Parks and Recollection - Dave Returns (S4E15)

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

Jim O’Heir (Jerry Gergich himself!) and Greg Levine are here to discuss “Dave Returns!” They discuss Adam Scott’s tour de force performance in this episode, the triumphant return of Mouse Rat, Jim and Greg’s shared love for “We Are the World,” what if Jerry had a Duke Silver-style alter ego, and much more! Treat yo’ self and give it a listen!Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email at [e-mail]!This episode was recorded on June 26, 2023.

We're getting together to talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastian's, the pits 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 Welcome back you guys. We're here again for another episode of Parks and Recollection. This is for Parks and Recollection?

It is for Parks and Recollection. No, no, no. It's not the office girls. It's not the office girls. This is Parks and Recoll Collection. I thought I was here for a podiatry appointment. Anyway, I'm Jim O'Hare. I played the guy who was Jerry Gergich and Gary and Larry and Terry and even Barry from Johnny Karate. And sitting next to me is... I'm Greg Levine. I played Greg Levine for a few seasons. I played a guy named Pierre. Yes.

We've talked about that, but I'm so excited to be here with you again, Jim. Oh my gosh. Another great episode. Another great time of our lives at Parks and Rec. Another great episode. Before we get into it, I quickly want to say that I recently got to have lunch with the amazing Morgan Sackin, who was our line producer at Parks and Rec. Whoa. He knows it all.

He was there for it all, the good, the ugly, all the good stuff. And, you know, it was again about the book, you know, I was talking to him about the book and everything. He gave me some great stories.

But here's my favorite thing that has nothing to do with parks other than the relationships that happened. He was heading off the next day to go to London with his family for a vacation where he was going to meet Nick Offerman because they were going to see a Cubs game

against St. Louis in London. Obviously, if you're going to go see a St. Louis-Chicago game, you should go to London. You should go there to see Nick Offerman. Yes. And I just love that relationships from that show have still continued. You know, Nick still shoots the promos for Lagavulin. And so they do those in Scotland. And I think there's another one coming up. And they bring the same

crew from Parks that did it from the first time. Really? It's just lovely. Anyway, it was a nice trip down memory lane with Morgan. It was great to see. Morgan's incredible. You know, the job of a line producer, Morgan's executive producer of the show. You know, you make sure that things happen.

They make sure they happen well. And when things go bad, which happens, you fix them. Right. It's your job to do that. He's like the consigliere of the show, right? Yes. And he's an amazing guy, really down to earth, very lucky. And he's gone on to do most things that Amy has done.

And everybody keeps trying to work together in our world. Good place. And now he doesn't line produce anymore. He's a full-time just executive producer. He's got his own production company that does documentaries. I mean, he's just, he's amazing. And he started on Seinfeld. Yes, right.

Which I love. That's so funny you say that. I'm a huge fan of Seinfeld. I've watched many Seinfeld episodes. Many, many times each episode. That kind of thing where like you could see a still image from the episode and you know, every storyline kind of love. It's all you need. And I'll still watch them on TV and I'll get to the credits. And it's so funny to see like post-production assistant or Morgan Sackett. Morgan Sackett.

I love it. Yeah. But it was great. I just want to shout out Morgan. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we'll get him on here. Well, today we're talking about season four, episode 15. It is called Dave Returns.

It was written by Harris Whittles. Harris Whittles. What a guy. Directed by Robert Weedy. And it was originally airing on February 16th, 2012. Before we get into the episode, Jim, we should talk about the fact that the Dave of Dave Returns.

You know, Alan Yang spoke about this in a previous episode of Parks and Recollection when this actor and comedian showed up on our show on Parks and Rec. But, you know, we're doing a Parks and Recreation podcast. Dave is in the A story. He's in the title. So I think we should just talk about the character. Of course. It's still a great episode.

Still a great episode. And let's just leave it at that. I'm on board. Okay, great. Thank you. So on that note, can you give us a blurb? It's a quick blurb, but I think it puts it all out there. Leslie and Ben run into Leslie's ex-boyfriend Dave while meeting with the chief of police.

And Andy searches for a song to represent Leslie's campaign. Actually, that is a perfect blurb. It's succinct. It's a little blurb. It's just a little, you know, it's a little blurb. And you're like, do you want to know more? Well, read the synopsis then. I know we're going to get into every bit of this episode, but Andy searches for a song to represent Leslie's campaign. So, you know, we as a cast got to go into a sound recording studio to do this episode. And for Jim O'Hare, it was very much a dream come true

because Jim O'Hare wishes he could sing. He cannot, he can carry a tune at best, at best, I can carry a tune, but I'm not a singer. And here we were in a full-blown production studio. I've been in many sound booths because I've done voice work and I've done ADR, which is when you're correcting voice stuff for things you've already shot and you go in and do it. So I'm not unfamiliar to the booth, but to go in and sing a song was unbelievable. And then the way it was set up, I shared a mic with Rashida. So you're like, well, okay. One of the actors. Well, yes and no.

Her father is Quincy Jones. Right. So Rashida was around for We Are the World. Yes. Which I have seen that video 100,000 times. So funny. I watched that video twice yesterday. Just yesterday.

It's so good. It's so good. And so like, wow wow this is what went on there and they're there and they're there and oh my goodness and listen they off the cuff they can just hit those notes and like yeah yeah i could watch it you know what actually shut this down right now no people listen they're listening to us oh that's right i have to keep going no but i loved it and so rashida was there for that and she she's, so I don't know, the whole thing for me was very exciting. Yes.

