Parks and Recollection - Dave King: Partridge (S5E17)

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Writer Dave King (Parks and Rec, The Good Place, Workaholics) joins Jim O’Heir and Greg Levine to break down Ben’s disillusioning return home to Partridge, Indiana, Chris and Ann’s overt lack of compatibility, and the events leading up to Ron’s “Self-Jamm.” Plus, Dave discusses the many references to he and Mike Schur’s favorite novel, “Infinite Jest” sprinkled throughout the episode.Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email at [e-mail]

We're getting together to talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastian's, the pets we fell into And we're putting it on in a podcast Then we'll send it up into the sky We're calling it Parks and Recollection Come on, little podcast Spread your wings and fly Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Parks and Recollection.

I'm one of your hosts, Jim O'Hare, the guy who played Gary, Larry, Jerry, Terry, and Barry from Johnny Karate. And we're here with Johnny Karate. And my co-host is... Yes, hi, guys. Greg, hello. Oh, my God, this is very exciting, Jim. Would you say very exciting or extremely exciting? I might have to edit and say extremely exciting.

Okay, I'm going to jump in here and say very exciting for two reasons. One of the many reasons I love doing this show. One, of course, because I get to be with in here and say very exciting for two reasons. One of the many reasons I love doing this show. One, of course, because I get to be with Greg, and that makes me happy, and Joe and Lisa are producer, and they're amazing. But I learn new stuff all the time about this show that I never knew. And so Lisa Berm is our producer, and she does such great research for each episode. And we'll get into it, but this episode was based on something Mike Schur was obsessed with. I never would have known that.

How would I have ever known that? Well, maybe if you care to get to know your coworkers and ask them questions. No, no, no. No, no, no. I don't want them looking at me. Anyway, so I just, this in particular is just another reason why I just love doing this. Because in the audience, I guarantee

they're not going to know this either. They're going to find out what I found out when I was reading the research. Well, let's get into it because our guest also shares quite a lot of love for this thing that we're dancing around. Yes, today we have a guest. He was a writer on Parks. It just happens to have written today's episode. He is Dave King. Welcome, Dave. Hello, Dave. Hey, Dave. Hi, guys. So psyched to be here. This is awesome. Yeah. No, thanks for having me. Oh, my God. We're so excited to have you. And just so

to give you a little personal on Dave, he has a... How old is the baby now? She's 10 weeks old. 10 weeks old. Yeah. So his life is a living hell. No, it rocks. Oh, it rocks. That's what it is. It's not hell. Oh, my gosh. It's so fun. Of course. And he is with Esther Povinsky,

who we talked about in another episode because she did a guest star bit for the show when we were at the... Oh, at the mini pub. At the episode of Swing Vote, she played Julie, the snow cone girl. The snow cone girl. Yeah.

Which is so cool. And then as I mentioned on the show, I actually guested on her pilot for her show alone together. We had so much fun. You're very appreciative of that. Oh my God. No, for real. Yeah.

But anyway, so it's just great to have you here. We have a little Parks baby. And I always love hearing what went on in the writer's room because I was on set. You weren't allowed in, right? There was some rules. There were rules. Yeah. I mean, I went in once and after that, some rules have been established.

Someone spoke to you and said, this is not a gym zone. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So I had never been back. No, but anyway, so I just love this kind of episode. Yeah. So Dave, before we jump into today's episode, tell us a bit about joining the show, how

you came to be involved and those early days in the room. Oh, man. Good question. I had known Mike for years and I had written on, what had I written on before Parks? I'd written on Workaholics and another show on Fox called Traffic Light, which only ran for a season. I went back to Workaholics and, you know, I had written whatever other material that got that Mike read. And he, you know, I'm trying to remember if I came in for an informal interview or something,

but I don't know. Mike just called me and was like, I think maybe we can bring you on this year. And I mean, I remember where I was in the Workaholics offices when he called me. I was like ecstatic. I I mean it was my favorite I could so I joined for seasons four through seven right and it was my favorite show on television before I joined oh that's so cool I mean without a doubt like it was you know I watched every week it was hysterical and beautiful and so that was like it was incredible to get that call. Yeah. I was just ecstatic. And then everyone was like very nice and super funny in the room. Everyone who's there, including you, is just like welcoming and, you know.

He's talking about me. Everyone, I know you can't see, he pointed at me. He didn't point at Jim. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Greg, Greg. I wouldn't have wanted to scream. Jim was a terror. Yeah, yeah. And honestly't point at Jim. He did not point at me. Jim was a terror.

And honestly, it was like... And people warned me, for my first episode, you're going to be on set. Everyone's cool. There's the Jim issue. And just like steer clear. Sometimes he hasn't gotten 11 hours of sleep. He just knew what those

days were. Right right people had a signal this is the gym do you remember we had that sign on the door which was how many hours of sleep Jim had gotten and it was like a flag that you could kind of peel the numbers off you come in you see 9 you go like oh this could be one of those days

sometimes written in blood like a 1 or a 2 like it was a bad day for Jim so that sort of set the temperature for the day yeah yeah well i will say in in um in truth i mean obviously jim's terrible but no uh in in uh in truth you know from my vantage point both as a writer assistant and then writing on the show i got to be involved in the room with every single writer from pilot to finale. And when I think of your time on the show, I don't just think of those four seasons. I think of you as foundational.

I think of you as always being there. Oh, no. Yeah. I was a midstream joiner. You know that old phrase, midstream joiner. Yeah, the midstream joiner. joiner. You know that old phrase, midstream joiner. Yeah, the midstream joiner, yeah. You know what I want, was actually

one of my earliest memories of Parks was being on set for Citizen Nope, which is the episode where Leslie gets all these gifts for her, it's a Christmas episode, Leslie gets all the gifts for season four, she gets gifts for her co-workers

and then they end up giving her the gift of running her campaign. Right. I don't know and then they end up giving her the gift of running her campaign right i don't know if you remember what your what the gifts she give socks yes yes and they're beige and my memory of it is we did everybody's talking heads and this is probably the first time i had worked with you on some level right and it was just to me like there's this one line in the script like socks and they're beige and you did probably whatever 12 8 or 12 takes of it whatever we did when it was a short line and everyone was hysterical and had like a slightly different take and spin to it and was like oh this show is top to bottom

comedy killers like everyone on the roster here is bringing more to it than you see even in the, like, fully edited show. It really left an impression on me, like, oh, this is everyone, every second of every take is just, like, is totally giving you more than you would ever know from, I mean, also it was,

whatever. I haven't been on set that much, but it was awesome. It was, you know, 10 series regulars who all could have been number one on the call sheet for their own series. It's so true. Which is so rare.

I mean, to now look back and say, you know, there was a show with Amy Poehler, like, oh, that's great. Who else was on it? Well, you know, Nick Offerman was also on it.

