YMMV / Parks and Recreation

• Actor Shipping:
  • Many fans have issues accepting that Aubrey Plaza and Chris Pratt aren't actually dating. Plaza is on board with this, as she mentioned in an interview that remembering Pratt isn't her real husband depresses her.
  • Some fans also have admitted they wish Adam Scott and Amy Poehler were an actual couple.
  • Probably even more think Poehler and Rashida Jones would make an excellent couple.
• Adorkable:
  • Leslie, and in spades! She fangirls over prominent female politicians as well as Joe Biden, has binders for her types of binders, and is obsessed with waffles, news, work, and caring for her friends.
  • Surprisingly enough, Ron can slip pretty hard into this when he's enthusiastic about something. Best exemplified when he becomes extremely giddy at the prospect of meeting renowned woodworkers or solving scavenger hunt puzzles.
  • April isn't as obvious an example as Andy, Leslie or Ben, but when she's happy about something or jokes around with someone (like making fun of Congressman Murray with Ben), it shines through.
    • Also in Season 2 when she's pining away after Andy and hinting her feelings towards him (which, being Andy, he initially fails to pick up on). When they finally get together she's clearly happy about it but tries (and fails) to blow it off as nothing big, ultimately running away from the camera as she tries to hide a smile:
    April: I guess we're dating. It's new. Whatever. I don't like labels. Go away...
  • Despite being a stereotypical jock, Andy can be a big dork from time to time, especially when he morphs into his alter ego, FBI agent Burt Macklin, whenever a situation requires the presence of law enforcement. He also likes to reenact scenes from action movies and it is discovered in one episode that he made a bucket list of all of the things he would like to do once in his life before he dies.
  • Ben does have a creatively quirky side, is deep into geek culture, enough that he creates his own tabletop game and Leslie once gave him his own Iron Throne. He’s so enthusiastic about his favorite properties that he cannot resist correcting his coworkers when they show their naïveté about a subject, even though they’re usually being facetious to needle him and don’t really care.
  Donna: What is wrong with you today? Did they cancel Game of Thrones?
  Ben: Nothing is wrong, just do your job! [Beat] They would never cancel Game of Thrones. It's a crossover hit! It's not just for fantasy enthusiasts! They're telling human stories in a fantasy world! [Beat, calms down] Fill out the forms, please.
  • Dave Sanderson is soft-spoken, somewhat shy, and tends to get overwhelmed easily by Leslie's abundant energy, but is pretty endearing in his own way.
• Alas, Poor Scrappy: As disliked as Mark is by the fans, it is pretty hard to not feel sorry for him when Ann breaks up with him the same week he was planning to propose to her (especially if you have experienced liking someone a lot more than they liked you).
• Alternate Aesop Interpretation:
  • The politics in Seasons 5 and 6, ultimately culminating in Leslie being recalled from the city council in a landslide vote is generally regarded as an emotional low point that sets up Leslie to leave the Pawnee city government and go on to brighter and better things. But it's also possible to interpret it as a natural consequence of Leslie repeatedly pushing through legislation the people loudly and clearly didn't want. Ultimately, the Aesop could've just as well been about not forcing people to do what you want them to do, even if you think you're in the right. And let's not forget she won by just 21 votes - a politician who wins in a race that contested would do well not to immediately rock the boat, force through unpopular legislation, or otherwise get involved in a scandal.
    • Alternatively, one could see it as a lesson about the pitfalls of blind loyalty to one's birthplace. Leslie repeatedly calls Pawnee the "greatest city in the world" and looks at the town with rose-tinted glasses, despite its abhorrent history and the fact the Pawnee citizens are generally completely whiny idiots at best and selfish and entitled assholes at worst. As councilwoman, she aims to make the town better, healthier, and safer, and the town repays her efforts by recalling her from office. And that's not getting into how she was basically bullied by most of the other city councilmen (who are openly corrupt or morally bankrupt), who worked to squash anything she tried to do out of selfishness or petty cruelty. In short, Jen Barkley's summation of Pawnee as a Wretched Hive that's (in her own words) "run by monsters and morons" feels hard to argue with and Leslie comes off as too blinded by her loyalty to the town to see that.
    • Additionally, the recall campaign was funded by Paunch Burger, a company that Leslie went up against several times as a city councilor, so the corporate interference in politics as a whole can't be ignored here either.
  • The show also has several instances of Conspicuous Consumption coming back to bite the perpetrators in the ass, showing how important it is for people to be fiscally responsible.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: This Cracked article goes into the Fridge Horror of Ron's relationship with his first wife Tammy One, positing that she is most likely the reason behind his anti-government and isolationist mentality. Ron has been taken advantage of by an authority figure in his life which included Wife Husbandry and Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male, yet no one, not his family or his teachers or law enforcement, helped him (though in some fairness, just about everyone was frightened of her). It also interprets his regression into a boyish persona when he lives with Tammy One as age regression related to that trauma.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • In Season Five, Ben mentions an off-screen Sweetums molasses flood. This actually happened in Boston in 1919, but was significantly more serious.
  • KaBOOM! is a real non-profit organization that helps communities build playgrounds for children. Although the real organization probably isn't a bored millionaire's idea of a "prank."
  • It's mentioned that Councilman Milton was first elected in 1948 as a member of the segregationist Dixiecrat Party. This is presented in a way which makes it sound like a joke, but that was a real short-lived political party. It ran Strom Thurmond as a presidential candidate in 1948, the only year of its existence.
  • In the Season 6 episode "New Slogan", Leslie mentions Glenwater, Florida, a town that has the distinction of being the "Home of America's Most Violent Walmart Parking Lot". It's just an Only in Florida joke, right? Wrong, it's a reference to something that actually happened in Florida. Port Richey, Florida, not only likely holds the same title as the fictional Glenwater, but the lot in question is where half of all crime committed in the small town takes place.
• Arc Fatigue: The Ann/Tom romance arc. It only lasts for ten episodes (counting the one where they break up for good), but it's very clear from the start that they are completely wrong for each other, highlighted by the fact that the main joke involving them during that time is how often they break up. What's worse is that it pushes back Ann getting back together with Chris (the guy Ann should be and did get with) another 28 episodes despite that Chris was ready to get back together with her.
• Award Snub:
  • Amy Poehler was never able to win an Emmy for her work as Leslie Knope, despite earning 6 nominations for every season but the first. It even started to become a running joke during ceremonies that she could never take home a prize, but this outcry was never enough to see her actually emerge victorious.
    • One of the few times that she did win a major industry award was at the Golden Globes, which left her so elated and shocked that she exclaimed how she never wins.
