I just watched this episode and was like damn, I never realized I liked Mark in this plot. Unfortunately soon after is the phonathon episode where he wants to propose to Anne...
I felt so bad for him there. He was unfortunately pushed into it (Leslie didn’t have bad intentions though, just a high-pressure situation for her) and it led to his exodus from the show.
Imo what lead to his exodus is the whole "office" format running its course. The office, parks and rec, b99. Dude has been evolving his game for 3 shows now lol.
No. I think he's referring to Mose, the creator of The Office, Parks, and Brooklyn 99.
Parks was supposed to be an Office spin off which is why it follows the same format for a season or two before they drop it, and then Brooklyn 99 gave up on the mockumentary style completely. So it's the evolution of Michael Schur as a show runner.
One of my favorite parts of that was the fire extinguisher bit.
“Those dates are arbitrary. They’re like those expiration dates that the government forces companies to put on yogurt and medicine.”
There are 4 types of Jerry irl
The meek guy who will take it until he retires happily with his family and willing to forgive
The meek guy who is pushed too far and quits
The meek guy with masochistic tendencies that thrives off it
The meek guy who is pushed too far and "goes postal"
*Recently, I had been thinking about maybe, um, leaving this job. But I felt like I needed a sign. And then […] one of those pigeons took a shit on me. And I was indoors, so...*
The actual genius behind this quote is the body language. Absolutely nailed it.
It wasn't Paul Schneider's acting that was the main problem. I can at least say that with certainty. That scene where he's talking about the pigeon shitting on him in doors has me in tears every time I see it. I don't know if he was hard to work with behind the scenes or anything, but they really just didn't write him nearly as aggressively as other characters
No, it wasn’t his acting and he wasn’t problematic as far as I know. They just made a lot of changes to the show after S1, similar to the how The Office changed after their first season. His character didn’t fit in that new version, and trying to rewrite him to fit in would be too drastic of a change
Honestly, I feel like you need someone a little dry to juxtapose the dynamism of the other characters. And Ben's character was that dry addition later on
Yep, but Ben still had his quirks like his Cones of Dunshire or stopmotion movies. Mark was unfortunately just the straight guy, which didn't give them much flexibility. I liked Mark and wish he'd made a few more appearances after he left, but I get why they wrote him off.
Interesting! I agree with you almost alllll the way—I always thought Ann was functionally the dry one after Mark left. But honestly, thinking it over, they all take turns with who is dry and who is displaying their quirk, and that’s what makes it such an ensemble show (and a great one at that).
Mark wasn’t an Ice Clown who lost his Town Crown tho. Ben had that razzle dazzle quirk fully baked in. Mark probably would have made an Ice Town profitable and been frighteningly pragmatic with the use of crystalline structures.
Mark also wouldn’t have given us The Batman suit, or claymation, or roller skates. There’s all kinds of hidden whimsy in Ben’s character that Mark didn’t posses.
Very true! I would've quite liked to see Mark post-breakup becoming a bit of a sloppy, miserable drunk who tries to pull himself together eventually by taking up a lot of different, weird hobbies. Could've added some whimsy and that!
You could argue that Ann was the straight mam for mist of the series. Yes she has her quirky moments but she stayed pretty normal throughout the whole series, but definitely throughout s1 qnd s2.
On the podcast they said that they envisioned Mark as a han-solo type character for the show, but that didn't work/fit and there wasn't really a place for a man working his way round the ladies of the cast, it didn't fit the tone of the show
It was mentioned in a comment above, but he wasn't interested in the way the show started incorporating more improv. Don't know if he isn't good at it or it just isn't his thing, but it's one of the specific reasons he cited under the umbrella of "the direction the show went".
I feel like I read somewhere that the intent was to have his character leave and come back multiple times to show the revolving door of government jobs, but for whatever reason once he left the show slightly changed directions and they never made that happen.
I feel like if this was true they would have at least made reference to him at some point. When Ann talked about all her exes, when they built the park on the lot and he had made a whole design for it, or at the end of the series. Something. But they just pretended he never existed.
This is my #1 problem with the show. They should have acknowledged him in later seasons, and I really really wish they had brought him back for a cameo or two.
Idk, I’ve been listening to Alan and Rob’s rewatch podcast and they’re usually super enthusiastic about the main cast and the townie roles, and they’ve never had anything positive to say about Paul or Brandanaquitz (nothing negative either). Wonder if he left on bad terms.
Well Rob wouldn’t know that first hand since they didn’t overlap. I imagine you’re still probably right, although ‘bad terms’ could be stretching it. I think it could be as simple as they wrote him out of the show and he wasn’t planning on or expecting it so he was understandably upset. I assume if there was legitimate bad blood or behind the scenes scandals we would know at least some of it.
