Parks and Recreation

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Television series
German title Parks and Recreation
Parks & Recreation - The Green Space Office
Original title Parks and Recreation
Parks And Recreation Logo.png
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 2009-2015
Production
company		 Universal Television ,
Deedle-Dee Productions,
Fremulon
3 Arts Entertainment
length 22 minutes
Episodes 125 in 7 seasons ( list )
genre Comedy , mockumentary
idea Greg Daniels ,
Michael Schur
production Amy Poehler ,
Morgan Sackett
music Gaby Moreno ,
Vincent Jones
First broadcast April 9, 2009 (USA) on NBC
German-language
first broadcast		 May 9, 2012 on Glitz *
occupation
synchronization

Parks and Recreation , also known as Parks & Recreation , is an American comedy series penned by producers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur and broadcast on NBC between 2009 and 2015 . In the center of the action, the ambitious but amiable, Deputy Head is the green area office of the fictional town of Pawnee in the US state of Indiana named Leslie Knope that of Amy Poehler is embodied.

In a mockumentary style, the series accompanies the everyday life of the city's green space office, which is responsible for the parks and leisure facilities. The authors of the series had previously dealt intensively with local politics in the state of California and visited the local authorities to put their series on a realistic background.

The German-language first broadcast began on May 9, 2012 on the pay-TV channel Glitz * . The series has been broadcast on free TV since July 5, 2013 at Comedy Central .

The series and especially its protagonist have been nominated for various television awards, including the Golden Globe Award and the Emmy . In 2014, Amy Poehler finally won the Golden Globe for her role in the series for Best Actress in a Series - Comedy or Musical .

Main cast of the series: Amy Poehler , Adam Scott , Aziz Ansari , Rob Lowe , Rashida Jones , Chris Pratt , Aubrey Plaza (top left to bottom right)

action

Parks and Recreation shows the day-to-day life of Leslie Knope, deputy head of the parks department in the medium-sized town of Pawnee. The latter suffers from numerous socio-cultural and economic problems. For example, the city's motto is first place for friendship and fourth for obesity . In addition, Pawnee ranks fourth in overweight in the US, which is also due to the fact that the Pawnee-based confectionery company Sweetum is the city's main employer. The city's early history is marked by countless, gruesome wars against Native Americans . Numerous wall paintings in the town hall show bloody massacres of mostly unarmed indigenous people. In the 1970s, Pawnee was briefly ruled by a sect. The believers call themselves rational ionists and await the arrival of the alien god Zorp, which will herald the end of humanity. There are still followers of the faith who meet regularly for doomsday parties. The reason ionists are an allusion to the Church of Scientology .

Leslie is a peculiarity in her agency. None of her five colleagues in the department are as committed as she is, especially her supervisor Ron Swanson as a supporter of libertarianism in the office only sits off his work or even works against the government, while the overzealous Leslie his Tasks done.

season 1

At the beginning of the season, the nurse Ann Perkins complained at a community forum about a construction pit behind her house and asked for it to be sealed because her boyfriend Andy Dwyer fell into it and broke both legs. Leslie, under pressure, suddenly agrees to turn the pit into a park. Despite all the concerns of her colleagues, including her assistant Tom Haverford and intern April Ludgate, and, last but not least, contrary to Ron's opinion, Leslie succeeds in pushing the project forward. With the help of the city planner Mark Brendanawicz, who himself does not believe in the realization of the project and for whom Leslie has secret feelings, she drafts the first plans for the design of the park.

