Parks and Recreation (season 7)

Cast

Main

• Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, a passionate government employee who loves her home town. She has not let politics dampen her optimism; her ultimate goal is to become President of the United States. Poehler departed from the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where she was a cast member for nearly seven years, to star in Parks and Recreation. It was only after she was cast that Daniels and Schur established the general concept of the show and the script for the pilot was written.
• Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford, Leslie's former sarcastic and underachieving subordinate, who has left his city hall job to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests. Daniels and Schur had intended to cast Ansari from the earliest stages of the development of Parks and Recreation.
• Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson, the former parks and recreation director who, as a libertarian, believes in as small a government as possible. As such, Ron strives to make his department as ineffective as possible, and favors hiring employees who do not care about their jobs or are poor at them. Nevertheless, Ron consistently demonstrates that he secretly cares deeply about his fellow co-workers.
• Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate-Dwyer, a cynical and uninterested former parks department intern who now works for Leslie at the National Parks Department. The role was written specifically for Plaza; after meeting her, casting director Allison Jones told Schur, "I just met the weirdest girl I've ever met in my life. You have to meet her and put her on your show."
• Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer, a goofy, dim-witted but lovable slacker. Pratt was originally intended to be a guest star and the character Andy was initially meant to appear only in the first season, but the producers liked Pratt so much that, almost immediately after casting him, they decided to make him a regular cast member starting with season two.
• Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, a brilliant but socially awkward government official trying to redeem his past as a failed mayor in his youth. Scott left his starring role on the Starz comedy series Party Down to join the show.
• Jim O'Heir as Garry Gergich, a sweet-natured but painfully incompetent longtime city employee who is the main target of the office petty unkindness, yet enjoys his life as the husband of a gorgeous woman and the father of three beautiful daughters. He reached retirement with a full pension in season 5, but returned to the Parks office to work as an intern. As of season six, the other characters have taken to calling him "Larry Gengurch," after he accidentally called himself that name. In a flashforward at the end of the season 6 finale, he is now called Terry. By the end of the season 7 episode "Donna & Joe", his friends finally call him by his real name Garry, thanks to Donna.
• Retta as Donna Meagle, the confident and competent former office manager for the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department. She is now accepting of her former coworkers, previously dismissing them as boring. She currently works as a real estate agent. She has little tolerance for stupidity, can sometimes be selfish, enjoys casual dating, and is irresistible to many men. Donna loves her car, a Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV.

  Starring

• Billy Eichner as Craig Middlebrooks, the hot-tempered director of the Pawnee parks department. After appearing in numerous episodes throughout the sixth season, Eichner was promoted from a recurring role to a starring role in the cast, beginning with "Leslie & Ron," the fourth episode of season seven.

  Recurring

• Natalie Morales as Lucy, Tom's ex-girlfriend and bartender at The Snakehole Lounge. She is later hired to manage Tom's Bistro.
• Megan Mullally as Tammy Swanson, a librarian and Ron's sex-crazed ex-wife.
• Ben Schwartz as Jean-Ralphio, Tom's best friend and frequent business associate.
• Mo Collins as Joan Callamezzo, a Pawnee talk show host known for her ludicrous behavior and time on the show Pawnee Today.
• Jay Jackson as Perd Hapley, a popular Pawnee television journalist and the host of news programs Ya Heard? With Perd! and The Final Word with Perd!.
• Jon Glaser as Jeremy Jamm, a Pawnee councilman and Leslie's long time arch-rival.
• Susan Yeagley as Jessica Newport, former Miss Pawnee 1994 & CEO of the Sweetums Corporation.
• Jenny Slate as Mona-Lisa Saperstein, Tom's crazy ex-girlfriend and Jean-Ralphio's sister.
• Marc Evan Jackson as Trevor Nelsson, a lawyer who provides legal assistance for the Newport Family.
• Jonathan Joss as Ken Hotate, leader of the Wamapoke people and owner of the Wamapoke casino in Pawnee.
• Blake Anderson as Mike Bean, CEO of tech-company "Gryzzl".
• Jorma Taccone as Roscoe Santangelo, Vice-president of Cool New Shiz at tech-company "Gryzzl".
• Kathryn Hahn as Jennifer Barkley, a blunt, supercharged political consultant who was Bobby Newport's campaign manager when he was running against Leslie.
• Henry Winkler as Dr. Saperstein, a local gynecologist and the wealthy father of Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa.
• Helen Slayton-Hughes as Ethel Beavers, an elderly Pawnee government worker who publicly reveals her 46-year affair with Mayor Gunderson.
• Keegan-Michael Key as Joe, a school principal and Donna's husband.

  Guest stars

• Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins, a nurse who gradually becomes more involved in Pawnee government through her friendship with Leslie. She is also Chris' girlfriend and mother to Oliver and Leslie.
• Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger, an excessively positive and extremely health-conscious government official. He is also Ann's boyfriend and father to their children Oliver and Leslie.
• Werner Herzog as Keg Jeggings, the owner of a creepy house April and Andy purchase.
• Dax Shepard as Hank Muntak, station manager at Pawnee Community Access, the public television network that broadcasts the "Johnny Karate" television show
• Peter Serafinowicz as Lord Edgar Covington, Andy's former employer
• Sam Elliott as Ron Dunn, the former head of the Eagleton parks department.
• Josh Groban as himself
• Questlove as Levondrious Meagle, Donna's estranged younger brother.
• Ginuwine as a fictionalized version of himself as Donna's cousin.
• Barbara Boxer as herself
• Kirsten Gillibrand as herself
• John McCain as himself
• Cory Booker as himself
• Orrin Hatch as himself
• Madeleine Albright as herself
• John Cena as himself, one of the guests on the final episode of Andy's show.
• Paul Rudd as Bobby Newport, a dimwitted multimillionaire heir of the Sweetums Candy Company fortune, and former candidate for city council running against Leslie.
• Bill Murray as Walter Gunderson, mayor of Pawnee
• Jon Hamm as Ed, a former incompetent employee of the National Park Service.
• Kevin Symons as Bill Dexhart, a Pawnee councilman who is a self described pervert.
• Yvans Jourdain as Councilman Douglass Howser, a Pawnee councilman who is the leader of the council.
• Joe Biden as himself
• Jill Biden as herself

  Episodes

Production

Reception