History Series / ParksAndRecreation

* FauxDocumentary: The show uses the TalkingHeads segments that are ubiquitous to the {{Mockumentary}}, but other than that, there is no hint of a documentary camera crew filming what's going on in Pawnee, Indiana.

** Leslie is much less self-confident and less competent, and it's implied that she only got her job through nepotism. She also shows more suspicion/defensiveness to the camera, aware of being watched, while Amy Poehler naturally started making Leslie an upfront, unashamed character to other people and the camera, which the writing accommodated.
** Tom is more of a jerk, and his only defining trait is being a CasanovaWannabe. His obsession with style and luxury is only introduced in the first episode of the second season.

** Donna and Jerry are only background characters with almost no lines and no characterization.
** Ron actually wears suits, has a different hairstyle, was a little more involved in Parks & Rec proceedings, and was even seen holding a smartphone despite being a little behind on the times technology-wise in later seasons (to the point of getting an old fashioned flip phone at one point).
** Andy is more of a lazy {{Jerkass}}, taking advantage of Ann's hospitality, rather than the lovable [[TheDitz ditz]] he is later on.
** After drunkenly falling into the Lot 48 pit and being rejected by Leslie, Mark reevaluated his life and goes from a womanizing sleaze with an "on again, off again" relationship with Leslie in the first season to genuinely making an effort at being more serious about his life, even starting a relationship with Ann.
** Chris's first scene characterizes him as permissive and irresponsible, agreeing to all of the department's unrealistic requests and pushing the responsibility of denying them to Ben. Later episodes give him impeccable honesty and office ethics, though the GoodCopBadCop dynamic is kept, with Chris lifting up the clients before Ben ruthlessly slashes their budgets.

** [[CharacterizationMarchesOn The characterizations start off very differently]]. Leslie starts off as a PointyHairedBoss rather than a [[HypercompetantSidekick highly skilled]] BadassBureaucrat, Andy is a lazy Jerkass rather than an affable Manchild, Tom was Leslie's straitlaced NumberTwo rather than the "swag" obsessed JerkWithAHeartOfGold he later becomes, among others. It's obvious that the characters are based on the characters from ''The Office'', where Leslie is Michael Scott, Ann is Pam Beasley, Ron is Dwight Schrute, Mark is Jim Halpert, Andy is Roy Anderson (with a little Andy Bernard thrown in), Tom is a mixture of Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapoor, April is Angela Martin, and Jerry is Kevin Malone and Toby Flenderson rolled into one. There was also a heavier focus on the government aspect of the show. Both were the result of the fact that ''Parks'' started off practically like a clone of its parent series before it found its own voice and style.

** Twice over with Jerry - in the first season, Jerry was mostly a background entity and was actually competent compared to Leslie when she eats a poisonous plant. He gradually became more of TheKlutz and the series' resident ButtMonkey, with his original characterization having him stoically putting up with the abuse he gets because he wanted to keep his head down until he could quietly retire and collect his pension. This then changed to him being too good-hearted to be upset by the way he's being treated and having a fantastic home life to balance it out.
** Chris Traeger had a tendency to phrase requests in rapid-fire, clipped staccato sentences. This was abandoned later on.
--->'''Chris:''' I'd like you to get me some more post-its. I'd like them in multiple colors. I'd like green. I'd like yellow. Do not buy orange. I do not want orange. I have plenty of orange.
** After Ben and Chris were introduced at the end of Season 2, they became core cast members and were [[PromotionToOpeningTitles promoted to the opening credits]] in Season 3. Because of this, their absence earlier in the show may be disorienting whilst rewatching. Similarly, the presence of Mark Brendanawicz during the first two seasons can also be disorienting as he [[PutOnABus left the show]] at the same time that Ben and Chris came in.

** The original overarching storyline was Leslie's struggle to turn the pit in Lot 48 into a park. After the ReTool going into Season 2, the pit was filled in, but the idea to build a park was dropped almost completely by Season 3 as the show picked up other storylines. InUniverse, this is explained as the department's budget, already too small to support the project, was being drastically cut. During the camping episode, Leslie says that they can't continue turning the lot into a park because Chris wanted the next project to bring in revenue. The lot remains unmentioned for the next two years until April suggests making it into a dog park in theSeason 5 episode "Leslie vs. April". An impromptu groundbreaking occurs in Ann's last episode, then the TimeSkip reveals [[spoiler:Pawnee Commons was completed shortly after the end of Season 6.]]

* AbuseOfReturnPolicy: [[TheDandy Tom Haverford]] reveals this is how maintains his [[TheHedonist extravagant lifestyle]] despite working a low level government job and being in massive debt. He buys expensive and luxurious goods, uses them and then on the last day of the policy, returns them to store pretending he never used them, then uses the money to buy more goods. Several times it backfires on him, with the items either getting broken or lost, and him struggling to come up with the money.

** Creator/LouisCK returns as Dave Sanderson in "Dave Returns".

** Despite his prominence early on, after he was PutOnABus and it turned into a LongBusTrip when the original plan to bring him back once in a while failed to materialize, Mark was not only never spoken of again, but seemed to be erased from the characters' memories altogether. This was especially noticeable in the Season 5 episodes "Halloween Surprise" (where Ann, who Mark dated for most of Season 2, clears out some junk she had accumulated from her previous relationships to sell for charity and has a box for every other ex-boyfriend she's had except Mark) and "Pawnee Commons" (where the park design plans he drew up for the Lot 48 project and gave to Leslie before his departure are completely forgotten about). The only remnant of evidence of his existence following his departure from the series is the drawing he made in the Season 2 episode "The Camel" of a man feeding pigeons in a park still hanging in Ron's office. Furthermore, Mark was one of the few characters to not make an appearance in the last season or in the GrandFinale (which was particularly egregious considering all the other minor and recurring characters that [[BackForTheFinale came back]]), doesn't show up in any flashback clips, and doesn't appear in the 2020 ReunionShow either.