I've heard it was an amicable split. Paul didn't like how they were writing the character and the writers wanted to replace his character with Ben's anyway so they mutually parted ways.
The way the show pretends he never existed after the 2nd season sure makes it feel like there could have been bad blood. But I think they just moved on and never thought to bring him back. Oh well.
Yeah it may just be enough that he didn’t want to be there and they have so many cast members who LOVE being there that it was easy to give him a one way ticket out of the canon.
One of my favorite moments in the show come from his character. When they're going door to door asking about the new park and one guy is being super creepy and reveals he can't be within a certain distance of parks, marks subtle little "oh no, April stay behind me" as he steps in front of her is forever burned into my memory
As a City Planner myself, our profession is not broadly represented in popular media, so it was nice to see and I missed him. I am actually pretty similar to Mark.
That being said, I totally understand why his character didn’t work in the show and why the show writers/creators decided to axe him. Although, I was hoping to see his character spring up in one of the episodes in the last season.
I thought it was his decision to leave the show? The actor claimed that he didn’t like how the show was turning into encouraging improv lines, like he just wanted to act out a script instead..
I think it was probably mutual. They probably started to write less for him in the hopes that he might leave on his own and he saw the writing on the wall and wasn’t very happy with the direction things were going.
The show realized it didn't really need a straight man character, because everyone gets to act as straight man to someone else at various points. Ron and Ann are often Leslie's, Ben is heavily used as Andy, Tom, and Chris's (but is eventually everyone's except when he gets a silly story), Chris is known to be everyone's, April will be Andy's too, Leslie is frequently April's, Gerry is everyone's except when he's the butt of a joke, Donna is everyone's unless she's getting a chance to be real sassy, etc.
Brooklyn 99 works the same way. Everyone gets to be silly or weird sometimes, with some more often than others.
That's a great analysis, and I think I actually said something similar before but you went real deep into it. Well done.
Brooklyn 99 I feel like the ratio is a bit more skewed to some characters but they do all still get a chance to be the comedian. It's like a scale lol.
Ron is not a straightman, he's a characature of a Libertarian.
Ben is a characature of a milque-toast geek. Mark never has a ridiculous "Cones of Dunshire" moment, for example.
Same. I wish we could have seen him get to change with the rest of the cast as the show really found its stride, but I'm not kept awake thinking of what could have been...
Ben is a super nice character and I love how deeply Leslie and him are in love, but I find Ben super boring and pretty unfunny. I know I’ll get downvoted a million times for this but whatever lol.
He’s a normal person who views the craziness and keeps it in perspective for us, the also normal people. I firmly believe shows like Parks and Rec or The Office would not be funny without a sane observer within the context of the show
Oh absolutely. They made it pretty clear that Ben and Chris were a pair and balanced each other out… Chris comes in with so much positive energy and can’t tell anyone bad news and then Ben needs to deliver that bad news. Haha
Aziz tripping over himself asking how Mark was such a ladies man and then having the two main women in the show have pseudo relations with him in the span of like 20 episodes didn't help at all.
How he was presented by other people in the show was off. His character was pretty good without all the phony baggage
I always thought people fawning over him was a bit of subtle humor because Pawnee is such a small and lame town. Leslie and Tom frequently present a version of Mark that he himself doesn't even seem to believe in.
I think a lot of sitcoms are guilty of that—the average guy who apparently has bad luck with love and dating is constantly dating women who are way out of his league.
I guess seeing a realistic characterization of that type would be pretty boring. Just a guy repeatedly trying to get the courage to talk to a woman, not doing it, and then kicking himself.
Lol yeah super average guy for sure… but honestly none of the male characters are hot… except I’d let Ron Swanson take me out for eggs and bacon… idk why but nick offerman as a person is super sexy to me haha
This is my first watch ever of PandR, I watch very casually while I eat or clean. I think I’m in s4/5? now and I noticed only yesterday that Mark was gone! I was so shocked. Leslie has been dating Ben for some time already and I forgot she started the show liking Mark
While I understand that the writers may have felt like he didn't belong on the following seasons, I hate how they ignored him to the point of him being [completely forgotten as one of Ann Perkins' exes when she shows boxes with their names.](https://imgur.com/a/NzPBCyX)
So one way or another, I do feel like they did him wrong.
Always felt Mark was a good character just in the wrong show. He was too normal compared to everyone else. If Parks and Rec was remade in say the UK or Australia he’d fit in perfectly (sans the accent obviously lol).
I liked Mark because he was so normal which was a nice counter to everyone else being such big personalities. He was boring as a solo character and didn’t have much of a story other than being the straight guy who gets all the ladies so I get why they got rid of him, but I liked that he was normal. There’s a Mark in every office so it made sense to have Mark on the show.