That's crazy. Just those two people, you'd be like, how did you get those two people? And then, you know, well, obviously, Rashida Jones was there and Chris Pratt. Like, this is obviously a fever dream you're describing.

Exactly. And it's true. It was a really amazingly talented cast and an amazingly talented room. And I think that's one of the reasons it was so successful. And it was good people on both sides of it. In fact, I remember that you often would go to set in episodes. Sometimes if Mike couldn't go or whatever, that you were a very popular on-set writer.

That's nice. Well, I mean, I also like it. I like being on set and I like the communication with actors and directors. And that just always felt like a comfortable place for me to be. So yeah, if it was Mike's episode or if an actor had written an episode, we needed someone on set or someone couldn't be there. I love being on set. How could you not want to be on set at Parks and Rec?

It's like the writer's room was obviously like so fun. I love that too. But to get like a few days to go downstairs and hang out with them. Oh my God, it was amazing. We've talked about that with previous guests, that there are shows where writers kind of avoid the set, like The Plague, right? There's this energy or there's this

what you're dealing with, egos or whatnot. I couldn't wait to go down. We were lucky. We talked about how amazingly stocked our snack room and our kitchen was of the writer's room. I would just, I got to go to Crafty downstairs to get something specific because I just wanted to see what was being shot. It was a good reminder also like, oh, there's a lot of fun happening both upstairs here, downstairs there.

Mike Scully said that too. He guessed it and he was like, I just love being on set. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. But also you would go down there and then just be reminded how incredible every department was. Yes.

Art department, props, wardrobe, everything. Camera. Camera. And everything just comes to life in a way that was like A plus. People bringing a little bit extra to every job that they did. Like every joke that was written in the background of a script just like came to life. I mean, the pure number of banners that were created for Ian and his department. It was unbelievable.

That writers stopped having to do because of the deep knowledge and talent that our crew brought. Yeah, they would come up with stuff themselves that was perfect for the tone of the show. That our crew brought to us. Yeah, they would come up with stuff themselves that was perfect for the tone of the show. Right, right. I think we put, like, the Burbank ink supply on, like, I don't know what that is. Yeah, Ian Phillips was brilliant. Oh, my God, he was incredible. Gay Perillo, gay with the props.

She would create these books and these magazines that she came up with her own bits. Yeah. Yeah. No, well, they always did the right thing, which is they made it look real within the world of Pawnee. And so, if they added a joke to it, it was thoughtful and small. Yes. But otherwise, it was like, yes, this is what

a book would look like if it were in Pawnee. It wasn't like a silly, you know, kind of, I don't know what that would be. But like, everything just felt so proper within the world. Those guys, yeah. I remember Gay would come into the writer's room and show us stuff.

And every time Mike would be like, oh, this is better than I thought it would look. This is great. Make sure we get a close-up of this. You know, it was always like that. And that's the other thing. When you have a showrunner like Mike, who's so supportive of what people are doing. Mike was so collaborative as well as Amy on set. Amy wanted all of us to get the laughs. There was plenty of laughs

to go around, and Amy wanted all of us to get them. No, it was a great lesson in if the people at the top are chill and cool, and they trust the people around them, and who work for them, meaning like, and by the people at the top, I mean Mike Schur, Amy Poehler, Morgan Sackett,

Dean Holland, and then like Offerman, and people who we all looked up to like sort of on set. Dan Gore, the other writers who were like. Yeah. Everyone just feels more comfortable and they feel like that's a place you want to be. That's a place where you want to do your best work for them because you're, well, whatever. We're being corny now, but it was awesome. It was such a great place to work. it was such a good place to work. It was such a good place to work.

And we've all been in places that maybe weren't so great to work. Yeah. So we know the difference. And that's why it, I don't know. Cause you know, I'm always touting it like, Oh my God,

I'm always proud of how good we were with our guest stars. And we always certainly tried to make everyone feel welcome that they were, we were so happy they were there. Yeah, no, it didn't feel like a job, really. It just felt like good times. I mean, good times. Well, I want to ask you one more specific question before we jump into this episode,

which is you appear on screen. Go on. Yes, you do. Thank you. This is what I came here to talk about. We first meet you as Kurt Lurpis. You are the Lil' Sebastian impersonator trainer. Yes, that's exactly right.

You are little Sebastian impersonator trainer. Yeah. In season five, episode 14. We later see you in the finale as a rabbi. That's correct, yeah. That is the same character. Yeah, that's Kurt Lurpis in both episodes. Okay.

Absolutely. And was there ever any discussion because I couldn't remember of well obviously did Kurt was Kurt a rabbi when Kurt was the impersonator or chose you know to go to rabbinical school

maybe he was studying at the time it's a good question when did he join the rabbinate? This is my question. It's absolutely the latter. Okay. Between season whatever and season seven. Yeah.

In my mind. And I'm being kind of serious. Yeah. Because I think... People deserve this. Yes. I think he went to rabbinical school. He went on an aggressive path

that got him somehow ordained or whatever the Jewish word is within a couple television seasons. Yeah, that's great. And was able to preside over John Ralph's fake funeral. That's a great point because when we see little Sebastian, the fake little Sebastian, he's lit up in this light. Yeah, it's really this light you wonder if Kurt had a moment

in the Kurt story is this the pilot episode of Kurt Lerpuss Rabbi in Pani terrible title but that's what is testing well where he also saw this light over little Sebastian and said

I think I need to pursue. There's a higher calling. Yeah, I need to study Torah and everything. My sort of backstory for Kurt originally was that he was not, so you said he was a little Sebastian impersonator trainer. But in my mind, in Kurt's mind, he was actually an impersonator of Lil Sebastian's trainer.

If that makes sense. Yeah, no, it does make sense. Your method. Well, you have to come, you want to come to set with like something. So great. today's episode is partridge it was written by you will never guess dave king directed by i think you might guess tristram shapiro yeah originally aired on april 4th 2013 and jim will read our blurb. With the trials and tribulations of Icetown behind him,

Ben returns to his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota to accept a key to the city. But when a kidney stone keeps him from attending the ceremony, Leslie steps in to accept the award and realizes the celebration is actually a farce meant to embarrass our wonderful Ben rather than honor him. Meanwhile, Jeremy Jam files suit against Ron for punching him at Leslie's wedding. And Anne and Chris faced the reality that they may not be as compatible as they had thought. Okay. We have a thing called Nope's Notes on our podcast. Love it.

We also jam the word nope into something else. You're going to love it. God, you're just going to be floored. But our first Nope's Note is something Jim teased at the beginning. This episode has many references to the encyclopedic novel Infinite Jest, a gargantuan mind-altering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in America by author David Foster Wallace. R.I.P.