In the period that followed, however, an advertising campaign for the park failed because there was also a lack of public sympathy for the project. A public citizens' forum on the topic turns out to be a disaster, as everyone present openly rages against the park. But resignation does not want to arise in Leslie; she hatches new strategies on how she can put her project into practice in spite of all opponents. Ann, with whom Leslie becomes more and more friends over time, meanwhile, shows her boyfriend Andy in front of the door after it turns out that he kept the healing of his fractures from her for two weeks so that she can continue to serve her.

season 2

At the beginning of the second season, Ann ends her relationship with Andy and, with Leslie's consent, goes out with Mark. Tom's marriage to the attractive doctor Wendy from Canada reveals itself to be a green card marriage with the aim of enabling Wendy to stay permanently in the USA. In Tom, who secretly loves Wendy, fears of loss arise, facing the imminent divorce.

Meanwhile, Leslie and Ann, now best friends, accidentally injure Ann's ex-boyfriend Andy, who lives in the pit as a homeless man, while trying to fill the excavation pit on their own. Leslie unexpectedly capitalizes on the accident: To prevent a legal dispute with the city administration, Andy Leslie implements the idea and blackmailed the excavation pit.

When Mark tries to make Ann fiancé, she confesses that she no longer has any feelings for him. Mark leaves the city offended and does not appear in the series again. The financial misery that has now ruled the city administration of Pawnee ensures that two tax auditors are dispatched to the city. It's about the crazy Chris Traeger and his colleague Ben Wyatt, who are supposed to cut the budget in Pawnee. The green space office will be closed until further notice in order to save money.

Andy develops feelings for April, but she doesn't want to hear about it as long as he mourns his ex-girlfriend Ann. The season ends when Tom discovers his boss Ron seems to be having a relationship with his ex-wife Wendy.

season 3

Leslie decides to revive the canceled Thanksgiving Day in Pawnee. The project is intended to demonstrate the suitability of the Green Spaces Authority and its success will decide on the future financial resources of the authority. While Leslie and Ben work on the project, they get closer and develop feelings for each other. After weeks of planning and above all thanks to Leslie's efforts, the harvest festival is a complete success.

Ann and Chris begin a romantic relationship, but this is quickly ended by Chris, who has to return to Indianapolis on business . However, he later returns to Pawnee, as he takes over the vacated post as city ​​manager . Ben also takes a job in Pawnee and stays with Leslie. Tom's ex-wife, Wendy, separates from Ron because she wants to return to Canada. Tom, jealous of Ron and unaware of Ron and Wendy's breakup, begins a revenge relationship with Ron's second ex-wife, Tammy Zwei . He inadvertently brings Ron and Tammy back together briefly. Meanwhile, Andy finally succeeds in winning April over. After a few weeks, the two married at a wedding that surprised the guests.

Leslie and Ben also begin a love affair, but have to keep it a secret, as Chris forbids relationships in the workplace. Tom quits his job at the Green Spaces Office and starts an unprofitable company with his friend Jean-Ralphio and his inheritance. At the end of the season, Leslie is given the opportunity to run for Pawnee town council . When asked about it, she denies possible scandals in her career and overlooks the secret relationship with Ben, as a seat on the city council has always been her dream. In the last scene of the season, Ron learns that his first ex-wife, Tammy Eins , is coming to see him at the town hall. Completely horrified, he escapes.

Season 4

With Ben's consent, Leslie decides to run for the city council election and the two end their relationship. Leslie hires Andy as her assistant. In the meantime, Tammy One takes complete control of Ron until he can finally break away from her. Tom and Jean-Ralphio's company, Entertainment 720 , goes bankrupt due to a lack of revenue and Tom eventually returns to the Green Spaces Department .

In the meantime, Leslie and Ben clash again and again, as both are still in love, but have to suppress this due to the regulations. In the end, they get back together and their relationship becomes public. In order to save Leslie's job, Ben finally gives up his job with the city administration. However, the scandal causes Leslie's election campaign team to part with her. Ben agrees to become Leslie's campaign manager. The two of them receive support from the entire team of the Green Spaces Office as well as from Chris. Meanwhile, Leslie's shy ex-boyfriend Dave also returns to town and makes a fruitless attempt to win Leslie back.

