Image via Complex Original
Over the past six or so years, we've been through a lot with the cast of Parks and Recreation—we saw Amy Poehler go through a handful of questionable hairstyles, Jim O'Heir fart in the middle of a heart attack, and Chris Pratt destroy his body in every way possible for the sake of comedy—but now it's all over. Tonight will be the last time we ever visit Pawnee, Indiana.
We know it hurts to think about (though to be honest, it'd hurt a lot more if Parks never came back for a seventh season and went out on a high note), but don't worry because the success of the show has ensured that the actors behind Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, Andy Dwyer, and more will be on our screens for years to come. Seriously—in five years you're probably going to be tired of Chris Pratt.
But just to be sure you don't go into a debilitating Parks withdrawal, we charted out where the cast is headed from here, so you know where to get your fix. (P.S. It's best to read this list while listening to Andy Dwyer's "5,000 Candles in the Wind.")
Amy Poehler
You can find her next: on the big screen, Hulu, at summer camp, curating the future of comedy, and NOT hosting the Golden Globes.
Poehler was a popular SNL cast member when Parks & Rec debuted—now she's a household name. She's at Tina Fey status. Speaking of, Poehler and Fey are moving on from being the best awards show hosts ever (the fact that they never hosted everything in one year still seems like a missed opportunity) to making movies together. Their comedy, Sisters, comes out next December. But most importantly, Poehler's main priority seems to be ushering in the next generation of comedy. We have to Poehler to thank for Broad City, and within the next year or so she'll executive produce two more TV shows—Welcome to Sweden and Difficult People, starring Billy Eichner. Her role in Netflix's Wet Hot American Summer reboot is just going to be the cherry on top.
Nick Offerman
You can find him next: in indies and fully embodying Ron Swanson IRL.
A sitcom character like Ron Swanson—the breakout star full of stubborn, engrained touches and meme-ready moments—isn't easy to shed. Just ask anyone from Friends. But Offerman is fully embracing his inner-Swanson, playing employees at Home Depot, airing a special on Netflix called American Ham, and running his own woodshop. The fact that's it's this hard to tell where Ron Swanson ends and Nick Offerman begins makes me suspect that the latter's real-life personality wholly influenced the shape of his Parks & Rec character, rather than the other way around. Which is to say, Parks & Recreation may be dead, but Ron Fucking Swanson will live on.
Chris Pratt
You can find him next: taking over the world, more or less.
The lovable chubster from Pawnee, Indiana somehow became the biggest movie star we have today. Chris Pratt is just about as close to an Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster type as you're gonna get in 2015. Pratt's latest franchise, Jurassic World, premieres in June, and he's also got a handful of high-grossing movies on tap thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy and the Marvel Universe (seriously, the dude knows he's going to have a job until at least 2019). As if that wasn't enough, recent rumors say Pratt is going to be the guy to reboot the Indiana Jones series. So don't worry about missing Andy Dwyer—in no time you're going to be seeing him even when you close your eyes.
Adam Scott
You can find him next: toiling away in comedies until a Party Down movie is finally made.
This is sort of hard to talk about, especially because we've seen what Adam Scott doing random comedies looks like thanks to Hot Tub Time Machine 2, and it is NOT GOOD (this "marijuana comedy" he's working on for NBC does sound pretty great though). Until we can slap the pink bow tie on our man, we don't really wanna think about post-P&R Adam Scott.
Aziz Ansari
You can find him next: ruminating on the nature of modern-day romance.
This next side of Aziz—the comic-turned-anthropologist/sociologist—has been bubbling throughout Parks & Rec's run. Instead of telling jokes about guys getting their dicks sucked in igloos, Ansari became deeply interested in the way people date each other these days, and he turned his focus towards that completely. During his standup routines, he started grabbing audience members' cell phones and going through their texts and Facebook messages to examine how they interact with the opposite sex. He created a subreddit called “Modern Romantics,” all about dating in the 21st century. So now that Ansari's show is over, it's time to fully break into this phase of his career. His latest, presumably romance-heavy stand-up special, Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden, premieres on Netflix on March 6. Then in September, Ansari's book, based on everything he learned from looking into people's personal lives on tour and interviewing people on reddit, is set to hit shelves. Can't say I saw this career turn coming, but I'm not exactly mad at it either.
Rashida Jones
You can find her next: being a boss in the entertainment world.
Jones (and Rob Lowe, below) left Parks before this final season, which in hindsight seems like an incredible decision. But she seems to be full of them, because next up for Jones is writing Toy Story 4 and headlining a TBS comedy produced by Steve Carell. Just as an aside, check out Rashida Jones' TV career—she left The Office in the midst of the show's peak and then bailed on Parks right before the show hit a wall. So basically, if Rashida Jones leaves your show, it's time to pack things up.
Rob Lowe
You can find him next: as different versions of himself, trying to get you to buy cable. Also, on TV a lot more.
DirecTV has imprinted their Rob Lowe commercials into your brain by now, so we don't need to talk about them. But aside from those things, Lowe has plenty of Content™ set to hit the airwaves in 2015 and beyond. NBC has picked up Apocalypse Slough, a 10-part series starring Lowe, Jenna Fischer and Megan Mullally about a group of people who get crowd into a bunker and watch the world end on TV. And elsewhere, FOX has greenlit Grinder, a show from New Girl's Jake Kasdan in which Lowe plays a lovable TV lawyer. Better Call Saul for basic cable? Hard to say as of now, but it's clear Rob Lowe is like his DirecTV commercials—not going anywhere.
Aubrey Plaza
You can find her next: adding to her indie resume.
After leading indies like The To Do List, Life After Beth, and Safety Not Guaranteed (and randomly voicing Grumpy Cat in a Lifetime movie) in between seasons of P&R, Plaza is staying the course for life after Pawnee. She's already slated to star in three indie movies in the next two years—including one directed by Emilio Estevez—and she also landed a role in a Zac Efron/Robert de Niro comedy called Dirty Grandpa, tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2016.
Jim O'Heir
You can find him next: playing Jerry-like characters in a bunch of random movies.
Jerry's one of the more underrated characters in Parks—I blame the show's unrelenting devotion to degrading him as the reason why he was held back. Think of him as a better developed version of Kevin from The Office. O'Heir's goal in the next couple of years, therefore, will be to keep the momentum from Parks going and not descend into obscurity like Kevin. (I think the last time I saw him he was playing Vince Vaughn's work friend for one scene in Four Christmases. Ouch.) Thankfully, O'Heir's going to keep busy, with seven gigs already booked for 2015 through 2017. Way to go, Jerry/Larry/Garry!
Retta
You can find him next: on Twitter.
Not too much appears to be on the horizon for this one-named wonder, but do not fear—when Game of Thrones returns in April, you'll be hearing from her.