* CitizenshipMarriage: [[spoiler:Tom and Wendy]] are an example and play with it in an ironic fashion since it is actually the white partner who is the immigrant

-->'''Leslie:''' As a candidate I appreciate your strategic mind, but as a woman, all I care about is your slight but powerful body.\\

* ChekhovsGag: The fact that Tom is married to Wendy but still flirts with every woman in sight. [[spoiler:It's gradually revealed to be a sexless CitizenshipMarriage in which he's (secretly) in love with her, but Wendy's just in it for the green card.]]
** One stretching back to season 2. During an MRI scan, Leslie's date comments approvingly on her womb: [[spoiler:"If you wanted to, you could have triplets right off the bat, Leslie."]]
** Ben's ludicrously complicated "Cones of Dunshire" board game is introduced as a one-off ColdOpen gag, but returns later in an episode when he leaves it as a farewell gift to an accounting firm he started working at. Then comes back ''[[RuleOfThree again]]'' in [[ChekhovsBoomerang a bigger way]] when [[spoiler:the folks at Gryzzl inexplicably have a set of their own and Ben uses his mastery of the game to win free wi-fi for Pawnee. Turns out the accountants saw the game's potential and licensed it in Ben's name.]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After he was PutOnABus and it turned into a LongBusTrip after the original plan to bring him back once in a while failed to materialize, Mark was never spoken of again, even when it would've made sense to at least reference him. This was especially noticeable in the Season 5 episodes "Halloween Surprise" (where Ann, who Mark dated for most of Season 2, clears out some junk she had accumulated from her previous relationships to sell for charity and has a box for every other ex-boyfriend she's had except Mark) and "Pawnee Commons" (where the park design plans he drew up for the Lot 48 project and gave to Leslie before his departure are completely forgotten about). The only remnant of evidence of his existence following his departure from the series is the drawing he made in the Season 2 episode "The Camel" of a man feeding pigeons in a park still hanging in Ron's office. Furthermore, Mark was one of the few characters (if not the only one) to not come back for a cameo in the last season or in the GrandFinale (which was particularly egregious considering the sheer number of minor and recurring characters that [[BackForTheFinale came back]]), doesn't appear in any flashback clips, and doesn't appear in the 2020 ReunionShow either.

* CitizenshipMarriage: [[spoiler:Tom and Wendy. The subversion of this trope is a significant plot twist, since it is actually the white, Canadian Wendy who is the immigrant.]]

** After he was PutOnABus, Mark never once was mentioned ever again, even when it could've made sense for him to at least be referenced. This comes to a head in two Season 5 episodes. The first is in "Halloween Surprise" when the crew holds a charity sale to raise money for some of Jerry's medical bills and Ann begins selling off several items she accumulated from her previous relationships; she has a box for every boyfriend she's had ''except for Mark''. The second is in "Pawnee Commons", where the design plans he drew up for a park on Lot 48 and gave to Leslie before he left are completely forgotten about.
** In "The Rock Show", Ron brings Tammy 2's sister Beth to the concert, saying that the two of them are dating (and share a similar hatred for Tammy 2). Beth is neither seen nor mentioned ever again.
** Tom and Nadia go on one date before she leaves for Rwanda. She's never heard from again, and whether they ever resumed their relationship or if [[BusCrash the worst possible scenario]] occurred is never brought up.

** Twice over with Jerry - in the first season, Jerry was mostly a background entity and was actually competent compared to Leslie when she eats a poisonous plant. He gradually became more of a ButtMonkey, with his original characterization having him stoically putting up with the abuse he gets because he wanted to keep his head down until he could quietly retire and collect his pension. This then changed to him being too good-hearted to be upset by the way he's treated and having a fantastic home life where he's TheAce balancing it out.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Like the parent series ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', in the first episode the cameras and crew filming the {{mockumentary}} were explicitly recognized as people and equipment existing around the characters. Ron even asks who is paying for them to do this, incredulously wondering if they got some sort of grant. After the first episode this was dropped, and though the mockumentary format continued -- including the talking-head asides -- it was just a conceit of the show and the camera crew were never interacted with as people.
** In the first season the opening credits sequence is longer, with an extra stanza of the theme music.
** Eagleton, the neighboring town whose very name is a BerserkButton for Leslie later in the show, is mentioned without any undue fuss in season one.
** In early episodes the Mayor and his immediate subordinates are treated as the real movers and shakers in town, to the point that the cast are star struck encountering one of them in person. The mayor then goes almost completely unmentioned for the rest of the series with the town council taking the "higher authority" role, and when the office finally comes up again right at the end it's explicitly an entirely ceremonial position with no real power. There was a reorganization with few details given in between, though.
** Jerry's original characterization was that he was stoically putting up with his job and the abuse he gets because he wanted to keep his head down until he could quietly retire and collect his pension. His characterization soon changed to him being too good-hearted to be upset by the way he's treated and having a fantastic home life where he's TheAce.

--->'''Chris:''' "I'd like you to get me some more post-its. I'd like them in multiple colors. I'd like green. I'd like yellow. Do not buy orange. I do not want orange. I have plenty of orange."

