Andy Dwyer

Andy Dwyer
Parks and Recreation character
First appearance	"Pilot"
Last appearance	"One Last Ride"
Portrayed by	Chris Pratt
Information
Aliases	Burt Macklin, FBI Kip Hackman Andy Radical Tim Buckanowski Brother Nature Johnny Karate Johnathon Karate Sgt. Thunderfist, MD
Gender	Male
Occupation	Shoeshinist (shoeshiner) Musician Assistant O'possum Tackle Security Officer Star of Johnny Karate's Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show
Spouse(s)	April Ludgate
Significant other(s)	Ann Perkins (ex-girlfriend)
Children	Burt Snakehole Ludgate Karate Dracula Macklin Demon Jack-o-Lantern "Jack" Dwyer

Sir Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer, KBE /ˈdwaɪ.ər/^[1][2] is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation portrayed by Chris Pratt. Originally meant to be a temporary character, Andy was so likable that producers asked Pratt back as a series regular. He appears in the first season as Ann Perkins' unemployed slacker boyfriend, then takes a job as a shoe-shiner at Pawnee City Hall in the second season. Andy eventually marries April Ludgate and is later promoted to Leslie Knope's assistant. Pratt was credited as a guest star for the first season, despite appearing in every episode; he is part of the main cast for every season after season one.^[3][4]

Andy is one of the few starring characters not to appear in every episode, as he was absent for a multi-episode arc in season six while Chris Pratt was filming Guardians of the Galaxy.

Background

At the start of the series, Andy Dwyer is dating Ann Perkins. Ann matured faster than Andy did; while Ann entered into a career in nursing, Andy remained lazy and spoiled.

Andy remained unemployed after school but was the lead singer and guitarist for his rock band, which has gone through numerous names (starting with "Teddy Bear Suicide" when it was started prior to the show's first season), including "MouseRat," "God Hates Figs," "Department of Homeland Obscurity," "Flames For Flames," "Muscle Confusion," "Nothing Rhymes With Orange" (then, "Everything Rhymes With Orange"), "Punch Face Champions," "Rad Wagon," "Puppy Pendulum," "Possum Pendulum," "Penis Pendulum," "Handrail Suicide," "Angel Snack," "Just The Tip," "Jet-Black Pope," "Four-Skin" (later "Three-Skin" when one member quit), "MouseRat" (again), "RatMouse" (without Dwyer), "Scarecrow Boat," "Tackleshaft" and then "MouseRat" (yet again).^[5]

Though absentminded and possessing an extremely short attention span, Andy is shown to have a savant-like memory. For instance, Andy received the highest grade the police academy had ever seen on the written entrance test, has an uncanny ability to remember movies word for word, and is able to memorize a long list of facts for his feminist college class in the episode, "Smallest Park." Andy also had perfect SAT scores, but mentioned it was probably due to broken Scantron machines.

Storyline

Season one

Before the start of the first season, a drunken Andy fell into a large construction pit and broke both his legs while attempting to retrieve a discarded toaster from the bottom of the pit. Ann is at first unaware that Andy was drunk at the time of the fall,^[6] and the incident inspires her to attend Parks and Recreation meetings to advocate that the pit be filled in. It is at these meetings that Ann first befriends Parks Deputy Director Leslie Knope.^[7] With both of Andy's legs in casts, Ann pampers him, bringing him food and letting him play video games all day. When the doctors inform Andy that the casts can be removed, Andy delays the removal for several weeks so he can continue receiving this treatment from Ann. After the casts are removed, Ann discovers the truth and furiously breaks up with Andy.^[8]

Season two

Andy moves into a tent pitched in the pit and watches Ann, claiming to be protecting her. He makes many failed attempts to reconcile with Ann. After Mark Brendanawicz begins dating Ann, Andy grows to hate him, but pretends to like him whenever Ann is around.^[9] Andy is injured in the pit a second time when Leslie arranges to have it filled with dirt, unaware that Andy is still in the pit. Andy considers suing the town with the hopes of getting money and winning Ann back, but Leslie convinces him to settle out of court in exchange for having the pit filled in.^[10] Leslie gives Andy a job as the shoe-shiner at the Pawnee City Hall as part of his settlement.^[11] April Ludgate, the parks department intern, begins to develop a crush on Andy, but he is for a long time unaware of her feelings toward him.^[12] As time goes on, Andy begins to develop feelings for April, though he is unsure about dating her due to their age difference and his own unresolved feelings for Ann. Simultaneously, Ann begins to show similar feelings for Andy after her relationship with Mark ends. At the end of the season, having broken up with Mark, Ann kisses Andy, who does not reciprocate. This later causes him problems with April, who continues to believe he is still in love with Ann.

