Rashida Jones, Rob Lowe to Leave 'Parks and Recreation'

"Parks and Recreation" will end its upcoming sixth season without two of its regular characters. As reported by Buzzfeed, the show's executive producer has confirmed that Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe will leave the series after the 13^th episode of the new season. There was no explanation of precisely how the characters would be written out of the show.

Jones has portrayed Ann Perkins, the best friend of series lead Amy Poehler, since the debut of the series in 2009. Lowe joined the cast in the second season; his character, Chris Traeger, was initially expected to stay around for just a few episodes, but the actor signed on as a regular soon after his first appearance. The two characters shared an intermittent romance, and at the end of last season, they were contemplating having a baby together.

Executive producer Mike Schur says in a statement that, "We absolutely love both Rashida and Rob, and will be sad to see them go….They are wonderful, funny, committed actors, they’ve been a huge part of the 'Parks and Rec' family, and we think we have a great Pawnee send-off in the works for them."

The first episode of Parks and Recreation's sixth season airs Sept. 26 on NBC.