Joe Biden to appear on "Parks and Recreation"

Vice President Joe Biden will make an appearance on the NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation" next week.

The vice president's office said Biden taped the cameo appearance back in July. That's when the show traveled to D.C. to film scenes for its fifth season premiere, which included cameos from Senators Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snowe and John McCain.

"Parks and Recreation" executive producer Michael Schur told The New York Times that Biden's appearance was taped under strict secrecy. The show was warned that provisions might have to be made to give Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan a similar cameo if word of Biden's participation leaked out before Tuesday's election.

"It was all very byzantine and complicated," Schur said to the Times. "There seem to be all kinds of specific rules, which I never fully understood. But we decided to err on the side of caution." He also told the newspaper that the vice president professed to watching the show with members of his family and that they were all fans.

Biden frequently has been mentioned on the show as an object of fascination by lead character Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler. She once described her perfect man as needing "to have the brains of George Clooney and the body of Joe Biden."

Biden's scene, in which he plays himself, will air during the show's Nov. 15 episode.