Because it wasn't, it wasn't me doing voice work or ADR work. It was me singing a song in a booth. Of course, I'm one of the group of us. But anyway, this, so this episode is, it's special for me. I imagine you can actually carry it quite well. I think you're being quite humble. It depends. It depends. can actually carry it quite well. I think you're being quite humble. It depends. Like,

no, it depends. Have you ever had the opportunity to like sing the national anthem at a... I would never do it to them. I would never do it to them. Throw out a first pitch?

I would never do it to the song. Oh, I throw out the first pitch all the time. That's just an embarrassing quick moment. I'm doing one next week in Chicago. Oh. Anyway, no,

but singing, and I grew up with a father, this is off topic, who had the worst singing, the greatest man, but the worst singing voice. But at church on Sunday, we were Catholic family. We went to church every Sunday, noon mass in Calumet City, Illinois. And my dad's belief was in church, you are allowed to let it go because you're singing hymns and it's godly it's the whole thing and the looks that we would get yes every week because he was awful and so i don't want those looks and i think there's probably some psychological stuff in my head about that and yet when i look back good for him i know that's the truth yes you shouldn't hold yourself back

just because you can't match the caliber of others and he couldn't he couldn't he was awful when the O'Hairs are not you know my one sister kind of sings okay but I mean none of us are singers and anyway so but to be in a booth and to like even though

it was all fake no one's gonna sing a lot my voice it felt really cool. And again, with Rashida next to me, whose heritage is of a father who's... I mean, prolific. Prolific, the king, whatever you want to call him. Anyway, so this special, special episode for Jim. That's great to know.

We should talk about that when we get to Rob Lowe and Chris Traeger singing. That's right. Yes. So before then,eger singing. That's right. Yes. So before then, our notes for today's episode. This episode features an appearance from our friend, former host of this very podcast, Alan Yang. Alan Yang. And marks

the return of Alan's character, Mouse Rat band member Chang. Oh, that's right. That's right. Yes, yes, yes. And the rest of Mouse Rat shows up. And Burley was there. Andrew Burlinson was Burley. Yeah, he's right. That's right. Yes, yes, yes. And the rest of Mouserat shows up. And Burley was there. Andrew Burlinson. Andrew Burlinson. Was Burley.

Yeah, he's Burley. And the show's real-life songwriter and composer, Mark Rivers, playing Mouserat drummer Mark. Yeah. The band's back together for Leslie's song. It's great. Because this is Andy's thing he can do. This is what he can make good for Leslie. Right.

This is how he can help the campaign. And it brings a lot of stress for him. It brings a lot of stress. He's already destroyed a thousand hot dogs that he had been given one job. That's right. And he falls and all the hot dogs are garbage. Yeah, that joke I've forgotten about.

You know, you watch these things years after making them, you forget certain things. And that's one of those jokes where you're like, God, that's so stupid and funny. It's so stupid and funny. No, because I dropped all of them. And it could only work with Andy. Because you can picture Andy

Dwyer dropping a thousand hot dogs. I guess you could almost say Jerry could have pulled that off. Like if you're going to give another character there, I guess you could say Jerry. But definitely this is an Andy thing. So he's now so excited that he's going to pull this off for Leslie and his excitement is lovely. Well, we're talking about the episode. Let's just jump right into it then with our synopsis.

Pawnee Police Chief Hugh Trumple, one of the great Parks and Rec names, Hugh Trumple is retiring and Leslie Knope hopes to win his endorsement before Bobby Newport does. and Leslie Knope hopes to win his endorsement before Bobby Newport does. Leslie and Ben run into Dave Sanderson, who is visiting from San Diego to attend Trumple's retirement party. Leslie invites him to dinner with her and Ben, much to Ben's dismay. Now, meanwhile, as we've talked about,

Andy has written a campaign theme song and invites his band, Mouserat, and the Parks Department to sing it. You know, one of those great collaborations. A real band and the public servants of the Parks and Rec Department. And when you watch the scene, all of us are like, okay. There's no like, oh God, I don't know how to do that. That doesn't seem right.

Okay. Okay, it's all season four of a show. Those are storylines that happen and it's great. And you know, as we learn later in different episodes, Retta has the pipes in real life. Retta is an amazing singer. Yeah, Retta has a beautiful voice. And she does, you can look it up,

but she does a great bit about being in the car singing opera when someone pulls up next to her. Anyway, look it up. It's her story to tell, but it's very, very funny. My girl. I know, she's the best. So early on in the episode, we're reminded of the storyline we're in right now where Tom and Anne are dating.

Again, I shiver. You shiver. Go ahead. Go ahead. You know, early days still of it. They're still figuring it out. I think she's still dubious. It's this path she wants to go down.

And Tom at one point rattles off a bunch of potential nicknames he's working on for her. Boo Boo Bear, Cookie Tush, Winnie the Boo, Lady Presh Presh, and Fairy Sauce. Annie Get Your Boo, Tommy's Girl, Annie Bananny. Annie Bananny. This is something we've done with Tom that, and as he's so good at, is these long runs, these other things that he calls, the thoughts in his head. is these long runs, these other things that he calls, the thoughts in his head. And there's that great one where he's talking about all the different names he calls normal things,

like he has chicky chicky parm parm, right? He calls noodles long ass rice, and I think he calls forks food rakes. And those are the fun runs to pitch on because it's a great comedy game. And it's like, pitch on 20 of them. And do you know what? Maybe all 20 will make it into the episode. And it's like, pitch on 20 of them. And do you know what? Maybe all 20 will make it

into the episode. And it's also, they're not just obviously great bits, but the way he does them. Yeah. His voice, then he changes.