Yes. We know Mike Schur is a huge fan of the author and the book. I think he actually wrote his undergraduate thesis on Wallace. Directed the Decembrist video about Infinite Jest. I think you helped out with two of them. I did. I flew up to Portland. It was so fun. Yeah. But you're also, if I remember correctly, a fan of the book. Yes. Look, I'm a fan. I'm not the encyclopedic reference that Mike is about all things Wallace. But Mike turned me on to, I mean, I was like a freshman in college when Mike and his cohorts were like, there's this book. You have to read it.

Everyone has to read it. It's going to change the landscape of fiction. And I mean, it kind of did. But, you know, it was like you read it. Everyone I knew read it in college, largely because of Mike. And then I read his Infinite Jest, we're talking about that. And then I read most of or all of, I don't know, as much of his other stuff as I could get my hands on. And yeah, I mean, I just don't have the eidetic memories that Mike does where he will tell you exactly what character went through exactly what on what page.

Right, a canonical like knowledge of this. Yes. Yeah. Whose idea was it? Do you remember to put all of these references into the episode? Well, so I think what had happened was that, here's my memory, it might be wrong. Mike had earlier decided that Ben was from Partridge, Minnesota, which is where one of the characters from the book is from. So I think it was like, oh, we have to pick a town in the Midwest. And he was like, oh, Ortho Stice is from Partridge, Minnesota, I think. Yes, you're right. Okay. So he was like, well, because there's a mayor, J.K. Simmons plays Mayor Stice. I'm sure we'll get to that.

But so it was like, oh, the idea for the episode came up. We're going to go to Ben's hometown. And it was sort of a natural thing of like, well, this is our chance to put all these Infinite Jest references in the names of things and that sort of thing. Got it. Because it was already sort of canon that he was from the town of Partridge.

Which is a real town, is not a real town. I believe there is an actual Partridge, but not Partridge, Minnesota. Got real town, is not a real town. I believe there is an actual Partridge, but not Partridge, Minnesota. Got it. Got it. Yeah. But what I love about parks is that there are certain things, certain things in literature or pop culture that particularly tickled us in the room that got a little more attention in reference.

When other shows, I can think of like a show like Community, for example, which I think threw in a lot of references to things, a lot of Easter eggs. We didn't have as many of those. No, but when we did it. But when we did, there was a lot of love for the West Wing, which I know you also love.

And there's a West Wing connection in this one. And Annabeth Gish, who played first daughter Elizabeth Bartlow in the West Wing, plays Ben's sister in this episode. Yeah. But every so often there was one and we just showed a lot of love to it. Just to jump, if we can,

to the West Wing thing for a second. I have to, this is like the thing I might be the most proud of, sadly, as a West Wing and Parks fan and Parks writer is that in the episode Live Ammo where we did a bunch of West Wing stuff, late at night, so we had this character Councilman Pilner or whatever

who was played by Bradley Whitford and late at night I was like oh we should have a little thing that says Pilner for Pawnee which is a play on Barlow for America and I texted Mike at like 10 at night or something and I was like we should do this, it'll be great and I was like, and then he didn't write back for a. And I was like, we should do this.

It'll be great. And I was like, and then he didn't write back for a while. And I was like, oh my God, what was that? Why did I bother late at night about the tiniest prop? And then of course, at like 1145 or something, he wrote back and was like, yes, oh my God, that's awesome. Tell Gay to get the prop ready

and make sure we get a closeup of it as we go off. I was like, yes, okay, great. This is like exactly the kind of show I want to be working on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's a different of show I want to be working on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's a different episode. That's not what we're here to talk about. Oh, we bounce all over the place. We're going to call out, with Dave's help too, we're going to call out

these references to Infinite Jest as we come across them. We've also talked about already, yes, the fact that Partridge is a reference to Orthostis, his hometown of Partridge, Kansas. So let's jump into our synopsis. Okay. That's right, baby.

We're not playing. We're not playing. All right. With the embarrassment of Ice Town in the past, Ben returns to his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota to accept a key to the city. Meanwhile, back in Pawnee, Chris and Anne take a compatibility test to gauge their potential success as co-parents. And Ron gets served with papers in a lawsuit

filed by Jeremy Jam. He gets jammed. He got jammed. He got jammed. Self-jam. He has a self-jam. Yeah, eventually. In this episode, in our cold open,

Ron Ulysses Swanson gets served. Obviously, he thinks he's getting delivered a St. Elmo's Steakhouse free dinner coupon, which is pretty ridiculous. And I was watching it thinking, Ron, who we've heard in other episodes, has taken such great care to protect so many details of his life, his birth date.

In fact, I think Leslie remembers or finds out his birthday because he filled out something for free ice cream. 31 flavors, I think, something like that. That's right, yeah. You'd think he'd realize, oh, this is obviously a forgery because how would they know me?

But he's so excited for St. Elmo's. Because that's his place. Right, yeah. He put his guard down for one second. Yeah, exactly. And it did not pay off. Right, yeah. But the giggle,

there's not a better thing in the world than a Nick Offerman playing Ron Swanson giggle. Yeah, amen. It's like when he sees little Sebastian, it's like, oh, I can't do it. Oh, and he runs over to get it. Oh.

Yeah. Well, he's getting served and being sued for $13,000 for orthodontic surgery, $6,000 for enamel repair, and $46 million for psychological damage. Oh, I hate jam. Right, which I love. Andy says something like, well, that makes sense. Yes, Andy's totally on your side.

I get that, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so let's jump to Partridge. Leslie is super excited for Ben's return to Partridge, but he's worried about the town, and she's also worried about the town maybe not giving him a warm welcome. Right. Right. So, you know, I love this thing where he's reenacting his inauguration on the

steps to the city, right? And it's obviously setting up the fact that every mayor in the past has gotten a key, so now it's Ben's turn. You already feel something is off of every single mayor in the history of the town has gotten the key, so now it's Ben's turn. You already feel something is off of every single mayor in the history of the town that's gotten this key. Well, the same rule

applies to both Ron in the cold open and Ben in the first act of the episode, which is, if a character is very excited about something, generally speaking, it's not going to go. Yeah. You're in for a rude awakening.

When Leslie thought she was getting a plaque for a Woman of the Year thing, it's not going to work out. Yeah. You're in for a rude awakening. Yeah. Well, like when Leslie thought she was getting a plaque for a woman of the year thing that went to Ron. That's right. Right, right, right. It's the setup. Okay. And so we have that. We also get to meet Ben's sister.

We talked about Stephanie Wyatt. She seems super grounded and normal, which is interesting. Earlier in the season, we met Ben's parents. Right. Who are cuckoo and intense. Two seemingly normal children came

out of these crazy parents. But she seems almost so subdued, so normal, that it kind of jarred me for a second. Just like, oh, you're just a normal sister who reacts to Leslie Knope. Oh, you like to give a lot of hugs. Oh, me for a second. Just like, oh, you're just a normal sister who reacts to Leslie Knope. It's like, oh, you like to give a lot of hugs.

