'Parks And Recreation': Lucy Lawless As Diane (PHOTOS)

Why is Ron Swanson all made-up like a Princess? Lucy Lawless. Yes, "Parks & Recreation" has tapped the "Xena" and "Spartacus" star to play Diane, a single mother who clicks with Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson.

Lawless will appear in multiple episodes of the NBC sitcom as Ron's new love interest. She makes her first appearance in the Thursday, October 4 episode of "Parks & Rec" when she calls Pawnee's new 311 line to complain about a pothole and Ron and Andy (Chris Pratt) come to Diane's rescue.

Offerman told The Huffington Post he was nervous to do scenes with Lawless because it was exploring a new side of his character.

"I felt like a high school kid at a dance or something, maybe asking a young lady to dance for the first time because usually when he gets involved with a woman, it's because he can't control himself and there's some sort of impulsive sexual mania taking him over," he said. "But in this case, they sort of meet and see in each other the possibility of something through much more down to earth, realistic means and so it was really quite fun. It was really fun also to just have someone who has such a statuesque presence. Lucy is such an incredible leading lady that I haven't had the opportunity in my entire career to stand next to someone like her and speak dialogue, so it's pretty exciting."

Take a look at the video preview below and click through the slideshow for photos from the episode, including some featuring Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) with a unique hairstyle.