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Page 2 February 23 - March 1, 2015 Amy Poehler parks 'Parks and Recreation' for good By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it "I'm always excited about what's next." So says Amy Poehler, and it's time for her to focus on that as "Parks and Recreation" reaches the end of its road. NBC's local-government com - edy series wraps up its seven-season run with an hour-long finale Tuesday, Feb. 24, but Poehler's intrigue about moving on doesn't mean she won't long for her longtime alter ego: Leslie Knope, who progressed from being a city employee of fictional Pawnee, Ind., to a region - al director of the U.S. Na- tional Park Service. "One of the things I'm going to miss the most is like hearing what's going to happen to Leslie next year," allows "Saturday Night Live" veteran and recent Golden Globe Awards co-host Poehler. "You know, we would have a summer discus - sion about it, and Mike (series executive produc- er and co-creator Mike Schur) would be like, 'I think she's going to run for office.' You knew this was going to happen, and I'm going to really miss that." Schur reflects, "We launched in 2009, and we hung on by the skin of our teeth for a good, long while there. And I think all that really matters, ultimately, is whether any show can find a group of people that the show speaks to who watch it all the time and who really care about it and who are vocal about caring about it. We were lucky enough to have that situation." Over the course of "Parks and Recreation's" run, Chris Pratt — alias the show's Andy Dwyer — has become a major mov- ie star, thanks particularly to last year's "Guardians of the Galaxy." Report- edly now under serious consideration to be the big screen's new Indiana Jones, Pratt maintains his leaving the sitcom before it ended "would never happen." "I've been (in) this busi- ness for 15 years," the husband of CBS' "Mom" star Anna Faris says, "and I'm realizing the things that really matter about what you're doing, for me at least, (are) just the relation - ships you have while you're doing it. And for me, this show likely will ... I mean, I hope that possibly, I could have the good fortune of finding another group of people like this, but I don't expect I ever will." Rashida Jones, Adam Scott and Rob Lowe are among others who have been significant players on "Parks and Recreation." For those who've been there virtually from start to finish, though — also including Nick Offerman (iconic in his own right as Parks and Recreation department boss Ron Swanson), Aziz Ansari, Jim O'Heir, Aubrey Plaza and Retta — the end is especially bittersweet. Poehler leaves the show being appreciative that it has "a lot of really young fans. I can't tell you how many people have 15-, 16 year-old kids who watch it with them. I think that's really great to have a show you both find funny. It must be nice to find one thing that you agree on that's funny. So there's, like, a family element to the watching of the show that's been really nice." It isn't the holiday season, but the Victoria's Secret models are returning to a screen near you. Traditionally seen in a televised "Fashion Show" each December, the lovely ladies get an additional CBS showcase with the first broadcast of "The Victoria's Secret Swim Special" Thursday, Feb. 26. Adriana Lima, Lily Aldridge, Alessandra Ambrosio, Martha Hunt and others are shown in Puerto Rico as they shoot a swimwear campaign. Since music typically is a part of the specials, Maroon 5 and Colombian star Juanes perform. "It was so much fun," the pleasant Aldridge says of making the hour. "It was such a beautiful place to shoot, and the energy was incredible. It's an inside look at the Victoria's Secret swim catalog, which is so big for them, and you get to know us a little more. I love that people get to know our personalities and see who we are." Between the photo shoot, filming for the special and the possible distractions of the exotic setting, Aldridge doesn't deny a lot happens: "There were a lot of shoots going on at once, but I feel so lucky to be a Victoria's Secret Angel, to get to do this as my job. Going to the most beautiful locations in the world with my best friends, it's such a blessing ... just a dream come true." Seen with her Victoria's Secret peers in a Super Bowl ad earlier in the month, attired in football uniforms (initially, at least), Aldridge confronted one of her fears for the "Swim Special." "I actually am quite scared of heights," she allows. "Russell James, the Victoria's Secret photographer, didn't realize that when he asked me to shoot on this beautiful rock. Then he told me I didn't have to, but I said, 'I have to do it. I want to do it.' As silly as a fear can be, it's very real, and I was very happy I did it. The picture turned out to be incredible." Impressed as she was by Juanes ("I'd never heard him before, and I absolutely was blown away") and Maroon 5, Aldridge is understandably partial to a couple of other music acts. Her husband is Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon, and one of their Nashville neighbors is Taylor Swift, who has performed on a couple of "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" editions. "All the girls love her," Aldridge says. "She's just cool and so fun. She's an honorary Angel, basically. She's just awesome." BY JAY BOBBIN A 'Secret' mission – models don swimsuits on CBS Lily Aldridge The series finale of "Parks and Recreation" airs Tuesday on NBC.

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