Hot Gallery: Check Out the Hilarious Civil Servants of Parks and Recreation Before They Were Stars

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Adam Scott as Griff Hawkins on Boy Meets World

Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt on Parks and Recreation

If you first got to know this thinking girl’s crush object as failed actor Henry Pollard on Party Down or as auditor Ben Wyatt on Parks and Recreation, it may be hard to believe that he started off as a macho greaseball on Boy Meets World. But he did, before going on to appear in movies like The Aviator and Step Brothers. As sensible Ben, he’s not only the perfect foil for Chris but also the adorable love interest for Leslie.

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Aubrey Plaza as an NBC Page on 30 Rock

Justin Lubin/NBC

Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation

Perhaps the best thing about Plaza’s guest spot on 30 Rock was just how real it was: She actually worked as an NBC page for a short while—a very short while. Plaza has also brought her geek-girl gorgeousness and deadpan delivery to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Portlandia. As April, she is the yin to Andy’s yang, the perpetual underachiever who manages to be a team player despite her best efforts. Check out another funny lady, Chelsea Handler, and her rise to fame!

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Rob Lowe as Billy Hicks in St. Elmo’s Fire

Rob Lowe as Chris Traeger on Parks and Recreation

It seems like a lifetime ago that Lowe was the brat pack pretty boy starring in St. Elmo’s Fire and About Last Night.... Since then, he’s done serious (The West Wing, Brothers & Sisters) and hilarious (Wayne’s World, Austin Powers). But nothing is as much of a send-up of his own reputation as the health-obsessed, ultra-uncool Chris Traeger.

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Nick Offerman as Nick the Plumber on Will & Grace

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation

It’s more than just the mustache. Of all the unforgettable characters on Parks and Recreation, this government-hating bureaucrat is the most iconic. In fact, there’s a whole Ron Swanson-worshipping subculture out there. And check this out: Just like his character, Offerman enjoys fine woodworking—he’s even produced limited-edition mustache combs. Offerman and his wife, Megan Mullally, have a way of popping up on each other's shows: He guested on Will & Grace and her current series, Childrens Hospital; she plays Ron’s ex-wife Tammy Two (his first wife was also named Tammy).

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Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage

Rashida Jones at the American Soviet Initiative Gala in Hollywood, 1988

Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage, Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins on Parks and Recreation

Even before she was Ann Perkins, the straight woman/voice of reason in Leslie’s manic capers, Jones—daughter of legendary producer Quincy Jones—had some major comedy cred. She appeared on the cult fave Freaks and Geeks, as well as Chappelle’s Show and The Office—not to mention movies like Our Idiot Brother and The Muppets. Jones will next be seen in the TBS sitcom Angie Tribeca.

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Chris Pratt as Bright Abbott on Everwood

chris pratt everwood parks recreation tv photo

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation

Pratt has a way with strapping, slightly bumbling characters. We fell for his jock turned sensitive guy on Everwood before he became slacker rock star Andy on Parks and Recreation. Andy gets to show off his guitar skills with his band Mouse Rat, but it isn’t the first time we’ve heard Pratt sing—check out his naked serenade as Ché on The O.C. Pratt is embarking on a major movie career, having starred alongside Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty and crushing the box office with the lead role in Guardians of the Galaxy.

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Aziz Ansari as a Fruit Vendor on The Flight of the Conchords

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation

Before he was entrepreneur and would-be ladies’ man Tom, Ansari had a memorable part as a guy who mistakes Jemaine and Bret for *shudder* Australians on the HBO folk-rock comedy series The Flight of the Conchords (they’re actually from New Zealand). Ansari has also starred in the sketch-show series Human Giant and movies like 30:Minutes or Less. As Tom Haverford, he’s the smoothest guy in the office, and his business ventures have a way of flaming out spectacularly.

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Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

Amy Poehler as a Junior at Burlington High School in Burlington, Massachusetts, 1988

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Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library, Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation

Doesn’t that big-haired cheerleader look like a Pawnee girl throughand through? We loved Poehler on the sketch-comedy series Upright Citizens Brigade; loved her Weekly Updates on Saturday Night Live; loved her playing opposite Tina Fey in Baby Mama; and could not love her more as Parks Department go-getter and political hopeful Leslie Knope. Check out her Knope 2012 campaign! And luckily for us, we'll get Poehler hosting the Golden Globes alongside Fey for the next two years! Here's a whole gallery of the cast of the comedy hit Mean Girls, Where Are They Now?

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Jim O’Heir as Art in Ed

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Jim O’Heir as Jerry Gergich on Parks and Recreation

No, that isn’t Ed the charming TV dramedy starring Tom Cavanagh; it’s Ed the overwhelmingly panned movie starring Matt LeBlanc as a pitcher who befriends a chimp. Really. O’Heir also appeared on numerous series, including Malcolm in the Middle, Ally McBeal, and Desperate Housewives, before becoming Jerry, everyone’s favorite punching bag (and punch line) in the Parks Department.