  • Nick Offerman received zero Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Ron Swanson, who many critics have called the best sitcom character since Cosmo Kramer. Ty Burrell, who won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy in 2014, went on record saying that not only should Offerman have been nominated that same year, he should have won.
  • The show itself had zero wins for its final season, despite the season receiving universal acclaim.
  • The show was only nominated for Comedy Series twice, for seasons 3 and 7. It was similarly only nominated twice for its writing, both nominations coming from season 4.
  • Aside from Amy Poehler, not a single other actor - series regular or guest - was ever nominated for this series. While Nick Offerman's snubs have drawn the most attention, you're also likely to hear complaints about the other cast members' exclusions, particularly Chris Pratt and Adam Scott.
• Awesome Ego: Ron is very confident in himself. It's hard to blame him.
  Ron: Of course I'm ready. I'm Ron $%^&ing Swanson.
• Awesome Music:
  • Has there ever been a television moment more triumphant than the Harvest Festival montage set to Tom Petty's "American Girl"?
  • "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty, playing over Ann and Chris moving away.
  • Heck, Tom Petty's music shows up every time the show thinks it's going to end, culminating in the Grand Finale's gutwrenching use of The Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line".
  • "5,000 Candles in the Wind" — any version of it, but especially the rendition played at the Unity Concert in season 6.
  • "All Will Be Well" by the Gabe Dixon Band is used in the Season 4 episode "End of the World," where Andy and April drive to the Grand Canyon.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Ann. Some people appreciate her for being effective as Leslie's Straight Woman and supportive best friend, while others find her boring and her continued presence into the later seasons unnecessary, especially since it's clear that the writers had trouble finding plots for her so most of her storylines revolve around her various love woes.
  • April. Some fans love her for her Snark Knight personality and being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold capable of true acts of kindness. Others hate her and think she's just a Jerkass that gets away with being lazy and mean with no repercussions. They also hate Aubrey Plaza's monotone delivery.
  • Tom, especially in the middle seasons, when his Deadpan Snarker tendencies become deemphasized in favor of being a Small Name, Big Ego obsessed with style and wealth. Some find his selfishness to be over-the-top to the point of hilarious, while others hate him for being a Jerkass, as seen under Unintentionally Unsympathetic. His Character Development in the later seasons did win him back some fans.
  • Ron is this with certain circles. While the whole point of his character is to essentially be a joke as a hypocrite libertarian working in the government (albeit, a saboteur but not a particularly great one), some viewers find it works a bit too well and call him a perfect example on everything wrong with the philosophy, especially where real life people who idolize him are concerned.
  • Jeremy Jamm's reception could sometimes vary in the eyes of fans. Several saw him as so audacious in his unrepentant buffoonery that he was set firmly in Love to Hate territory, while others found him to be a little too sleazy a character who took up way too much time ardently antagonizing Leslie in Seasons 5 and 6.
  • Craig is divisive, given his propensity for shouting and taking his aggressive nature out on others. This made him seem comparatively animated even when taking normal Pawnee residents into account. Fans either loved that (and Billy Eichner's delivery) for the extreme hamminess, or quickly found it grating. It calmed down in Season 7, where Craig was less front and center. It also probably helps that Craig went through therapy in the Time Skip.
  • Leslie, our protagonist. Overall, she is an idealistic person, works hard as a public servant and tends to lead with emotion rather than reason. While some saw her as inspiring and idealistic, others saw her as self-righteous and naive. It doesn't help that almost all of her emotionally-driven decisions are depicted positively while her detractors are generally depicted as jerks even if they have valid points.
• Broken Base:
  • Season 7. While still well-received by most of the fandom for being a sweet and touching sendoff to the series, some found it a little too sappy. There's also debate between fans who find the jokes and storylines a return to form after the relative weakness and meandering of Season 6, while others found it pointless, especially since the previous season concluded on such a strong note.
  • The fanbase is divided between those who find Jerry's Butt-Monkey status amusing and those who think it's too mean-spirited and overdone.
  • The base also broke regarding the show as a whole after the 2016 election. Some believe the show (particularly its politics) has aged terribly, as some felt that the friendship of someone on the left like Leslie and someone on the right like Ron seemed too farfetched given the increasing political polarization of American society in the years since. On the other hand, some enjoy the show even more now because it invokes nostalgia for a time when people weren't so bitterly divided (never mind that even now, such a friendship isn't technically impossible, just rare).
  • While regarding the politics, prior to Leslie's successful run for City Council, the writers often showed her ideas going wrong after running afoul of reality, after which she would usually seek Ron's advice and pursue a more moderate solution. This allowed the show to display a sense of balance, showing that each political side had good and bad ideas and that cooperation and compromise were the keys to a community's success. Although this still occurred after her election, her ideas were more often portrayed as good and just while her critics were vilified. The clearest evidence of this shift can be seen in Ron: In previous seasons, he served as a Worthy Opponent for Leslie, who often vehemently disagreed with her ideas but respected her conviction, and was frequently proven correct. After her election, he became more of a supporter than a rival, and she sought his advice less. The role of Leslie's opponent was then filled by Jeremy Jamm, a greedy, unscrupulous, culture-appropriating Jerkass whose dislike of Leslie was personal and whose tactics were dirty. Although the writing remained strong and the characters remained their lovable selves, this sudden penchant for portraying Leslie as a beleaguered champion of the common citizen stymied by selfish politicians and greedy corporations struck some fans as an unwelcome departure from the show's prior balanced depiction of local politics, and from Leslie's portrayal as a well-meaning public servant who often let her ambition and idealism overrule practicality.
• Catharsis Factor: Leslie slapping the shit out of Jeremy Jamm, to "reprogram" him out of his infatuation with Tammy Two. She's genuinely doing it for his own good... but you can tell that she's taking some satisfaction from it.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Pawnee's history plays out this way. For instance, it's not really funny that Pawnee's town motto during World War II was "Welcome German Soldiers". However, the fact that later mottoes included "Welcome Vietnamese Soldiers" and "Welcome Taliban Soldiers" makes it hilarious.
  • Anytime one of city hall's murals is shown, or past atrocities committed by Pawneeans against the Wamapoke Indians are brought up, you can guarantee they're going for this trope.
  • In "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington", Ron brings a pig to slaughter for meat. To a public annual BBQ with children and families attending. It becomes funny when he starts asking kids to join in on the slaughter, and even more when he gives the sheriff his "authorized documents" (a piece of paper with only the words "I can do what I want. Ron."). Oh, and the pig's name is Tom.
  • Andy stalking his ex-girlfriend Ann? Not funny. Andy living in a tent in the giant pit behind her house like a gopher? Hilarious.