Yeah. Like, I can't do it. It's Aziz's gift. Yes. How he can play with those. And so I also, since we're talking about them,

one of my favorite lines, when the episode kind of begins, they've had this one date. But Anne's very like, it was the one date. And he comes in like they are now the hot couple of the year. Yes. And then at one point, Tom says to Anne, I feel like you're embarrassed by me and not skipping a beat. And that is accurate.

That is accurate. I mean, that is perfect. And yet there's still something about him that she, because she could have nipped it all in the bud right there. Like, no, no, no, that is perfect. And yet, there's still something about him that she, because she could have nipped it all in the bud right there. Like, no, no, no, you're right. I want nothing to do with this. Yeah, that was a mistake. But damn, he goes at it. He goes at it hardcore.

And that's what I love about Tom. And, you know, not for nothing, this storyline, I think, also provides Rashida and Anne with some great new comedies to play. We've not really seen this version of her in a relationship with Chris she was constantly she was pining for him she fell for him

and then she wanted to be back with him and there's that moment early on in the season they're filming the PSA and he's going on and on I don't know what I saw in him or like she's dubious so why did I ever but generally she's dubious. So why did I ever this?

But generally she's pining. She wants, and in this case, she's the one who's been sought after and she has so much of the power. And it's funny to see her play that. And she has a history of conforming to the men she's with. Sure, yeah.

And we've learned that and she- We talked about that, yeah. She wants to get out of that thing. So now she has a guy who she absolutely doesn't want to conform to. Right. Just the opposite. Right. Like he's just cringing her on her every nerve.

But something, and let's face it, as crazy as Tom is, he's incredibly lovable. Oh, yeah. He just is. And you know a lot of it is bravado and bullshit. But you know he's got a good, he's a sweet guy. Yeah. And she was looking to see through it. Yep, yep, yep.

I love that. Okay, well, Ben Wyatt gets very nervous around police officers. Shitting his pants kind of nervous. It's so... Hardcore. I mean, I get nervous. But he gets, like, nervous. He can't speak.

And also, it only works because of the way Adam plays it. It's brilliant. It's the fear, the trying to rise above it. And the more he tries to rise above it, he says more terrible things. And I just... And that's why there's this great moment. First of all, he has a line in the episode to kind of set the stage for his awkwardness is where he says, I'm not afraid of cops.

I have no reason to be. I never break any laws ever because I am deathly afraid of cops. But then, you know, he's in Hugh Trumple's office and they're talking and it's time to leave. He's never good with the police officers at ending the conversations, right? He's always trying to throw something in. And here he has that thing where he just, he's like, he can't help us. He knows it's coming, right?

He can't stop himself. He even says at one point, oh boy, he's talking about how the police are the heroes. Oh boy, here it comes. 9-11. for the heroes. And oh boy, here it comes. 9-11. It's so stupid and great.

You know? It's perfect. Because all he had to do was say, thank you. We'll see you tonight at your retirement party. That's all that had to be said. But he can't. He is so worked up around the police

that his body just, and out comes 9-11. Right. And which is why it's a great thing that Dave has returned because here it is. It's an ex-boyfriend. Yeah. Already in an awkward situation who happens to be a police officer. Really two worst nightmares for a Ben Wyatt in this situation.

And I will say this. Physically, Leslie does not have a type. That's a good point. Because they are very, very different. Because I find in life, a lot of times, your friends and family,

you tend to go, oh, yeah, this person likes this type. Right. That's human nature. I've learned the phrase from watching many seasons

of the UK Love Island that people have a type on paper. Ah. Right? Oh, that's my type on paper. I don't know what paper they're talking about. I don't know what paper they're talking about.

I don't know if they're writing up their requests. But it's like, these are the looks. These are the physical attributes I'm normally interested in. No, Leslie goes, I mean,

Joe Biden to Dave Sanderson to Ben Wyatt. Yes, yeah. Yeah. Do you remember what Andy says about his song? He says, it's kind of like we are the world, except I actually think it could have a real impact on society. A society, yes.

And he's so earnest when he says it. He means it. He truly means it. That that dumb ass that lovable dumb ass oh um and there's this great moment with aubrey with april um where she says jerry if you're eating you're not listening and throws throws the food that i'm about to eat yeah yeah that's hurtful it's so funny because i i can imagine doing both, but not in April's world. No. Not here.

It's her husband's big day. We got something to tell you. This is big. This is big. And they're telling us because not only are we going to be doing it, we're going to head to a studio that we notice Ron Swanson knows of this studio. And you can tell there's a little anxiety beginning because, as we find out later, he's very familiar with this studio. Right.

He talks about the fact that someone happens to be, he's aware of the studio's name. And later he'll go to April, who will know about his alter ego, Duke Silver. We don't often see Ron Swanson nervous. Ron's getting very nervous when you guys show up at the studio. It's great. Let's jump right back into our synopsis. Dear Sir Jim,

the Parks Department and Mouse Rat prepare to record Leslie's campaign song in the studio. And we were just talking about Ron, who records at this very same studio as Duke Silver, recruits April to help him destroy any evidence in the studio that might compromise his secret identity.

