Detective Jake Peralta, a talented and carefree cop with the best arrest record, has never had to follow the rules too closely or work very hard. That changes when Ray Holt, a man with a lot to prove, becomes the new commanding officer of Brooklyn's 99th precinct. As Holt reminds Peralta to respect the badge, an extremely competitive colleague -- Detective Amy Santiago -- starts to close in on the hotshot cop's arrest record. Other members of the precinct include Sgt. Terry Jeffords, a devoted family man, Detective Charles Boyle, a hard worker who idolizes Jake, and Rosa Diaz, a sexy-yet-intimidating detective. Civilian office manager Gina Linetti is tasked with cleaning up everyone's mess, while somehow getting involved in everyone's business.
An oddball family of employees at supersized megastore Cloud 9 tackles the day-to-day grind of rabid bargain hunters, riot-causing sales and nap-worthy training sessions. Stalwart employee Amy is just trying to hold it all together despite the best efforts of her daftly clueless manager Glen and his iron-fisted assistant Dina. Rounding out the crew is new hire Jonah, a dreamy dreamer, sardonic Garrett, ambitious Mateo and sweet young mother-to-be Cheyenne. From bright-eyed newbies to seen-it-all veterans, bumbling seasonal hires and in-it-for-life managers, they're all going to get through another day -- together.
Leslie Knope, a midlevel bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges. Leslie's colleague Tom Haverford, who delights in exploiting his position for personal gain, is as likely to undermine her efforts as to help her, while her boss, Ron Swanson, is adamantly opposed to government in any form, even though he's a bureaucrat himself.
Dre Johnson (Anthony Anderson) has it all: a great job, a beautiful wife, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), four kids and a big home in a classy neighborhood, but as a black man, he begins to question whether all his success has brought too much cultural assimilation for his family. With the help of his father (special guest star Laurence Fishburne), Dre begins to try to create a sense of ethnic identity for the members of his family that will allow them to honor their background while preparing them to embrace the future.
In the Heck family, middle-age, middle-class, middle-America mom Frankie Heck (two-time Emmy winner Patricia Heaton) uses a sense of humor to try to steer her family through life's ups and downs as she tackles her career goals. Her unflappable husband, Mike (Neil Flynn), is a manager at the local quarry. Oldest son Axl is an obstinate young man; awkward daughter Sue cannot seem to find her niche -- despite much enthusiasm in her attempts -- and youngest son Brick is an unusual child whose best friend is his backpack.
After going through a rough breakup, awkward and upbeat Jess (Zooey Deschanel) moves in with three single guys. Intelligent and witty Nick is an underachiever who took the bartender off-ramp on his road to success. Schmidt obsesses over his social standing and looks at Jess as a personal project. Winston is a competitive former athlete who, after realizing he will never become a pro, moves into the loft. Together with Jess' best friend, Cece, they bond to form an unlikely, and dysfunctional, family.
Mindy Lahiri is a successful, skilled doctor, but when she leaves the office, all bets are off. She aspires to become a more well-rounded woman, someone who is punctual, frugal and well-read instead of someone who is obsessed with romantic comedies and likely to give an inappropriate toast at a wedding. Despite stumbles, Mindy remains determined to get her personal and romantic life on track -- before her friends and colleagues are forced to stage an intervention -- and find her perfect happy ending.