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After he was PutOnABus and it turned into a LongBusTrip after the original plan to bring him back every once in a while failed to materialize, Mark was never spoken of again, even when it would've made sense to at least reference him. This was especially noticeable in the Season 5 episodes "Halloween Surprise" (where Ann, who Mark dated for most of Season 2, clears out some junk she had accumulated from her previous relationships to sell for charity and has a box for every other ex-boyfriend she's had except Mark) and "Pawnee Commons" (where the park design plans he drew up for the Lot 48 project and gave to Leslie before his departure are completely forgotten about). The only piece of evidence of his existence in the subsequent seasons is the drawing he made in the Season 2 episode "The Camel" of a man feeding pigeons in a park still hanging in Ron's office. Furthermore, Mark was one of the few characters (if not the only one) to not [[BackForTheFinale come back for the last season or finale episode]], doesn't appear in any flashback clips, and doesn't appear in the 2020 ReunionShow either.

** In "Smallest Park", Ron concurs with Andy's Women's Studies teacher when she calls marriage a form of slavery...since he has ended up the slave in his two marriages.
** In "New Slogan", the former proprietor of the dinosaur-themed restaurant [[Film/JurassicPark "Jurassic Fork"]] explains that they went out of business after they over-extended themselves by opening up another Steven Spielberg-themed restaurant: [[Film/SchindlersList "Schindler's Lunch."]]

* CompetencePorn: Definitely part of the appeal of Leslie Knope, both in-universe and for fans. And in a literal sense of the trope, there are definitely times when she and Ben get ''turned on'' by the other's excellence at their mundane government jobs. As the series goes on, more and more of the supporting ensemble also develop into these kind of extremely talented people who it is a pleasure to watch excel in work they care about.

** On a smaller scale in "Meet 'n' Greet", at the beginning of the episode, Andy pretends to have forgotten to buy fake blood capsules when preparing for a Halloween party, only to have concealed one in his mouth. Then near the end of the episode, Ben [[spoiler:elbows Andy in the face]], releasing the fake blood. Of course, this is a BaitAndSwitch gag because Ben actually did break his nose.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After he was PutOnABus and it turned into a LongBusTrip after the original plan to bring him back every once in a while failed to materialize, Mark was never spoken of again, even when it would've made sense to at least mention him. This was especially noticeable in the Season 5 episodes "Halloween Surprise" (where Ann clears out some junk she had accumulated from her previous relationships to sell for charity and has a box for every other ex-boyfriend she's had except Mark) and "Pawnee Commons" (where the park design plans he drew up for the Lot 48 project and gave to Leslie before his departure are completely forgotten about). The only thing in the later seasons to acknowledge his existence is the drawing he made in the Season 2 episode "The Camel" of a man feeding pigeons in a park still hanging in Ron's office.

* FaceDoodling: Ann narrates the talking heads segment at the end of of "Telethon", and announces that Leslie has been asleep on her couch for 22 hours (after staying awake for a few days). She closes the episode by announcing that "I love her so much... but I think I'm gonna draw a mustache on her face."
* FakeGuestStar: Both Retta (Donna) and Jim O'Heir (Jerry) were upgraded to opening credits at the start of season six (though were credited as "starring" from season three), despite the fact that both were often important characters to the plot, and appeared in almost every episode. This crediting is similar to that of ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]''.
* FancyCamping: In "Camping", the Parks and Rec team go on a camping trip and Tom brings a luxurious tent complete with an absurd amount of accessories and electronics. When asked how he affords it all, he says he buys it from Sky Mall and then returns it the next day. He powers his electronics with the car battery, which quickly kills it and strands the group.

* FidelityTest: Ann's friends pull a few lame ones on Mark at Ann's Halloween party in season 2.

** Leslie has fun [=TPing=] a house on Halloween in season 2, but doesn't condone it.

** The early episodes tease Leslie and Ron as a possible future couple given and Leslie awkwardly admits that she had an EroticDream about him once. However, it' later made clear they are just very good friends and there will never be any romantic tension between them.
*** This is later revisited when Ron starts dating Diane. At first she feels threatened by Leslie's closeness to him, until he explains that she literally locked herself in a room with AxCrazy Tammy 2 just so Diane and Ron could enjoy their date in peace, making it clear there are no romantic feelings between them.
** When Leslie is set up with Tom by a dating service, she balks at the idea, stating that he's like a little ''sister'' to her.

** Mark notes at the beginning of the second season that he literally hit rock bottom, in that he fell into the pit and hit a rock at the bottom.

** Pawnee has gone through so many town slogans that even April is impressed that Leslie manages to compile a complete list of them in "Time Capsule". The list takes up its own binder.

* LoveTriangle: In season 2, there's Mark/Ann/Andy, Ann/Andy/April, and Tom/Wendy/Ron. Played with for April, her boyfriend Ben (an aversion of the OneSteveLimit), and his boyfriend Derek, as April is only going along with it because she feels above traditional relationships. [[spoiler:All of the above are completely done away with by season 3, with Mark and Wendy being PutOnABus, while April breaks up with her two gay boyfriends and she and Andy end up HappilyMarried.]]
* LoveDodecahedron:
** Leslie was into Mark who dated Ann who is still a little a hung up on her ex Andy who has WillTheyOrWontThey with April. Tom is dating Lucy but he still has hang-ups on his ex-wife Wendy who's dating Ron.
** Completely done away with in favor of focusing on just two person couples. Andy and April are married, Ben and Leslie are in love but forced to stay apart, and Chris and Ann have UnresolvedSexualTension.
** A legitimate triangle presented itself in season 4 with [[spoiler:Chris/Ann/Tom; however, the OppositesAttract angle for Ann and Tom gets to be too big a divide and they part amicably, with Ann eventually winding back up with Chris for good and having a child with him]].

