10 Of The Worst Relatives On Parks And Rec

Along with being a hilarious and charming sitcom, a key aspect that made Parks and Recreation such a hit was its cast of characters. From Leslie Knope to Ron Swanson, the wacky people who made up Pawnee’s parks department and beyond included some of the funniest and most lovable characters in recent television history.

But as great as the main characters were, some of their family members did not always have the same warm qualities. The parents, siblings, and exes of the characters fans loved could sometimes be selfish, annoying and downright mean, which made them considerably more difficult to like.

10 Marlene Griggs-Knope

Leslie Knope is one of the most positive and bubbly personalities in television history. She approaches just about every situation with optimism and every person with kindness. One might expect she would come from an equally positive household, but her mother proves that theory wrong.

When Marlene Griggs-Knope is introduced, she is referred to as a big player in the Pawnee political scene. However, this power has made her somewhat ruthless as she uses underhanded and ugly tactics. She also disrespects Leslie and shows her nothing but coldness. Luckily, Marlene warms over time but it was a chilly first impression.

9 Wendy Haverford

During the early seasons of the show, Tom Haverford is shown to be married to a surprisingly normal woman named Wendy. As people wonder how Tom landed such a great wife, it is revealed it is a green card marriage so Wendy can become a citizen. Unfortunately, Tom develops feelings for her.

While Tom’s feelings are not Wendy’s fault, once Wendy gets her green card and they are able to divorce, she begins dating Ron Swanson. Again, she doesn’t owe anything to Tom, but it seems a little needlessly hurtful to date his boss.

8 Dr. Saperstein

Jean-Ralphio started out as a smaller bit part as Tom’s best friend who is even more over-the-top than Tom. He eventually grows into one of the show’s funniest characters and viewers are even introduced to a few members of his family, including his father, Dr. Saperstein.

Dr. Saperstein is a much more grounded man than his son, but he still encourages Jean-Ralphio’s bad behavior by constantly giving him money. Saperstein also blames Tom for all the mistakes and even opens a competing store in order to run Tom out of business and crush his dreams.

7 Natalie Ludgate

Since April Ludgate is an incredibly strange person, it shouldn’t be too surprising that her sister Natalie is quite unusual as well. She takes after April in terms of her eccentric behavior, dour moody, and dark sense of humor.

At best, she is anti-social and at worst she is hostile. When April asks Andy to pick her sister up from school, Natalie tells the security guard he is a creep trying to lure her into his car, and Andy gets arrested. Natalie finds this sort of prank to be hilarious.

6 Stephanie Wyatt

Despite his later success, Ben Wyatt had a checkered past in politics as a teenage mayor of his hometown who bankrupted the town with an ill-conceived winter festival. When the town forgives Ben and offers him a key to the city, he returns home where his sister Stephanie is introduced.

Stephanie seems like a very nice person as she gets along well with Leslie and is encouraging Ben with his speech. But when she and Leslie go to the ceremony, they see it is all a joke at Ben’s expense. Worried about being ridiculed for being related to him, Stephanie flees and leaves Leslie alone.

5 Mona-Lisa Saperstein

As wacky as Jean-Ralphio is, his sister Mona-Lisa proves to be even crazier and even he refers to her as “the worst person in the world.” Tom hires Mona-Lisa to work in his store and it immediately proves to be a bad idea.

She is a terrible and dishonest employee which also leads to a very unhealthy romance with Tom. She then quits and tells her father lies about Tom, which makes him even angrier with him. The last time Mona-Lisa is seen, she is helping her brother fake his own death.

4 Nick Newport Sr.

Paul Rudd’s recurring role as Bobby Newport is another great highlight of the show. Though Bobby isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he is basically like an innocent and oblivious child so it’s hard not to like him. His brother, Nick Newport Sr. seems to be a much shrewder businessman.

Newport owns the Sweetums candy company, which partners with the Pawnee government to supply “health bars” that are actually extremely unhealthy. In order to distract from the facts, Newport manipulates the public with cheesy commercials and even uses his kids.

3 Steve Wyatt

Ben and Leslie are perhaps the cutest couple on the whole show and fans were thrilled when they got engaged. This inevitably led to meeting their parents, which proved to be a lot more uncomfortable when it came to Ben’s father.

Steve Wyatt seems to be a grumpy old man who would rather spend his energy fighting with his ex-wife than congratulating Leslie and Ben. He even insults Leslie’s thoughtful gift for not including his new young wife in it. Steve is a petty man who tried to make his son’s engagement all about him.

2 Tammy 2

By the end of the series, Ron Swanson seemed to find genuine happiness with his new wife Diane. However, he has had quite a lousy record when it comes to spouses. The first one to appear on the show is Tammy 2 and she is not pleasant at all.

Not only does Tammy 2 work at the library, the only place in Pawnee that she hates, but she seems hellbent on ruining Ron’s life. She uses Tom to get close to Ron, then manipulates him into a night of debauchery that ends with them married and in jail.

1 Tammy 1

It’s hard to imagine, but Ron’s first wife actually makes Tammy 2 look nice by comparison. Whereas Tammy 2’s influence over Ron is destructive, Tammy 1 is simply emotionally controlling in a very disturbing way.

She forces Ron to become a complacent and unhappy version of himself, changing everything about him to suit her desires. It is very unsettling to see Ron taken down in this way and it makes Tammy seem especially cold-hearted.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2030 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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