Parks and Recreation

Schur said they observed many community hearings were attended only by those opposed, often angrily, to the proposals under consideration.

This fact became a major component of town hall scenes and was the basis for the "Canvassing" episode.

Scott Albright, a California city planner, provided direct feedback for the Mark Brendanawicz character, and the inspiration for Ron Swanson's anti-government convictions came from a real-life encounter Schur had in Burbank with a libertarian government official who admitted, "I don't really believe in the mission of my job." The concept of turning a construction pit into a park was seen as a device to bring all the characters together working toward a common goal.

The writers originally envisioned the pit becoming a park only in the series finale, although those plans were later changed and the pit was filled in during the second season.

While researching whether such a project could realistically last several months or longer, Schur spoke to urban planners in Claremont, California, who said it was entirely plausible because they had recently broken ground on a park that had been in various planning stages for 18 years.

Daniels and Schur wrote the script for the pilot episode in mid-2008.