Season three

Andy has been unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with April. When she finally returns from Venezuela, she arrives with a new boyfriend, Eduardo. Leslie encourages Andy to not give up. In the episode "Time Capsule", Andy befriends Eduardo at the advice of Chris Traeger. As a result, April begins hating her new boyfriend, and he moves back to Venezuela. Andy also becomes the new coach of one of the two youth basketball teams, with Ron serving as the other coach. Andy's coaching style is much lazier than Ron's strict style. He is also briefly Ron's receptionist in "Flu Season". In the episode "Media Blitz", April leads Andy to believe that if he completes the tasks she hates every day for a month, she will consider being with him. Although she begins this as a bluff, after seeing Andy complete these tasks happily, she kisses him. In the episode "Andy and April's Fancy Party" Andy reveals that he had proposed to April a day earlier after only one month of dating to which April replied, "Fine." They are married at the end of the episode in a surprise ceremony.

Season four

At the beginning of season four, Tom asks Andy to join his new company. He declines Tom's offer and instead joins Leslie's campaign as her assistant and head of security, a role he enjoys very much. At the end of the season, he is encouraged by April to pursue a career as a police officer as all his "dream jobs," with the exception of rock star, revolve around law enforcement.

Season five

During the fifth season, Andy continues to pursue his ambition to become a police officer and seeks help from others to better his chances of passing the police academy entrance exams. He asks Chris to help him get fit enough to pass the police physical. His marriage to April is not strained by the distance between them: they exchange care packages and he visits her in Washington, DC.

Andy earns a perfect score on the written portion of the police officers' exam. When he fails the personality portion of the exam, he gets a rousing pep talk from Chris. Ben then gives Andy a job working with him at the Sweetum's charity foundation.

Season six

Andy's role is reduced in the sixth season, as Chris Pratt was busy with other filming commitments. Andy spends the early part of season 6 in England attending to Sweetum's charity work. Before he went to England, he loses 50 pounds after giving up beer. He briefly visits Pawnee and does not want to return to England, but April convinces him to go back. In the season finale, Andy reunites with MouseRat and sings a Li'l Sebastian memorial song at the Pawnee Unity concert.

Season seven

Andy remains married to April Ludgate, and the two have become responsible adults, to their horror. He has a TV show on public access, The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show, where he is knighted by Lord Edgar Covington in its final episode, and later works part-time at the National Parks service. His friendship with Tom has grown since the previous seasons.^[13] After April decides to leave for a new job in Washington, D.C., Andy goes with her.

In a series of flash-forwards in the final episode, April and Andy ask Leslie and Ben for advice regarding the prospect of having children, which Andy very much wants but April does not. They decide to try for it and their son, Burt Snakehole Ludgate Karate Dracula Macklin Demon Jack-o-Lantern "Jack" Dwyer is born on Halloween 2023. By 2025 the couple is expecting their second child.

Development

Chris Pratt was credited as a guest star throughout the entire first season, but was promoted to the main cast in the second season.^[14] The Andy character was originally supposed to appear only in the first season, but the producers liked Pratt so much that almost immediately after casting him, they decided to make Andy a regular character.^[15]

References

1. Busis, Hillary (April 15, 2011). "'Parks and Recreation': I now pronounce you man and... wait, seriously?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
2. Kandell, Steve (April 15, 2011). "Parks and Recreation Recap: A Wedding". New York. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
3. Collis, Clark (11 July 2014). "How Chris Pratt Went from Zero to Hero". Entertainment Weekly. pp. 24–31. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
4. Sepinwall, Alan. "Parks and Recreation: Interviewing co-creator Mike Schur". The Star-Ledger. Newark, N.J. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
5. Ditzian, Eric (2009-09-17). ""Parks and Recreation" Star Chris Pratt Talks Amy Poehler, Adorableness And Cracking Some Beers". MTV News. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
6. Brown, Brigid (2009-04-23). "TV Recap: Parks and Recreation - The Reporter". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
7. Phipps, Keith (2009-04-09). "Parks and Recreation: Season 1 : Episode 1: "Pilot"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
8. Fowler, Matt (2009-05-15). "Parks and Recreation: "Rock Show" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
9. Fog, Henning (2009-10-02). ""Parks and Recreation" recap: Herstory lessons". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
10. Fog, Henning (2009-10-23). ""Parks and Recreation" recap: Kaboom!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
11. Fowler, Matt (2009-11-06). "Parks and Recreation: "Ron and Tammy" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 10 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
12. Heisler, Steve (2009-11-19). "Parks and Recreation: "Hunting Trip"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
13. "Parks and Recreation Season 7 Premiere Review: Back to the Future". TV.com. CBS Interactive.
14. "Rashida Jones and Chris Pratt Talk Parks and Recreation". MovieWeb. 2009-10-30. Archived from the original on 7 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
15. Sepinwall, Alan (2009-09-17). "Parks and Recreation: Interviewing co-creator Mike Schur". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2010-01-01.