Tom admits to a very annoyed Anne that he did in fact tell the office about their date, but she asked him not to. And meanwhile, at their dinner, Dave admits that he is still in love with Leslie. That's a big reveal. This might be one of the more stupid things to bring up right away after a great synopsis bit. The shirt that Andy is wearing in this episode,

I owned that shirt as well at the same time. What is the shirt? I don't know what the shirt is. It's just a plaid button down. Oh, okay. And I wore a lot, like a lot of guys

in their 20s in the 2000s maybe. I wore a lot of plaid button downs. And he's worn it a few times on the show. I started like, I think maybe subconsciously I started wearing it more because Andy was wearing it.

I never looked like Chris Pratt wearing it. Then my shirt got a hole in it. I stopped wearing it. And I gotta tell you guys, that's the end of perhaps the stupidest story that will ever be told on this show. That's why we have editors. Or let's keep it in.

Actually, that minutiae is good for the show. This is the meat and potatoes we want. This is the meat and potatoes. Well, I'll jump in and say since you began by doing this, this note is about Duke Silver. So we begin. We know there's really going to be trouble because from the minute they all walk in the hallway, it turns out on the wall in the hallway

is a picture of Duke Silver. And it is obviously for anyone with eyeballs at all. It's obviously him. It is Ross Watson. Yeah. So April jumps in and they immediately start the plan that she is going to have his ass.

She's going to cover his ass for whatever happens here, which was brilliant. No, you're right. And it's so great because there's going to be this great moment later on where again, Duke Silver, Ron Swanson's face is right in front of all of them and none of them noticed it. But just before, Ron is so

nervous. Anyway, we'll get to that. I shouldn't jump the gun here. I bounce. You know I bounce. I know you bounce. But it's interesting. I mean, it'll get to that. We shouldn't jump the gun here. I bounce. You know I bounce. I know you bounce. But, you know, it's interesting. I mean, it's really lovely that April has held this secret about Ron

all this time. From Andy, too. She has not told Andy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is their secret. And April has not utilized this for some sinister purpose.

Like, she hasn't tried to get out of work. She hasn't tried to, like, I'm going to do my job, but I'm never going to, I'm not even going to show up to work. You're going tried to like, I'm going to do my job, but I'm never going to, I'm not going to show up to work. You're going to pay me. I'm going to keep your secret as Jake Silver. You could see a storyline like that happening.

Sure. But it's nice. She's never done that. April has a very strict set of rules in her head about what is right and what is wrong. And she has, she certainly has a bond with Ron. I mean, from the very beginning. And she's got his back at all costs. In our notes, producer Sean has

this great thought experiment here that if Jerry had a secret jazz identity, you know that April would have a field day with that. Yes. The word would be out real fast. Like a split second after finding it out, everybody would have

been told about it. There would be memes. There would be, yeah, she would be mocking the hell out of him. Yeah, no, but not for Ron. Not for Ron. And speaking of Jerry, and I could all day long. I just love the dude. Jerry ends up causing a little trouble with Tom and Ann, right? Tom and Ann, because he looks at them like, oh, that's so cute, because they drank out of the same water or something.

And that's when Ann realizes that son of a bitch has already told everybody, even though he promised he would tell nobody. And the line is, she said, did you tell him? He's like, yeah. He was texting. During it. During it. He was texting that they were together. And he goes, hey, you are too hot to hide in.

This is on you. This is on you. That's a great line. Yeah, it's true. Hey, this ain't on me. Okay, in the Leslie, Ben, Dave story, we have this one little line in the synopsis we just read that, Meanwhile, after dinner, Dave admits that he is still in love with Leslie. That's a big deal.

That's a big deal. That's a big deal. Yeah, I really like how it flummoxes Leslie and I think a story could have been built around the fact that she holds the secret. She doesn't know what she's going to do about it. And I think in the classic, you could have done a story where in classic Leslie fashion,

she cares about a lot of people. She does still care about Dave, not in that way. And she doesn't want to maybe make him feel awkward. She holds on to it. And then you can imagine an act break later on where Ben finds out and wonders, did you not tell me because you still hold feelings? And that would have been a great story.

But the choice here, I think, to have her very quickly tell Ben, have Ben in on it. And that's because that isn't the ultimate point of the storyline, right? It's not built around this. It's allowing Dave to be this bumbling fool. But they're trying to get police endorsement. And that is what Ben is constantly trying to do the whole time. I love that they went right to her telling him.

You're right. You could have gone either way, and they could have come up with a story of how she was trying to keep it from him. But it's like how the relationship on the show. We didn't do the five seasons of Will They or Won't They. We didn't do any. And I love that.

Certain shows make me crazy. Even shows that I'm super fan of make me crazy with the Will They, Won't They, all that kind of stuff. And this was great. Okay. He said he's in love with me. Right. And this is not an episode.

We're very quickly going to tell you. This is not an episode where Ben and Leslie might break up. No, no, no. Because Dave is back. Very quickly, she kind of pooh-poohs it by letting her boyfriend in on the fact. This guy said this to me. I'm not going to keep it from you. What are we going to do about it?

And letting Dave know, I love this guy. Yeah. This is my boyfriend now. Yeah, it's really great. I love this guy. It's perfect. It's how people are. I'm not going to keep it from you. What are we going to do about it? And letting Dave know, I love this guy. Yeah. This is my boyfriend now. Yeah, it's really great. I love this guy. It's perfect. It's how people are. I would hope it's how people are.