* NoAccountingForTaste: Ann is a bit of an ExtremeDoormat (though she goes [[GrewASpine become more assertive]] with Leslie's help), has a bad case of WeaknessTurnsHerOn, and as a nurse, can be prone to the FlorenceNightingaleEffect. Andy is a helpless idiot sometimes bordering on TooDumbToLive. Their relationship is incredibly lopsided, with Ann essentially being TheCaretaker and an unmarried example of ParentingTheHusband. In "Freddy Spaghetti", when Andy is in the hospital while Ann's just ended things with Mark (on top of [[GreenEyedMonster feeling jealous]] of how Andy's becoming romantically close to April) and their old dynamic is re-established, she immediately becomes attracted to him again, but she does realize it's a mistake and ends it just as quickly.

** One-shot character Carl Lorthner, played by Andy Samberg. He was made a park ranger specifically because he was insufferable in an office job. Apparently he likes spending time outdoors since as a kid his mom would often send him outside to play, cementing that this is a lifelong issue for him.

** Craig Middlebrooks. Overlaps with SuddenlyShouting due to his high strung personality. His loud voice did become an issue when Tom's restaurant was about to open.

** In "Sex Education", the parks department has a sex-ed talk prepared for their elderly audience, and has the items for the typical condom-on-banana demonstration. Then the scene cuts to them about to explain some other sexual situation, and we see that, for some unknowable reason, a pineapple, a cucumber and a bunch of three bananas have been introduced to illustrate a situation. Even more types of demonstrational produce are seen in the conference room later.

** In one episode, J.J. (of J.J.'s Diner) refers to Leslie as being his best customer. She initially thinks he's flattering her, but then he notes she is literally his best customer, spending over $1000 on waffles each year.
** A distraught Ron goes to a diner and tells the waiter to bring him all their eggs and bacon. He immediately calls him back to explain that he doesn't mean, "Bring me a lot of bacon and eggs." He literally wants all of the eggs and bacon contained in the restaurant.

** Also the Nutri-Yum Bar. Despite it being advertised as health food, Ann describes it as "basically a block of sugar".

* OnlySaneMan: Ann, Ben and Ron usually take this role, specially with Leslie. However they all still have their own quirks and sometimes freak out even the weirdos of Pawnee (such as Ann mirroring her boyfriends' personalities, Ron and his unabomber tendencies, and Ben and his weird hobbies, among others) which goes to show they're NotSoAboveItAll.

* ReTool: The second season deemphasizes the pit storyline, changes some of the characterizations and adds some of the supporting characters into the mix. The third season has Mark leave for the private sector and Ben and Chris (introduced in the last few episodes of season 2) stay around as Pawnee has to deal with a financial crisis, which gradually made the show less reliant on the mockumentary style or the focus on the Parks Department and more about the general politics in Pawnee, as well as solidifying its core cast.

*** Mark and Leslie had hooked up years before the start of the series, and Leslie still harbored a big crush on him while he actually forgot about that night when it gets brought up. They almost rekindled it in the first season finale but Leslie [[AboveTheInfluence backed off because they were both tipsy]], and she ultimately moves on from it in the second season, first through a relationship with a cop named Dave, then briefly going out with Ann's lawyer friend Justin, and ultimately gets together [[OfficialCouple officially with Ben]].
*** In the case of Ann, Mark was her second serious boyfriend after she left Andy, and although she liked Mark's stability and maturity, she ultimately broke it off with him after realizing the relationship just didn't have the right chemistry or excitement for her.

** April's creepy friend Orin who just stares at everyone and makes cryptic comments.

** Ben inability to understand everyone else's love for Li'l Sebastian.

** Perd Hapley's long winded interview questions and tendency to speak in obvious, redundant sentences.

* SadisticChoice: In "Filibuster" Leslie ends up having to choose between completing mit and allowing [[spoiler:former Eagletonians]] to vote in the recall election, in which case they'll vote in an Eagletonian, or yielding and losing the recall vote among Pawneeans only. [[spoiler:She chooses the former, and gains a lot of respect and momentum from Eagletonians for holding off the irritating Jamm for so long. This might've been AllForNothing, though, as the Eagletonian opponent in question is Ingrid de Forest.]]

** Marci in the "Sweetums" episode who loudly announces that Leslie has a late fee on a book titled "Mysteries of the Female Orgasm" to everyone in the library.

* SeriesContinuityError: At the end of Season 2, in his last scene, Mark Brendanawicz gives Leslie the blueprints for her park on Lot 48. In "Pawnee Commons" Leslie is desperate because she doesn't have a decent plan for the proposed park.
* SeriesFauxnale: [[http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/parks-and-recreation-co-creator-mike-schur-on-writing-the-perfect-finale-again-and-again-and-again According to co-creator Mike Schur]], this happened several times in the series' run due to its shaky ratings. The writers were worried that since ''Parks'' was a midseason replacement in Season 3, it would be canceled soon after. So they wrote the season 3 finale, "Lil Sebastian", as a possible series finale. This happened again with the season 4 finale, "Win, Lose or Draw". The season 5 episode "Leslie and Ben" was also written as a series finale because it was the last episode of the {{front 13|Back9}} produced.
** It was averted with the final episode of Season 5 as the writers were confident the show would be renewed.

* DIYDentistry: Certified RatedMForManly Ron Swanson nonchalantly yanks out a sore tooth with pliers in the middle of a meeting, prompting horrified screams from onlookers.

** Subverted with Ron. Everything about him is RatedMForManly, but he admires strong women to the point of being an AmazonChaser. He does feel the need for the occasional all-male retreat, though.

** In "Harvest Festival", the entire department, if not all of Pawnee (save outsider Ben) goes gaga over Li'l Sebastian, a miniature horse who is famous for... being a miniature horse back in the '80s. Even Ron RatedMForManly Swanson turns into a giddy child around him, and the usually bitchy and snobby Joan Calamezzo turns into a squealing fangirl by Li'l Sebastian's presence. Ben just doesn't get it.