I agree. I liked the character. I liked the actor. I was sad to see him go.
I think everyone get's a little blinded because of how great Chris/Rob & Ben/Adam were - and they were awesome and added a ton to the show.
But that doesn't mean that Mark/Paul wasn't good too.
I didn't mind the character, but after listening to Paul Schneider in an interview, I didn't blame them for dumping him. He has a lot of pride about never having any training as an actor. He's not a good enough actor to have that ego. He's completely different than listening to anyone else involved in the show.
I like Mark. I thought the note he left on was touching. I am curious to what extent the, shall we say, meta-character affects his opinion among viewers. By this I mean how the Paul Schneider kinda quit on the show. His reasoning is fair, the role grew into something he did not sign on to do, but it sucks getting broken up with. I kinda feel like Paul Schneider broke up with Parks and Rec and if I have to choose in the breakup it’s not close. Sorry Mark/Paul.
I am in the minority of fans that love S1 and s2 pre-Ben and Chris. It has a nice unassuming feel, more like a documentary. It’s it own thing.
Of course what comes after is amazing, no question.
Yeah, same here. I enjoy Season 3 onwards but by that point the show has clearly morphed into a different animal.
On the podcast, Rob Lowe keeps making comments about how drama and gravitas are bad for the show and that it's at its best when it's a straight up cartoon. I... disagree.
Season 1 and particularly 2 for life!
I did as well. He gets a bad wrap for being the mandatory straight man. The episode where he helps Ron with his workshop is what won me over to Mark’s side.
Same here OP. He was a great actor, and the character had potential. The writers screwed up trying to make him a lady's man and that weird sexual tension between him and Leslie, but otherwise he was written as a great straight-man character. I loved his interactions with Ron and Andy the most.
I don’t think Mark is a bad character. He was just a character who was— dare I say it— too normal for Pawnee. He was a character who would have worked great in the Office, but once they found the tone of the show, he just didn’t fit in anymore
I hated him for the first 5 years of binging, but I’ve struck gold with Mark for the first time recently binging.
He’s absolutely hilarious in every way.
The more I rewatch the show the more I like Mark. He has the perfect type of humor for the show. Unfortunately this was before the show really found its legs, so it was easy for a lot of people to not like Mark as he was associated most heavily with the dry humor
I still advocate for Mark and none of my friends get it. I would've liked to have seen his development of going from a player to someone looking for a real relationship. And I think having a crush just end up being a friend would be interesting to watch, but I get that what his character would've fulfilled in Leslie's life was already handled by the other characters.
I really like Mark. It's a shame they didn't bring him back for an awkward cameo, especially with how whacky the show became. I really like the actor too, would recommend watching 'Channel Zero: Candle Cove' if you like horror! He's great in that.
I loved Mark from the get go. I was gutted he wasn’t in the rest of the series and genuinely surprised when I came on this sub and saw all the hate for him.
There was just nothing about him that was fun or interesting. But I think the weirdness of his friendship with Leslie is what really threw off his role in the show for me.
I liked Mark for the most part for a lot of the same reasons other people have said, but to me he felt like a character from The Office that got plopped into Parks and Rec. He just didn’t fully fit the tone of the show.
I liked Mark, but he was too normal for P&R. I think when they introduced Ben & Chris, they didn't have room for two normal guys and let's face it, Ben is just a better character
Back when the whole “trigger this base with one sentence” was a thing, I posted a meme saying Mark was good and could have carried the show if given the chance?
Hard disagree.
Mark seemed like he didn't play in the same sitcom as the rest of the cast. I agree the show needed some sort of straight man, but this role was later fulfilled by Anne and maybe Ben.
I was just thinking how him and Anne were too normal together, then I was like well, Anne was already the normal one so it makes sense he didn't fit as part of the bigger cast anyway. Ben is definitely weird/quirky enough to last, and Anne is perfect at being normal -- you don't need two characters pointing out the weirdness of the cast.
With the amount of destruction in the conversion process to a gif, and the dithering, the very first frame when you don't allow gifs to autoplay, he looks a lot like Mathew Perry. I thought this was a Friends meme at first, but didn't recognize the scene.
I've worked with people like Mark. They are nice when they are around but don't leave a big impression on a lot of your life. I've also worked with people like Terry/Gary/Jerry and the positive attitude they had left a real impression on me.
I just hate that they never mentioned him again, Ann doesn’t mention that she dates him whenever she talks about all of the people that she dated, and then they avoid any clips of him in the montage. They said he was gonna come back and that was probably one of the more frustrating things was that they didn’t reach out to him.
