Rob Lowe, Rashida Jones Leaving ‘Parks And Recreation’
Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones will be leaving Parks and Recreation when the comedy returns to NBC this fall.
Jones, who plays nurse Ann Perkins, has been on the series since the beginning. Lowe, who plays government official Chris Traeger, joined in season two. Their characters begin dating in season three, and in season five, Ann begins the process of in-vitro fertilization. She asks Chris to be the father and he later accepts.
Shortly after Lowe joined, Paul Schneider, who played city planner Mark Brendanawicz, left the series to pursue a film career. In 2011, he appeared in the film adaptation of Water for Elephants as Charlie O’Brien.
Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe are expected to leave after the season’s 13th episode. The series was renewed for a 22-episode sixth season in May, and will premiere on September 26 with an hour-long episode set in London. The sixth season will also mark the series’ 100th episode.
Jones recently starred in the comedy-drama Celeste and Jesse Forever opposite fellow Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg, their second film together (the first being I Love You, Man). She also co-wrote the film with Will McCormack (In Plain Sight.) The movie received mainly positive reviews and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
Lowe recently appeared in the HBO film Behind the Candelabra as Dr. Jack Startz, Liberace’s (Michael Douglas) plastic surgeon whom he asks to transform his boyfriend Scott’s (Matt Damon) so that it more closely resembled his own. The film received 15 Primetime Emmy nominations; winner will be announced on September 22.
The season 5 finale of Parks and Recreation aired on May 2 to 2.99 million viewers, down from the previous season finale which drew 3.42 million viewers. At PaleyFast last March, co-creator Michael Schur revealed that there were three different endings for season four.
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