Emmy-nominated comedy series ‘Parks and Recreation’ ended its fourth season on Thursday May 10, with an episode which revealed the long-awaited result in main character Leslie Knope’s election bid for city council.

The episode, titled “Win, Lose, or Draw”, was written and directed by series co-creator Michael Schur. The episode featured Leslie, played by Amy Poehler, waiting to hear if she had beat rival Bobby Newport, played by Paul Rudd, in an election storyline which had been running all season. The initial result showed that Bobby had won by a margin of 21 votes, however, after Leslie’s campaign manager – and love interest – Ben Wyatt, played by Adam Scott, demanded a recount, it was revealed that it was in fact Leslie who had won by 21 votes.

The result of the election had been top-secret since production wrapped on ‘Parks & Recreation’ several months ago. At a Paley Center event in March, Schur revealed that multiple endings had been filmed for the episode so that he could wait until the last moment to decide which ending to air. Poehler admitted to being a fan of both endings, telling the audience:

“It was really touching and moving to do both the acceptance and the concession speeches. Concession and acceptance speeches are about the same until the end. They thank everybody and talk a lot and say congratulations to the other guy … Having to talk to the cast, which were all my friends, and say thank you for this election year. I couldn’t do it without you, cue the waterworks factory.”

Leslie’s win in the season finale means several changes for the series in its fifth season. Until this season, the series had revolved primarily around Leslie’s duties as the Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, whereas now the series is expected to feature more storylines involving Leslie’s burgeoning political career.

Also undergoing some changes is Ben Wyatt, who accepted a job offer in the finale to run a congressional campaign in Washington for six months, effectively forcing Leslie and himself to attempt a long-distance relationship for at least some of next season, assuming that it does not skip entirely over those six months.

For the season, ‘Parks & Recreation’ averaged between 3-4 million viewers per week, but strong critical acclaim and consistent Emmy nominations have ensured its survival on the struggling NBC network. Earlier this month, both the series and Poehler won at The Comedy Awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Actress in TV, respectively, while the series was recently named as the recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award.

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New York, U.S.A. - Hannibal Buress returns to Comedy Central with his laid-back swagger and unexpected point of view in the world premiere of his original one-hour stand-up special, “Hannibal Buress: Animal Furnace,” debuting Sunday, May 20 2012.

In his first hour-long special, Chicago-bred, New York-based Buress brings his celebrated deadpan wit to life’s absurdities with stories of his three-cop jaywalking bust in Montreal, a bloodless airport shoot-out, and various late nights with questionable women.

In front of a live audience at the Gramercy Theatre in New York, Buress re-imagines hardcore rappers as real estate agents, skewers grown men who can’t hold their liquor, and, as an enterprising reporter actually wrote, performs “comedic jokes related to personal stories, current events, the streets, and even food.”

The “Hannibal Buress: Animal Furnace” extended and uncensored DVD, featuring 20 minutes of material not seen in the broadcast, will be released on May 22 by Comedy Central Home Entertainment. The bonus features include “A Week to Kill,” a behind-the-scenes documentary that takes a look at how Buress spent the week before the filming of the comedy special.

In June 2012, Buress will headline “Comedy Central Live Presents: Hannibal Buress,” a free live outdoor show also featuring comedians Kevin Barnett and Josh Rabinowitz. “Comedy Central Live Presents: Hannibal Buress” takes place rain or shine on Sunday, June 24, at 7:00 p.m. ET at Red Hook Park in Brooklyn, NY.

One of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch” in 2010, Buress recently won the award for Best Club Comic at the 2012 “The Comedy Awards.” He has appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” and numerous other late night TV shows.

He also has made primetime appearances on “Louie” and “30 Rock,” and will appear on the upcoming Comedy Central series “Kroll Show” and “John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show,” as well as the Adult Swim series, “The Eric Andre Show.” Buress has previously worked on the writing staffs of “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live,” and released his debut album, “My Name is Hannibal,” in 2010 on Stand Up! Records.

“Hannibal Buress: Animal Furnace” is executive produced by Buress, John Irwin and Dave Becky, produced by Casey Spira, and directed by Michael Dimich. Anne Harris is the Executive in Charge of Production for Comedy Central.

Image Courtesy of   TheeErin

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