An integral part of the season are the clashes with Leslie's fiercest competitor in the city council election, Bobby Newport and his well-known campaign manager Jennifer Barkley. The latter shows more and more clever tricks that Leslie and Ben are often not up to. Ann and Tom, meanwhile, begin a romantic relationship with ups and downs. April, bearing more responsibility, takes on many of the tasks that Leslie can no longer do herself due to her campaign. At the end of the season, Jennifer offers Ben a job in Washington, DC , which he eventually accepts. Leslie wins the city council election by a narrow margin after the votes are recounted.

Season 5

At the beginning of the fifth season, Ben and April, whom he takes as his assistant, take up their positions in Washington DC. However, Leslie and Andy visit them soon. In Pawnee, Leslie takes on her position as a councilor and, while doing her work, always offends one of her colleagues, the snobbish councilor Jeremy Jamm. This quickly becomes Leslie's archenemy, as he prevents most of her projects. Chris trains Andy to prepare for his police career while Tom is looking for a new business idea. After getting over both of the Tammys, Ron starts a relationship with Diane, a woman he helps out with manual jobs.

Jennifer offers Ben another job after his job, but he refuses and returns to Leslie. In the following years he makes Leslie a marriage proposal, which she gladly accepts. At the engagement party, Ben's divorced parents quarrel several times. April meanwhile plans to convert the land of the filled-in excavation behind Ann's house into a dog park, which leads to a dispute with Leslie, who still wants to build her own park there, but the two get along again.

Meanwhile, Tom's latest business idea is to start lending high quality clothing for teenagers. Ben, who also wants to realize the Leslies Park project, suggests an architect from the neighboring town of Eagleton, with whom Pawnee has always been at war because of the presumptuousness of its population. Leslie is skeptical of these plans. Meanwhile, Ann decides to have a child without a steady partner and starts looking for a sperm donor. Leslie and Ben are planning a big event to find supporters to make their park a reality. The two improvise their wedding on the evening of the event, which is ruined by the drunken jamm.

Andy fails the police entrance exam and Ann begins targeting Chris as a sperm donor for her baby. Jerry is now officially retiring and only works a few hours a week in the green space department. In the period that followed, Leslie was burdened by the conflicts with Jamm; It is he who wants to see that she is released from her position, but he does not succeed. Ben gets a position as chairman of the board of trustees of the local confectionery manufacturer Sweetums and has Andy as his assistant. A stranger offers Tom a large sum for his business, which Tom refuses.

characters

Green Space Office

Amy Poehler aka Leslie Knope
Nick Offerman plays Ron Swanson
Leslie Knope ( Amy Poehler )
is the deputy head of the park authority. She is an open-minded, talkative, and committed middle-aged woman. She always takes her tasks much more seriously than all of her colleagues, who are often irritated by her motivated nature. She usually does most of the work voluntarily. While she is sometimes portrayed as naive at the beginning of the series, she gains significantly in experience as the show progresses. Leslie is a follower of feminism , she admires all women who hold high political positions, regardless of their political orientation. She dreams of becoming the first female President of the United States and thus a role model for women in politics.
Ron Swanson ( Nick Offerman )
is the director of the Green Spaces Office. He is a virile, middle-aged man whose two passions are woodworking on the one hand and excessive meat consumption on the other. Ron has a calm demeanor, a very dry sense of humor and hates close personal contact with other people. As a staunch supporter of libertarianism , he rigorously rejects all government action. He sees his vocation in saving taxpayers money by reducing the agency's activities and expenses to a minimum. This often leads to conflicts with Leslie, with whom he usually has a friendly relationship. One of the few things that upsets him is his contact with citizens, whom he largely loathes, and his two ex-wives, both of whom are called Tammy. He secretly leads a double life as a jazz saxophonist named Duke Silver .
Tom Haverford ( Aziz Ansari )
also shows little interest and commitment in his work for the authority and has only embarked on a career with the city administration to make contacts for his numerous business ideas, but very few of them get beyond the planning phase. He is a young man with Indian roots who attaches great importance to fashion and always tries to convey the image of the cool woman hero, which, however, often fails because of his small, slim stature.
April Ludgate ( Aubrey Plaza )
is initially only an intern at the park authorities, but is later hired as Ron's assistant to keep all concerns and appointments off his chest. As a typical teenager from an American point of view, she is sarcastic, introverted and often hostile, but actually needs attention. After a love triangle with a bisexual and a homosexual man, she is in a relationship with Andy from the third season.
Gerry "Jerry" / "Lerry" Gergich ( Jim O'Heir )
is the oldest member of the Green Spaces Office team. He is a conservative, often insecure man of old age who, as a clumsy clunk in the office, often experiences mishaps. This ensures that he is often the target of ridicule and malice on the part of his colleagues, especially through April. His name is Jerry , but his real name is Gerry . This stems from the fear of his first boss, who incorrectly addressed him as Jerry , and whom he dared not correct. He has also been approached with Lerry or Terry . He often shows great artistic talent, which, however, is not appreciated by anyone. Gerry is married and has three daughters.
Donna Meagle ( Retta Sirleaf )
is a corpulent middle-aged woman and also a member of the Green Spaces Office team. She is single and often goes to dating sites. Donna is a cheerful, extroverted person and gets on well with Tom. Her greatest pride is her Mercedes-Benz ML .