* RatedMForManly: [[http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/110120/park-recs-pyramid_1500.jpg The Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness]].

In 2020, the writers and cast put together a remote reunion special to help raise funds for COVID-19 relief.

* ChekhovsGun: Leslie's proposal to clean up the Pawnee river becomes this when, two years later, [[spoiler:a member of the National Parks Service, Grant Larson, shows up in Pawnee to offer Leslie a job after reading it.]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** Marlene Griggs-Knope, Leslie's mother who is a powerful figure in Pawnee politics, went from a recurring role in the first season to sporadic appearances in the second season to only one appearance in the third season, two in the fourth season, one in the fifth season, and then was never seen again after that. This was mostly due to the changes in Season 2, where Leslie went from bumbling and incompetent in Season 1 to hyper-talented and very good at her job thereafter. In a Q&A, Michael Schur stated that with Leslie's character more developed, there was less to do with Marlene, and while they wanted to bring her back more than they did, the opportunities didn't fit with the new direction the show was going in. She is mentioned once in the Season 7 episode "Pie Mary", when Leslie mentions that she's babysitting the triplets.
** After he was PutOnABus and it turned into a LongBusTrip after the original plan to bring him back every once in a while failed to materialize, Mark was all but forgotten about, even when it would've made sense to at least reference him. This was especially noticeable in the Season 5 episodes "Halloween Surprise" and "Pawnee Commons".

* DenserAndWackier: Compared to its [[Series/TheOfficeUS predecessor]]. While ''The Office'' had plenty of absurd and over-the-top moments, Pawnee and its people are much more zany and cartoonish than Scranton and Dunder Mifflin overall. ''Parks and Rec'' was also less reliant on CringeComedy than ''The Office'', opting for a humor style that relied more on the dynamic interactions between each unique cast member.

** Mark left the show at the end of the second season to pursue a new job in the private sector following the government shutdown and Ann breaking up with him. Although the door ''was'' left open for Mark to make a reappearance once in a while, he never returned and it became a LongBusTrip.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Ron actually wears suits, has a different hairstyle, was a little more involved in Parks & Rec proceedings, and was even seen holding a seemingly modern looking phone, despite being a little behind on the times technology-wise in later seasons (to the point of getting an old fashioned flip phone at one point).

** Mark changes from a womanizing sleaze with an "on again, off again" relationship with Leslie in the first season to almost a Jim Halpert clone in the second season, all the way down to his relationship with Ann Perkins. The drastic change in characterization made him increasingly hard to write for, resulting in him being written off the show during the second season.

* ChurchOfHappyology: Reasonablism, in which folders play a significant part (and so named because you can't criticize a group who has "reasonable" in their name). Lampshaded in ''Pawnee: The Greatest Town In America'', when one of the last followers of Zorp denies Reasonablism's cult status by comparing it to Happyology.

** Leslie Knope works for Pawnee's Parks and Recreation Department, and which is almost an ideal job for her because she was practically born for public service and politics. In season 4, she successfully campaigns to become a member of the city council -- she referred to this position as her dream job. She wants to improve her town and to advance her career, possibly aiming to become the City Manager. Her ultimate goal is becoming the first female President of the United States.
** Tom Haverford's ultimate dream in life is to become a mogul, and it does not matter to him very much in which branch of business. He tries to use his job at Parks and Recreation Department to his advantage and tries to secure favours from local contractors. Tom has shown his passion for entrepreneurship when he co-founded Entertainment 720 (this one failed spectacularly), Rent-A-Swag (a great success, but was undermined by his partner and his rich father), and Tom's Bistro (a successful local restaurant).
* PutOnABus:
** Marlene Griggs-Knope, Leslie's mother who is a power figure in Pawnee politics, went from a recurring role in the first season to sporadic appearances in the second season to only one appearance in the third season, two in the fourth season, and one in the fifth season. She was never seen again after the fifth season, with no sendoff. Mostly this was due to the changes in season two, where Leslie went from bumbling and incompetent in season one to hyper talented and very good at her job thereafter. Michael Schur in a Q&A stated that with Leslie's character more developed, there was less to do with Marlene Griggs-Knope, and while they wanted to bring her back more than they did, the opportunities didn't fit with the direction of the show.
** Mark left the show at the end of the second season to pursue a private sector job, and never returned.
** Sewage Joe was put on a bus after Ben fired him for texting pictures of his penis. TheBusCameBack (appropriately) in "Bus Tour" [[spoiler:where he turns out to be the mysterious assailant who threw a pie that almost hits Leslie. He was aiming at Ben to get revenge and succeeds at the end of the episode.]]
** Ann and Chris in season 6, after [[spoiler:conceiving a child and moving for a job in Michigan.]]
** [[spoiler:Leslie and Ben's triplets]] are featured in the flashforward season finale, but apart from that they rarely appear and don't speak. It's a bit jarring when April tells [[spoiler:Leslie]] about how great and intelligent the children are, while the audience has only ever seen them running across the screen or being dragged along by the hand...
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: In the opening of the season 3 premiere, the Parks and Rec dept. reopens after being closed down for the summer and Leslie goes to each of her old co-workers who either have new jobs or relaxing and gets them back to work with her.

* QuietlyPerformingSisterShow: ''Parks'' is this to ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', sharing the same executive producers and some writers, and was originally pitched as a {{spinoff}}. While ''The Office'' got much more attention and higher ratings, ''Parks'' quietly built up a loyal following and became a critical darling, with most critics considering it equal to, and in some cases better than, ''The Office''.