Oh, you have a binder. Yeah. Or, oh, I didn't think all of that about your speech, but I liked it. Just like a normal person. Living a life. She was so great too, Annabeth Gish. Like another one of those guest stars

who just come in to do whatever it was, a day or two. Yeah. She was so psyched to be on the show and she just like felt like

Ben's sister immediately. Right. And couldn't, I mean, it was awesome. She was great. Like she,

yeah, go ahead. I think this was a time also in which we started doing more casting like this. Yeah. We'd get more well-known character actors,

people you'd seen, people you know. Because I think, as we were talking about earlier, it was a love show. And people also knew, I think, that it was a fun place to work and a fun place to show up. Being in the acting world, it was the show they wanted to get on.

And so I think it probably was super easy to start getting all those guests. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's great. Um, let's jump back to the parks department because we've set up the fact that jam is suing Ron at his law firm named Gately Wayne, kitten plan and trolls.

Yeah. I'm not sure about that. Something like that. Uh, that's, uh, another infinite just reference. Uh,

it's a reference to the last names of four characters from the book. Also, um, there's a Latin phrase. I think it's or maybe something like that. It's Latin for let us rejoice. It's on the lawyer's office wall. It's a phrase often used in Infinite

Chess. A weird slogan for a law firm. I think they'd have something like whatever, truth and honor. Let us rejoice. I don't want to see my lawyers having a great time. That's not what I'm paying them for. They want to win, you know.

That's true. They want the retainer. All right. They want to pop that champagne. This is why you went to law school, clearly, to rejoice over, you know. All these references, like this thing, were these Mike's inputs or your inputs? Yeah, some were Mike's. I think, I honestly don't remember, but I think I put a few in the rough draft and then, like, Mike kept adding them.

But I will say that one thing is that, that was kind of important to the show, is that they're never done at the expense of the show, right? Like, they're generally just, like, the names of things. Right, they're set deck, right? It's still going to work. It's not just a force of day. It's a character's name that would have appeared anyway, and so they're meant just for pure fun. That's a great point. There's no real estate

being taken away from our other character stories to make sure that we get these references in. No, everything was like, the story is completely broken and written without these references and then added as texture purely because Parks absolutely comes first.

You know, as much as we might loved Infinite Justice. And we had 20 and a half minute episodes, total runtime. We had 35 page scripts. There's a lot of story that doesn't make it to the final cut. We wouldn't be spending all this time on this, but it was so obviously fun.

And because it lives in Partridge, a place we're not really going to see again, you could have a lot of fun with it, not really worrying about keeping all of this going. You're not committed to it. Right. So, Jam has had it with the Parks Department. Tom threw him in the pool.

The nurse, as we know, Ann, won't have sex with him. And now Ron's punched him. And she's not a lesbian. She won't have sex with him. That doesn't add up. Yeah. As Tom says, this lawsuit is Chronicles of Ridiculous. Right.

A great reference to Chronicles of Riddick, as we know. So this episode's full of Chronicles of Riddick references. Well, Mike, as you know, wrote his senior thesis about Chronicles of Riddick. Right, right, right. So it was very important. Right. I hadn't heard that. Go ahead.

Yeah. We have one other story we should talk about before we move on into our synopsis. Of course, it's Chris and Anne. They're doing their compatibility test, and they're better paired with Donna and Jerry than they are each other. And I haven't watched this episode in years and I laughed out loud, Jim. I mean, Reddick

kills it when she says that she did this for fun and was it your eye? Your hair and my everything else. This kid's going to have it all or something like that. But then, Jim, when Jerry said, I did it. And,

and it's so funny. It's so funny that Jerry and Ann are so much more compatible. I know. And Ann is not happy. No, she's not. But anytime we see Jerry over there in his little makeshift desk, it just makes me laugh.

That's like, I don't even know what that is. You know, that is his third desk. Yeah, that's right. It began right next to Ron in the early of the show. Then he got pushed because April went next to Ron. Then he went to where somehow Andy ended up next to Tom.

And then I ended up by the fax machine. This makes me want to bring up this moment when I worked on The Office. I worked on The Office for one season before Parks and Rec as an assistant. And that office, there were not a lot of spaces

for desks. And so, there was an empty-ish supply closet that was my office. Oh my gosh. They built a desk and a shelf above it.

And when it closed, it was just like, it was a closet. It was dark. I ordered off, I think Amazon existed. I ordered off desk and a shelf above it. And when it closed, it was just like, it was a closet. It was dark. I ordered off, I don't think Amazon existed. I ordered off just like a poster of just like a fake window so you could see outside. It was very, very sobering. But I was also so excited to be at the office.

And there's a storyline where BJ Novak is there. I was just going to say, was that BJ Novak's office? Yes. I believe it's because of that. That's so funny. That's great. Because he got shoved in a little tiny thing. Into an office. Novak's office. Yes. I believe it's because of that. That's so funny. Yes. It's like he got shoved in a little tiny thing. Into an office.

He operates woof.com out of there, I believe. That's right. Yes. And I'm pretty sure that was inspired by my closet office. That's so funny. That's great. I mean, when you were saying this, I was like, was it? Yeah.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm pretty sure it was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So they're not compatible. We're going to jump back into their storyline.

But they are beautifully compatible. Let's say that. Okay. You know when they cut back and forth to these two people? I'm like, my God, look at these two people. They're cursed with perfect faces, both of them. Perfect faces. It's a shame.

It's been a terrible thing for them. Yes, it really hasn't worked out for them. Right. What we say in the room sometimes, the plot thins, right? The plot thins. Also, I think the compatibility test is named after two jazz characters. Thank you. Great point.

The quiz is the incandensa pemulus. Pemulus or pemulus, I'm not sure. They call them the pemester. I'm not sure if it's pemulus or pemulus. It's the parenting compatibility quiz, right? Okay, let's move on with our synopsis. Back in Pawnee, Jam's attorney

gets to work deposing Andy, April and Tom, and Ron is not happy with their responses. Meanwhile, in Partridge, Ben is stricken with a kidney stone, making him unable to attend the big ceremony. Okay, let's jump into this deposition. April and Tom are trying so

hard to protect Ron in their witness statements, right? Ron sees it as perjury. But how much do you love that? Yeah. I love that. They all have his back. It's great. And they think nothing of lying.

I know. Lying is just part of their landscape. Well, I mean, for April, this is just like, both of them, this is like,

what do I care about what this guy, this suit is going to ask me and what the law says? You know. It's a game to them. This is like, what do I care about what this guy, this suit is going to ask me and what the law says. You know. It's a game to them. What I love about their lies is that they actually

are stretches of the truth when you think about it because, well, April is a lie. I've never heard him threaten to hurt anyone or anything. The guy's like a vegetarian.