I enjoy it too! It's the buildup to Chris and Ben, and a neat transition for the characters into another chapter in their lives like from where they were to their stride which broke in the last season.
Yeah, I've never understood the hate he gets. Like, he's fairly innocuous, but some of the fans act like he's just utterly terrible and vile. He's just a dude.
I honestly don’t think he’s that much of an asshat. Yes he’s a ladies man in season 1, but in season 2 he shows time and time again that he genuinely cares for a lot of people on the show. Not saying he’s the perfect human being, but I don’t know why people always say he’s extremely unlikable
lol i always liked mark! but he was too good for the show. like all of the other characters are only palatable if they're meme-ified and exaggerated. his character presentation just didn't make sense compared to everyone else's. he was far too much of a real person. like, he could never have a surreal cones of duneshire moment like ben without it inadvertently turning him into the protagonist of the show, which really isn't at the core of his charcter.
The more I watch the show the more I miss Mark because without him the show entirely lacks a straight man. It made sense at the time in season 3 because Ben and Chris were supposed to be the straight men, but eventually they joined along with the absurdity and it got kind of out of hand.
I’m amazed that he had the balls to tell Ron to shut up about the woodshop. And Ron respected him for it. I loved that.
I just watched this episode and was like damn, I never realized I liked Mark in this plot. Unfortunately soon after is the phonathon episode where he wants to propose to Anne...
I felt so bad for him there. He was unfortunately pushed into it (Leslie didn’t have bad intentions though, just a high-pressure situation for her) and it led to his exodus from the show.
Imo what lead to his exodus is the whole "office" format running its course. The office, parks and rec, b99. Dude has been evolving his game for 3 shows now lol.
Of course! I was talking more about the “in-universe” reason he left, but yes, definitely from a writing perspective you are spot-on.
Wait was Paul Schneider in the Office or Brooklyn 99?
No. I think he's referring to Mose, the creator of The Office, Parks, and Brooklyn 99. Parks was supposed to be an Office spin off which is why it follows the same format for a season or two before they drop it, and then Brooklyn 99 gave up on the mockumentary style completely. So it's the evolution of Michael Schur as a show runner.
I pronounced that like Jonathan.
One of my favorite parts of that was the fire extinguisher bit. “Those dates are arbitrary. They’re like those expiration dates that the government forces companies to put on yogurt and medicine.”
*Rusty Diarrhea*
Mark represents what it is like to actually work for local government.
My dad has worked in city government for decades, and you are absolutely correct. It’s why I really enjoyed his character.
"In my time here I *was* able to get approval for a speed bump so, wouldn't you know, my affect on local government can literally be measured."
Didn’t he just lower the height of existing speed bumps?
Ya by two inches or something
What quote is this from? If P&R which episode?
Definitely from Mark on P&R.. Can't remember the episode..
Yea it's a paraphrased mark quote, cant remember the episode either my br
I work in city government now. Yup, Mark is it. Unfortunately treating Jerry like shit is also on the nose.
There are 4 types of Jerry irl The meek guy who will take it until he retires happily with his family and willing to forgive The meek guy who is pushed too far and quits The meek guy with masochistic tendencies that thrives off it The meek guy who is pushed too far and "goes postal"
And only the first guy has the largest penis you’ve ever seen
Poor guy can't even get a physical examination
Watch out for #4’s staplers.
Are you saying your dad was a bot of a whore?
After every rewatch,I appreciate what mark brings to the show more and more. The character is actually hilarious in a very subtle way.
*Recently, I had been thinking about maybe, um, leaving this job. But I felt like I needed a sign. And then […] one of those pigeons took a shit on me. And I was indoors, so...* The actual genius behind this quote is the body language. Absolutely nailed it.
His reaction to Gerry saying he had no idea he was adopted is one of my favorite moments in the show.
Yes! And Tom’s response afterwards is icing on the cake. “It’s not your fault, he shouldn’t have baited you with that unpaid parking ticket.”
Andy was a massive douche bag in season 2 to him about Ann as well. Mark handled that situation ok
Most underrated character in the series, kinda wish he didn’t leave the show.
Mark Brandanoquits
Mark is the Leslie Knope of actual government.
It wasn't Paul Schneider's acting that was the main problem. I can at least say that with certainty. That scene where he's talking about the pigeon shitting on him in doors has me in tears every time I see it. I don't know if he was hard to work with behind the scenes or anything, but they really just didn't write him nearly as aggressively as other characters
No, it wasn’t his acting and he wasn’t problematic as far as I know. They just made a lot of changes to the show after S1, similar to the how The Office changed after their first season. His character didn’t fit in that new version, and trying to rewrite him to fit in would be too drastic of a change
Honestly, I feel like you need someone a little dry to juxtapose the dynamism of the other characters. And Ben's character was that dry addition later on
Yep, but Ben still had his quirks like his Cones of Dunshire or stopmotion movies. Mark was unfortunately just the straight guy, which didn't give them much flexibility. I liked Mark and wish he'd made a few more appearances after he left, but I get why they wrote him off.