* RacistGrandpa: Councilman Milton, the elderly long-serving councilman elected to office as a member of the Dixiecrat Party, a real life party broken off from the Democratic Party in search of a stronger pro-segregation platform. Despite this, Councilman Milton seems to be a pleasant, harmless old man who just doesn't realize his old fashioned beliefs are now deemed offensive, falling into this trope. It also speaks to Pawnee's unfortunate past of racial injustices, and the fact that he is still holding office after this long suggests that many older citizens of Pawnee also qualify as {{Racist Grandpa}}s.
* RascallyRaccoon: Pawnee raccoon infestations are not only common, but humans are often harmed by the raccoons.

* {{Realpolitik}}: After Leslie acquires a city council seat she spends much of her time defending her policies against the noted downsides and outright misinformation and would have to resolve the issue with her own trickery, which gradually diminished the public opinion of her despite the fact she was much more community minded and moral than the other council members. A recall vote started gaining steam, but she felt confident in retaining her position because she was the frontrunner to the Eagleton / Pawnee merge that resolved the Eagleton financial problems and thus would be on her side. She comes to learn that despite their respect of her, a recall vote gives them an opportunity to bring in a council member that actually represents their community. The recall and Eagleton council member went down exactly that way, and Leslie just has to accept that process.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines:

** "End of the World" reveals that every few years since the '70s, a local cult claims that the end of the world is coming, likely a reference to the antics of Harold Camping and Family Radio. However, the group in Pawnee are [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]] rather than Christian.

** In "Second Chunce", Councilman Dexhart returns with yet another sex scandal based on the Anthony Weiner scandal in which he sexted women under the name "Carlos Danger".\

*** Mark and Leslie had hooked up years before the start of the series, and Leslie still harbored a big crush on him while he actually forgot about that night when it's brought up. They almost rekindled it in the first season finale but Leslie [[AboveTheInfluence backed off because they were both tipsy]], and she ultimately moves on from it in the second season, first through a relationship with a cop named Dave, then briefly going out with Ann's lawyer friend Justin, and ultimately gets together [[OfficialCouple officially with Ben]].

* ScaryScienceWords: Exploited in "Fluoride". Leslie is leading a campaign to put fluoride in the town's drinking water to improve dental hygiene. However, [[SleazyPolitician Councilman Jeremy Jam]] takes advantage of the fact that the majority of citizens of Pawne are ignorant and suspicious people who have no idea what fluoride is, using blatant fearmongering to turn against the idea of putting chemicals in their drinking water (even going as far as declaring that [[HitlerAteSugar Hitler used chemicals]]). Leslie later turns the tables on him ruining his chances of instead replacing drinking water with "[[NutritionalNightmare Drink-ems]]" a Sweetums high sugar solution (and thus costing him the massive payout he would have gotten for getting them the contract, as well as extra business as a dentist from all those cavities), by getting Tom to describe it in purely chemical terms (and then convincing them to include fluoride by letting Tom rebrand it so that doesn't mention any science).

* SeriesFauxnale: [[http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/parks-and-recreation-co-creator-mike-schur-on-writing-the-perfect-finale-again-and-again-and-again According to co-creator Mike Schur]], the show has done this several times, due to its shaky ratings. The writers were worried that, since ''Parks'' was a midseason replacement in season 3, that it would be canceled soon after. So they wrote the season 3 finale, "Lil Sebastian", as a possible series finale. This happened again with the season 4 finale, "Win, Lose or Draw". The season 5 episode "Leslie and Ben" was also written as a series finale because it was the last episode of the {{front 13|Back9}} produced.
** Averted with the final season of Series 5 as the writers were confident the show would be renewed.
** Done yet again in Season 6 with the season finale "Moving Up" which takes place largely during the Unity Concert, thus has a GrandFinale vibe (with cameos from several famous performers, and closes most characters' story arcs). Leslie even [[spoiler:gets her name added to a statue listing the founders of Pawnee as she orchestrated the merger between Pawnee and Eagleton]]. It even has a [[spoiler:DistantFinale, showing Leslie, Ben, April, and Andy three years after the events of the Unity Concert--which, when Season 7 was approved, was used as a springboard to ''that'' season (set primarily in 2017)]].

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Across the board. April dumps her cynical, moody boyfriend (and his boyfriend) because she likes the good-natured Andy, Ann [[spoiler:chooses Chris to be the father of her baby because he can be paternal and encouraging, and later develops feelings for him again]], Donna - after some resistance due to difference in lifestyle - gets together with Joe, an almost-inhumanly nice schoolteacher, and of course Leslie, after getting over [[HandsomeLech Mark]], falls for the sweet, devoted Ben. This is also likely the basis of Garry and Gayle Gergich's marriage.

** After he was PutOnABus, Mark never once was mentioned ever again, even when it could've made sense for him to at least be referenced. Comes to a head in "Halloween Surprise" when the crew assembles a sale to raise money for some of Jerry's medical bills and Ann begins selling off several items she accumulated from her previous relationships; she has a box for every boyfriend she's had ''except for Mark''.

* NoAccountingForTaste: Ann is a bit of an ExtremeDoormat (though she goes [[GrewASpine become more assertive]] with Leslie's help), has a bad case of WeaknessTurnsHerOn, and as a nurse, can be prone to the FlorenceNightingaleEffect. Andy is a helpless idiot bordering on TooDumbToLive. In "Freddy Spaghetti" in the hospital and their old dynamic is re-established, she immediately becomes attracted to him again.
* NoBisexuals: Zigzagged. April claims to have a "gay boyfriend," Derek, who has his own boyfriend named Ben, showing her pronounced sense of ironic detachment. She claims that Derek is straight for her, but he only makes out with her when he's drunk. In one episode, the gay guys give her a rather platonic peck on the cheek in greeting, and she later [[spoiler:breaks up with them in an apparent desire to have a real relationship.]] The entire thing is played off as entirely ironic, as Derek never shows true attraction to April. The trope is averted in "Pawnee Zoo", when Leslie gets the numbers of two bisexual guys who frequent the local gay bar.

