Who is the real Nick Offerman? You know him as mustachioed TV icon Ron Swanson from NBC's "Parks and Recreation," but how do you separate the man from the legend — or, more importantly, the man from the mustache?

Easy: You don't.

Meeting Offerman to talk about his new movie, "Somebody Up There Likes Me," a dark comedy about a self-centered narcissist (Keith Poulson) and his only friend (Offerman), he was everything we hoped he'd be, with facial hair in full bloom and the deadpan delivery that's made "Parks and Rec" devotees of us all.

We discussed the many mysteries of "Somebody Up There...

When you live in rural Holford, it takes a while for viral videos to catch on. However, now that the ‘Harlem Shake’ has reached the small town in Out There, there’s no stopping them from busting a move!

Watch as characters from IFC’s new animated series Out There put their twist on this viral video sensation.

*Warning: They still think the running man is cool!

 

New episodes air Friday nights at 10:00pm ET/PT on IFC.

Out There is created, written by and executive produced by Ryan Quincy, Emmy-award winning animation director and producer of South Park. Other notable voices guesting thr...

Ron Swanson's got nothing on Nick Offerman's newest dry-tongued sour puss, Sal.

In this trailer for Bob Byington's SXSW-selected "Somebody Up There Likes Me," the "Parks and Recreation" star trades in his uber-conservative mustached wit monster for a middle-aged barkeep with a dismal sense of self and a sick salt and pepper goatee.

Offerman co-leads the indie comedy alongside Keith Poulson as an existential food and beverage-slinger whose protege is clueless in matters of the heart. "The last five years I wake up and it's like something fast-forwarded beyond my control," he pouts.

As Pou...

Every once in a while a film pops up that's so puzzling after a while our brains wind up going on strike. Why? Because the approach is so low-key, unique and dare I say misfit-like. However, sometimes that little strange film winds up beating the odds, thus becoming an underrated hit reaching cult classic status. (If you need proof, remember NAPOLEON DYNAMITE? Need I say more?!?)

Fast forward to 2012, and that small film causing much snickering from doubters and haters happens to be Casa de mi Padre. This film wrangled up what some would consider a cast of oddities based on their usual swa...

Screenwriting efforts like "Jennifer's Body" may not have set the world on fire, but Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody was officially back in our good graces after the awesomeness that was "Young Adult."

According to The Playlist the "Juno" scribe may be winning our favor once again by casting Nick Offerman in her upcoming directorial debut, formerly titled "Lamb Of God."

It is unknown what part has been offered (get it?) to Offerman, best known to fans of NBC's "Parks & Recreation" for rocking that mustache as libertarian man's man/Parks Department head Ron Swanson.

Cody's story follow...

This week’s episode of Parks and Recreation brought to mind an interview I read recently with Chris Onstad, the writer-artist behind Achewood, a popular web comic about cats who make fun of The Cure. After nine years of churning out content for Achewood—comics, blog posts, books, t-shirts, mugs—Onstad’s output started to trickle until, suddenly, it stopped. To put it mildly, his fans freaked out. The reason why he stopped doesn’t really matter in this context, but in the interview, Onstad touches on how the small amount of negative feedback he received negated much of the wild praise that h...

I can’t think of another show with actors as skilled at playing stupid as some of the ones on Parks and Recreation. Be it the insane, witless ramblings of the Pawnee general public or Andy’s never-ending parade of catastrophic accidents, it really makes you wonder if Leslie and co. should look into the content of Pawnee’s water supply. Tonight, we meet perhaps the most delightfully dumb specimen to ever cross paths with the Parks department: city council candidate and heir to the Sweetums candy fortune Bobby Newport, played by the wonderful Paul Rudd.

For all of the hubbub around Leslie’s ...

Generally speaking, this season of Parks and Recreation has been strong, but these last couple of episodes have by far been the best. The first half of the season concentrated largely on how splintered the Parks Department had become with the departure of Tom, and Leslie off chasing her dreams of political office while trying to ignore her continued affection for Ben. This led to much of the cast doing their own thing, with the writers throwing them a bone every once in a while in the form of C or D plots that never really amounted to anything. Sometimes these diversions worked—April and An...

Of all of the characters that we’ve seen roaming around the muraled corridors of Pawnee city hall, Chris Traeger is the one that we really know the least about. We know all about his health food kick, his obsession with exercise and being a stickler for the rules—we know all of that… but there’s still something naggingly mysterious about the man. Chris dragging Leslie in front of an ethics committee for her relationship with Ben is a chance to illustrate how little we’ve come to know Chris. The trial forces Chris away from being the affable eccentric we’re familiar with, even when he’s self...

Is it just me or was that episode rather light on laughs?

Sure, the concept of Leslie and Ben’s personal trouble causing a model war to break out at Pawnee’s model UN is funny enough in concept—with some effective barbs at the actual UN—but overall, this felt just like a retread of last week’s otherwise great episode when Leslie and Ben decided that they could remain friends after some awkward tension built up when they were forced to work together. This week, I guess, puts that decision to the test when Leslie invites Ben to help her run the model UN for Pawnee’s little Knopes and Bens (y...