  • During everyone's game of getting dirt on each other, Mark responds to Jerry's very poor shot at him (a single parking ticket) with Jerry's adopted mother's arrest for marijuana possession. In and of itself, it's a huge slapback for such a poor play on Jerry's part. The reveal that Jerry didn't know he was adopted and Mark stumbling over himself to apologize? Hilarious in the darkest of ways.
  • In the Cold Open of "Telethon", the crew is shown fawning over a golden lab puppy. Ron points out that the City Hall building doesn't let in animals unless they're service animals and suggests they take him outside. Andy asks in a scared voice if they have to kill it like Old Yeller. Then Tom brings the puppy up to Ron while talking in a cutesy voice and makes it "kiss" a clearly uncomfortable Ron on the lips, and Ron then tells them in a flat voice to take the puppy out back and shoot it.
• Designated Hero: Leslie. Goodness gracious, Leslie. Especially in the later seasons. Even though some of her actions are called out as wrong, more often than not she is seen as more morally correct because she leads with emotions rather than rationality, and anyone who does see things more rationally is seen as uncaring and mean.
  • The most extreme example is Leslie's opposition to Morning Star, the development that Ron built on Ann's old house. Pawnee was growing, people wanted and needed places to live, and there was nothing that was actually wrong with the development environmentally or from a planning perspective. The problem was simply that it led to Ann's old house being demolished. Did Leslie think that a desirable location that could lead to lots of housing should be kept as-is simply because her best friend used to live there? And the worst part is, Leslie was presented as the victim in the situation, and Ron was the bad person.
  • There are shades of this early on as well. In Season 2, when Chris and Ben come in, they identify parks as having the biggest budget of any non-utility department. And it has a pretty significant staff. Leslie mentions that they can't cut the parks because of all the great programming it provides for kids. What ends up happening? Leslie fights to save everyone's jobs and when the government resumes business, they have cut all programs except youth basketball.
  • Her entire time on city council is this. While it's not made easy by the fact that councilors like Jamm and Milton are sexist pigs, Leslie's entire time on council is spent telling the people of Pawnee that she doesn't care what they want and imposing her views on them, and instead of working with the people of Pawnee to help them understand why certain things are better for them, she usually resorts to underhanded ways to try to get what she wants.
• Designated Monkey: Jerry, particularly in the later seasons when his treatment began to feel less funny and more mean-spirited (though it was nowhere quite near the level of the treatment his predecessor Toby had gotten). Chris Pratt even admitted in an interview that he felt uncomfortable with how "over the top" it got.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Jean-Ralphio was so memorable after his initial appearance that he became a recurring character and even had other members of his family introduced.
  • Perd Hapley is also a popular supporting character that is very popular with the fanbase in regards to supporting characters.
  • Bobby Newport, a Spoiled Sweet Nice Guy played by Paul Rudd.
  • Ken Hotate, Old Gus, Greg Pikitis, Orin, Harris and Brett (the animal control guys), Mel (the red-faced guy at town hall meetings), and the woman at town hall meetings (who made sun tea out of sprinkler water) are all also quite popular.
  • Some wish Nadia would have stuck around longer thanks to her surprisingly fun chemistry with Tom and being played by Tatiana Maslany.
• Fandom Rivalry:
  • Some Parks and Rec fans are known to get into angry and heated debates online with fans of the US version of The Office over which series was better in the long run. Granted, it's an extremely small Vocal Minority that engages in this and they're mostly Friendly Fandoms (as detailed below).
  • It's mostly one-sided, but many fans of Party Down admit to still holding a grudge against Parks and Rec due to main star Adam Scott leaving Party Down to play Ben and blame his departure for Party Down getting canceled (although that's not exactly a fair assessment; see Misblamed).
• Fanon Discontinuity: Many fans just kind of ignore the first season, as its writing and humor are generally considered weaker, and the characters don't act anything like they do later on. Posting "I don't like Parks & Rec" on a message board will almost assuredly be responded to by at least one person instructing the complainer to either soldier through the season, watch just the Pilot Episode and "Rock Show" (the latter of which is cited by a number of critics as the seed for the show's gradual improvement) or even skip it altogether. It rises to Memetic Mutation levels given its acknowledgment by the cast and creators; during a panel between the cast, Greg Daniels mentioned a moment between April and Andy in "Rock Show", which he mentioned was in season 1, then gave a knowing pause at what he just said, causing everyone in the audience to laugh and Aziz Ansari to yell, "Don't bring up those shitty episodes, man!"
• Fountain of Memes: The show has loads of reaction images. At least ninety percent of what Ron, Andy, April and Leslie have said or done has resulted in a popular joke, reaction gif, or meme about their characters.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With 30 Rock, definitely helped by the long lasting friendship between the respective leading ladies, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
  • Also extends to The Office (US) and Modern Family. Parks & Rec shares creators, writers and cast members from the former, and Parks & Rec and the latter both started in 2009. All three are mockumentaries with very relatable characters and a heartwarming comedy style.
  • Also has a bit of this going on with the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to the presence of Chris Pratt, Paul Rudd, Kathryn Hahn, and Tatiana Maslany. WandaVision in particular has a lot of overlap due to both shows featuring Hahn as a Magnificent Bastard villain.
• Glurge: In the final episode, Leslie finally holds a high-responsibility job (on her way to becoming Governor of Indiana and even possibly the White House), Ron finally "gets" the awesomeness of Government, April blooms and is still Happily Married to Andy, Jerry becomes mayor, Typhoon and Craig get married, Tom is a successful author, Ann and Chris decide to come back to Pawnee... It's a bit much for a show that was known for its tastefulness and tact.
• Growing the Beard: Parks and Rec is generally regarded as having come into its own in Season 2 (or even as early as the Season 1 episode "Rock Show") when it stopped trying to copy The Office (US) and started finding its own unique voice, and by the end of the season, had outgrown its Early-Installment Weirdness and came into its own identity. This is remarkably similar to the trajectory The Office itself went on, having a clumsy first season that was too similar to its parent series before establishing its own distinct identity and style of humor. Fitting enough, when the show aired in Germany, the entire first season was cut out. It grew the beard further in Season 3 as Ben and Chris stayed on as regulars and Mark had left. Leslie's push for the Harvest Festival and the subsequent story arc at this point locked in the stronger characterization of the cast.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In the Season 2 episode "Summer Catalog", Leslie and Ron vow they will never grow to hate each other the way the four former directors do. In Season 7, they're embroiled in a petty feud, though they do reconcile later.
  • In "Gryzzlbox", it's mentioned that Gryzzl used the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens to distract Ben while they quietly changed their user agreements to allow them to legally datamine people. This is Played for Laughs. A couple of years later, the real-life FCC attempted to use the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi to distract people from their decision to repeal net neutrality.