** [[spoiler:When Chris puts Leslie and Ben on trial for their relationship, he invokes this trope. In fact, he's clearly very troubled to have to prosecute people he cares about, but feels that it's his duty, and he can't avoid it. In the end, no one blames him for it, and they remain friends.]]

** At the end of season 3, Ron's first wife, Tammy One, shows up. The news causes the Tammy Two to shout "Oh, shit!" and flee in terror. Also an example of TheWorfEffect, as it's demonstrated how bad Tammy One is by showing that even Tammy Two is scared of her.

** Every guest at [[spoiler: Leslie and Ben's wedding]] knows what's going to happen when Jamm punches Ron in the shoulder.
* OnSecondThought: When Leslie and Ben try to call for a recount on her city counsel election:

* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Ben bankrupted his hometown as its mayor when he was 18 years old with his Ice Town project. Every person in the town still bears an intense grudge over it nearly two decades later. Their current mayor even mentiones that bashing him is the easiest way to gain approval in the city since everyone hates him.

* MalingeringRomancePloy: [[{{Manchild}} Andy]] suffered broken legs falling into the "the pit" outside of his girlfriend Ann's home. However, he refuses the have the casts taken off when it is time, unknown to Ann, so that she'll keep being TheCaretaker him. She finds out two weeks later and breaks up with him.

** [[Creator/PaulRudd Bobby Newport]], Leslie's opponent in the City Council election, has the mental capacity and personality of a child. At first he seems like an entitled jerk, but it becomes increasingly clear that he's too stupid to be mean.

** Leslie fits, too. She is cheerful, hyperactive, and a little naïve. Not to mention her fondness for candy and dislike of vegetables. She is competent, however--indeed, ''very'' competent.
-->'''Ann''' (in a deleted scene): Leslie is incredible. She has the energy of a ten year-old. [[SweetTooth And the same taste in snacks.]]

* MeaningfulEcho: While the echo is to something that chronologically happens later, Leslie's official response to the 2016 presidential election ends with "Now find your team, and get to work", the closing words of her speech at the end of the series finale.

* MetaCasting: In part due to the [[{{Mockumentary}} documentary format]] and heavy amounts of improv functionally the entire cast were very close dopplegangers of their characters. Creator/AubreyPlaza was actually the inspiration for her character existing. But Creator/RobLowe's actual VerbalTic of overusing "literally" was what defined Chris, a trip to Creator/NickOfferman's garage created Ron's love of woodworking and Creator/AzizAnsari making Tom a big fan of swagger.

* MissingStepsPlan: Tom and Jean-Ralphio's Entertainment 720 company. The two created an extremely elaborate office, filled with people who had no other purpose than to entertain them and (potential) business partners and began to hand out expensive gifts and merchandise in high quantities. Their idea apparently being that a successful company should have all such things and that having such things would result in a successful company. The fact they didn't even spend a single second on what their company should actually DO never crossed their mind (Tom had a vague idea that it would be an event organizing/promoting company, which is actually a legit business model, especially if you're as good as Tom at throwing a party, but could never quite stick to that). Needless to say everyone but them quickly realized their company was doomed.

* MistakenForGay : Leslie and Ann, to Ann's discomfort. Examples include:

** In "Christmas Scandal", the news anchors call Leslie and Ann lesbians for being close to each other in a photograph and later on Joan Callamezzo says to Leslie "It's nice to see you brought your girlfriend for support".

** April is not at all cordial to Andy's ex Ann, but does grow to consider her a friend, if VitriolicBestBuds (not that April would ever admit it), while Ann on the flip side will try anything to get April to like her.
** Dave, Ben and Leslie in "Dave Returns". Dave is still in love with Leslie, but she's happily in love with Ben. After [[RelationshipSabotage trying to break them up]], he ultimately accepts that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Leslie's moved on with her life and lets her go]].

*** Chris' ex Millicent (also Jerry's daughter) makes a surprise appearance at the Gergich family Christmas party with a new boyfriend in tow. Chris had taken their break-up pretty hard, but here he's happy for the two of them.
* MockMillionaire: People in Eagleton really do have a lot more money than Pawnee, but nowhere near what's implied by their spending habits and attitude (which would raise eyebrows in Dubai). The town ends up being dissolved to prevent their resulting debt crisis from dragging the whole region down with them.
* ModelCouple: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Tom in "Summer Catalog" with respect to Ann and Mark: He wants to get a picture of the two of them for the cover of the Parks Department's summer catalog because they look good together. He even says "You two should be models." However, because he has insane and bizarre demands for his photography (and Ann is unable to look happy in the pictures), a more natural photo of [[spoiler:April and Andy]] is used instead.

** Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa are a pair of siblings that descend from a rich family. Both have the terrible habit of making frivolous purchases or burning money in terrible business ideas. They eventually have to resort to faking their own deaths for insurance money. Jean-Ralphio also mentions that his parents made the (probably wise) decision to not give him access to his trust fund until he's fifty.
** Tom, at least in the beginning and due to influence from Jean-Ralphio, has a tendency of trying to live a luxury lifestyle without the budget for one, which includes buying things he can't afford with the full intention of returning them by pretending that those things harmed him or were defective. When he and Jean-Ralphio open a business, they burn all their money on decorations, a large warehouse, overpaying their employees (who have nothing to do), and hiring professional basketball players to play for them, all to keep up appearances. He eventually gets better when his business fails and he starts another, smaller one, by himself.
* MortalityPhobia: Chris is such a health nut that finding any indication that he's aging (or even just not the peak of human perfection) is enough to send him into a downward spiral.