Others

Rashida Jones is a star for Ann Perkins
Ben Wyatt aka Adam Scott
Ann Perkins ( Rashida Jones )
is Leslie's best friend and her most important caregiver. Often she has to give her advice or act on her sensibly. The two get to know each other in the first episode when Ann complains at a community forum about a construction pit behind her house that Leslie promises to clean up. Through this project and her friendship with Leslie, she is often employed in the agency's work, even though she is actually a nurse. In the first season, she is in a relationship with Andy, but throws him out because she is tired of taking him. Over the course of the series, she has continued relationships with Mark and Chris.
Andy Dwyer ( Chris Pratt )
is at the beginning of the series Ann's useless life companion. He's unemployed but is waiting for his band Mouse Rat (whose name changes regularly) to break through , for whom he sings and plays guitar. Over the course of the series, he gets a job as a shoe shiner in the town hall and, after Ann breaks up with him, starts a relationship with April.
Mark Brendanawicz ( Paul Schneider )
is a town planner at Pawnee Town Hall. After he and Leslie had a night of love together, she had feelings for him for years, but he did not reciprocate. After Leslie gets over him, he starts a relationship with Ann. At the end of the second season, he takes a job with a construction company and is no longer in the series.
Ben Wyatt ( Adam Scott )
is an Indiana State Chartered Accountant. When the city goes bankrupt, he is sent to Pawnee with Chris to clean up the budget. He later accepted a permanent position at Pawnee City Hall. He is personable and competent, but a bit uptight and often clumsy when dealing with other people, especially in public. At the age of 18 he became mayor of his small hometown, but led it to bankruptcy and was deposed after two months - a story that often overtakes him. The relationship between him and Leslie is initially tense, after a short time they overcome their differences and finally fall in love.
Chris Traeger ( Rob Lowe )
is like Ben a state auditor and is supposed to lead Pawnee out of bankruptcy. Although he is Ben's boss, he seems to have little idea of ​​his field and leaves most of the work to him. Later he was appointed deputy head of the city administration. Chris is a health fanatic, he does a lot of sport, pays close attention to his diet and believes that he will live to be 150 years old. Furthermore, he has a very positive nature and treats everyone very kindly. Negative impulses are extremely rare with him.

