The Worst Advice Leslie Knope Ever Gave On Parks And Recreation

More than six years after Parks and Recreation's original run came to an end, Amy Poehler's turn as Pawnee, Indiana's Deputy Director of Parks & Rec Leslie Knope remains one of television's most iconic performances. As much as fans loved the naïve and ultra-ambitious local government guru, though, they would be well-advised to allow some of Leslie's free-flowing life lessons to fall to the wayside. Her heart may have been in the right place, but many of her schemes and sociopolitical machinations resulted in unintended (and unwanted) consequences. 

Despite her best efforts, it took Leslie years to fill up the Sullivan Street Pit next to concerned-citizen-turned-best-friend Ann Perkins' (Rashida Jones) home and convert the vacant lot into a city park. Plan after plan failed in spectacular fashion, often due to some misstep or miscalculation on Leslie's part, and that was far from her biggest faux pas, as Screen Rant recently pointed out.

Although her misfires resulted in critically-acclaimed hilarity on Parks and Recreation, Leslie's occasionally zany methodology could go horribly wrong if applied to any of a number of real-world scenarios. For that reason alone, one would do well to carefully consider any advice she might offer or precedent that she might set. 

There are a number of strong contenders for "worst piece of advice" one could take from Leslie Knope. Although she eventually found love with Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott), her disastrous approach to dating nearly takes top honors as the example to avoid following at all costs. During the season 2 episode "The Practice Date," she confesses to Ann that she once took Ambien during a date and was forced to repeatedly punch herself in the leg in order to stay awake.

As bad as that may have been, though, Leslie approach to friendship — specifically as relates to Ann — is the clear winner here. When Leslie loves, she loves hard, and she'll go to cringe-worthy lengths to be the best friend she can be. 

On a number of occasions, Leslie shows up unannounced — and uninvited — at Ann's home or place of work. When Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) breaks up with Ann during season 3, Leslie attempts to be there for her friend by fanning the flames of uncertainty and turning Ann into a jealous mess. She also forces her friend to watch all eight Harry Potter films. "I don't even like Harry Potter!" Ann later exclaimed in a rare moment of clarity regarding their relationship.

Those are but a few of Leslie Knope's friendship fouls. Somehow, her efforts resulted in a long-lasting friendship with Ann Perkins, but in real life, her approach would probably get you ghosted, or worse — arrested.