  • In the season 2 episode "Stakeout", after Dave (played by Louis C.K.) arrests Tom for trying to crawl into a parked van, he tells Leslie he thinks Tom (played by Aziz Ansari) might be a pervert. In 2017, both Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari were accused of sexual misconduct.
    • The season 4 episode "Dave Returns" is maybe even worse, seeing as it depicts both Ansari and C.K. trying to pressure women into relationships they don't want to be in.
  • The Season 2 episode "Sister City" revolves around Leslie hosting dignitaries from a sister city in Venezuela with the running gags of the dignitaries bragging about their oil wealth, throwing wads of money around and mocking Pawnee for being a backwoods place. The episode aired at around the peak of Venezuela's economic growth. Five years after the episode aired, between the drop in oil prices and general financial mismanagement, Venezuela is in a dire economic position that's far from funny.
  • In "Win, Lose or Draw," the campaign for a wealthy political candidate tried to install voting machines to engage in voter fraud and steal an election. In 2020, the campaign for a wealthy political candidate falsely claimed its opponent tried to use voting machines to engage in voter fraud and steal an election. Crosses into Hilarious in Hindsight when one considers that Leslie is a noted Fangirl of said opponent, Joe Biden, and that Biden actually makes an appearance on the show.
  • Leslie's comment in Season 7 about Game of Thrones having "gone off the rails" seems almost prophetic considering the disastrous reception of its seventh and eighth seasons.
  • In "Pie-Mary", Harris and Brett are trying to squeeze Harris's head, as Harris puts it, enough to make his eyes bulge out a little bit, but not so much that he dies. Harris Wittels died from an overdose nine days after this episode aired.
  • The events of "Pawnee Zoo", where Leslie faces an uproar from the local Moral Guardians for inadvertently holding a marriage ceremony for a pair of penguins that turned out to both be male, becomes way less funny after the state of Indiana passed a "religious freedom" bill that critics said would make it easier for businesses to refuse serving LGBT clients.
  • In "Ann's Decision", Leslie tells a couple of shock jocks to stop making lewd comments about Ann's quest for a sperm donor. They only agree to stop if Leslie wrestles in Jell-O and says "Rudy!" like Bill Cosby. They make lewd comments about Leslie after she does this. The whole scene gets creepier considering Cosby's rape allegations.
  • A newspaper review of Tom's Bistro in the show's version of 2017 commends Tom as an entrepreneur/bachelor and looks forward to what he'll do in 2018. For Aziz Ansari, however, 2018 brought him controversy from a public article in which the writer accused him of sexual misconduct.
  • Tom's flashforward in "One Last Ride" revealed that the Bistro went under due to a combination of factors, including a massive dip in the stock market and the fact that the USA ran out of beef. Thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the economy entered a severe recession (with the service industry taking an especially hard hit) and caused the food supply chain to break down amid concerns of spreading the disease in meat packing plants, which actually led to a nationwide beef shortage for a time in 2020.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • Tom marrying Lucy at the end of the series is made sweeter when one remembers that the image used for Aziz Ansari in the opening credits for Seasons 3-7 is Tom's ecstatic reaction to Lucy accepting a date with him for the first time at the end of Season 2.
  • After a heart attack scare in "Halloween Surprise", Jerry wants at least another 30 years to be with his family. The series finale confirms that his wish has been granted.
  • Chris tells Jerry that he's capable of more that what he's doing in Season 3. With Jerry later holding the Pawnee mayorship for decades, it's safe to say Chris was right.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Some that came about after Chris Pratt was cast as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014):
    • One of the things on Andy's bucket list is to be an action star. Sure enough, Chris Pratt would be the leading star of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Jurassic World, both shot while Parks and Rec were still running.
    • One episode where Andy and April go on a shopping spree of buying useless junk, one of the things Andy grabs is a pull-up bar, exclaiming "I'm gonna get so buff!" He wasn't kidding.◊ The first episode of Season 6 even takes a crack at Andy's new physique.
    Ben: So the only thing you did was stop drinking beer?
    Andy: Yeah, I lost 50 pounds in one month.
    • In "Operation Ann", Andy accidentally breaks a glass case with a large block of wood and a raccoon in it, which quite a few users on social media made note of after Guardians.
  • In his Star Wars sequel filibuster, Patton Oswalt mentions that Boba Fett survived the sarlacc pit. The Mandalorian would establish Boba Fett indeed survived. Later, in The Book of Boba Fett, the pilot begins almost identically to the opening scene Oswalt describes, complete with the same camera moves.
  • In the season five episode of Leslie and Ben's wedding, Donna hires local Indianans to impersonate as celebrities. She also scores a Li'l Sebastian-impersonating horse named Bucky. Come the MCU's Captain America: The Winter Soldier a short time later, and it's hilarious to fans of both that there is a Bucky played by an actor named Sebastian.
  • Yet another MCU-related one: One episode has Leslie Knope accidentally getting an animal shelter shut down, and Jen Barkley says, "I just think that her actions raise some questions. Like, for example, is she a dog murderer?" Kathryn Hahn, who plays Jen, would later star as "Agnes" on WandaVision, who is revealed to have killed Wanda's dog Sparky.
  • An alternate take of the date between Leslie and Chris the radiologist shows the former in the MRI room saying on camera: "I'm just trying to think this is an adventure, you know, just get ride back on that horse, even if that horse is crazy and wants to peer inside my body". Oh boy, Will Arnett (then husband of Amy Poehler) plays Chris, and would be starring later in a series with an equine protagonist with many, many issues.
  • And in the original take of that scene, Chris the radiologist also tells her that she could have "triplets right off the bat". Guess how many kids she and Ben end up having in season 6?
  • In the season 5 episode "Jerry's Retirement", Leslie tells Ben (as they are in a graveyard visiting a previous mayor), "In a few short years, we will be visiting Jerry here and he will have achieved nothing. Is that what you want?" Cue the series finale where we find out Jerry becomes the unopposed mayor of Pawnee for the rest of his life and lives to be 100.
  • Season Two's "Galentine's Day" has Leslie saying that Jennifer Aniston deserves to have romantic happiness. The fact that Jennifer would get remarried isn't enough to be Hilarious in Hindsight, but her husband being Justin Theroux, who played Leslie's boyfriend in the episode, is.
  • In the season two episode "Woman of the Year", Ron gets a "women's only" award from a woman's organization, who chose him to earn some publicity and because of Leslie's Camp Athena project. Ron teases Leslie for getting so upset over it, deliberately misnaming Camp Athena as Camp Xena. Come season five, Ron ends up dating and later marrying Diane, played by Xena herself - Lucy Lawless.