Fake apocalypse or not, your priorities change on your last day on earth. Long term plans and practicality both go out the window and eking out one last moment of happiness becomes paramount. And even though the Apocalypse that’s bearing down on Pawnee is of the crackpot loon variety, the implications of it have loaded the members of the Parks department with whimsy.

With her concerns about her political future put on hold for an evening, Leslie’s thoughts go right back to Ben. The pair of them are assigned to stand watch over park as Pawnee's favorite cult, The Reasonablists, pow-wow arou...

Pop star Kelly Clarkson has launched an online bid to land a guest role on hit TV sitcom Parks And Recreation, despite confessing she's "a bad actress."

The Since U Been Gone hit-maker is a big fan of funnywoman Amy Poehler's show and has called on her Twitter.com followers to help bombard program bosses and anyone involved in the comedy to give her a small role alongside her favorite character Ron Swanson, played by Nick Offerman.

In a post on the social networking site, she writes, "Here's the deal ....I really want to be on 'Parks and Recreation'. It's hilarious! I am a bad actress b...

This week we mainly follow the conflict between Pawnee’s two competing youth groups: the bleak, all boys survivalist group the Pawnee Rangers, led by Ron Swanson, and its all-girl antithesis the Pawnee Goddesses, created by Leslie Knope, who never met a gender role she couldn’t break. Like when he coached basketball last year, Ron becomes even more rigid when children are in his tutaliage. His single rule for his Rangers? Be a man. Other than that, he gives them a box and a piece of canvas and sets out to teach his boys the virtue of solitude, contemplation and surviving the wild.

To Ron t...

Now that Tammy 1 has been sent back to Hell or… wherever she’s from (Indianapolis?), "Parks and Rec" is back on the Knope 2012 campaign. Like every single other politician in the world, Leslie has written a book. Rather than write about what a wonderful visionary she is (again, like every single other politican in the world), Leslie has written a comprehensive history of Pawnee… with her picture on the cover for some reason.

To promote the book, Leslie is making the Pawnee media rounds—apparently opting out of her favorite radio show Crazy Ira and The Douche for classier pastures, a goofba...

Hello fellow Pawneeians! I’ll be guiding you through this fourth (fourth!) season of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”. So let’s get kicking.

The end of last season saw most of the parks department moving towards brighter futures, making their lives about a million times more complicated than they were before. Leslie and Ben decided to keep their forbidden romance from the rest of the office, which makes for a potential scandal when Leslie’s political career suddenly sprouts legs. Tom resigned so he can follow his dreams of being—well Jay-Z, I guess. Even Andy is looking to moving on from his s...

After battling shape-shifting alien life forms in this fall's "The Thing" prequel, a girl might need a drink. Or six.

Perhaps that's what got Mary Elizabeth Winstead circling the indie drama "Smashed," which focuses on a married couple who are brought together by their love of booze. (Note: They are not wine aficionados.)

Playing opposite Winstead is Aaron Paul, most known for his portrayal of the meth-master Jesse on "Breaking Bad," who no doubt woos her with his passion for alcohol.

Very loosely based on the 1962 flick "Days of Wine and Roses," "Smashed" follows the story of these two ...

Critically acclaimed sports drama "Friday Night Lights" triumphed at the 2011 Television Critics Association Awards on Saturday night by landing the coveted Program of the Year prize.

The drama joined "Game of Thrones," "Modern Family," "Sesame Street" and "Mad Men" among the big award winners in Beverly Hills, while Jon Hamm, Nick Offerman and Ty Burrell picked up the top acting statuettes.

Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey was honored with the Career Achievement Award and the TCA also paid homage to The Dick Van Dyke Show by presenting the beloved series with the Heritage Award.

The list of win...

His character on NBC's "Parks and Recreation" may shy away from large acts of altruism, but actor Nick Offerman is doing his part to help spread the word about how easy it is to conserve water. Offerman, who plays grouchy boss Ron Swanson on the hit show, has teamed up with Anheuser-Busch for the Budweiser "Grow One. Save a Million" campaign.

The goal is to get men to take a pledge to stop shaving in the days leading up to World Environment Day, which is on June 5. The average man will waste 3-10 gallons of water each time they shave, and, through this campaign, Anheuser-Busc...

Ah, the year has come to an end once more. Well, actually the decade has come to an end. But enough of all that end-of-the-decade nonsense. We still have a year in TV to discuss. A year that finally saw the networks once again deliver us some new shows worth watching, a year when several cable dramas took a massive step forward. A year when Paula Abdul wasn't the worst "Idol" Judge!

Yes, it was a strange year on the small screen, but a good one all the same. Here's the best, and some of the worst, of TV 2009.

Great Performances:

Jane Lynch in "Glee"

Sure, she's been hailed...

So, in the spirit of Turkey Day and all that is holy in the holiday season traditions, I got up too early to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade along with an equally weary Liz Lewis. This year was pretty run of the mill.

Like all years past, NBC rolled in with semi truck filled with shameless plugs, an overload of NBC promotions, and puns corny enough to even make younger kids grimace. The route changed, to the chagrin of all those with pricey Broadway real estate who look forward to this fall classic, and the cast of Glee was glaringly absent. With NBC bringing out some real...