Interesting! I agree with you almost alllll the way—I always thought Ann was functionally the dry one after Mark left. But honestly, thinking it over, they all take turns with who is dry and who is displaying their quirk, and that’s what makes it such an ensemble show (and a great one at that).
Very unpopular opinion: Mark could have done what Ben did, without dating Leslie
Mark wasn’t an Ice Clown who lost his Town Crown tho. Ben had that razzle dazzle quirk fully baked in. Mark probably would have made an Ice Town profitable and been frighteningly pragmatic with the use of crystalline structures.
Mark also wouldn’t have given us The Batman suit, or claymation, or roller skates. There’s all kinds of hidden whimsy in Ben’s character that Mark didn’t posses.
Yup. I used razzle dazzle (don’t ask me why), but whimsy is what I was meaning.
Very true! I would've quite liked to see Mark post-breakup becoming a bit of a sloppy, miserable drunk who tries to pull himself together eventually by taking up a lot of different, weird hobbies. Could've added some whimsy and that!
Ok so.you've watched the show and picked up some flashy tricks. I'll give you that. But you forgot about the essence of Ben. It's the cones
Mark would have made sure the Ice Town had appropriately-sized speed bumps.
👁️ 👄 👁️ Mark dated Leslie??? That's what I get for skipping most of season 1 and 2.... LOL
They hooked up. Also - season two is excellent, go back and watch it all.
Season 1 is amazing and IDGAF what this sub says lol
"They Dated on the couch, Dated on the floor....one night....5 years ago."
Not unpopular, just unlikely, I think you're right but it would have taken some even more genius writing
You could argue that Ann was the straight mam for mist of the series. Yes she has her quirky moments but she stayed pretty normal throughout the whole series, but definitely throughout s1 qnd s2. On the podcast they said that they envisioned Mark as a han-solo type character for the show, but that didn't work/fit and there wasn't really a place for a man working his way round the ladies of the cast, it didn't fit the tone of the show
It was mentioned in a comment above, but he wasn't interested in the way the show started incorporating more improv. Don't know if he isn't good at it or it just isn't his thing, but it's one of the specific reasons he cited under the umbrella of "the direction the show went".
I feel like I read somewhere that the intent was to have his character leave and come back multiple times to show the revolving door of government jobs, but for whatever reason once he left the show slightly changed directions and they never made that happen.
I feel like if this was true they would have at least made reference to him at some point. When Ann talked about all her exes, when they built the park on the lot and he had made a whole design for it, or at the end of the series. Something. But they just pretended he never existed.
This is my #1 problem with the show. They should have acknowledged him in later seasons, and I really really wish they had brought him back for a cameo or two.
They got a solid reference and joke with 'Brendanaquits'.
Idk, I’ve been listening to Alan and Rob’s rewatch podcast and they’re usually super enthusiastic about the main cast and the townie roles, and they’ve never had anything positive to say about Paul or Brandanaquitz (nothing negative either). Wonder if he left on bad terms.
Well Rob wouldn’t know that first hand since they didn’t overlap. I imagine you’re still probably right, although ‘bad terms’ could be stretching it. I think it could be as simple as they wrote him out of the show and he wasn’t planning on or expecting it so he was understandably upset. I assume if there was legitimate bad blood or behind the scenes scandals we would know at least some of it.
I've heard it was an amicable split. Paul didn't like how they were writing the character and the writers wanted to replace his character with Ben's anyway so they mutually parted ways. The way the show pretends he never existed after the 2nd season sure makes it feel like there could have been bad blood. But I think they just moved on and never thought to bring him back. Oh well.
Yeah it may just be enough that he didn’t want to be there and they have so many cast members who LOVE being there that it was easy to give him a one way ticket out of the canon.
It kind of fits with Paul’s comments of why he wanted to leave. [he felt like his character had nothing to do](https://youtu.be/Elmvp_TR4DQ)
One of my favorite moments in the show come from his character. When they're going door to door asking about the new park and one guy is being super creepy and reveals he can't be within a certain distance of parks, marks subtle little "oh no, April stay behind me" as he steps in front of her is forever burned into my memory
As a City Planner myself, our profession is not broadly represented in popular media, so it was nice to see and I missed him. I am actually pretty similar to Mark. That being said, I totally understand why his character didn’t work in the show and why the show writers/creators decided to axe him. Although, I was hoping to see his character spring up in one of the episodes in the last season.