  • The Douche went on to voice an actual Douche.
  • In "Ron and Jammy", Lucy mentions that everyone in 2017 Chicago is so happy due to the Cubs winning the World Series. Which actually happened in 2016.
  • Another 2017 prediction was a new Bourne, and Jason Bourne had came out in the year prior, albeit not with Kevin James in the role.
  • In "Tom's Divorce", which aired in 2009, when Tom realizes he actually did like Wendy and becomes saddened over their divorce, Ron (who doesn't realize it's the real deal) tells Tom to lighten up on faking his sadness, saying, "you've already won your Oscar, DiCaprio," with the joke being that Ron has Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure regarding the near Memetic Mutation of how DiCaprio was repeatedly snubbed for the Best Actor Award. Come 2016, and DiCaprio finally wins one for The Revenant.
  • Tom's "WhyNoSequel" tweet regarding the long-standing lack of a followup to Unbreakable, as not only did it get a quasi-sequel a few years later, it later got an actual one to boot.
  • One of Ron's definitive character traits is his hatred for the government and his lack of desire to work for it. In 2019, Nick Offerman would portray an American ambassador in Good Omens (2019), a job closely associated with the government.
  • Ingrid de Forest, played by Kristen Bell, has a polite upper-class smugness and frequently namedrops celebrities. One of Michael Schur's later shows would star Bell as the rival to such a character, Tahani, who ramps Ingrid's traits up to eleven.
  • When Tom proposes a soft opening for Tom's Bistro, April points out that the sign on the door isn't even fully painted, so it just says "Tom's Bi". April then says, "Actually, no, that's good. We're ready." April's actress Aubrey Plaza would later come out as bisexual.
  • In "Leslie vs. April", Leslie stands with Ben in front of the White House declaring 2020 as the year she would become president, before meeting then-Vice President Joe Biden inside the White House. 2020 turns out to have been the year that Biden himself was elected as President. Ben's actor Adam Scott tweeted a clip from this scene in response to the news.
  • April's one-off line about being "Odie the dog, Garfield's enemy" in "London (Part 1)" becomes a lot funnier after her husband Andy's actor Chris Pratt was announced to be voicing Garfield in an upcoming movie.
  • In "Ann and Chris", Chris (Played by Rob Lowe) dons a John F. Kennedy mask and spouts the famous, "Ask not what your country can do for you..." line. Later that same year, Lowe would go on to play Kennedy in Killing Kennedy.
  • Ron's exaggerated libertarianism, extreme paranoia, and Crazy Survivalist tendencies take on a funnier note with The Last of Us (2023), in which Nick Offerman once again plays a hard libertarian named Bill whose over-preparation and paranoia turn out to be justified and help him survive the Zombie Apocalypse.
  • Jonathan Banks, who became hugely famous for playing Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad, played Ben's father Steve in the episode "Ben's Parents". Then Jim O'Heir (Jerry) played a one-off character named Frank in Breaking Bad's prequel series Better Call Saul.
• Ho Yay:
  • Lampshaded in one episode when Ron makes a rather... suggestive moan when Andy polishes his shoes.
  • Also lampshaded when Andy asks Tom if he and Jean-Ralphio are just friends and nothing more than that.
  • Andy gets a bit of this with Ben in "Meet n Greet", remarking that he has "such soft lips" in a sensual tone and aggressively humping him on his bed.
  • Chris is a magnet for Ho Yay.
    • Andy states that Chris is the guy he'd pick if he had to pick a dude. Chris is rather flattered by this.
    • There's also the time Chris kisses Ron right on the lips to the latter's shock.
    • And there's his friendship with Ben. April actually teases Ben about this several times.
    • After Jerry's daughter broke up with him, Chris begins to stare at Jerry because he reminds him of her.
• Hype Backlash: While the show was highly acclaimed during its run, it garnered a backlash that only increased since its conclusion with much of the criticism aimed at its overt optimism. Amidst increased political polarization, greater awareness of government corruption, and a backlash towards Clinton and Obama-era liberalism, some saw the show's positive portrayal of bipartisanship governance as unrealistic and divorced from actual modern politics. Even putting aside politics, some saw the show as too saccharine to create stakes and drama.
• Informed Attribute: From about the third season on, Leslie's generosity becomes this. Ann and most of the cast are constantly talking about how much Leslie does for others. While Leslie does display many examples of generosity in the first couple of seasons – getting Andy a job at city hall, giving her friends the best birthday parties and gifts, staying overnight at the police station to bail out Tom, and staying up all night to talk to Ann about her relationship with Mark – that generosity is often at odds with how she can be pretty selfish and aggressive. She goes as far as to repeatedly sabotage her friends and colleagues because she wants them around her all the time. She's especially aggressive in the fifth and sixth seasons, interfering with Ann's desire to have a child her way, pushing her views on the citizens of Pawnee, and expecting special treatment from Ben as city manager.
• Informed Wrongness
  • Nearly anyone who hurts Andy's feelings is subject to this. Early on, he stalks Ann, which is played off as funny because of the absurdity of his living situation. When it rains and she doesn't want to let him in her house, Mark guilts her, and her letting him in is seen as a compromise, ignoring the fact that Andy was stalking her.
  • When Andy has no idea who April's favorite band is, despite her mentioning it many times, the story doesn't become about how Andy should pay more attention to April's interests. Instead, Andy becomes upset because his band isn't her favorite. The solution April arrives at, thanks to advice from Ann, is to treat Andy like a rock star and play up his achievements – there's nothing said to him about listening to her more.
  • Ben is this with regards to both Andy and April when he moves in with them. They're childish and irresponsible to a comedic degree, and Ben is seen as an uptight stickler for asking them to improve their habits. They only come up to the most basic, minimal levels of decency at the end, and still use his money to buy themselves toys and games. Ben's resolution must become to take it all in good humour.
  • Ben is also this when he's first introduced, when Pawnee is declared bankrupt. We're supposed to cheer Leslie on for trying to preserve the parks department, which Ben declares takes up the biggest budget of all non-utility and emergency departments. It's worth noting that the size of the department is totally bloated – there are six full-time employees at the time of the shutdown. While Pawnee's size shapeshifts depending on what the plot requires, the administration as shown in the series would be considered really big for a small town. When Ben tells Leslie that Pawnee is not special, he's supposed to be the cold one - but Leslie simply believes she can appeal to emotion to get him to change his mind. And it works! The worst part is, at the end of Season 2, Leslie talks about how important the department's programming is to Pawnee youth. When they come back in Season 3, every job is saved, but programming has been cut to almost nothing besides youth basketball. In order to save a few full-time jobs, Leslie let tons of programming be cut.
