The Parks And Recreation Side Character Fans Think Deserves His Own Spin-Off
With so many memorable characters on "Parks and Recreation," it would seem that co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels would have near-limitless options if they wanted to put together a spin-off. They wouldn't even have to be confined to the main ensemble cast. Daniels and Shur gave many walk-on characters some delightful eccentricities and hilarious lines, both on "Parks and Rec" and "The Office." Schur himself played one of them, in the form of Dwight Schrute's (Rainn Wilson) cousin Mose, though doing so was a horrible experience for Schur (via Entertainment Weekly).
Given this wealth of memorable and hysterical characters, it would be tempting to think that any of them could have a sitcom written around them. Already online, there's been discussion of a spin-off of "Parks and Recreation" featuring Jean-Ralphio Saperstein (Ben Schwartz). However, most people seem to think that the abrasively loquacious best friend and co-schemer of Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) would be too much to tolerate for a full half-hour (via Reddit). What's more, some fans want to go for deeper cuts, the slightly more obscure characters who have given us some hilarious moments.
Fans want Ken Hotate to get his own show
On the r/PandR subreddit, there is a thread that starts with a few shots from an exchange between Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ken Hotate (Jonathan Joss). Leslie compliments Ken's bolo tie, which Ken says is made and sold on Etsy by his disappointing son. "I love how Ken walks in, drops this line, and just walks out," wrote one user. "Perfect execution."
Ken Hotate only appears a handful of times in "Parks and Recreation," and most of these are passing appearances. He plays a significant role in the Season 3 episode "Harvest Festival," when, as a tribal elder of the indigenous Wamapoke people and owner of Wamapoke Casino, he puts an (entirely fake!) curse on Leslie's Harvest Festival because it is scheduled to take place on sacred ground. "There are two things I know about white people," Ken tells the camera. "They love Rachael Ray, and they are terrified of curses."
Firm-but-genial and utterly hilarious, Ken makes brief appearances in five episodes. But that seems to have been enough to leave a mark on the memories of "Parks and Rec" fans. "I was just thinking yesterday that he is one of the only characters I can think of that could do a spin-off," wrote u/Oehlian. Another user, u/princessawesomepants, suggests that Ken should have been used way more than he was on "Parks and Rec," while others posit details about a sitcom based around Ken's running of the casino.