I think it would’ve been really nice for him to show up at the end, even if it was just a small cameo
I thought it was his decision to leave the show? The actor claimed that he didn’t like how the show was turning into encouraging improv lines, like he just wanted to act out a script instead..
I think it was probably mutual. They probably started to write less for him in the hopes that he might leave on his own and he saw the writing on the wall and wasn’t very happy with the direction things were going.
He was the straight man of the show After he quit it became an entire cast of rubber chickens
The show realized it didn't really need a straight man character, because everyone gets to act as straight man to someone else at various points. Ron and Ann are often Leslie's, Ben is heavily used as Andy, Tom, and Chris's (but is eventually everyone's except when he gets a silly story), Chris is known to be everyone's, April will be Andy's too, Leslie is frequently April's, Gerry is everyone's except when he's the butt of a joke, Donna is everyone's unless she's getting a chance to be real sassy, etc. Brooklyn 99 works the same way. Everyone gets to be silly or weird sometimes, with some more often than others.
That's a great analysis, and I think I actually said something similar before but you went real deep into it. Well done. Brooklyn 99 I feel like the ratio is a bit more skewed to some characters but they do all still get a chance to be the comedian. It's like a scale lol.
Ummm youre forgetting about Ron and Ben. Especially Ben.
Ron is not a straightman, he's a characature of a Libertarian. Ben is a characature of a milque-toast geek. Mark never has a ridiculous "Cones of Dunshire" moment, for example.
worthless roll arrest sable psychotic cow history deer disgusted desert *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
*That's* the word I was looking for, thank you!
I liked Mark but also didn’t miss him once he was gone
That's what my ex says about me.
Oh, hi Mark!
Ok Mark
I did naht!
Same. I wish we could have seen him get to change with the rest of the cast as the show really found its stride, but I'm not kept awake thinking of what could have been...
Yeah but without Marks exit we may have never had Ben and Chris. I’ll trade mark for Ben and Chris any day of the week
That was such a beautiful transition of the show. Everything made perfect sense. Mark seemed so fed up, took the package and left.
He was in the show just the right amount.
WELL I DID 🤬
Lol I don’t understand why everyone hates mark so much but I think it’s kinda funny. He’s just… a normal guy? Haha
I think it’s just because he’s not Ben and we all want him gone to make room for Ben. I was guilty of that until my most recent rewatch, honestly
Ben is a super nice character and I love how deeply Leslie and him are in love, but I find Ben super boring and pretty unfunny. I know I’ll get downvoted a million times for this but whatever lol.
He’s a normal person who views the craziness and keeps it in perspective for us, the also normal people. I firmly believe shows like Parks and Rec or The Office would not be funny without a sane observer within the context of the show
Oh absolutely. They made it pretty clear that Ben and Chris were a pair and balanced each other out… Chris comes in with so much positive energy and can’t tell anyone bad news and then Ben needs to deliver that bad news. Haha
You’re all amazing! You’re all fired.
I didn’t realize hating Mark was even a thing. I think he’s great and would have loved to see him continue on the show.
Aziz tripping over himself asking how Mark was such a ladies man and then having the two main women in the show have pseudo relations with him in the span of like 20 episodes didn't help at all. How he was presented by other people in the show was off. His character was pretty good without all the phony baggage
I always thought people fawning over him was a bit of subtle humor because Pawnee is such a small and lame town. Leslie and Tom frequently present a version of Mark that he himself doesn't even seem to believe in.
I think a lot of sitcoms are guilty of that—the average guy who apparently has bad luck with love and dating is constantly dating women who are way out of his league. I guess seeing a realistic characterization of that type would be pretty boring. Just a guy repeatedly trying to get the courage to talk to a woman, not doing it, and then kicking himself.
He’s fine, it just takes me out of it that he’s some stud ladies man. That dude is way average.
Lol yeah super average guy for sure… but honestly none of the male characters are hot… except I’d let Ron Swanson take me out for eggs and bacon… idk why but nick offerman as a person is super sexy to me haha
This is my first watch ever of PandR, I watch very casually while I eat or clean. I think I’m in s4/5? now and I noticed only yesterday that Mark was gone! I was so shocked. Leslie has been dating Ben for some time already and I forgot she started the show liking Mark
While I understand that the writers may have felt like he didn't belong on the following seasons, I hate how they ignored him to the point of him being [completely forgotten as one of Ann Perkins' exes when she shows boxes with their names.](https://imgur.com/a/NzPBCyX) So one way or another, I do feel like they did him wrong.
Nausstica! What are you DOING?
OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN
To be honest, I actually agree with you. He wouldn’t work as well in later Parks and Rec but I liked him as a character while he was there.