  • Leslie is often portrayed as being wrong or at least needing to make compromises, but essentially anyone who comes up against her during her council tenure is portrayed as this.
  • However, Leslie also becomes this during her conflict with April over the dog park. While her dishonesty with April is not good, it's also selfish of April to simply assume that Leslie will back her idea simply because they're friends. April's interest in becoming a savior to all animals in this season seemingly comes out of nowhere, but she expects everyone else to be on board with her cause. While Leslie does need to learn a lesson about being upfront and honest with April, the episode is about how Leslie should have listened to April – but April was just as motivated by her own self-interests as Leslie always is.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • As much of a narcissistic, lecherous Jerkass as Tom is, one can't help but sympathize with him as he discovers that he truly loved his ex-wife Wendy during Season 2.
  • Jeremy Jamm in "Ron and Jammy". Even though he spent most of his time being nothing but a jerk to Leslie, seeing him so joyless for life since dating Tammy 2 is utterly heartbreaking.
• Les Yay:
  • The majority of this happens between Leslie and Ann, so much so that they're repeatedly mistaken for a lesbian couple. And Leslie does spend an unusual amount of time complimenting Ann on her beauty.
    • At least once, she showers April with similar compliments.
  • April finds Jerry's painting of the topless centaur goddess that resembles Leslie to be quite sexy.
  • Also, April's reaction to meeting Tynnyfer reeks of this. Just watch the way she bites her lip and starts stroking her hair...
  • Tammy 2 mentions being rather turned on by getting into a fight with Leslie.
• Love to Hate: When he's not being The Scrappy, Jeremy Jamm qualifies due to Jon Glaser awesomely embracing the Card-Carrying Villain role.
• Magnificent Bitch: Jennifer Barkley is a brilliant political strategist from Washington, DC. In season 4, after being spooked by Leslie's growing success in the polls in the race for city council, Nick Newport pays Jennifer a small fortune to be the campaign manager for his son Bobby's campaign. Jennifer skillfully outmaneuvers the Knope campaign, easily anticipating Leslie's next moves and capitalizing on each of her missteps. She's also willing to take underhanded actions, such as swiping one of Leslie's ideas for the Newport campaign, all while continuing to be a Friendly Enemy to Leslie whenever she's off the clock. After Leslie ultimately wins the city council seat, Jennifer gracefully accepts the loss and even offers Ben a job working with her firm because she was impressed by how well he managed the Knope campaign.
• Memetic Badass:
  • Ron Fucking Swanson. People tend to think he can do anything and build anything, no matter how impossible.
  • Burt Macklin, Andy's recurring fake FBI character.
• Memetic Mutation: To the point this show is a Fountain of Memes. Has its own page.
• Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales:
  • Although there are some libertarians who accept Ron's views as a literal representation of their own, many others recognize that a man who giggles at the thought of slashing the budget is meant to parody their views on government spending. His unequivocal acceptance of women, minorities, and LGBT people, coupled with his willingness to roll up his sleeves and help people solve problems with hard work and no government interference, however, are qualities many libertarians admire.
  • Similarly, a lot of people who actually work in local government love this show. Mainly because the show doesn't exaggerate as much as you'd think.
  • Ditto for people who live in or grew up in small, conservative towns in Flyover Country, the same sort of towns that Pawnee satirizes. Many have commented that the show isn't too far off the mark.
  • Most librarians who watch the show find Leslie's hatred of the library (and her enemy, the truly evil Scary Librarian Tammy Two) to be utterly hilarious. "Punk-ass book jockey!" in particular is quoted, being put on mugs, t-shirts, Twitter handles, and more.
• Misaimed Fandom: Similar to Daria, April Ludgate has a lot of fans due to her snark tendencies, deadpan nature, and sarcastic attitude, with a lot of fans saying “I’m just like April” or “I’d be friends with April.” Ron Swanson put it best: “You know who April hates? People!” Also, for all her “coolness” she is still, essentially, a child in terms of maturity. She frequently bullies other Pawnee residents who really haven't done anything to her that warrants such treatment, particularly Jerry. She also nearly ruined a relationship with the love of her life just because she was mad another woman kissed him and it took Ron to make her realize she's being cruel and petty towards Andy.
• Misblamed: As noted in Fandom Rivalry, a number of Party Down fans blame the series' cancellation on Parks and Rec for causing lead actor Adam Scott's departure. However, that's not really a fair assessment—while Scott's departure certainly did play a part, Party Down also got Screwed by the Network due to Starz putting the show on the Friday Night Death Slot, which greatly limited its viewership and all but ensured that it wouldn't last for very long. Hence, it's not hard to see why Scott (whose contract wasn't up for renewal either) decided to take on a show that seemed to have a more stable future ahead of it.
• Moe: Leslie. She's just so happy and sparkly all the time!
• More Popular Replacement: Ben Wyatt for Mark Brendanawicz. While both essentially served the same role as a Straight Man, Foil and potential Love Interest for Leslie, Mark was seen as The Generic Guy and the weakest link of the main cast, which only became more evident as the other characters (and really, the show as a whole) came into their own while Mark was being left behind as the second season progressed. Ben, in contrast, was an instant hit with fans, who found him to be both endearing and funny as well as a perfect fit for the show's newfound style. By the end of the series, Ben had graduated to the position of Leslie's co-lead while Mark was never heard from again following his departure at the end of season 2.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • As part of Season 1's Early-Installment Weirdness, Andy was written as an immature and idiotic Hate Sink, serving as Ann's lazy, deadbeat boyfriend whom she needed to drop so she can be with Mark. In the second season, after Ann broke up with him, he was retooled to be more sympathetic and underwent Character Development by becoming a bit more mature and self-sufficient, the Ship Tease with April furthering this. He quickly became one of the show's most popular characters as a result.
  • To a lesser extent, Chris. Fans generally felt that he was a bit flat and his overwhelming positivity and propensity for being Innocently Insensitive grating. In Seasons 4 and 5, opinions began to turn more favorably for him with the show deconstructing his Pollyanna traits into a load of personal problems that made him a more Rounded Character, and going to therapy further solidified his rescuing.
  • Craig, when first introduced in Season 6 as the Sixth Ranger of the Parks and Rec staff, was an annoying, constantly screaming, always antagonistic drama queen. This came to a front when he selfishly became angry that Ben and Leslie were having triplets, taking away from the fact that he successfully ran the auction without them, which angered many of the fans. Then he went through therapy in the Time Skip between Seasons 6 and 7, so his shouting and anger issues are toned down drastically, leading to a more positive reception.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • The Pawnee resident who tries to get Ann's phone number for his friend in "Sweetums" is Coach Beard.
