the opossum, said at one point, "We're acting under direct orders from Mayor Gunderson's dog. After fighting with Leslie over the use of her private bathroom for her office, he becomes a continual thorn in Leslie's side for any proposal she makes. In the series finale, their son Jack is revealed to have been born in Pawnee on October 31, 2023, with his mother in full Halloween makeup while giving birth. Tammy II is director of the Pawnee Library, which is considered a horrible place by Leslie Knope and the parks department employees. He idolizes Ben Wyatt, laughing raucously when Ben makes accounting puns and often calling in an unseen character named Ted to hear the pun after he laughs at it. Werner Herzog dropped by Parks and Recreation's final season as Keg Jeggings. With Perd!, where host Perd Hapley was interviewing Leslie Knope about a painting she appeared nude in. Trish has been compared to Caitlin Upton, the 2007 Miss South Carolina Teen USA who made an incoherent response during the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant. At Ben and Leslie's engagement party, he paraded his new girlfriend Ulani around in front of Ben's mother and tempers started to flare. . [43] She always speaks in a deadpan and uninterested tone of voice, often making dry comments or mocking those around her, and expresses little interest in her job. In his first appearance, Donna describes him to Ron as her Tammy, so we have no idea what to expect. Kim tries to act dismissive, but gets scared out of the room by Donna. Town Guest (uncredited) 1 episode, 2014 Marilyn Mattor . Hugh Trumple (Eric Pierpoint) is chief of the Pawnee police department. The chief agreed to Leslie's request that he release him to Leslie's custody. Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins) is the hostess of Pawnee Today, a local news magazine/talk show that combines elements of NBC's Today and news shows like Nancy Grace. ), Wendy Haverford (Jama Williamson) starts the first season as the wife of Tom Haverford, although they are later revealed to have a green card marriage. Shauna Malwae-Tweep (Alison Becker) is a reporter with the local newspaper, The Pawnee Journal. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Brandi was also brought on as a guest and, to Leslie's chagrin, compared Leslie's painting to pornography and defended them both. Both Ron and his second wife named Tammy panic at the news of her arrival, and Ron initially goes into hiding before deciding to come back and face her. In "Filibuster" he can be seen as visibly pleased that Leslie had successfully filibustered Jamm's attempt to block former Eagletonians's right to vote. In "Andy and April's Fancy Party", Harris and Brett attend the wedding party; despite this, Harris later asks if April is single. During his stay, one night Jhonny sends a car to April to pick her up and take her to be with him but she uses the car to go to the movies with her friends.[134][223]. [39] Ron Swanson has been praised as the show's breakout character,[nb 1] and some of his traits were based on elements of Offerman's real-life personality, like their shared affinity for woodworking and saxophone-playing.[3][47]. Peretti wrote the episode in which she appeared. In the extended edition of the show's final episode, Leslie reassures Shauna that one day she will find happiness. [182][187] Joan reappeared in "Harvest Festival", where she was determined to find a problem with the festival Leslie organized. She is also the former girlfriend of Tom Haverford. He often speaks in awkward tautologies such as "One more shocking revelation in a story that won't stop unfolding",[188] "The statement this reporter has is a question",[189] and "Also joining us today is a different person". [116][118] In the third-season finale, "Li'l Sebastian", Tom quit his city hall job to form an entertainment company with Jean-Ralphio called Entertainment 720. Josh Groban joined Parks and Recreation's final season, appearing as himself in one episode. After the evening ends disastrously, Ron points out to Leslie that Justin is a selfish person who only cares about getting more stories, so she breaks up with him. In "Dave Returns", Dave comes back to Pawnee for the retirement party of the current police chief. . He is very charming,[119] regularly travels around the world and has done many extravagant things, such as mountain climbing. "[109] He is also mentioned in the episode "Leslie's House," when Mark asks everyone if they heard about the incident involving his dog, prompting Ron to say, "Oh my god, it was a bloodbath." He is named mayor of Pawnee in the second to last episode of season 7. When Ron begins dating their mother, he initially struggles with the fact that she has children, as he is not naturally drawn to them (in stark contrast to Andy, who offers Ron advice on how to interact with them). In Bus Tour, Joe later tried twice to hit Ben in the face with a pie in revenge, failing the first time (at one of Leslie Knope's campaign rallies, where he hit Jerry) before succeeding (at Bobby Newport's mansion) due to inept security from Andy's FBI agent alter-ego 'Burt Macklin' and then getting arrested. Leslie nodded adamantly and replied, "I agree with you on all things throughout history until the end of times forever.". He reappears in "Prom" in season 6, where Leslie is horrified to learn that he is the boyfriend of a girl she has been mentoring. [117] This came at a time when Ann was regularly going on a string of dates with random, underachieving men, and