* MythologyGag: A slight gag on ''Series/{{The Office|US}}''. For Phyllis' bachelorette party, Jim is tasked with finding a stripper but he instead hires a Creator/BenjaminFranklin impersonator (Karen and Pam engage him in sexy talk anyway). For Leslie's bachelorette party, Ann hires an UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln impersonator stripper, which Leslie mentions is her fantasy come true.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: At the end of "Article Two", Garth, a Pawnee history buff, is about to be [[ItMakesSenseInContext thrown into the lake in honor of a town tradition in place of a Ted]]. Then Andy comes running in in the nude, yelling "I'm Ted too, guys!" before jumping into the lake and taking "Ted"'s place.
* NearVillainVictory: Near the end of "Partridge", it seems as if Councilman Jamm is going to win his multi-million dollar lawsuit against Ron, who face-socked him during [[spoiler:Leslie and Ben's wedding]]. However, April, Andy and Tom bring him [[spoiler:a binder with evidence of Jamm lying under oath multiple times in the past. We never even find out if the evidence exists or not since Tom fakes being attacked by Jamm as he hands him the binder with April vowing to testify for him (notably both Tom and April have lied to protect Ron previously) so Jamm ends up forced into dropping the lawsuit so April and Tom won't sue him]].
* NeverASelfMadeWoman: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] In the episode "Soda Tax", Leslie said that her position as councilwoman wouldn't be possible without Ron, because he hired and supported her as Deputy Director. [[spoiler:Ron then reveals that he's tried to fire Leslie four times, but changed his mind because he was so impressed by her conviction.]]

* NoAccountingForTaste: Ann is a nurse, and therefore predisposed toward wanting to take care of people. Andy is a helpless idiot bordering on TooDumbToLive. As soon as he's back in the hospital and their old dynamic is re-established, she immediately becomes attracted to him again.

* AgeGapAlgebra: In "The Master Plan", Andy (29) asks [[CasanovaWannabe Tom]] how young is too young to date. Tom quotes the half-your-age-plus-seven rule, which in Andy's case would be 21 and a half, causing him some consternation when he realizes this technically puts the freshly 21 April in the "too young" range. [[TheyDo He gets over it.]] It helps that Andy has the mental maturity of a 21-year-old. At best.

** The original story arc was Leslie's struggle to turn the pit in Lot 48 into a park. After the ReTool going into Season 2, the pit was filled in, but the idea to build a park was dropped almost completely by season three as the show picked up other storylines. In-universe this is because the department's budget, already too small to support the project, was drastically cut. During the camping episode, Leslie says that they couldn't continue turning the lot into a park because Chris wanted the next project to bring in revenues. The lot remains unmentioned for two years afterwards, until April suggests making it into a dog park in season five's "Leslie vs. April". An impromptu groundbreaking occurs in Ann's last episode, then the TimeSkip reveals [[spoiler:Pawnee Commons was completed shortly after the end of Season 6.]]
** Through Season 4, Chris takes Ron on a series of activities that turn out to be incognito interviews for the position of Assistant City Manager. Ron seems intrigued by the opportunity to slash even more items from the budget, but at the very end of the season Ron ultimately declines the position.
** April going to veterinary school in Season 6, which seemed like it was going to be an important part of her character arc. When she goes to orientation, she suddenly backs out and decides to not go, claiming that she "just had a feeling." The writers probably realized that they couldn't have both Aubrey Plaza and Chris Pratt (Andy) absent from the main cast simultaneously, especially with Rashida Jones (Ann) and Rob Lowe (Chris) leaving the show around the same time.
** In Season 6, Tom meets a young doctor named Nadia and goes through significant ordeal to convince her to go out on a date with him. They seem to really hit it off, and Nadia promises to call him when she returns from a three week stint with Doctors Without Borders. She is never seen, heard from, or mentioned by anyone ever again.
** Ben and Leslie's engagement party establishes that Ben's family is completely broken, his divorced parents loathing one another, and Ben and Leslie's only solution to them attending the wedding is to keep them apart from each other at all costs. Come the impromptu wedding, Ben's family is not present, nor are they mentioned again.
*** Ben mentions that his parents are divorced in S4E05, and Ben's father sold the family lake house without telling anyone in S6E19, which prompts Ben to get drunk and complain to Ron about his family.

* DenserAndWackier: Compared to its [[Series/TheOfficeUS predecessor]]. While ''The Office'' had plenty of absurd and hilarious moments, Pawnee is a much more zany, cartoonish world than Scranton, PA. ''Parks and Rec'' was also less reliant on CringeComedy than ''The Office'', opting for a warmer and more optimistic humor style that largely came from the dynamic interactions between each unique cast member.

* ActivistFundamentalistAntics: Marcia Langman, the humorless right-wing Christian spokeswoman for the Society for Family Stability Foundation. In "Pawnee Zoo", she tries to get Leslie to annul a fake gay penguin wedding since "when gays marry, it ruins marriage for the rest of us." Later in "Time Capsule", she denounces the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' books as "anti-Christian" and "pro-quivering". In "Jerry's Painting", Marcia shows up again to protest Jerry's painting of Leslie as a nude centaur. Marcia is gung-ho to burn the painting (simply removing it from the public eye would not satisfy her), to Leslie's chagrin, but Leslie manages to salvage it in the end. Marcia's husband Marshall also engages in these views and protests, despite appearing to be in a TransparentCloset.

* LoonyFan: Kelly Larson (played by Poehler's old ''SNL'' castmate Will Forte) is a ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' loon who chains himself to a pipe in Leslie's office in "Time Capsule." [[spoiler:Except that he isn't actually a ''Twilight'' fan, he's just trying to reconnect with his daughter.]]