Parks and Recreationcreated by Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, is an American sitcom that ran for a total of seven seasons. Starring Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, who works in the parks department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, this series became a fan favorite due to its impeccable storyline, comedic timing, and a great cast. Besides Poehler, the series also starred Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, and Rob Lowe, to name a few.
The entire cast became fan favorites because of their characters on the show, and people still remember the many hilarious scenes they brought to the screen. The show’s writing was always on point, which earned them several Emmys during their active years. But would you believe it if we told you that one of the show’s best comedic scenes was completely improvised?
Chris Pratt’s one-liner became the best joke in Parks and Recreation
If you have seen Parks and Recreationthen there was never a dull moment in the seven years the show ran from 2009 to 2015. Greg Daniels and Michael Schur created likable characters and situations but made them funny, which audiences loved. And Chris Pratt’s Andy Dwyer was probably the funniest of them all, which is no easy feat considering the talent of the show’s cast.
During a Parks and Recreation Writer and co-creator Michael Schur admitted during the panel that it made him angry as a writer that what he thought was the funniest scene in the show was improvised.
The funniest thing that ever happened, the funniest line ever spoken on our show, was improvised by Chris Pratt. It was when Leslie has the flu and is being led out, and he (Pratt) is sitting at the computer. He jumps in at Ron’s desk and says, “Leslie, I put your symptoms into this thing up here and it says you might be having network connection problems.”
Impromptu line. As a writer, that made me mad. I’m still really upset and angry. He did that once. The camera happened to be on him. He did that once. I think that’s the funniest joke that’s ever happened on our show.
Chris Pratt had a lot of incredibly improvised scenes on the show that people loved – his co-stars included. So much so that during some of them it was impossible for his co-stars not to break character and laugh out loud. Some had to be cut, others stayed, and this one is probably one of the funniest, if not the funniest.
Parks and Recreation Almost never made it to season 2
The first season of Parks and Recreation is considered the weakest. The show received mediocre reviews and the plot didn’t seem to move forward. Fans also didn’t like Poehler’s Leslie Knope very much during the first season, calling her character “dumb,” which wasn’t what the show’s creator had hoped for. But they soon realized what was missing and got to work on it.
The green light for season 2 was just what they needed to turn things around, and that’s exactly what they did. They changed the tone of the show in the second season and saw immediate results. Fans started to like the show as well as the characters, and one of the best things was that they could identify with these everyday office characters. The fan base started to grow, and by the end of the final season Parks and Recreation had become an icon.
Parks and Recreation is available to stream on Peacock.