the date with The Douche led to a major argument between Ann and Leslie because Ann was supposed to be preparing for a job interview Leslie had arranged for her. She also appears again in "Jerry's Retirement. He appeared in the episode "Sister City", when he and a delegation of Venezuelan officials visited Pawnee, where they were met by Leslie and her fellow parks department employees. [134][223] He was particularly unsettled by Pawnee's public forums, in which the residents loudly and angrily criticized their government officials; Raul explained he usually holds his meetings in fortresses, citadels or palaces, and that anyone who complains or does anything out of line is immediately thrown in jail. He played himself and participated in the Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic. Marlene Griggs-Knope (Pamela Reed) is Leslie's mother and a major political figure in Pawnee's school system. [140][141] During one scene in "Ron and Tammy", where the two characters run into a motel to have sex, Mullally removed her top and threw it into the air, an improvised move that she did not tell the crew she planned to do. Ron later assures her that while Leslie is a loyal friend and colleague, he could never have any romantic feelings towards her. She makes another brief appearance in "Jerry's Retirement. Although Perd only asked simple questions, the nervous Ben had a complete meltdown, which ended with him angrily referring to Perd Hapley as "Turd Crapley". Some seriously famous faces have stopped by Pawnee. Greg Pikitis (Cody Klop), a teenage boy living in Pawnee, Indiana, is Leslie's mortal enemy. This inadvertently caused Ann to meet Leslie after Ann attends a city hall meeting to demand the pit be filled in. [81] Although Ken enjoyed giving Leslie some tsuris[clarification needed] at this point, later on it is shown he fully respects her; when Leslie desperately plants Wamapoke artifacts on the Lots 42 site after Councilman Jamm and the Pawnee Restaurant Association henchwoman have broken an agreement to leave the site alone until a city meeting, Ken first accepts Leslie's apology and then bluntly threatens reprisals unless the agreement is reinstated, which a cowardly Jamm quickly agrees to do. [125] Leslie brings him back for the Harvest Festival in season three, although he was much older and had many ailments, including cataracts, diabetes, and arthritis. Jennifer's expression makes it clear Leslie has finally scored some points against her. [121] Decades later, Marlene shared the story of her long-lost love with Leslie, and Leslie's boyfriend Justin Anderson insisted they find Frank and surprise Marlene by reuniting the pair. (27 episodes, 2009-2015) Michael Schur . He's not a team player. Her character may be a reference to adult film star and candidate for Governor of California Mary Carey. Crazy Ira (Matt Besser) and Howard "The Douche" Tuttleman (Nick Kroll) are two shock jocks of a morning zoo-style Pawnee radio program. They are first seen in the second-season episode The Possum; Brett appears in six episodes and Harris in eight. Collins was originally expected to appear only in one Parks and Recreation episode, but returned for subsequent episodes because the writing staff enjoyed her performance.[188]. [110] Nick Newport Sr. appeared in the episode "94 Meetings", where his young and attractive gold digger wife Jessica Wicks held his 85th birthday party at the Turnbill Mansion. Celebrities Who Guest Starred on "Parks and Recreation" abusive, and [was] waking up [his] birds," causing Lawrence to admit that he had ". When Leslie, Ron, April and Andy are in London, it is revealed that Diane suggested tagging along to make the trip hers and Ron's honeymoon, but her morning sickness meant that she couldn't go. ", "When did "Parks and Recreation" get so funny? Shauna is the only non-main character to appear in every season. [39][40], Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) is the parks and recreation director, although he allows Leslie to do almost all the real work in the department. July 22, 2023. [54][200] Jessica sang a horribly out-of-key song for her husband with an accompanist on the harp. [83] Lindsay first appears in the episode "Eagleton", where she built a fence directly through a park Pawnee and Eagleton share to keep the Pawnee children out of her town. Dexhart first appeared in "Practice Date", when he publicly admitted to having participated in a foursome in a Brazil cave under the guise of building houses for the underprivileged. Dunn turned out to be a hippie with New Age ideals, and Swanson found him insufferable. Joe was arrogant and bragged to Leslie about his department's chances at success, and his department ultimately designed a good mural, but the contest ended without a winner. He played himself, appearing as Donna's cousin and performing his hit singles at the Pawnee/Eagleton Unity Concert. 