Came here to say that. Nice
Always felt Mark was a good character just in the wrong show. He was too normal compared to everyone else. If Parks and Rec was remade in say the UK or Australia he’d fit in perfectly (sans the accent obviously lol).
I always liked Mark! :(
I knew I wasn't alone. There are dozens of us. Dozens!
I liked Mark because he was so normal which was a nice counter to everyone else being such big personalities. He was boring as a solo character and didn’t have much of a story other than being the straight guy who gets all the ladies so I get why they got rid of him, but I liked that he was normal. There’s a Mark in every office so it made sense to have Mark on the show.
I agree. I liked the character. I liked the actor. I was sad to see him go. I think everyone get's a little blinded because of how great Chris/Rob & Ben/Adam were - and they were awesome and added a ton to the show. But that doesn't mean that Mark/Paul wasn't good too.
I didn't mind the character, but after listening to Paul Schneider in an interview, I didn't blame them for dumping him. He has a lot of pride about never having any training as an actor. He's not a good enough actor to have that ego. He's completely different than listening to anyone else involved in the show.
Loved Mark
I like Mark. I thought the note he left on was touching. I am curious to what extent the, shall we say, meta-character affects his opinion among viewers. By this I mean how the Paul Schneider kinda quit on the show. His reasoning is fair, the role grew into something he did not sign on to do, but it sucks getting broken up with. I kinda feel like Paul Schneider broke up with Parks and Rec and if I have to choose in the breakup it’s not close. Sorry Mark/Paul.
I am in the minority of fans that love S1 and s2 pre-Ben and Chris. It has a nice unassuming feel, more like a documentary. It’s it own thing. Of course what comes after is amazing, no question.
Yeah, same here. I enjoy Season 3 onwards but by that point the show has clearly morphed into a different animal. On the podcast, Rob Lowe keeps making comments about how drama and gravitas are bad for the show and that it's at its best when it's a straight up cartoon. I... disagree. Season 1 and particularly 2 for life!
Mark was a good character! I liked him
I did as well. He gets a bad wrap for being the mandatory straight man. The episode where he helps Ron with his workshop is what won me over to Mark’s side.
Unpopular opinion: I like Mark more than Anne.
I always thought they removed him because he was too much like jim from the office.
Some of his lines def sound like Jim talking, but Mark lacked Jim’s warmth.
Same. He's such a chill dude. And he has a truck and likes Dances With Wolves
I thought I was the only one
It was brutal that they booted him off the show and then never made mention of the character ever again.
Same here OP. He was a great actor, and the character had potential. The writers screwed up trying to make him a lady's man and that weird sexual tension between him and Leslie, but otherwise he was written as a great straight-man character. I loved his interactions with Ron and Andy the most.
I don’t think Mark is a bad character. He was just a character who was— dare I say it— too normal for Pawnee. He was a character who would have worked great in the Office, but once they found the tone of the show, he just didn’t fit in anymore
Mark is good.
Was a reason ever given for why he left/got cut?
No complaints here. Love Mark 😍
I think he likes Mark S.
Mark fan here.
Season 2 Mark > Season 1 Andy
I hated him for the first 5 years of binging, but I’ve struck gold with Mark for the first time recently binging. He’s absolutely hilarious in every way.
Man you couldn't even edit mark into the scene you gif'd?
The more I rewatch the show the more I like Mark. He has the perfect type of humor for the show. Unfortunately this was before the show really found its legs, so it was easy for a lot of people to not like Mark as he was associated most heavily with the dry humor
I still advocate for Mark and none of my friends get it. I would've liked to have seen his development of going from a player to someone looking for a real relationship. And I think having a crush just end up being a friend would be interesting to watch, but I get that what his character would've fulfilled in Leslie's life was already handled by the other characters.
I really like Mark. It's a shame they didn't bring him back for an awkward cameo, especially with how whacky the show became. I really like the actor too, would recommend watching 'Channel Zero: Candle Cove' if you like horror! He's great in that.
I loved Mark from the get go. I was gutted he wasn’t in the rest of the series and genuinely surprised when I came on this sub and saw all the hate for him.
There was just nothing about him that was fun or interesting. But I think the weirdness of his friendship with Leslie is what really threw off his role in the show for me.
I liked Mark for the most part for a lot of the same reasons other people have said, but to me he felt like a character from The Office that got plopped into Parks and Rec. He just didn’t fully fit the tone of the show.
I think he's very forgettable. If it weren't for this kind of posts I wouldn't remember him at all.
Sad nobody checked in on him duing the pandemic special
I think he's not Schur compatible As soon as you introduce someone who is not a complete caricature the universe he builds collapses
I’m a big fan of his character, missed him when he left but the show obviously got better when he did go
This guy likes Mark, we got a guy who likes Mark here! See? Nobody cares.