  • Darren, the Pawnee Ranger who tries to join Leslie's Pawnee Goddesses troop in "Pawnee Rangers" is Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz.
  • The woman who asks April about emergency procedures in "Live Ammo" is Gina Linetti.
• Romantic Plot Tumor: While the show never pretended it was a serious thing, the Ann/Tom romance storyline was not well received by most fans and critics for being considered a general waste of time that made the two characters act insufferably.
• The Scrappy: Mark was meant to be a Straight Man, but his lack of quirks and comedic chemistry with the other characters made the fans dub him the weakest link of the cast and he was considered a bland Jim Halpert clone, to the point many fans admitted to having forgotten all about him after his departure and were surprised to see him again when they rewatched the show. Many others also disliked him for being an underwhelming love interest for Leslie (whom he didn't always treat very well) and Ann (who has her own fair share of detractors who find her similarly boring as a character). Eventually, he was Put on a Bus and the fans didn't really miss him when he left, nor did they clamor for his return when it became a Long Bus Trip.
• Seasonal Rot: While the later seasons are mostly considered to be still funny and solid on the whole, though not as good as seasons 2-4 due to having weaker overarching stories, recycling storylines and gags, and exaggerating some of the characters' traits over time. Season 6 is generally considered the worst offender, particularly because of Leslie suffering from bad bouts of Aesop Amnesia and, to a lesser extent, Jerry's Butt-Monkey status, which had its critics to begin with, feeling like it was being overused and increasingly mean-spirited for several viewers (even Chris Pratt felt that the treatment of Jerry was getting a bit over the top and should've been toned down).
• Special Effects Failure: The epic aerial shot of the Harvest Festival in Season 3 is marred by some obvious CGI choices, including one-quarter of the park being a photo shot in perspective, meaning that the buildings stretch as the shot rotates.
• Stoic Woobie: Ron, especially after the Time Skip in Season 7.
• Strawman Has a Point:
  • In the "Soda Tax" episode, if the Paunch Burger executives weren't so outlandishly double-speaking, they'd probably come off sympathetic. They quite reasonably point out that they're merely selling what the Pawnee market wants to buy, even if it's unhealthy. Seasons earlier, Ron agrees that being allowed to stuff your face with unhealthy crap and die in your 40s if you really want to do so is a facet of American freedom.
  • In "Bailout", Leslie saves a failing video store (a video store, remember those?) with a government bailout because she arbitrarily decided the business was a Pawnee institution. Ron objects to this, saying that the government shouldn't be spending taxpayer money to prop up a failing business, especially one that is failing because a) most people just stream movies online now, and b) the owner refused to stock anything other than obscure art house films. After the motion is passed, she is promptly buried in other Pawnee businesses and citizens who also want government investment, which is portrayed as ridiculous and simple-minded of them... but from their perspective, it makes perfect sense to ask why one business gets special treatment on their tax dime and why they can't be treated the same. The hardware store owner in particular points out his business is facing the same exact problem as the video store (lost business due to increased online shopping) and has actually been in business longer, so it's obvious Leslie's decision on what should be considered a town landmark was based more on her personal sentiment than public perception.
  • The Committee to Recall Leslie Knope is treated like a bunch of bitter citizens munching sour grapes because they dislike Leslie personally, but not only was her soda tax highly unpopular, it would have benefited the government first and foremost, as they would be the ones collecting the tax revenue at the expense of restaurant owners. Additionally, Leslie exercises far more authority than one would expect a city to entrust to a junior city councilor, is never seen consulting with the people who live in her district to see what she needs to do to sufficiently serve them, glibly shuts down every complaint about her policies at public forums and insists citizens are better off despite their beliefs otherwise. The storyline might have held more weight if it was more clearly shown that even if most of Leslie's policies were for the greater good, if they weren't what the town wanted, her downfall was inevitable.
  • In the flashback in "Leslie and Ron", Ron is portrayed as being in the wrong for building the Morningstar housing development and destroying Ann's old house. However, as he points out Pawnee was growing, people wanted and needed places to live, and there was nothing that was actually wrong with the development environmentally or from a planning perspective. The only problem was simply that it led to Ann's house that she hadn't lived in for years at that point being destroyed and, similarly to the video store in "Bailout", Leslie was prioritizing her personal sentimentality over what was actually best for the community.
  • Ron points this trope out in "Gryzzlbox". While he highly values privacy, he defends Gryzzl collecting information on its customers by pointing out its customers voluntarily entrust its services with their personal information. He only comes around when Gryzzl collects information on his son, who doesn't own a Gryzzl device (thus evoking an entirely separate controversy from the subject of the episode).
• Sweetness Aversion: A not uncommon complaint about the final few seasons is that there is so much emphasis on Heartwarming Moments between the main cast that there is very little in the way of meaningful conflict, making episodes come across as more boring and toothless than in previous seasons.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The premise of "Partridge" is about Ben going back to his hometown to confront personal demons which have haunted him for much of his life and his time on the series. However, he spends most of the actual episode either in the hospital or heavily drugged while Leslie confronts the angry crowd in his place, and at the end of the episode he decides after a brief chat with Leslie that the whole thing just doesn't matter anymore.
  • We don't get to see much of what life is like for Leslie and Ben as parents, or what it's like juggling the responsibilities of their jobs with raising three children. The triplets, only one of which is named onscreen, only appear as cameos in a few scenes without any dialogue.
  • April's decision to go to veterinary school in Seasons 5 and 6. After a few episodes it's dropped and never brought up again, and she ends the show deciding to become a career consultant instead.
  • It might've been interesting to see somebody else play the Butt-Monkey in "Jerry's Retirement", like April, Ron, or Donna. However, it ends up being Tom, who's already had a lot of Butt-Monkey moments throughout the series.
  • Ben's decision to turn down a job at the accounting firm to take a job as City Manager. The accounting firm had just been established as a very positive work environment, and the work itself involved the exact sort of financial puzzles Ben loved to solve. Some viewers would have liked to spend a season getting to know his new coworkers, and felt that passing it up to accept a job susceptible to impeachment was a mistake.
  • It could have been interesting to see Leslie's proposed soda tax spark some debate between her and Ron, since Real Life taxes meant to curb harmful behavior are the subject of controversy. Opponents of these taxes (often called sin taxes) point out that not only will addicts buy cigarettes, alcohol, or sugary drinks no matter how high the cost; but that the government imposing these taxes can actually become dependent on the revenue they generate, and therefore reluctant to pass any further laws that might be more effective at curbing the unwanted behavior. However, the writers simply take it as read that Leslie's soda tax will work as intended, and paint her opponents as greedy, uncaring executives out to make a quick buck off ignorant citizens at the expense of their waistlines.