Great point. Great point. Though you could see because he's so afraid of cops. Yeah, I mean, there is, I guess you could say Leslie could be thinking, oh God, when he hears this,

but he's not going to know how to react to this because he's a cop. But then you get great comedy like when, you know, when Ben's talking about the fact that he has a, right, he has a gun and he is a... Yes, he's a cop. But then you get great comedy when Ben's talking about the fact that he has a gun. Yes, he's the cop with the gun.

Well, let's keep talking about this episode. Let's, shall we? At the recording studio, Andy is unsatisfied with the group's vocal performances and asks them to perform individually. Chris is deeply concerned to learn about Tom and Ann's date.

Tom continues to pester Ann about their relationship. And at the dinner, Leslie reveals to Ben that Dave is still in love with her as we were just talking about, which terrifies him because he has a gun,

which we talked about. And he's a cop. And he's a cop. Dave and a frightened Ben have a private talk about Leslie in the men's room that ends with Dave handcuffing Ben to the urinal.

Okay, from the very top. Go back to the Andy. Bring us back to the studio. Back to Andy, back to the studio. So, again, the studio was so much fun. Just as an actor to get to be there was just so much fun. And we did do a whole bunch of takes of singing that song. But one of my favorite moments is when Andy goes off on us because none of us are good enough. He's having his own panic. It's

really not about what we're doing. He's afraid he doesn't do this thing. So he does this big, it's awful. You go and think about what you're doing and blah, blah, blah. And then April just screams, he is a genius, people. He is a gorgeous genius, people. Don't question his methods. She has his back. She knows he's just gone crazy and said some crazy stuff. But that whole experience, and just to reiterate again what I was saying earlier,

that's the perfect example of a great Cass Parks day. Now, the only thing missing, of course, was Leslie and, you know, Amy and Adam. Yeah. because when we're all together in a room like that like i always say about the conference room scenes put me in a conference room with those people any day because yes we'll get great scenes out of it but we're also as people gonna have a great time and we're gonna tell a million stories and they're gonna be

crazy and silly and funny and that's what that day was. And our boy, Rob, Rob Lowe, first of all, he's a great storyteller. So I can be stuck in a room with him all day when it comes to, yeah, I mean, he's been around forever. He's met everybody. He's done everything. But then the poor guy has to perform because Andy wants us each to perform. And he performs the worst rendition that has ever been done. Yeah. He doesn't even know the words.

It's funny because I think it's set up that you're going to hear everybody sing, but you only hear Rob sing or Chris. And it goes on for a shocking amount of time. Yes, a shocking amount of time. You're right. It's a long clip. It's a lot of real estate in an episode

to devote just to this one joke, which is Chris terribly singing. I don't remember. I'm trying to find it. I don't think if you guys did other, do you know? Do you remember if you guys took other takes of all of you doing it? We did not do individual takes

of us singing. No. So this must have been the plan. Got it. So yeah, he's singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. He does not of us singing. No. So this must have been the plan. Got it. So yeah, he's singing, take me out to the ballgame. He does not know the words. No. He very quickly doesn't know the tune. Or just can't do a tune. Or just can't do a tune. And then he forgets the words, but he's singing it with confidence that these are the words.

That's Chris Traker for you. Yeah, that is Chris Traker. Right? Even in failure. Incredible confidence. Incredible confidence. Incredible confidence. At all times. Absolutely. And yeah, we talked,

I mean, Andy in this full auteur mode in the recording studio, we don't see this from him too often. No. Right? But I think poor Andy, he had the pressure, like he was so sure

this could be his thing for Leslie. Like he's going to give her the greatest campaign song that's ever happened and it's just not coming together. Right. He talks about that, This could be his thing for Leslie. Like, he's going to give her the greatest campaign song that's ever happened, and it's just not coming together. Right. He talks about that, that he wanted it to be perfect.

He doesn't want to let Leslie down. Nobody ever wants to let Leslie down. Right, right. So this is the segment of the episode in which we get that great line from Ben where he says, he's in love with you, and he has a gun. That thought, you see Adam play it so well that you see the thought register it's like he's and he has a gun it's this complicator for him adam's portrayal of ben around cops there's so many if you because you know i'm prepping for these apps i watched it a number of times his little movements his he's never not in that moment of being afraid.

He never loses that actor moment. He is constantly, his eyes are darting everywhere. He literally, he physically jumps. There's a moment early on, around five and a half minutes into the episode, Leslie's doing a talking head outside and you see Adam and you see Ben in the car behind her in the passenger seat. And a cop like barely walks by their car, like yards away.

And he jumps. He's in the car by himself. The doors are closed. And I never noticed that until rewatching it. Yeah, I know. It's fun to watch that kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah.

Okay, so another bit that just, I kept going back to rewatch because it was so funny is when they're at the table and it's Leslie, Ben, and Dave, and they need to, everyone kind of wants to have their own separate conversations

with everybody about who's going to, what's going to happen. And I would say it was a full minute. Yeah, feels like it. Of the three of them going back and forth about, well, if I talk to him,

it was so funny. Who's going to talk forth about, well, if I talk to him, it was so funny. Who's going to talk to who, when, and where? And this went on for a solid minute, and everyone nailed it. It's like an Abbott and Costello routine, and I could have watched that for... Exactly, it's a who's on first. I could have watched that for like two or three more minutes. It was so fun. I kept going back. I did watch it.