Sorry, but Tom, I meant Tom's is a bit of a stretch where he says, Ron doesn't really pay much attention to other people. I doubt he even knew you existed. So obviously he,

we will find out soon that he really knew who Jeremy Jam existed because he wanted to punch him in the face many times. At all times. But he really doesn't pay much attention to other people. Well, especially someone like Jam. Right. Who, if he knows that you're of low moral character

or however you want to put it. He has no time for you. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. But April has said two horrible things. One, that he's a vegetarian.

You might as well cut his legs off. Sure. Nothing could be worse. But then she says his nickname around the office is Softy Pants McHuggable. Yeah. And what's great is watching Aubrey as April come up with it. It's just so good acting. She just does such a great job because it's like she's creating it on the spot.

Yeah. Yeah. No, she's the best. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, the best. So the B side of that is that Ron is pretty disappointed in Tom and April for lying. Interestingly, Andy comes out on top in Ron's eyes because he's so stupid to lie that he can't lie. Right.

He's just... Yes. He not only tells the truth, he tells more than he should be telling. Yes. How unqualified he is as a witness.

Yeah. He's doing that thing where he's volunteering answers which you absolutely shouldn't do. Classic overshare. Thank you. And I love where he says, that's right,

I love telling the truth. Case in point, sometimes when I blow my nose, I get a boner yeah truth bomb yeah truth bomb but the moment

he's just so honest the moment that cracked me I had several huge laughs in this episode I always have but I like to you know to mark them down

and one of them was when Andy stands up yeah stands next to Ron oh it's so funny and he puts his hands in his pants just like Ron does. It's so funny.

I know. Why is that so funny? I guess it's just he's like, he thinks he's, they're both like the dads of the situation. They're in control of the situation. Yeah. Yeah. But I have to ask. But you could see, I just want to say, you see Chris Pratt, the actor, I think.

Yeah. Having fun. Always. Oh my God. Always. Of course. Yes. Yeah. Oh, the actor, I think, having fun. Oh, always. Always. Of course. Yes. Yes. Oh,

no one had more fun than Pratt. I do want to ask, was the Boner line, was that an improv by Pratt? Because I tell you, that screams Chris Pratt. Like, that is such a great,

or was that scripted? I'm pretty sure that was in the script. Was it in there? I don't remember, but it's, my guess is that if it was in the script, that Pratt ad-libbed lines that are funnier than that, that we didn't script. Was it in there? I don't remember, but my guess is that if it was in the script, that Pratt ad-libbed lines

that are funnier than that that we didn't use. And if it wasn't in the script, then it was an ad-lib. I mean, I don't remember. That just feels like such a Chris line. Yeah, it really does.

And then, truth bomb. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blow my nose, I get a boner. I think what happened to Andy was he heard the words like deposition and saw a lawyer and assumed that he was supposed to say everything about himself truthfully or something. Oh, yeah.

okay so let's jump back uh to partridge where ben is having his kidney stone attack right it's this well executed build-up he talks about he's a little sweaty he's practiced for a speech he you know he's been going to the bathroom a lot then he's writhing on the floor saying i think i'm giving birth oh god it's twins it's right i had kidney stones. It is the male version of birth. It's bad. I've had them too. It's bad. Have you had them? No, I've had gallstones, which is also unpleasant.

I've had those too. I've been down that road too. It sucks. The fact that he was in this kind of pain is legit. Yeah, yeah. It is awful. And if they're super big where they're not going to pass and they're stuck in your ureter or whatever the hell we got down there. Go on.

But it's in your... Go on. Continue. The one saving grace about the pain that I didn't know before I had kidney stones is that it's entirely in your back, basically. Yeah, yeah. There's nothing genitally going on. No, no, no. It's entirely...

And so, why am I bringing this on. No, no, no. It's entirely and so why am I bringing this up? I know, but I want you to keep going. But then eventually you are supposed to. It does go through the penis if you're going to pass it because then you're supposed to actually have a little thing so you strain it and then you give them this stone. You keep it

and the doctor then analyzes it and tells you why you have the damn thing to begin with. In a perfect world you strain it and yes doctor then analyzes it and tells you why you have the damn thing to begin with. In a perfect world, you strain it and yes. Or you just hear as it goes into the toilet. Right. Yes. I've been down this road, people.

It seems like it did. And we bump bump. I forgot about that, Greg. And we bump bump. Do you know about that, Jim? I don't. It's hard to describe this, but the beginning of the Parks and Rec theme song kind of sounds like

bump bump. Whatever. A bit in the writer's room would be that sometimes either if it was a great pitch or a terrible pitch, you'd follow it up with some joke know, some joke pitch or whatever. And we bump up.

Meaning like, and then the credits start. And then the credits roll, right? Like that's the end of our cold open. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we bump up and then we come back, we go to whatever. Yeah, we're back in the Parks Department. Leslie's doing a talking head just for, you know, sitting in the stadium. Okay.

You writers, ain't you something? Okay, oh boy. Ain't you something? Also, it has to be, I can't stress this enough, the brilliance of Adam Scott playing morphined up Ben. Yes.

It's so funny. It's so funny. And when I was, so I, well, sorry, did you want to? No, no, no, get into it. The thing he does so well in this episode,

which is such a great choice because I rewatched it, whatever, a few days ago, which I totally forgot about this, is that instead of playing it like loopy, like outer space, like eyes floating around, he's weirdly like focused.

Yeah. Super focused. But saying things that are pretty out there. And it's so funny. And it's so, I think it's actually like a very accurate portrayal of like being on morphine. I've only, like I had an appendectomy and I remember that feeling. They gave me morphine before it being like, my mom's here to help me. She sent from heaven, mom. Make sure that this, like you're just.

Morphine's amazing. You're locked in on stuff. It's incredible. I've unfortunately had a few since in the hospital recently and I had my painkillers and then a friend came and I was like, it was like one of the most

moving. And you came to see me, but I was so drugged up on the stuff. I think it's amplifying a feeling you're having. And so one of my other huge laughs, the two other huge laughs are both Adam Scott drugged up on morphine.

And it is when he is watching The Price is Right. And he has this moment. It's so real. I'm doing it in studio. You all have to obviously watch it after we finish the episode. When he puts his hand over his mouth and he's thinking like,

do you remember when you'd stay home sick from school watching, and he's getting choked up watching The Price is Right. It, that joke made me laugh so much because of how real it was. Yeah.

That is one of the defining experiences of my elementary school life when I was sick. You'd be watching The Price is Right. Of course! Yes. He played it so well. There's also a moment, you have to see it, it's a visual. The doctor tells him he cannot go to this event. And he, I mean, I'll do

it for you guys, but he just said... Okay, Jim. Jim's mouth, face and mouth are scrunched up as he's experiencing that knowledge. Go back and watch it. I just really think Adam was brilliant in this episode. It's, as they say, a tour de force. And also, because they'll always tell you it's not easy to play drunk or whatever.