11 Famous Guest Stars You Forgot Appeared On Parks & Recreation Shortly after, Ann and Chris moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ken Hotate (Jonathan Joss) is the leader of Pawnee's local Wamapoke Native American tribe. [207] Marcia planned to publicly burn the painting,[37] but Leslie had it switched with a decoy painting and kept the original herself. Typhoon is introduced in the fifth episode of Season 6 as Donna's hairdresser, and she later recommends him to Ron following the passing of his regular barber. Jhonny is very excited about April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza). Ron sheepishly admits that he loves her as well. He is particularly inexperienced with small girls; both Ivy and Zoe love traditionally feminine activities, and relish dressing up Ron and doing his makeup, which he is often powerless to stop. Jon Hamm dropped by Parks and Recreation twice, appearing on the sixth and seventh seasons of the show. Leslie angrily demanded that Dave set Tom free, and Dave immediately found Leslie attractive. Like April, both Derek and Ben are cynical and sarcastic, often mocking others around them. Parker Posey plays Lindsay Carlisle Shay, an Eagleton snob who was once Leslie's best friend. He constantly talks extremely loudly, speaking at screaming levels even when asked to talk quietly,[74][75] and works as a ranger because he cannot hold down a job that involves working indoors due to his inability to control the volume of his voice. [37][193] She claimed anyone should be allowed to have sex anywhere they wanted, and falsely believed Leslie felt the same way. Tom shoved him into a swimming pool, Ann refused to sleep with him, and Ron punched him in the mouth. The show is known for its particularly boring content and terrible song selections. [76] In an episode of season 4 during Leslie's trial for the relationship she had with Ben, Jerry reveals his real first name, Garry, while under oath. [63] He first appears in "April and Andy's Fancy Party", where he makes Ben feel uncomfortable during the wedding reception; at one point Ben says to him, "No, Orin, I don't know how I'm going to die. [28][98] Although the pairing causes significant tension between Ron and Tom, Ron proves so happy in his relationship with Wendy that it allows him to resist the temptations of his horrible ex-wife Tammy II. [101][109] That has changed during the recall campaign against Leslie in Season 6, as Dexhart has cheerfully joined Jamm in blocking any initiatives by her and making it clear they both hope she is booted from office. He knew the curse to be fake, but believed it would frighten people enough to ruin the festival,[161][162] insisting, "There are two things I know about white people: they love Rachael Ray, and they are terrified of curses. [207] Condemning it as "government-funded animal porn",[205] she took the matter to the city arts commission, which agreed to destroy it because they do not want to offend anybody. [110][111] He promotes the energy bars through commercials that use similar propagandistic techniques as the commercials of real-life corn refiners: they feature warm images of Nick Newport Jr. with his dog Shoelace insisting corn syrup is "fine in moderation". [202] He spent three days in the office,[132] where he got Tom interested in Twilight and held book discussions with Tom and Donna. That week he was the eighth most photographed item in the United States. [55][68] The Ludgate family is first introduced in "94 Meetings", when Ron meets them after coming to the Ludgate home to speak with April. The season finale reveals Lucy is still with Tom in 2019, sticking with him through yet another failed business venture ahead of his successful novel. [153][158] When Leslie asked Joe his standards for women, he replied only that they cannot be elderly. [197] She appeared in "Jerry's Painting" as a guest on the news show Ya Heard? But they soon realized that the town never forgave Ben for a failed sports complex that plunged Partridge into financial ruin. In the Season 6 episode "Doppelgangers", she was brought over during the Pawnee-Eagleton merger. Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd) is Leslie's chief opponent in her fourth season campaign for City Council. He played Garth Blundin, a local resident with a passion for the town's history. All The Famous People In "Parks and Rec" That You Probably Forgot About Talk about starstruck. Although Linda seemed to have a connection with Chris, she went home with Ron, revealing her attraction to him, for the entire night. In the season three finale, Li'l Sebastian dies, and everyone is devastated (except for Ben, who still doesn't understand). Jennifer appears to keep her work and her personal feelings separate, given that she's able to relate to people when she's not working a campaign. He doesn't do a lot of work around here. Leslie launched efforts to make the parks safer and had Carl take them on a tour of the area; he showed Leslie, Tom and Jerry around on a mobile cart that had been attacked and urinated upon by raccoons. Leslie accuses them of hypocrisy as she believes that they are romantically involved, however Elizabeth bluntly responds "I'm gay". Joe first appeared in "The Camel", when the various Pawnee departments competed to design a mural for city hall. Carl Lorthner (Andy Samberg)[144] is a park ranger and the head of outdoor security for Pawnee. Leslie Knope frequently attempts to use the Journal as a friendly outlet, even dictating headlines verbatim to Shauna, but is either rebuffed or causes Shauna to stumble onto a story that will cause embarrassment for the department or Leslie personally. Lucy accepts and moves back to Pawnee, but Tom is unwilling to make a move, as she is still with her boyfriend from Chicago. Ben Weber, who played Carrie's pal (and Miranda's boyfriend) Skipper, shares his memories from the set of Sex and the City season 1. On a whim, Leslie invites Dave out to dinner with her and Ben and while Ben is in the bathroom, Dave reveals to Leslie that he still has feelings for her. After rejecting the option of a sperm bank, she eventually asks Chris to be the donor.