Yeah, it's a super fun moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And again, does it push the story forward? No, it doesn't matter. It's funny, and moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And again, does it push the story forward? No, it doesn't matter. It's funny and it's in line with these characters. In fact, just having you say that makes me think about the fact that this A story, this Leslie story, it's quite simple and it doesn't have a lot of twists and turns. Like Dave shows up very quickly. That is a big twist.

And then he's quickly at dinner with them. And very quickly where the story is built around the three of them at dinner. And it's just awkward. You know, Dave leaves at one point. And then he comes back because it was raining. He didn't want to get wet. And then he keeps wanting to have time with Leslie alone. And that's kind of the story of it.

And I find Dave to be awkward. Sure. I would have a tough time having a normal conversation with a Dave. Yeah. Because he has trouble putting his words together.

Right, right. And so, it's all awkward and uncomfortable, which is exactly what was supposed to happen. And that's the whole basis of this storyline.

It doesn't have a bunch of turns. It's built around this big moment we're going to talk about soon where, you know, Dave comes to terms with the fact that Leslie's going to be with Ben and

maybe Ben's the right guy for her and helps get through all the stuff. It's just a little, but in this way, it's kind of fun to see these three people, these characters together. Yeah, I loved it. Let's progress with our story then. In our synopsis, Dave tells Leslie that Ben ran away,

that Ben calls her cell phone, and she quickly discovers Ben is in the bathroom and confronts Dave. And meanwhile, in the recording studio, Andy admits that he wants to make the perfect campaign song because he doesn't want to let Leslie down. It's that great scene with Ron where he says, I just want to let Leslie down. It's nice to hear him say that, right? Like it's, it's Andy. It's this clown. It's this golden retriever clown character who, and you don't hear about it too often from him, but Leslie has made a mark on him, on his life. He is where he is in his life. He has, he has April. He has his job because of Leslie. And he is so, I feel, indebted to her.

And she is that person you just love because of how wonderful she is and how she gets things done and takes care of everybody. But that leads to a moment where Ron Swanson is terrified that people are going to find out that he's Duke Silver. And so while Andy is delivering his, you know, he comes back because he's been all worked up and now he's holding a mug and it's a Duke silver mug. Right. And I wrote this down. He goes, yes, I got some hot tea with honey. It's good for the voice. I recommend you all try it.

And then, of course, he goes, but mine is just a cup of honey because tea is gross. And he sticks his hand in there. Yeah, it's just honey. It's just honey. And then April catches the fact that that is a Duke silver mug. And it's almost like he's comically holding it so that everyone can see it's Duke. Yes, totally comically holding it. Even though he doesn't know it, even though no one sees it, it's so funny that it's like, it's Duke and it's all of you can see that.

Yes. So what does April do? I see mugs all day long. I don't pay attention. No, but then of course, April jumps in, slams the mug to the ground and it smashes. It's great. Yeah. It's a rock and roll moment.

It's a rock and roll moment. Do you remember this moment in the storyline with Ben when they're in the bathroom and he's been handcuffed to the urinal and he's there and he says, I have to pee really bad, ironically.

Ironically, yes. It's a really funny thought to play out that for a while his character had to pee and maybe couldn't by the way he was. Yeah.

It happens at the end of the episode too. He's trying to get into the urinal and to the bathroom and one cop after another and of course he's terrified. So, no, at the end of the episode too. He's trying to get into the urinal into the bathroom and one cop after another and of course he's terrified. So no, no, no, you go. You go, you go. What he's willing to withhold

because of his nervousness. His fear of the cops. But that is the perfect example of as much as Ben's fear of the police is absolutely unfounded. Well, now he's with a cop who's handcuffing him in a bathroom that feeds. A police officer has handcuffed him.

Has handcuffed him. His biggest fear is now happening. Yeah, that's a really great point. Yeah, like maybe he's right. Maybe he should have fear of cops. I mean, they're not all dating Leslie. Right, don't date the cop's ex. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

In our synopsis at the retirement party, Dave apologizes to Leslie. Right, don't date the Cobb's ex. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In our synopsis, at the retirement party, Dave apologizes to Leslie. In the studio, Ron secretly records a Duke Silver saxophone solo for the campaign song. Andy loves it and feels that the song is finally complete. Ben secures the endorsement of Pawnee Police Chief Hugh Trumple. Yay! And finally, an exhausted Ann agrees to go on a second date with Tom. Okay. For me, let's get back because, you know, it all makes me crazy with Anne and Tom. So, there's the take where Anne is singing and Tom comes in and he stops it all because he's thinking

he's about to have one huge romantic moment and prove to her that he is the guy for her. Right. And it's just a quick moment and it's Rashida nailing it. And he walks in, she sees what's happening and they do a, they do a beep and she just goes, oh, for fuck's sake. And it's just exactly what she would think. Oh, for fuck's sake. Yeah. This dumbass. This is not how to win me over. Anyway, it's one of my favorite moments of the whole episode. Yeah. It was super sweet. I mean, super fast, super quick.

But I love when we use the bleeps. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't use them constantly, but I do like a good place bleep. I think it's good. Especially for characters who don't get them too often. Exactly.

Yeah, that's a really funny moment also. It's like she is just every second of her relationship with Tom reminded about who Tom is. But the, oh, for fuck's sake, also it plays both things. It's like, God, this guy, why'd you do this? But also, ah, for fuck's sake, I guess I'm going to keep going on dates with you. There's something about you I'm willing to do it for. And so I think it's a very smart line in that sense. It's a great line.

