<P> While in early stages of developing Parks and Recreation, Greg Daniels and Michael Schur had been considering ideas for a possible show involving Rashida Jones before the concept of the series was even established . Both Daniels and Schur had worked with Jones on the Daniels - created NBC comedy series, The Office, in which Jones played the character Karen Filippelli . It was only after Amy Poehler was cast as protagonist Leslie Knope that the concept of the show and Ann's character were fully developed . While most of the Parks and Recreation character work for the local Pawnee government, Ann Perkins was initially conceived as a political outsider who became indirectly involved in municipal government and, in Schur's words, "got drawn into Leslie's world". </P> <P> Ann Perkins appeared in every episode of Parks and Recreation until Season 6, except for "Woman of the Year", which she missed because she was filming scenes for the David Fincher film The Social Network (2010). Her last name was inspired by Nancy Perkins, one of the casting directors who worked on the show . In crafting the Ann Perkins character, the staff were drawn to the idea of building a show around a female relationship, namely Ann and Leslie Knope's . </P> <P> While most reviewers have praised Rashida Jones' performance, the character of Ann Perkins initially received mixed reviews from critics . Ann often serves as a straight man to the other characters, particularly Leslie Knope, and some reviewers have said Rashida Jones' talent has been under - utilized in the role . Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club wrote, "While I like Rashida Jones in the part, her character usually does best when she's got some wacky person to play off of ." Entertainment Weekly writer Hillary Busis said, "Even Parks and Rec lovers often agree that Rashida Jones's character can seem, well, kind of boring ." Matt Fowler of IGN wrote, "Ann isn't necessarily the funniest character on the show, to say the least", but he said she is capable of being very humorous, adding: "Rashida Jones is sexy and funny, but a lot of her humor is subtle and thankless ." New York magazine writer Steve Kandell said he did not believe the Ann character was necessary for the show because she was too far removed from the other characters . He added, "The Parks and Recreation writers are the smartest in the business, and even they seem at a loss as to what to do with Ann Perkins ." However, Los Angeles Times reporter Robert Lloyd said he felt Jones and Amy Poehler had a good comedic rhythm with each other, and The Atlantic writer Scott Meslow said Jones has a "natural comic sensibility" who rarely gets the best material due to her straight man role . Television columnist Alan Sepinwall said Jones not only plays a good straight man, but particularly excels in bringing the best comedic potential out of her fellow cast members . The character was listed in Wetpaint's "10 Hottest TV Nurses". </P> <P> Many reviewers were critical of the pairing of Mark and Ann, feeling the couple lacked chemistry and were often the least funny parts of the individual episodes . Entertainment Weekly writer Margaret Lyons called Mark and Ann the show's "Achilles' heel", and Sandra Gonzalez, also from Entertainment Weekly, wrote, "No matter what they do with these two, I can't help but be bored ." Alan Sepinwall said the relationship was ineffective because both Mark and Ann are "straight man" characters, and he called the pairing one of the few mistakes of the second season . In his review of "94 Meetings", in which Mark discusses his intentions to marry Ann, Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club wrote of the couple, "their scenes just seemed to lay there and die: action was set up but never resolved, and the deferral contained no laughs to compensate for the dramatic fizzle". Matt Fowler of IGN called the pairing one of the "lesser elements" of the second season, but said it had more to do with Mark than Ann: "Mark just wound up feeling extraneous, (but) I can also appreciate the nuanced realism of Ann just realizing that she wasn't ultimately that' into him' as a way to break them up ." </P>

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