‘Parks and Recreation’ was a critically acclaimed but low-rated sitcom that constantly teetered on the brink of cancellation. Chris Pratt once said he believed he could save the show by breaking things on set. Andy Dwyer, played by Pratt, was known for injecting a dose of chaos into otherwise orderly business. Despite the valiant efforts of Pratt and his fellow cast members, Parks and Recreation remained under constant cancellation watch and was eventually canceled in 2015.
As revealed in Jerry actor Jim O’Heir’s new book ‘Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles and Parks and Recreation’, Pratt’s sometimes destructive energy on set wasn’t accidental. bIn his interview for the book, Pratt shared that his antics were a deliberate attempt to keep the show alive. In his interview for the book, Pratt recalled the season 2 episode “Greg Pikitis,” in which he caused his co-star to break by spontaneously smashing a coffee mug and knocking over a sign:
“You have to remember, the show was always on the bubble, it felt like we were fighting for our jobs — [such] that my friend just told me, ‘You just have to go in there and start breaking s—. People love to see stuff get broken. If you’re going to get canceled, just go down swinging.'”
After incorporating this impromptu chaos into the show, Pratt said he felt empowered to continue destroying props, though it often caused headaches for the props department.
“From that point on, it gave me permission to just destroy s—. I went through so many props — I was breaking computers, I’d put a huge dent in a car. I just did the craziest stuff. It reminded me of that show ‘Double Dare’ , from when I was a kid. I would just go to work and smash stuff. There were times where it was like, ‘Props can’t fix that, electrical has to come in.'”
Pratt’s improvisations are credited with helping Andy evolve as a character.
‘Parks and Recreation’, an NBC sitcom starring Amy Poehler, centered on a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department in the fictional town of Pawnee. The show humorously chronicled the events of the office and the quirky town it served.