It does double duty there. Makes me laugh. That was another one I kept hitting the 10 second back button. Okay, well, you made a great point about. Oh, I'm sure I did. Go ahead. Which one? Well, you made the one about the cops were screwing with Ben at the retirement party.

They're just poking at him. They're saying, if he should have a beer, but he shouldn't drive. I just love it that that game continues and they're in on it. They know what they're doing. They know he's terrified of them.

Right, right. He cannot have a conversation with them. And yes, he's going to have a beer. Great. Oh, really? He shouldn't drink and drive. He never knows the right answer. Yeah.

He never knows. Yeah. And there's nothing, I mean, as you can tell anyone who's listening, I love busting balls and I love, so that is right up my alley. Yeah, yeah. And I would play with someone like that 100%. Yeah, yeah.

100%. This is the kind of bit you would do in real life. That's a Jim O'Hare bit. Yeah, yeah. Not a Jerry bit, but definitely a Jim O'Hare bit. Definitely Jim. Yeah. And you know what's also great I love is this callback to the bowling alley.

Yeah, the punch. Yeah. Where, you know, we use it. It's not just this one-off little simple moment. But in this case, it helps earn Dave's respect of Ben. Yeah, because Leslie explains to Dave, he does have my back. He punched a guy. He punched a guy.

At a bowling alley. For my honor. For my honor. And that really impressed Dave. Yeah. And I think that was when Dave got it. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Because I think he does truly love her and he does want the best for

her. Of course he wanted her for himself. That's all human nature. We get all that. But he does want the best for her and he's realized it ain't going to be me. And this guy's okay. This Ben guy's okay. I think about that sometimes on shows or even like the reality dating shows I'm obsessed with, where, you know, someone wants to be with someone who's happy in another relationship.

And they want that relationship to break up. They're poo-pooing it, whatever it is. And I'm like, well, if you like that person, if you're interested in that person, if you have feelings for that person, even though you do selfishly, shouldn't you selflessly at the same time want them to be happy, right?

And why does your happiness hinge on bringing some unhappiness to them first and breaking them up and that relationship ending? And in this case, it's Dave who loves Leslie. The entire episode is built around him saying constantly, I love you. I want to be with you. I want to get Ben away from you

and let him come run away with me in a sense. And here he learns, oh yeah, I guess Leslie, this person I love is with someone who really cares about her. Really cares about her. That brings solace. That brings comfort. Because I think, you know, we're humans

and we, you know, especially if we have feelings for somebody, you think, well, if they can just go with me, I will be able to convince them that I am what they need. I am the perfect person for them. Dave gets it. And I also love when she, Leslie, sayslie says to him well here's the situation if

because dave is potentially going to be moving back to pawnee because he might be taking over for trumple and uh trumple and he says and she basically says i won't be able to talk to you if you can't basically move past this right and he does Of course, we never know if he got the job. We never see him again. So I don't know if... Right. Spoiler, we never see him again. Spoiler, we never see him again.

But do we ever hear from a police chief again? No, not really. So he could have got the job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they just keep their distance. Yeah, good point. Oh, if I said it,

it was a good point. If I said it, it's a good point. Oh, I think he's mocking me here we'll get through this together Leslie puts it very well in this episode and it's kind of the feeling

we're all having you're talking about it that she says now if you excuse me I'm going to endorse 10 beers in my mouth because it has been

an incredibly stressful evening yeah it has been a stressful evening but she made it through it with getting the police chief's endorsement and skirting a potential fight between her ex and her boyfriend.

Leslie likes her cocktails. Leslie's not afraid to have a little to let loose. I do want to mention Dave had a great line. It was a talking head when he says, I still have feelings for Leslie in a womanly fashion. And I feel she for Leslie. Well, in a womanly fashion.

And I feel she feels the same about me in a manly fashion. He's very specific. Like there would be any other way to look at this? Well, this is also a way that a lot of the cops have been written on Parks purposely, which they're very like. You know, they did a talking head once in season three. You know, they're very much like it was a, a male attack. They're very like, they're giving a police report,

you know, succinct. Yeah. Uh, well, I feel like we're jumping right into the crap we didn't talk about. Oh, wow.

Well, there's always that. Yeah. Uh, one of my favorite moments was a conversation between Tom and Ann. He goes, Ann, I call feelings for you and I want you to be my girl.

And I don't care who knows. He goes, I know you don't care, dummy. I care. And he goes, well, let's not get hung up on who wants what. Imagine you've just been told. I do care what people think. He's like, no, no, you see, you don't care because he's got one goal in mind and that's to get Ann. And I don't want him to win that. No, no. Yes. I also loved, and again, just little moments

with Aziz just hit the way, you know, when he goes, now I got the sniffies. I know these are, but people who watch the show will know what I'm talking about.

Those little moments, you know, casting is so important on a show and I just can't imagine anyone else playing Tom. That's the sign of good casting. I think it's a sign of great casting.

And good writing for that actor. And good writing. But an actor who then can take those lines. Right. It's the alchemy of all those things. Exactly. So those are some of the crap. Oh, I loved when Ben calls it the Whizzingham Manor name for the bathroom.

Oh, sure. Because we talked about the Whiz Palace. The Whiz Palace. The Whiz Palace, which, you know, and I actually, you know, just as a fan of these characters, when Dave brought it up

that Leslie uses the term Whiz Palace, I was like, oh, that's too familiar. But that is where we learned that she used, you know, but like,

I felt bad for Ben. Oh, they have this secret little thing. This little relationship thing. Sure, sure. Because we little thing. They have this thing, this little relationship thing. Sure, sure. Because every relationship has its own little fun things. Relationships, a new language is born with each relationship, right? I think so, yes.

