List of Parks and Recreation characters

The primary characters of the American television comedy series Parks and Recreation are the employees of the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional Indiana town. The protagonist is Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), the deputy parks director as well as serving on city council, and the rest of the ensemble cast consists of her friends and co-workers, including nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), parks director Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), and parks department employees Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), Jerry Gergich (Jim O'Heir), and Donna Meagle (Retta). While most of the main cast have been with the series since it debuted in April 2009, actors Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joined the cast late in the second season portraying Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt, two state auditors who later take permanent jobs in Pawnee. Paul Schneider was a regular cast member during the first two seasons as city planner Mark Brendanawicz, but he departed at the end of season two. Billy Eichner who portrays Craig Middlebrooks, the "associate administrator" of the Pawnee parks department, recurred throughout the show's sixth season until he was promoted to the main cast in the fourth episode of the seventh season. The majority of Parks and Recreation episodes are set in Pawnee, and most of the recurring and supporting characters are friends of the main characters or residents of the town. Several guest stars have made appearances on the show, including Louis C ., John Larroquette, Justin Theroux and Parker Posey. Megan Mullally, Offerman's real-life wife, played his character's ex-wife Tammy Swanson, and Poehler's former husband Will Arnett made an appearance as a man on a blind date with Leslie. Several of Poehler's past colleagues on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live have appeared on Parks and Recreation, including Fred Armisen, Will Forte and Andy Samberg.