  • The final season sets up Leslie and Ron having to go against each other over conflicting interests. While their Odd Friendship was a heartwarming and beloved part of the show, their stark ideological differences are a central aspect of their relationship. Considering Leslie's political ambitions and Ron's hatred of the government, it was only a matter of time before they'd come to blows, with the friendship they had forged across the series making their inevitable conflict all the more tragic. However, the conflict is later resolved and is ultimately revealed to have been caused more by them simply drifting apart.
  • "Ben's Parents" finally gives viewers a look into Ben's family, and it's incredibly dysfunctional. His mother and father can't stand to be in the same room as each other, and his father's much younger girlfriend is pregnant, a bomb that even Ben didn't see dropping. The whole episode has Leslie and Ben struggling to try and unite the Knope and Wyatt families, but in the end, all they can see to do is keep them as far apart at the wedding as possible. However, not only are they not present for the two's impromptu wedding later, but they are also never brought up again.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Tom is always very Easily Forgiven for his blatantly selfish and unethical actions. For one thing, he tried to blackmail his ex-wife Wendy into getting back together with him by suing her for alimony. In "Meet and Greet" he turned a campaign event for Leslie into a flamboyant advertising party for Entertainment 720, almost jeopardizing her reputation with many important business owners in Pawnee, and only fixed part of the damage at the last minute. And, in "Jerry's Retirement", he becomes the new "Jerry" of the department and is clearly miserable about it but given how mercilessly he mocked Jerry throughout the series, it's simply impossible to ignore the hypocrisy of what he is saying.
  • To a lesser extent, Leslie after she gets recalled from the city council. It's supposed to be a low point for the character, but during her entire tenure as a councilwoman, she kept on pushing through legislation that the townspeople clearly and vocally did not want and often resorted to backroom politics to do so. Most of the time, instead of trying to explain to the people why they would benefit from it or simply asking the people in her district what kind of legislation they want to be passed, she would just dismiss their complaints and pass the laws anyway.
  • April toward the end. She spends her entire tenure at the Parks department complaining about the job and not taking it seriously, until she suddenly demands that others take her seriously. She gets everything including promotions and projects handed to her, but then spends three seasons whining about not knowing what she wants to do with her life. Everyone helps her out no matter how horrible she is to them – like Ann writing her a recommendation for vet school and driving her to campus in Bloomington, or Ben helping her find a new job. It's hard to see her complaining about finding a new job as anything other than ungrateful, especially because by the final season she's a very well-paid public servant who was basically given her job just by being Leslie's friend, and she acts like it's everyone else's fault that she hates her job.
• Unpopular Popular Character:
  • The only person who can stand Jean-Ralphio in-universe is Tom (and even he has admitted he could use better friends). Out-of-universe, he's one of the most celebrated recurring characters on the strength of Ben Schwartz's gloriously obnoxious performance.
  • Jerry is a legendary Butt-Monkey, but you’ll be hard pressed to find fans who don’t like him.
• Wangst: April in the first few episodes of season 7, where she whines about not being able to act like a creepy, childish weirdo anymore. Played for Laughs of course.
• The Woobie:
  • Ben whenever his past as an impeached mayor comes up. In "Media Blitz" he's a total wreck when questioned about it. In "Harvest Festival", he's convinced he's cursed and it's all his fault that Li'l Sebastian ran away and the power went out. It's even stronger in "Partridge", where Ben's eponymous hometown invites him back to reconcile years after the Ice Town collapse but it's actually a set up to humiliate him and all the residents still hate him. Thankfully Leslie is there to provide him support so he doesn't have to face it alone, but his bitter realization of the fact that his hometown still sees him as much of a failure as ever despite everything he's done to fix his mistakes is painful to watch.
    • He gets even more woobie-ish for a different reason when he and Leslie break up and he's left heartbroken. While Leslie at least has her city council campaign to and Parks and Rec work to keep her busy, Ben is still fairly new in town and all his friends are connected to Leslie who he finds too painful to hang out with. Even the usually self-centered Tom and Donna feel sorry for him when they see him eating lunch alone. He even tells Leslie that he can't stand to be around her because it just hurts too much.
  • Leslie in Season 6, who seems to be getting hit with Finagle's Law on anything she tries to do for the town in addition to being recalled from city council.
  • Chris in late season 4 and early season 5. He loses his girlfriend, and rapidly finds his life empty and miserable, tries for Ann again and gets rejected, all of this culminating in his body breaking down in the second episode of season 5 after he realizes he has "nothing and no one". Even April (who has hated Chris up until that point) feels sorry for him and even starts to become considerably nicer to him during this period.
  • Andy becomes this in season 2 and becomes a bigger woobie as the show goes on. He spends most of season 2 living in a pit and desperately trying to fix things with his ex-girlfriend (which he fails to do) and in general he's such a socially awkward mess that it's near-impossible to not pity him. Nevertheless, he doesn't let it get him down.
  • Bobby Newport. Yeah, he's competing against Leslie, but only because he's desperate to earn his father's approval. And when his dad dies, he's utterly devastated. He's also nothing but nice to Leslie, and his only mean-spirited moments occurred due to obliviousness and being directed to by his campaign manager. He even states he plans to personally vote for Leslie due to the mistaken belief that you can't vote for yourself.
  • Councilman Jamm, of all people, in "Ron and Jammy". His relationship with Tammy 2 has utterly stripped him of his identity due to her trying to turn him into Ron. It's also taken a severe toll on his health and turned him into a rather broken shell of a man, to the point Leslie feels sorry for him and Ron is willing to temporarily forgo his feud with Leslie, and the easy win for his construction company their relationship would bring, to save him.
  • Jerry/Garry can be seen as this all throughout the show's run, depending on just how much one finds his constant denigration funny. It makes it all the more heartening whenever moments come up where he gets to be happy.
  • Ron in "Leslie and Ron", especially when we learn why he left the Parks Department and why he stopped being friends with Leslie during the Time Skip. Ron reveals that after Leslie left for her new job, eventually taking April, Andy, and Terry with her, and Tom and Donna left to run their businesses, he rapidly began to grow lonely, until one day he didn't recognize anyone in the Parks Department. It eventually gets to the point that Ron is willing to do the unthinkable and ask Leslie for a job in the federal government just to be close to some of his friends again, only to be inadvertently stood up for lunch at J.J's diner the next day by a busy Leslie, the fact that you can hear his voice crack as he reveals this really sells it.