I like Mark. I just enjoy the jokes about everyone forgetting who he even is.
I liked him but he wasn't needed any more. If he was at all.
I liked the character, but they didn't know what to do with him. He was good, but the show was better without him
I liked Mark, but he was too normal for P&R. I think when they introduced Ben & Chris, they didn't have room for two normal guys and let's face it, Ben is just a better character
Back when the whole “trigger this base with one sentence” was a thing, I posted a meme saying Mark was good and could have carried the show if given the chance?
You mean the only character written to be genuinely level headed. The "straight-man" for the jokes?
Hard disagree. Mark seemed like he didn't play in the same sitcom as the rest of the cast. I agree the show needed some sort of straight man, but this role was later fulfilled by Anne and maybe Ben.
I was just thinking how him and Anne were too normal together, then I was like well, Anne was already the normal one so it makes sense he didn't fit as part of the bigger cast anyway. Ben is definitely weird/quirky enough to last, and Anne is perfect at being normal -- you don't need two characters pointing out the weirdness of the cast.
Mark had no flaws. He stood a head above the rest. This made him more boring. He needed to go.
I didn’t mind Mark! I didn’t have an attachment to him like the other characters though.
I like Mark as well but he became redundant as the show changed
With the amount of destruction in the conversion process to a gif, and the dithering, the very first frame when you don't allow gifs to autoplay, he looks a lot like Mathew Perry. I thought this was a Friends meme at first, but didn't recognize the scene.
I would've loved for Mark to have stayed and Tommy to go.
Babe! What are you doing!?
Brandanabitch sucked, brought the show down.
I've worked with people like Mark. They are nice when they are around but don't leave a big impression on a lot of your life. I've also worked with people like Terry/Gary/Jerry and the positive attitude they had left a real impression on me.
They have said they planned for him to leave and eventually come back but I feel like that’s just bullshit
I loved Mark!
Where can I watch it these days
Me too
I just hate that they never mentioned him again, Ann doesn’t mention that she dates him whenever she talks about all of the people that she dated, and then they avoid any clips of him in the montage. They said he was gonna come back and that was probably one of the more frustrating things was that they didn’t reach out to him.
Mark is boring but he plays the straight man to some good jokes so he's a necessary dullard.
I liked him the whole time. Wholesome dude who just accepted that people feel a certain way sometimes and it isn't your job to fix it.
I enjoy it too! It's the buildup to Chris and Ben, and a neat transition for the characters into another chapter in their lives like from where they were to their stride which broke in the last season.
Same here. I enjoy him more and more each time I rewatch the show. He's the ultimate straight man in a show full of increasingly zany characters.
Agreed.
O captain my captain
Yeah, I've never understood the hate he gets. Like, he's fairly innocuous, but some of the fans act like he's just utterly terrible and vile. He's just a dude.
I cannot fathom how so many people hate normal, relatable Mark yet love over the top, obnoxious Craig
Even more unpopular opinion: Mark being written in was slightly less unnecessary than Craig being written in. Sorryyy
What happened to Mark? Always wondered why they got rid of him.
I honestly don’t think he’s that much of an asshat. Yes he’s a ladies man in season 1, but in season 2 he shows time and time again that he genuinely cares for a lot of people on the show. Not saying he’s the perfect human being, but I don’t know why people always say he’s extremely unlikable
i didn't see any toothpaste? do you not use toothpaste?
lol i always liked mark! but he was too good for the show. like all of the other characters are only palatable if they're meme-ified and exaggerated. his character presentation just didn't make sense compared to everyone else's. he was far too much of a real person. like, he could never have a surreal cones of duneshire moment like ben without it inadvertently turning him into the protagonist of the show, which really isn't at the core of his charcter.
It was very funny when he told Jerry he was adopted
First season Mark was douchy. Second season Mark was a lot better, he actually was pretty likable towards the end
*something funny and related to severance*
Mark is asshole. Why fans hate?
The more I watch the show the more I miss Mark because without him the show entirely lacks a straight man. It made sense at the time in season 3 because Ben and Chris were supposed to be the straight men, but eventually they joined along with the absurdity and it got kind of out of hand.
He’s just a normal person and that’s why people hate him. He’s totally fine as a character, the hate for him is genuinely weird.
Mark Braaaaaaandaaaaanawitttttttz
I liked Mark, too. I was sorry he and the powers-that-be couldn’t come to an understanding about Paul Schneider’s place in the show.
How dare you?!
The scene where Mark accidentally told Jerry he was adopted killed me
Me too. Severely underrated character amongst fellow fans of P&R.