And he's just good at it. He's just really good at it. Adam on Severance is, as a dramatic actor, well, he's funny too. But his portrayal of basically an alcoholic at that show is, to me, so real and dialed in and impressive. He is just an incredible actor. Wonderful. Without blowing too much smoke. Would you say better than me, Dave?

Is that where we're going here? Well, we're not comparing. I will kick the shit out of you. Wait, when it's a Jerry-centric episode, we'll talk all about you. This is Adam's turn, my man. I'm going to...

You are hosting this podcast. I'm going to make the statement he's a better actor than me. I am willing to say it, damn it, loud and proud, Adam Scott is talented. I couldn't agree more.

I remember watching Tell Me You Love Me, the H.M. H.M. No, it's remarkable. And he's remarkable on that too his range it's crazy

it is truly crazy because he could be the funniest guy I mean if you look at like his stepbrother's role or He's Bound all those things

are you're like oh he's the guy that is the funniest thing in this funny movie and then when he does dramatic roles or whatever

and he for me, is like we were saying with you, like we feel like you were always on the show. I feel like Adam and Rob were always on the show. Like I know they came in episode 23. Yeah, they were in episode 23 of season two. Season two. To me, they were there from day one.

And they weren't. I mean, we did 20 something episodes. But that's just how comfortable and wonderful and those characters just... And not an easy thing to join a cast when there's already two seasons, basically. Of course, that's tough. We're going to move on.

But we also, we have to mention it. It's another Infinite Jest reference. We're talking about the hospital. The name of the hospital is Falcoman Memorial Hospital, named after the character Gene Falcoman. Yeah. And Dr. Clipperton

is named after the character Eric Clipperton. And Dr. Clipperton had one of my favorite line readings in the entire episode when he's on morphine or whatever

and he's like, oh, morphine, it's good stuff. Good stuff. It's very casual. It's good stuff. He's not lying. No.

He's not lying. Okay, let me push us forward with our synopsis. With Ben in the hospital hopped up on morphine, Leslie decides to stand in for her husband and accept the key. But as Mayor Stice begins his speech, it doesn't take long for Leslie to realize the ceremony is a trap. It's a trap.

Meant to embarrass Ben rather than honor him. Meanwhile, back in Pawnee, Tom and April recant their statements, leading Ron to get self-jammed. And Chris and Ann return to the fertility clinic to report on their poor compatibility results. Okay, so we're at this key

giving ceremony. Yeah. Fred the Sled is there. One of the silliest bits ever. It's a man dressed in a sled that would go down a hill. Yeah. Dressed being used liberally. A toboggan, you might say.

And it's just the sled with just a face hole cut out. There's no extra like... Very lazy. Yeah, yeah. Awful. But perfect. Well, we also talked about that Lil Sebastian is inspired by these town mascots. These are real things. We've had

our listeners write in about how true that is. And so, it makes sense. Hey, Ben Wyatt created Ice Town. Clearly, there's some real good idea there that was poorly executed.

But this town... They love their winter sports. They love their winter sports. And so it makes sense that the town mascot is Fred the Sled. No, it makes perfect sense as long as you don't think about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so the key ceremony is a ruse. The banner unfurls to reveal, welcome back

Ice Clown. One of my other favorite moments is Hennabeth Gish is in her episode. She's so good at playing just normal human sister, so to speak. And then someone says, aren't you, you know,

aren't you his sister? And he says, sorry, Leslie, I got to go. She bails. We never see her again in the episode. That's it. I cannot, I'm his sister.

I cannot be around this. All I could think of, because boy, did she give up on him quickly. Like she got out yeah so it had to be in my head i'm like there's probably a little ptsd here going on because they have been through hell over this whole ice town now ben has gone on and moved and done other stuff is she still living in this town yeah no i assume that like when she goes to the supermarket

and they check her whatever credit card and they go, Wyatt, I hope you're not related to it. She goes, uh-huh. It's a concert, yeah. At first I was disappointed with her, like, come on, you gotta have your brother's back. And then I thought, you know what? She's been through hell. This girl has been through, and she's like, oh no. Oh no, no, no, no. I just can't

do this. It's a funny joke that it actually when you, if you really want to analyze it, it's important because it's reminding the fact that this wasn't a trauma just from 20 years ago, and it wasn't just a thing that they're going to just make fun of him. This is affecting her life. She cannot be part

of Ben's trauma. She should have moved from that town. She really should have. She made a mistake. Well, there's a whole spinoff about her as she tried to get out, and the town kept sucking her back in and it's tough to get out sometimes so Mayor Stice it says the key was made of ice

and much like the hopes and dreams of the people of Partridge it melted away so Mayor Stice is a reference to the character Orthosice as we've talked about the two Partridge townspeople during the key to the city scenes their character names are listed as Katie Gompert and Canardity?

Oh, Canardity. Canardity. The same as the drug-addict characters from Infinite Jet. And I think Stice wears all black because Ortho Stice, the character in the book, they call him the Darkness, and I think he wore all black. Even Wardrobe was

involved. By the way, J I think he wore all black. Even wardrobe was involved. Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, J.K. Simmons. Yeah, J.K. Simmons is in this episode. We haven't even talked. J.K. Simmons is in this episode. Now, here's, and I have no memory of this, because had I known J.K. Simmons was going to be on set, I would have gone wherever the hell they were.

Because I love J.K. Simmons. We were in Orange, California, I think. I would have driven to Orange on my day off. I would have been happy to go there. So I mustn't have known that. Because I would have. Was JK awesome? I mean, are you kidding?

Yeah, he was so great. And you know, my one memory behind the scenes about JK was he and Amy and Adam were talking about parenting together. And just like great, how great, basically the, how fast kids grow up basically. But they were like having just this very human moment while waiting for a camera stroll or something. And they got along great. No, he was so good. And so, but sorry, he was an example of that thing in the room where it's like, well, if he could get someone like J.K. Simmons to play this, that would be amazing. And then two days later, it's like

J.K. wants to do it. It's like, what is going on here? No, he also has this voice now that is so not triggering, but his voice and the way his face looks when he gets very serious.

I hear it, I'm like, it's like I'm watching Whiplash again and I'm watching, he's J. Jonah Jameson now and he's so intense and he's such an amazing actor.

Very authoritative. Palm Springs also, he's super good. How about the HBO show, Oz? Oh my God. That's where he came to my force. Holy shit. Absolutely. That HBO show Oz? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Holy shit.

It was scary. And so I think what's so funny is, yeah, you're right. He's like, yeah, I want to show up for a day of work and I get to hang out with these great people and play a really silly character. I'll drive to Orange,

California. Yeah, that's a great day. Yeah. It's probably best I didn't know because I would have fanned boy or girl or whatever they call it. I would have shown up.

I would have. I'm sorry. No, I believe it. He's a legend. I love how Leslie in this scene takes the town of Partridge to task, right?

