Getting to know new ‘Parks and Recreation’ stars Rob Lowe and Adam Scott

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What will Rob Lowe and Adam Scott be doing when their characters arrive at Pawnee, Ind.’s ‘Parks and Recreation’ department?

‘We’re going to gut it with a machete,’ Scott told a room of reporters Monday at NBC’s press day in Pasadena. Lowe and Scott will play a pair of state auditors charged with cutting the department’s budget by almost half.

Series executive producer Mike Schur alluded to the ripped-from-the-headlines budget cuts arc last month when word leaked that ‘Parks and Recreation’ regular Paul Schneider would be leaving the show.

‘What’s nice about the show is that it deals with the real impact of people losing their jobs,’ pregnant star Amy Poehler said. The comedy ‘comes from them deciding which programs should stay and which should go -- and who’s in charge of that.’

Lowe and Scott’s characters -- Chris and Ben, respectively -- have a ‘good cop, bad cop’ dynamic, said Schur.

‘Rob comes in and flashes those pearly whites and makes everyone feel good and happy,’ he said. ‘And then Adam comes in and starts slashing things right and left... Ron Swanson, of course, couldn’t be happier.’

It’s been reported that Ben will become a love interest for Poehler’s Leslie Knope -- but the actors say initially they’ll butt heads.

‘Leslie’s gone from big ideas to triage, so that’s been fun to play,’ Poehler said.

‘I come in and my character is fairly cynical,’ Scott said. ‘Leslie’s idealism tests that.’

The show is in the middle of production on Season 3. Poehler recently wrote an episode that will revolve around an all-night telethon with special guest and former Indiana Pacers player Detlef Schrempf.

-- Denise Martin