Marlene Griggs-Knope
Encyclopedia
Marlene Griggs-Knope is a fictional character
played by Pamela Reed
in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation
. She is the mother of the show's protagonist, Leslie Knope
, and an important political figure in the school system at the fictional Indiana
town of Pawnee, where Leslie also works as a government official. In contrast to Leslie's sweet and optimistic personality, Marlene is tough and shrewd politician who is willing to resort to unethical tactics to get her way. Nevertheless, Marlene serves as a source of inspiration for Leslie and, although Marlene is sometimes critical of her, she is ultimately supportive of her daughter.
) is the mother of Leslie Knope
(Amy Poehler
) and a major political figure in Pawnee's school system. She is a shrewd and cunning politician who is willing to resort to unethical tactics to get her way. Although Leslie has very different standards, she nevertheless sees Marlene as a source of inspiration, and Leslie is extremely eager to impress her mother, although Marlene has low expectations for her daughter's ability to succeed.
, "Canvassing
", where Leslie encourages her to attend a public forum she organized about a new park proposal. Marlene initially claims she is too busy to go, but she ultimately attends and provides moral support to Leslie, despite privately predicting the forum was "going to be a train wreck". Marlene appears again in "The Banquet
", where she receives a Tellenson Award for Public Service, which has previously gone to public officials secretly known for their unethical behavior and political scheming. During the dinner banquet for the award, Marlene encourages Leslie to use scandalous information to blackmail
Pawnee zoning official Janine Restrepo into supporting Leslie's park project. Leslie starts to do so, but finds she is uncomfortable with this seedy side of politics and abandons the attempt. In the episode "Galentine's Day
", Leslie surprises her mother by reintroducing her to Frank Beckerson (John Larroquette
), a long-lost unrequited love from Marlene's teenage years. The encounter proves disastrous, however, when Marlene realizes Frank has accomplished nothing with his life and has an extremely odd personality. In the third season episode "The Bubble
", Marlene meets Leslie's secret new boyfriend Ben Wyatt
(Adam Scott
). When she dismisses him as weak, Leslie secretly coaches Ben on ways to impress her during a second meeting. This plan backfires, however, when Ben comes across as so confident that Marlene becomes attracted to him and makes a pass at him. Ben ultimately admits he is dating Leslie, causing Marlene to laugh off the situation off and assure Leslie she approves of Ben.
improvised a great deal during her audition for the part of Marlene, and many aspects of Reed's improvisation were used to form Marlene's character. For example, in the episode "Canvassing", Marlene says, "I want my daughter to be successful, which is why I always tell her, there's nothing wrong with being a wife and mother." Reed made up that line during her audition, and the writers were so impressed with it that they incorporated it into the episode. Parks and Recreation co-creator Michael Schur
said the producers sought to establish Leslie's mother early in the series, and he felt her relationship to Leslie was the center of the entire "Canvassing" episode. Schur said of Leslie's attempts to impress her mom at her public forum, "We imagined it in the writer's room that she is eight years old and doing a piano recital, and she's nervous because her mom's there.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
played by Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...
. She is the mother of the show's protagonist, Leslie Knope
Leslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
, and an important political figure in the school system at the fictional Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
town of Pawnee, where Leslie also works as a government official. In contrast to Leslie's sweet and optimistic personality, Marlene is tough and shrewd politician who is willing to resort to unethical tactics to get her way. Nevertheless, Marlene serves as a source of inspiration for Leslie and, although Marlene is sometimes critical of her, she is ultimately supportive of her daughter.
Background and personality
Marlene Griggs-Knope (Pamela ReedPamela Reed
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
) is the mother of Leslie Knope
Leslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
(Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) and a major political figure in Pawnee's school system. She is a shrewd and cunning politician who is willing to resort to unethical tactics to get her way. Although Leslie has very different standards, she nevertheless sees Marlene as a source of inspiration, and Leslie is extremely eager to impress her mother, although Marlene has low expectations for her daughter's ability to succeed.
Character biography
Marlene is first introduced in the second episodeParks and Recreation (season 2)
The second season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network starting September 17, 2009, and ended on May 20, 2010. The season was produced by Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, and series co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur...
, "Canvassing
Canvassing (Parks and Recreation)
"Canvassing" is the second episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 16, 2009. The episode was written by Rachel Axler and directed by Seth Gordon...
", where Leslie encourages her to attend a public forum she organized about a new park proposal. Marlene initially claims she is too busy to go, but she ultimately attends and provides moral support to Leslie, despite privately predicting the forum was "going to be a train wreck". Marlene appears again in "The Banquet
The Banquet (Parks and Recreation)
"The Banquet" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 8, 2009. It was written by Tucker Cawley and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller...
", where she receives a Tellenson Award for Public Service, which has previously gone to public officials secretly known for their unethical behavior and political scheming. During the dinner banquet for the award, Marlene encourages Leslie to use scandalous information to blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
Pawnee zoning official Janine Restrepo into supporting Leslie's park project. Leslie starts to do so, but finds she is uncomfortable with this seedy side of politics and abandons the attempt. In the episode "Galentine's Day
Galentine's Day
"Galentine's Day" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 22nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 11, 2010. In the episode, Leslie and her boyfriend Justin seek to...
", Leslie surprises her mother by reintroducing her to Frank Beckerson (John Larroquette
John Larroquette
John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. is an American film, television and Broadway actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.-Personal...
), a long-lost unrequited love from Marlene's teenage years. The encounter proves disastrous, however, when Marlene realizes Frank has accomplished nothing with his life and has an extremely odd personality. In the third season episode "The Bubble
The Bubble (Parks and Recreation)
"The Bubble" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 45th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 19, 2011. In the episode, Leslie becomes nervous when her new boyfriend Ben has...
", Marlene meets Leslie's secret new boyfriend Ben Wyatt
Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation)
Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt is a character in the TV series Parks and Recreation. The character guest starred in two episodes of season two and was upgraded to a regular in season three. Ben is a state auditor who comes into Pawnee with Chris Traeger to evaluate the town's funds at the end of the second...
(Adam Scott
Adam Scott (actor)
Adam Scott is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Henry Pollard in the Starz comedy series Party Down and as Ben Wyatt in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation....
). When she dismisses him as weak, Leslie secretly coaches Ben on ways to impress her during a second meeting. This plan backfires, however, when Ben comes across as so confident that Marlene becomes attracted to him and makes a pass at him. Ben ultimately admits he is dating Leslie, causing Marlene to laugh off the situation off and assure Leslie she approves of Ben.
Development
Pamela ReedPamela Reed
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
improvised a great deal during her audition for the part of Marlene, and many aspects of Reed's improvisation were used to form Marlene's character. For example, in the episode "Canvassing", Marlene says, "I want my daughter to be successful, which is why I always tell her, there's nothing wrong with being a wife and mother." Reed made up that line during her audition, and the writers were so impressed with it that they incorporated it into the episode. Parks and Recreation co-creator Michael Schur
Michael Schur
Michael Herbert Schur is an American television producer and writer, best known for his work on the NBC comedy series The Office and Parks and Recreation, the latter of which he co-created along with Greg Daniels...
said the producers sought to establish Leslie's mother early in the series, and he felt her relationship to Leslie was the center of the entire "Canvassing" episode. Schur said of Leslie's attempts to impress her mom at her public forum, "We imagined it in the writer's room that she is eight years old and doing a piano recital, and she's nervous because her mom's there.