Parks and Recreation has some exciting, though bittersweet, changes on the horizon.

With the departure of Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe from the hit comedy in episode 13 this season, there’s been an opportunity for introducing great new characters and developing old ones. Natrually, the elusive Donna Meagle (played by Retta) has had more screen time already this season:

There’s also Lucy Lawless’s new character, Diane. Introduced last season as a potential love interest for Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson, Diane has proved a flawless new addition! As a single mother of two and tough as nails middle school principal, Diane proved herself undaunted by Swanson’s simplistic nature or crazy ex-wives and this season, Lawless’s role has become cemented in the show as Swanson’s wife and baby mama.

Most of the new characters, however, were incorporated when (*spoiler*) the city of Pawnee came to the financial rescue of the rival rich city, Eagleton, and the two cities merged in order to save Eagleton from bankruptcy. The new cast includes Kristin Bell as the beautiful, opera trained politician Ingrid de Forest.

Personally? I think the most promising character is Crazy Craig, played by Billy Eichner. This guy is spontaneous, loud, hilarious and he cares too much. So far he’s only been on two episodes, but already he’s attained a “Best of Craig” video on youtube, and it’s absolutely fantastic. If you’ve got two minutes- check it out here!

Despite mediocre ratings, Parks and Recreation has a fervent fan base and was recently confirmed for a seventh season by NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt according to a deadline report, though no formal press release has yet been issued. With Jones and Lowe’s departure, and the change in career direction for Amy Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, there’s sure to be exciting new changes on the show in the upcoming months! Tune in Thursday nights on NBC, following Community, at 8:30pm/7:30C!

(source)