The Episode Of Parks And Recreation You Didn't Realize Was Written By Nick Offerman

Of all the zany, wildly eccentric characters who make up the Parks department in NBC's hit mockumentary series "Parks and Recreation," there is perhaps no character as iconic as department head Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman). Throughout the series Ron's character was defined by his staunch libertarian views, his love of nature and solitude, and his affinity for meat, whiskey, and woodworking. Hilariously, though much of Ron's personality is played up for television, a great deal of his interests are actually inspired by the real life interests of Offerman himself.

Just like Ron, Offerman enjoys the outdoors, is an avid woodworker, and has a special interest in Lagavulin whiskey — and at times the actor almost seems to blur the line between playing a character and leaning into his own idiosyncrasies (via PBS). Offerman is even a skilled saxophone player, just like his character (though in real life, he does not hide behind the moniker of "Duke Silver" while performing). 

Indeed, it seems like Offerman's own life experiences helped impact a large portion of the mustached, curmudgeonly outdoorsman who we came to know and love in "Parks and Recreation." While Offerman's creative influence on the character of Ron Swanson is by no means a secret, some of his other contributions to the series are much less well known — including the fact that Offerman actually wrote an episode of the series back in 2012.

Nick Offerman is credited (alongside Greg Daniels and Michael Schur) as the writer of the Season 4 episode "Lucky," in which Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) records an embarrassing, drunken interview with journalist Buddy Wood (Sean Hayes) (via IMDB). The episode follows the Parks department's efforts to make sure that story never airs, while also covering a B-story involving Andy Dwyer's (Chris Pratt) graduation from college. In this B-story, Andy invites his women's studies professor Linda (Danielle Bisutti) out to dinner with Ron (Offerman) and April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza)l and Ron and Linda end the night by going home together.

Knowing that Offerman wrote this episode makes it pretty hilarious that he ends up with Linda, especially since he was competing with Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) for her affection. Though this is the only "Parks and Recreation" episode in which Offerman is credited as a writer, his work as a writer outside of the series is much more extensive. 

As of right now, Offerman has written a total of five semi-autobiographical books covering topics like woodworking, the outdoors, and his own unique perspective on life itself. In any case, Offerman's writing as a whole continues to establish the connection between his on-screen persona as Ron Swanson and his own real-life eccentricities. Perhaps some fans will look at the episode "Lucky" in a different light from now on, knowing just how much influence Offerman had over his character's storyline.