She's holding Ice Town against Ben after 20 years. She says, he has a calcified rock lodged in his penis. And frankly, Ben White is the best thing

to ever come out of this crap town. Screw you, Partridge. And a sled is a stupid mascot. That part is true. That is true, yes. You know, we haven't talked about it too much in this episode so far, but Anne and Chris are on this journey of co-parenting. Yeah. And

they are sitting in the doctor's office with Dr. Van Dyne, the writer Emily Spivey. Emily Spivey. So great. Another Infinite Jest reference, everyone. Chris and Ann visit CT Tavis Medical Building, a reference to the character

Charles Tavis in Infinite Jest. The doctor, Dr. Van Dyne after Joelle Van Dyne. P-Goat. But we had already seen this doctor, right? We have, but we're now bringing together the Infinite Jest references. So that was a reference?

I think that was already slipped in. Already slipped in. Yes, yes. Okay. But there's this really great moment where they're doing this impromptu compatibility test that Van Dyne's holding. Like what gender?

First thing that comes to mind, they both say one says boy, one says girl. Religion, you know, Chris is Buddhist

and Anne says whatever he wants. Occupation, he says six times Tour de France champion and she says teacher. What I loved is

how, and the way Spivey plays it too, it's like, do you guys know each other? It's just like a Craigslist thing and Anne's like, you know, we actually dated once.

And then she realizes, oh, we broke up because of compatibility. The way Rashida played it. That was such a funny line delivery. Yes. Yeah. Spivey is so awesome in that scene. Well, they all are. But Rob Lowe does a great thing where he like tries to save it with that um

buddhist or like you said whatever he wants that delivery is so funny yeah but spivey had that was a pleasure for me because spivey was not writing on the show anymore and i i think had maybe met her once or twice but it was like oh we get to bring back someone from the parks family and i got to meet them. Oh, that is cool. It's that thing where like, even if you're gone, Mike still wants to bring you back and include you and everything.

And she was so perfect for the role. Because if I remember correctly, she got her own series. Up All Night. Up All Night. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Oh, and then she left.

Yeah, you're right. But she comes back because it's not like you left and there's anger or anything. No, there never was. No, come on back. Yeah. Love it.

Let's keep going with our synopsis. Feeling better but still on a healthy dose of pain medication, Ben heads to City Hall with Leslie to confront Mayor Stice. Meanwhile, back in Pawnee, April, Tom, and Andy convince Jam to drop his lawsuit. And Chris reminds Ann of all the things they do have in common. Yeah. Let's start with Jam getting Jam. So Tom and April recant their testimony.

They screw over Ron a little bit. They're feeling a little guilty, but it's not screwing over Ron. They just feel like, oh, we wish we didn't have to have told the truth and have Ron, as he says, worry about losing some of his pounds of money. And Ron, as they're all saying their truth, Nick Offerman playing Ron, is just staring down because it's all true.

And he does want the truth. Yeah. He is a, he's such a strong guy. You know. Yeah, yeah. A fortitude. A fortitude.

And yet he's just, the way he's staring, I don't know. Again, I can watch these people all day. Yeah. They're just so great. Oh, Offerman.

So it's time to jam jam. So April, Tom, and Andy accuse Jam of a fake assault, much like when Donna backs into Bill Butler's truck, right? And says he's re-ended her in season four of the 21 bus tour. I love that when they enter Jam's office, Jam's on the phone saying, no, I was with

Johnny Cougar Mellencamp at that music fest. First of all, Johnny Cougar Mellencamp. I was with. But he phones his lawyers after they leave, after they get him.

We got jammed. It's almost like he takes pleasure in using the jam reference at any point. Even when it's about himself getting jammed in using the jam reference at any point, even when it's about himself getting jammed. He's ego-driven. It's a narcissistic thing.

Even though it's awful, I've been jammed, but it is referenced to my name. So it's all good. So it's actually about me. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let's talk about Chris and Ann. Chris has made his own homemade quiz, his own compatibility quiz.

It's so sweet. You know, it's just one question when it comes to how much they're going to love their child. And I love how, you know, we talk about how good Adam Scott is at playing all versions of comedy and dramatic. You know, when I fell in love with Rob Lowe's acting, yes, I had watched, like, I'd seen Wayne's World

and everything in his comedy in the 90s. But I love, as we know, the West Wing. And so for me, when I think of my favorite character of his, it's Sam Seaborn. And so this is a moment when almost the Sam Seaborn sweet altruism just seeps through.

Totally. And he says, you know, we're 100% on the same page. You are caring, intelligent, and reliable and I'm certain that you will literally be the world's best mom. And other than his delivery of the word literally, like, oh, you're just this take away

this armor you have of being Chris Traeger. Right. And wanting to live forever and all that absurdity. A good person. Yes. Which obviously the entire cast is, but it was a really great scene

from Chris. Oh, yeah. What he said to her makes good sense. Yeah, it's very sweet. And yet, but in real world, you do have to be compatible

in other certain areas. But yet, that is so true. We're 100% both going to love this kid. We're going to want it to do the best for this kid. That is,

I mean, that is the compatibility. Well, you know, David, you're a parent now. I am. And, you know, the early compatibility quiz that they fail, so to speak, with Van Dyne is, do you want a boy or a girl or what? I mean, maybe religion is one of the more important ones,

but like, what do you want them to be when they grow up? Stuff that you may have an opinion on, but you really have no control over in the true sense of parenting and selfless parenting that you are a shepherd

for these new humans, helping them become. But what you should agree on is the basic values that you want to raise your kid. And that's what Chris is reminding them of.

And that's what you're talking about. I love that. I was like, oh my reminding them of. And that's what you're talking about. I love that. I was like, oh my God, that makes perfect sense. Yeah. The rest doesn't matter. Yeah. Well, they're also, they have a unique circumstance, which is they don't have to coexist.

At least now their plan is not to live together or be compatible with each other. Right. At this point. At this point in their story, they're going to have this child together, but we don't know exactly how the day-to-day of it will run. Exactly. Okay, let's go back to Leslie and Ben. They'll wrap up our stories. So,

they're in Mayor Stice's office. Leslie apologizes for disparaging the town and asks Mayor Stice to give Ben a key to the city on the down low. Obviously, you know, the way J.K. Simmons played it, it's so funny. He can't do it.

You think that Leslie's going to convince him. We've seen so many of these episodes where Leslie figures out a way to make the impossible possible. And there's obviously something quite satisfying in his visit to Partridge that we're not really going to spend a lot of time with again.

That wasn't possible. You couldn't convince people to see past Ben's error. Right. There's never going to be a true happy ending or what do you call it? Mending of feelings between him and Partridge. That's just the way it is. And the long arc of Ben becoming a true Paunian, so to speak. Yes, exactly.

It's quite important that you can have a home, but where is my new home? My home is now where my new roots are being put down. This scene is an opportunity for, again, Adam Scott to just deliver this drugged up morphine comedy.