Recurring minor characters

Ben Schwartz plays the role of Jean-Ralphio
Jenny Slate aka Mona-Lisa Saperstein
Megan Mullally plays Tammy II
Kirk Fox plays Sewage Joe
  • Marlene Griggs-Knope ( Pamela Reed ) is Leslie's mother and works for the Pawnee City School Board. She is a resolute and quick-witted woman around sixty and the recipient of the so-called Tallenson Awards within the authorities.
  • Shauna Malwae-Tweep ( Alison Becker ) is a reporter for the local local newspaper. Leslie tries to influence local reporting through her, but rarely succeeds.
  • Jean-Ralphio Saperstein ( Ben Schwartz ) is a good friend of Tom. He always appears extremely bold and unabashed, raps, sings or shouts inappropriately when he is having a conversation with others, which leads to many perceiving him as an annoying clown. However, Jean-Ralphio knows how to capitalize on many situations and is often involved with Tom on a new business idea, such as in the bankrupt Entertainment 720 .
  • Mona-Lisa Saperstein ( Jenny Slate ) is Jean-Ralphio's snappy sister who is in no way inferior to her brother in terms of disrespect. In season five, Tom employs her in his Rent-a-Swag business and begins a short-term relationship with her.
  • Orin ( Eric Isenhower ) is April's friend who often exhibits strange behavior. He hardly speaks and often stares at his fellow human beings, making them feel uncomfortable. When he speaks to them, he often asks very dark questions. In addition, he often hides.
  • Tammy Swanson (Tammy I, Patricia Clarkson ) is Ron's former teacher and later his first wife. She looks dominant and is a lot older than Ron. After their divorce, Ron avoids her; he detests them. After their reappearance at the end of the third season, Ron only manages to free himself from her clutches with difficulty.
  • Tammy Swanson (Tammy II, Megan Mullally ) is Ron's second wife, whom he is also divorced from and whom he also loathes. She is younger than him and works in the Pawnee library. It is often flashy and cranky, but also insidious. So she tries several times to interfere in Ron's life and recapture him. Ron gets weak very often, so that it is easy for her. After another, short marriage with her, Ron ends the relationship with Tammy II again.
  • Diane Lewis ( Lucy Lawless ) is a middle-aged woman who begins a relationship with Ron in season five and later becomes his third wife. The single mother of two is a school principal and meets Ron when he mends a pothole for her on her doorstep.
  • Wendy Haverford ( Jama Williamson ) is Tom's attractive wife at the start of the series. She is a doctor from Canada and has a green card marriage with Tom, as her colleagues soon find out. Although Tom actually has feelings for her, she will divorce him after the required time has elapsed. Later in the series, she starts an affair with Ron.
  • Douglass Howser ( Yvans Jourdain ) is the chairman of Pawnee City Council. He is a middle-aged man of color. In many of the scenes in which he appears, he encounters Leslie in extremely embarrassing or inappropriate situations. Leslie then often tries to hide the mishap by engaging him in a political conversation.
  • Jeremy Jamm ( Jon Glaser ) , like Leslie, is also a town councilor in Pawnee from season five. He practices as a dentist in town and is known for his deceitful maneuvers. He turns out to be Leslie's opponent, who always cheats and cheats on her in a brazen way. He calls this behavior snobbishly "you have been jammed".
  • Joe Fantringham ( Kirk Fox ) is a perverted worker in the town of Pawnee Sewage Disposal. He often harasses the female employees of the city administration. So it is that Leslie's department looks at him and his colleagues with disgust and nicknamed him Sewage Joe .
  • Ken Hotate ( Jonathan Joss )  is of Native American descent and chief of the Wamapoke Indians in Pawnee. As such, he also runs the two Indian-owned casinos in the city. He developed a friendly relationship with Leslie over the course of the series, especially since she often treated him and his culture with respect.
  • Brandi Maxxxx ( Mara Marini ) is a local star in the pornography business. She has appeared in 200 porn films after just one year in the business . She often appears as a supporter of Leslie and shows solidarity with her, so she also runs for the city council. Leslie tries to distance herself from her every time, because she doesn't want to be associated with Brandi, but she hardly succeeds.
  • Ethel Beavers ( Helen Slayton-Hughes ) is an elderly lady who works as a stenographer in the city administration .
  • Kyle ( Andy Forrest ) is a Pawnee City Council employee and a regular customer of Andy's shoe shine booth. He is always beaten down and insulted by both Andy and April. But he accepts everything intimidated without complaining.
  • Perderick L. "Perd" Hapley ( Jay Jackson ) is a journalist and presenter of his own television show Heard ? With horse! on the local TV station in Pawnee. He is known for his goofy humor.
  • Joan Callamezzo ( Mo Collins ) is the host of the Pawnee talk show Pawnee Today .
  • Marcia Langman ( Darlene Hunt ) is the chairperson of the local Conservative Society for Family . She appears as Leslie's opponent in some episodes and always sees the value of the family in society threatened.
  • Li'l Sebastian is a miniature horse and has been a star among the city's residents since his first appearance at the Pawne harvest festival in 1987. His oversized genitals are always pixelated in the series. After the horse dies at the end of season three, Leslie organizes a farewell ceremony. Andy dedicates his song 5000 Candles in the wind to him .

