Monk, Psych, Office (early years), Parks (year 2 on) were all timers. All four had heart to balance the absurdity, but especially Monk and Parks.
True for so many of those, but especially these two. Back in the days of waiting all week to watch a new episode, those silly USA detective shows were always worth the wait.
Prison Break, Chuck, Community, Burn Notice, White Collar were just too much fun. The absurdity was glorious.
Also, just stumbled across this while compiling that list
Parks and Rec backstory said:3. APRIL LUDGATE WAS WRITTEN JUST FOR AUBREY PLAZA.
Casting director Allison Jones informed Schur, who became Parks’ showrunner, that she had just met “the weirdest girl," and that a meeting between Plaza and Schur had to happen. At the sit-down, Plaza made Schur "really uncomfortable for like an hour," and he decided to employ her. Aziz Ansari and Rashida Jones did not make Schur uneasy, but they were also cast before they or the writers knew who they would be playing.
4. RON SWANSON WAS LOOSELY BASED ON A REAL LIFE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.
While Daniels and Schur were doing research, the two brought up the potential humor in Leslie Knope’s boss being anti-government to a libertarian official in Burbank, California. She said she could relate because she didn’t “really believe in the mission” of her government job herself. Schur said that the unidentified government official was aware of the irony.
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