Yes, yes, yes. So that's some of the crap that I forgot to get to. Oh, look at your crap. It's good crap. It's a little crap today. Well, I mean, I could go on, you know, but I won't. Yes. Do you have an episode MVP, sir?

This is, as we know, it's a character moment in this episode that sticks out. What is yours? Okay, I'm going to go. First of all, you know, it's so weird when we say about this MVP. Almost always, in some way, Leslie is the MVP because she has so much going on. It's the a story. And of course, so many,

many times. So always, always Leslie is near the front center. You know who I loved? I love Rashida and on this. Yes. I really, for me,

I loved her moments with Tom and trying to be like, you dummy. No. And, and yet falling for his stick, even though she knows it's shtick. Yeah. I'm going to give it to Ann Perkins.

How about you? Well, I love that. But just for a little difference, I also give it to Ben because Ben's awkwardness around the cops. Oh, brilliant. And it brings life and this great comedy thing. Brilliant. And it brings life and this great comedy thing

can keep this comedy mind in a way that you keep drilling into when it's Leslie and Dave together, which could have just been a story with Dave's awkwardness and Leslie's in a relationship. Well, anytime you need to,

you can pull from the Ben is awkward around cops bag and throw that in and he delivers it each and every time. Every time. He killed me. He is a valid MVP. And that joke is mined throughout the episode,

all the way up to the tag when he keeps letting the cops in the bathroom. It just does not end. It does not end. It doesn't end. Yeah, I'm totally on board with that. Do you want to go to the town hall? I think you do.

Well, let's hear from the town folk and a town hall, sir. I think that would be fun. I think that would be lovely. Yes. And today's comes from Mark from Seattle. Ah, Mark. Who asks, if you could bring one character from another sitcom into the Parks universe for one episode, who would it be? Wow. Oh, that's a fun one. That is be? Wow. That's a fun one.

That is a fun one. A lot of great classic TV characters have been born out of sitcoms. My brain immediately goes to some of my favorite shows. So I'm thinking of Seinfeld cast just because... Like Costanza? Oh, George. Would George be crazy?

Like George with Leslie? Oh, in a relationship? No, no, no. I mean, George would be so... Would George be crazy? Like, George with Leslie? Oh. In a relationship? No, no, no, no, no. I mean, just even having to interact with each other. Oh, those two energies together. Oh, sure, sure. The energies together would be crazy.

You could also picture, like, Kramer at a town... Oh, my God. Of course, Kramer at a town hall. That's... That'd be funny. Yes. Yeah. Yes.

And that would fit in perfectly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That would totally go with the show. Yeah, yeah. How about you? I'm a very big Golden Girls fan. As am I. I love them all.

Wonderful. Before I realized I was lactose intolerant, I would eat a lot of cheesecake watching Golden Girls. You know, I like to throw Sofia Petrillo in. I like to bring Sofia into Pawnee and I'd like her to hang out on the fourth floor of City Hall with Ethel Beavers.

That's the combo. Isn't that so funny to picture? That's the combo. Sofia and Ethel together and then maybe a spinoff with the two of them. I love it. Living at Shady Pines together.

But I will say this. I too am a huge, huge Golden Girls fan to the point where I get pissed in July when Hallmark does Christmas in July because they cut off a lot of the Golden Girls episodes and it pisses me off. And there's someone who I just recently did a Hallmark film and I actually spoke to the executives about that.

No, you didn't. They took me out to dinner one night, and I'm like, okay, we got to get something on the table right now. What the hell are you doing here? What is going on? And they said, if you think about it, and they did correct me. They said, sir, put that knife down. Put the knife down. This isn't such a big deal.

But they said before, it was literally around the clock, these movies. Now they are bringing the Golden Girls back just for the late evening. So there is still some Golden Girls. And I didn't ask, but I think they got blowback is why they did that. Because the diehard fans are the diehard fans. It's an amazing show. I mean, Alison Jones, who guested on our show, you know, did casting for Golden Girls. I mean, it's an amazing, amazing program.

It still holds up. It gets to the point where I recently was doing a clean out of our garage at home and my wife and I have all these DVDs and I realized I had barely even watched DVDs anymore and how do I want to save these? Do we want to donate them? Whatever.

And we're still debating what to do. But I've said, no matter what happens, we're keeping the Golden Girls box set. Yes, good move. Because just so you know, the ones are very edited for commercials. So if you watch the box set, you're getting the real full episode

and you're missing some great bits. Well, Mark from Seattle, thank you. Thank you, Mark. That was super fun. I love that idea. Well, Jim, another episode of Parks and Rec in the Parks and Rec election bag.

Wow. Wow, sir. Wow, and again, I think I nailed it and I think you showed up. But that's par usual. Okay. We can all agree. Well, dear listener, what do you think? How good am I and how bad is Jim?

Thank you for listening and text this episode to your group chat. Give us five-star reviews wherever you're listening. We, of course, always want to thank Sean and Joe. Sean and Joe, can't do it without you. They're the best teammates you could ever have. Jim, you're fine. I'll take that. I'm actually comforted by that. Yeah, fine is good.

Yeah. So from all of us here at Parks and Rec Collection, goodbye from Pawnee. Bye. This has been a Team Cocoa production.