Cast and dubbing

The German language version is produced by VSI Berlin GmbH in Berlin . For dialogue director is Dorette Hugo and for the dialogue book responsible Regina chain.

Role name Actress Main role Supporting role Voice actor
Leslie Knope Amy Poehler 1.01-7.13 Maud Ackermann (season 1–3)
Dorette Hugo (from season 4)
Ann Perkins Rashida Jones 1.01-6.13 6.17, 7.12-7.13 Vera Teltz
Tom Haverford Aziz Ansari 1.01-7.13 Dirk Petrick
Ron Swanson Nick Offerman 1.01-7.13 Matthias Klie
April Ludgate Aubrey Plaza 1.01-7.13 Anne Helm
Mark Brendanawicz Paul Schneider 1.01-2.24 Markus Pfeiffer
Andy Dwyer Chris Pratt 2.01-7.13 1.01–1.06 Tim Knauer
Jerry Gergich Jim O'Heir 3.01-7.13 1.01-2.24 Frank Ciazynski
Donna Meagle Retta Sirleaf 3.01-7.13 1.01-2.24 Almut Zydra
Ben Wyatt Adam Scott 3.01-7.13 2.23-2.24 Alexander Doering
Chris Traeger Rob Lowe 3.01-6.13 2.23-2.24, 7.12-7.13 Florian Halm

background

  • Pasadena , California City Hall was used for exterior shots of the City Hall .
  • Daniels and Schur originally planned an offshoot of the series " Das Büro " ( The Office ), for which both were already active as authors, but finally decided on an independent series. Nevertheless, “Das Büro” and “Parks and Recreation” share the mockumentary style.

Awards (selection)

Golden Globe
Emmy
Critics' Choice Television Award

DVD publications

Germany
  • Season 1 was released on February 14, 2013
United States
  • Season 1 was released on September 8, 2009
  • Season 2 was released on November 30, 2010
  • Season 3 was released on September 6, 2011
Australia
  • Season 1 was released on March 3, 2010
  • Season 2 was released on March 2, 2011
  • Season 3 was released on March 7, 2012

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In Glitz * the series runs under the title Parks and Recreation while Comedy Central to the German title Parks & Recreation - The Parks Department radiates
  2. ↑ Alexander Krei: Bulging instead of spilling: Turner starts women's channel Glitz . Dwdl.de . February 29, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Bernd Michael Krannich: Parks and Recreation: Free TV premiere in July at Comedy Central . In: Serienjunkies.de . May 22, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b Parks and Recreation 'EP on Cast Departures: It's a' Natural 'Evolution , Hollywood Reporter , August 1, 2013
  5. ↑ Parks and Recreation: Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones go into season 6 , serienjunkies.de, August 1, 2013