The fifth season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network, from September 20, 2012 and concluded on May 2, 2013. This season consisted of 22 episodes.
Season 5 focused on Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and her staff at the parks and recreation department of the fictional Indiana town of Pawnee. Whilst not having an overarching storyline like Season 4, this season detailed the aftermath of Leslie's role as a Councilwoman in Pawnee. Other storylines included Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) and April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza)'s career move to Washington D.C, Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones)'s attempts to get pregnant, the progress in Ben and Leslie's relationship, Andy's attempts at becoming a cop, and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) meeting single-mom Diane (Lucy Lawless).
Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, is the council woman for the town of Pawnee, with a strong love of her home town, who has not let politics dampen her sense of 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.
Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins, a nurse and political outsider who gradually becomes more involved in Pawnee government through her friendship with Leslie. Jones was among the first to be cast by Daniels and Schur in 2008, when the series was still being considered as a spin-off to The Office, where Jones had played Jim Halpert's girlfriend Karen Filippelli, who formerly worked at the Stamford Branch but was soon transferred to the Scranton Branch in the 3rd season.
Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford, Leslie's sarcastic and underachieving subordinate, who eventually begins to consider leaving his city hall job to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests. As with Jones, 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 deadpan 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, a cynical and uninterested parks department intern who eventually becomes the perfect assistant for Ron. 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 and 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, Leslie's fiancé and later husband who is a competent 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.
Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger, an excessively positive and extremely health-conscious government official. Unlike Scott, Lowe was originally expected to depart after a string of guest appearances, but later signed a multi-year contract to become a regular cast member.
Jim O'Heir as Jerry Gergich, a sweet-natured but painfully incompetent longtime city employee who is the main target of the office's petty unkindness, yet enjoys his life as the husband of a gorgeous woman and the father of three beautiful daughters.
Retta as Donna Meagle, a no-nonsense administrative assistant in the department, who comes from a wealthy family, and frequently mentions her many boyfriends, both past and present.
Portions of the season premiere "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington" and later episode "Leslie vs. April" were shot in Washington, D.C. in July 2012. These episodes featured cameos from senators Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snowe and John McCain, and then Vice President Joe Biden.
The tenth episode of the season, "Two Parties", featured scenes shot in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium and St. Elmo's Steak House in December 2012. This episode included cameos from Indianapolis Colts players Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne and owner Jim Irsay, Indiana Pacers players Miles Plumlee and Roy Hibbert, and Newt Gingrich.
The fourteenth episode of the season, "Leslie and Ben", was initially written to serve as the season finale of a 13-episode run as the writers were unsure how many episodes would be commissioned. Eventually, 22 were ordered and the episode "Women in Garbage" was shown earlier in the schedule despite being written as one of the season's back nine.
† denotes an extended episode.