And he had my other favorite, favorite moment. I think we all know what it is. It's when he's feeding the eagle, the bronze eagle. And he's like, Wyatt, what are you doing? He's like, I'm feeding your eagle. He's

starving. And the way again, Adam delivered it, which is like, this is obvious. First, a joke, I'm feeding your eagle. Just the way he delivered that, that's funny. But the he's starving, I was dying. That's very funny. And then quick, Leslie, this is obvious. First, a joke. I'm Finnear Eagle. Just the way he delivered that, that's funny. But the he's starving, I was dying. That's very funny. And then quick, Leslie,

just so quick. It's Brian's babe. Just like a real life. This is nuts here, but it's Brian's babe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. God, it's so, so, so, so good. Well, to wrap up that story,

obviously, Leslie steals the key from Mayor Stice's office, presents it to Ben as we talked about. He doesn't need it. He's loyal to Pawnee now. He throws the key into the lake, professing his love for Pawnee. The sweet moment is then interrupted

when a park ranger recognizes him and runs them out of town. Why get out of here? Because he knew who he was. We've come to the end of the episode, but it's not the end of our Parks and Recollection episode because we have Jim's crap. It's the crap we didn't

get to in today's episode that he wants to make sure that we flush down with it. There's some fun stuff. We talk about it a lot, but then we go over certain lines that I just make me laugh out loud. One of them was April when we first found out that Rahm was being sued. And she said, we should sue Jam's parents for spawning a human

turd burglar. Right. Which I don't think you can, I don't think it would hold up in court. I don't think it would. Yeah, yeah. But I want, first of all, I want to meet James Payne. Or it's like Law and Order,

like it's unorthodox, but I'll allow it. Oh, you know, that reminds me of one of the great Simpsons lines of all time, which Mike Scully wrote, which is the judge saying, I'm going to butcher and shoot.

It's a judge saying, well, it's a little unorthodox. So no. Isn't that, I think that's close to it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it. Another great one, when Leslie is talking to Ben's sister and she's, hands her, of course, this big binder of stuff because Leslie and, you know, and the sister is just like, what

is this all about? Yeah. But then she says to the sister who were Ben's high school girlfriends and what base do you think they got to and her tiny little, Ben what's that?

what road are we going down here I love also that I mean the sort of joke behind the joke is that in her mind they only got like like second base as far as they got. Yeah. Whatever. I guess they're...

He saved himself for her. Yes. In her mind, he doesn't want to hear. The question wasn't how many women or something. Right, right. What base? Yes, what base? So that's some of my crap.

There's more if you want it, but that's, you know, usually at this point they're done with me. I see. Okay, got it. Okay, final thoughts on today's episode. All the setup that,

you know, the episode begins with, you know, a similar premise, I think, to Flu Season in a way where, you know, we have someone who is incapacitated when something very

important is happening. Makes a hard turn. Ben isn't able to pull together in the same way Leslie was. It pivots from the storyline from Ben to Leslie. And it's a great chance to see where one of our main characters, Leslie's husband, like, you know, where he comes from. And in a way, it feels like a one-off. You know, it's like this side little A story.

But when you now see it in the larger scope of the Ben Wyatt character, you see that it was quite important to show that like, oh, my home now, my place now is Pawnee. Dave, your thoughts? I think you're exactly right that within

the scope of the, whatever you want to call it, character arcs of the show, that's the takeaway is that this is the episode where Ben knows there's no going home again. Which is a little heartbreaking. It is. But also that happens a lot in life. People end up making their own new families for whatever issues they have with their other. And adopting new hometowns. Right, right.

You know, like he doesn't fully understand Pawnee at first. Or Little Sebastian. Or Little Sebastian. He'll never quite understand their fascination with it. But he certainly grows to love the people there. And he certainly accepts that, like, Leslie's not going to leave this town, or at least not for,

unless it's an incredible opportunity. Right. So, you know, yeah, it's good stuff. Jim? I just loved everything about this episode. All the different storylines. Everyone had great moments, which is always fun. And, you know, we say this a lot, like, you know, Retta kills me.

Even though she didn't have much in the episode to do, her line to Chris about having the baby together, just delivered. It just warms my heart we didn't mention Glazer either who John Glazer who plays Jeremy Jam who is just always so he's like the funniest person on earth

he's just always funny in every little line he has and this character for him I don't know I love I would happily watch a Jam spin off because it's so silly a young Jam I love that an older Jam maybe I would happily watch a jam spinoff because it's so silly. A young jam. A young jam. I love that.

Yeah, an older jam maybe. Great. So we can get Glazer. Yeah, absolutely. We need to have Glazer on it. We've come to another great segment. It's gifts, parties, and jobs. As we talked about, most Parks and Rec episodes have at least a gift given,

a party thrown, or a job gotten. In this episode, Leslie gives Ben the stolen key to Partridge. And we have the bicentennial key to the city ceremony. We've come to today's episode, MVP, it's our most valuable pawn in which character moment

in this episode sticks out to you the most and why. I have a feeling we're all circling around the same MVP, but I'll let our guest, Dave King, kick it off. I guess, yeah, I mean, it's Ben Wyatt.

It has to be. It's Ben and it's Adam's performance of Ben. And it's so great that he gets an episode where he, look, he's always funny as, I guess, what you would call a traditional straight man. And he does get to do comedy of like being a little nerdy and stuff. But for him to get an episode where he really gets to be a little silly and actually perform in some way.

And nail it and exceed your expectations. It has to be Adam. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Couldn't agree more. There were some great moments, everybody overall. But in some episodes, I vastly like, oh, this, I don't know. This one was a no-brainer.

This was Ben White. Well, listeners, let us know who your MVP is where should I, this one was a no brainer. Yeah. This was, this was Ben White. Well, listeners, let us know who your MVP is. I have a feeling we all feel the same way, but tweet at Team Coco podcast or by using the hashtag, hashtag Parks and Recollection.

Dave, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Oh my God. What a joy to talk about. Oh, it was great seeing you guys. That was the best part of it

because it really is, anytime there's a little Parks reunion, it warms the heart, you know? Yeah talk about it. It was great seeing you guys. That was the best part of it. Because it really is. Anytime there's a little Parks reunion, it warms the heart. Yeah. Good stuff. Well, thank you all for listening. Text this episode to your group chat. Give us five-star reviews wherever you are listening.

And from all of us here at Parks and Recollection, goodbye from Pawnee. Goodbye. And we bump them. And we bump them. Parks and Recollection is produced by me, Lisa Berm, and engineered by Joanna Samuel. The podcast is executive produced by Jeff Ross, Adam Sachs, Colin Anderson, and Nick Liao. Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Brit Kahn are our talent bookers, along with assistance from Maddie Ogden.

Our theme song is by Mouse Rat, a.k.a. Mark Rivers, with additional tracks composed by John Danek. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Parks and Recollection. This has been a Team Coco production.