Parks and Recreation
Spoilers

A couple of quick casting tidbits from the week:

• On September season premiere of Lie to Me, look for Michael Raymond James to guest star in an unannounced role. The actor appeared on the first season of True Blood as the serial killer Rene. He's also shown up on Boston Legal and Cold Case, among other shows.
• Comedian Louis C.K. (pictured) has signed on for a multi-episode Parks and Recreation arc. He'll play a Pawnee police officer and potential love interest for Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).

Celebrating The Office's Emmy nominations - the show is up for Outstanding Comedy Series and has been recognized in many other categories - executive producer Greg Daniels gave some hints about the new season, as well as that of his new comedy, Parks and Recreation.

"There's going to be a staffing change for Jim Halpert at work," Daniels reported to TV Guide. "And with Pam pregnant, expect some life moves in that area."

As for Parks and Recreation, the show will be casting a cop who works at town hall and could be a comic foil and love interest for Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope.

The producers of the up-and-coming comedy, which takes place in fictional Pawnee, Ind., also looking for a host for a local political talk show called Pawnee Today.

What about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin?

"Probably not," says Greg Daniels of the soon-to-be-unemployed politician. "But we do have a beauty pageant episode coming up. She might be right for that."

While we won't hold our breath for any Palin cameos, we can't wait for the return of Parks and Recreation and The Office quotes. Thursday nights are the best.

The fifth episode of six in the debut mini-season of Parks and Recreation gives us a glimpse into the world of small-town politics, without "the pit" as the central component.

It also gave us a glimpse of Leslie Knope's fancy new hairstyle - one which looked eerily reminiscent of Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton impression from Saturday Night Live.

Leslie and Ann also watched their odd friendship blossom. It's sweet. If you missed it, follow the link for a quick recap of "The Banquet," or watch the full episode below!

Now that Parks and Recreation got picked up for another season, we can rest easy - and focus on upcoming spoilers and gossip surrounding NBC's new comedy.

According to E!, the season finale finds Andy (Chris Pratt) out of his leg casts and throwing a concert. Andy's band, Scarecrow Boat, has a song called "The Pit."

Oh, Tom's (Aziz Ansari) wife is in attendance. Wife? Yup! In other P&R news, Mark and Leslie (Amy Poehler) bond at a bar, but he's not the one Leslie kisses ...

We didn't love the series premiere of Parks and Recreation.

But we're likely to tune in again this week, if only to watch the performance of Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford. Dude is hilarious!

That's why we were thrilled to hear star Rashida Jones tell E! Online that Tom will be featured often on the show.

"Tom is relentless. We'll definitely find out more about Tom's relationship with his wife and that whole situation down the line. And we find out a lot more about Mark and his personal life, his dating life. I think that hopefully people will feel like they want to see the characters more, and then once they do, we'll give them the pleasure of getting into the little, nasty corners of their lives."

Enjoy the following Parks and Recreation quotes, from Tom and Leslie, courtesy of last week's episodes:

Tom Haverford: Every now and then, we have these little gatherings, and Leslie gets plastered. One time, I convinced her to try to fax someone a Fruit Roll Up. She, one time, made out with the water delivery guy. In her office. On Halloween, she was dressed up as Batman. Not Batgirl; Batman. And I convinced her to go stop a crime that was going on outside. And it is my favorite thing in the world. | permalink

Leslie Knope: This is where the rubber of government meets the road of actual human beings. | permalink

Leslie Knope: So this was built in 1935. It's called Pioneer Hall. And a little trivia: it is one of the first structures in America to ever have locks. | permalink

Leslie Knope: These people are members of the community that care about where they live. So what hear when I'm being yelled at is people caring ... loudly at me. | permalink

Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones' new comedy, Parks and Recreation, debuts this Thursday on NBC, and from the sneak previews we've just watched, it looks like this has the potential to become a fixture in NBC's impressive comedy lineup.

What's not to love about small-time public service employees, right? If any comedy duo can make that funny, this one can. Here's a sneak peek at the pilot episode ...

Follow the jump for four more sneak previews of Parks and Recreation, from the people who brought us The Office, and who don't appear to be letting us down ...

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A little note on Amy Poehler's new comedy from E! Online's spoiler chat:

Q: Have you heard anything on Amy Poehler's show Parks and Recreation?

A: Besides reading the pilot script, which was amazing, I've officially become a Parks and Recreation member myself thanks to my sweet new water bottle.

Amy Poehler as small-town public works employee Leslie.