Like The Office, Parks and Recreation is filmed with a single - camera setup in a cinéma vérité style simulating the look of an actual documentary, with no studio audience or laugh track. Within the context of the show, the characters are being filmed by a documentary crew, the members of which are never seen or heard from on - screen. The actors occasionally look at and directly address the cameras, and in some scenes directly engage the cameras in one - on - one interviews with the documentary crew members. The episodes are scripted, but the production encourages the cast to improvise, and dialogue or performances the actors make up during filming often make the final cut of the episodes. Schur said he believes the mockumentary style is particularly fitting for a show about city government because, "It 's a device for showing the ways people act and behave differently when they 're in public and private (and) the difference between what goes on behind closed doors and what people present to the public is a huge issue. ''
who are they talking to in parks and rec
documentary crew documentary crew