Things You Never Noticed In Parks And Recreation's First Episode

As "Parks and Recreation" developed and found its unique voice and approach to comedy, Amy Poehler's main character of Leslie Knope changed, too. She'd evolve into a passionate, dedicated, loyal, hard-working, and unfailing champion of public service and friendship who was unabashed about what and who she loved — and all to a comically high degree. Leslie is exceedingly professional and well-prepared, and yet in the first episode of "Parks and Recreation," she's a lot different. Her big task in the pilot is to run a community outreach meeting, and she gets stymied because the doors to the booked venue are locked, making Leslie look sheepish and incompetent. When the meeting finally does convene in an elementary school classroom, Leslie seems relatively ill-prepared, bringing along a thin notebook she never touches, a curious contrast from latter Leslie, who has at least a few giant spiral binders in hand for any possible contingency. Early Leslie is even nervous about running the meeting rather than unjustifiably excited.

The only thing that Leslie loves more than doing her job is waffles, a running joke on "Parks and Recreation." But in the first episode, she gets excited when she thinks Ann Perkins is making pancakes. That is not on brand for Leslie Knope.