Parks & Recreation’s original title was simple but probably wouldn’t have caught your attention at all – and, surprisingly, that’s not the reason why it was changed. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the political satire sitcom Parks & Recreation debuted on NBC in 2009, and even though the first season wasn’t the best, it continued its course for six more seasons, ending in 2015. The series followed the lives (both in and outside the office) of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and her friends and co-workers from the Parks Department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana.
After its rough start, Parks & Recreation was praised by critics and viewers thanks to its tone and performances, and received several awards and nominations. The series finale is considered as one of the best in the last years, and the Parks & Recreation fan base continues to grow thanks to the world of streaming. While the real heart of a TV series are its characters and the stories they have to tell, the title is the biggest hook, as it’s what draws the attention of the audience, so choosing one shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Like many other TV shows, Parks & Recreation wasn’t always named like that, but its initial title wasn’t attractive at all – and yet that’s not why it was changed.
After Amy Poehler was cast, NBC started to refer to the series as The Untitled Amy Poehler Sitcom. Daniels and Schur later considered simply titling the series Public Service – after all, they were focusing on a bureaucrat in small-town government. The first season of Parks & Recreation was rushed into production to meet the assigned premiere date, but luckily, NBC changed its mind and the title Parks & Recreation was chosen a little over two months before the premiere. NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman was later asked about this decision, and explained that the network and producers of the show didn’t want to make fun of public service, and were worried because they didn’t “want to seem mean about it”.
Parks & Recreation went through many big changes during its early stages of development, most notably going from a spin-off of The Office to a stand-alone series with no connections to it (except for their mockumentary approach, of course). It’s funny that NBC decided to go for a title change for Parks & Recreation out of fear of mocking the public service rather than it being a creative reason, but it all worked out in the end, and the final title is much more attractive (and fits the characters and vibe of the series better) than simply Public Service.
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