Parks and Recollection - Kevin Symons: Animal Control (S5E18)

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Pawnee’s got a pest problem, and it’s up to Leslie to find a new head for the Department of Animal Control. Meanwhile, Ben approaches fragrance mogul Dennis Feinstein about a large charitable donation for the Sweetums Foundation, and Ann helps Ron get over a bad case of strep throat. Jim O’Heir and Greg Levine break it all down in this week’s walkthrough of “Animal Control.” Plus, Kevin Symons (Sexy Dexy himself!) joins Jim and Greg to talk about his recurring role as Pawnee’s sleaziest politician, Councilman Dexhart. 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 Hello everybody!

Welcome back to Parks and Recollection! We're so happy to be back again We are so happy We are so happy I'm Jim O'Hare The guy with all those different names who was on that show for a while. Yes. And sitting here with... Greg.

Greg. I'm Greg Levine. You know, I also had a few names on that show. You really did have a few names. Yeah, I was Pierre, we talked about. I was Radar for a little bit in the writer's room. Wow. But it's so nice just to be Greg. Yeah. And it's so nice just to be here. Well, and I had five names, and people say, what's your favorite?

And, you know, legally his name is Gary, but Jerry is my favorite. I was hired as Jerry. And so it just felt that way. Well, what's going on with you? What's the latest and greatest? Life is good. Before we get into it, I do want to share one embarrassing story that happened to me the other day because this is just the kind of stuff that happens to me.

So I had been given a gift card to one of those, you know, a sandwich place. So I went and got a sandwich. It was great. And I'm sitting out there and the place next door, it was a Korean nail salon and they were, it's a $25 pedicure. So I thought, man, I haven't clipped my nails in a while. And I'm the kind of guy who just normally does it, sit and watch in television. It's gross, but that's how I do it. So I go in there and of course there's a huge language barrier because I don't speak Korean and they mostly don't speak English, but whatever, we figure it out. I sit in the chair and they put you in these chairs that have massagers. So like you're hitting the button and it's rolling up your back. It's all lovely, but she was trying to say, what do I want? And so she goes, gel.

lovely. But she was trying to say, what do I want? And so she goes, gel. And I said, well, yes. That must mean they put gel all over your feet and massage your feet. So I'm thrilled. Because I do love getting my feet massaged. I'm thrilled because if there's going to be gel on my feet,

it's worth the $25. No, but I like when they get in there in between your toes and stuff. I'm like, I am loving this. I am loving it. So you hear gel and you're like, yes you're like yes yes but she was basically trying to tell me anything because it's going to be more money but that's okay because for the extra hey i'm already this something gets you i'm already in sure so that it begins and it's all lovely they put your feet in the water and then she starts doing her whole thing, snip, snip, snip, and then buff, buff, buff. Life is good. And I'm thinking, boy, I can't wait for this gel to kick in because that's going to be the big massage part. To kick in. Yeah. Okay. Well, here's what gel is.

And now maybe Lisa, Joe, you can jump in and tell me if you knew this. I think most people listening know this. Do you know what this is? Go on. Yes. She takes out a bottle of what looked to be nail polish and she starts nail polishing my toes. I think she's painting them. Yeah. Okay. Painting my, yes, that is the correct term. She starts painting my toes and I'm like, what is going on? And then she takes this little gadget and puts it over my foot. Yeah. I don't know what is happening. Then she does the next foot.

And at this time, I'm too embarrassed to ask anything. So wait, I'm sorry. What do you mean? So at this point, she did the next foot. So you're halfway through this. You realize at this point. Something's wrong. I think so. Something's wrong.

Because you pictured gel all over your feet. Yes. And you said, well, let's just keep going. Oh, because I'm that person. I would, God forbid, I would make a stink or say what is happening. Also, she did say to me, gel. And I didn't say yes. She's done nothing wrong.

Right, right, right. Yes. Why ruin her day? Exactly. Okay. So, but the bottom line is when she is done, I have on my feet right day. Exactly. Okay. So, but the bottom line is, when she is done, I have on my feet right now,

Yeah. the shiniest toes you have ever seen. To the point where, last night I'm watching television, I have my legs crossed, a light beam hit from my big toe, caught my eye. And also, I'll tell you this, it's thick.

Like, it's not going to come off. No, it's gel. Okay, so you had heard of this. Yes, I'm well-versed now in the gel and nail polish experiences. Because you've done it? Well, I'm a member of society. Wait, most people have done this?

No, but, you know, sometimes you learn things that, you know, you know plenty of things that you haven't personally experienced, right? Yes. Yes. So, I guess the, here's the real question, Jim. Besides, do we have enough time now to do our actual episode of our series? What could be more interesting than this story or this? Yeah.

All right. Well, it's happened now and you've experienced it. Yes. You can do it again? No, because the whole thing made me very nervous. Well, that's the benefit of gel. It stays on for a long time. Apparently. Yes, it's happened now and you've experienced it. Yes. You can do it again? No, because the whole thing made me very nervous. Well, that's the benefit of gel. It stays on for a long time. Apparently.

Yes, it does, sir. A long time. Yeah, about a year or two. Are you joking? No. No, you're joking now. No. So you guys knew what, I'm the only one who didn't know this, what gel was.

Yes. It's not normal nail polish. No, it's on for a while. I know because I tried to scrape. Yeah. And it won't scrape. I know. It won. Yes. It's not normal nail polish. No, it's on for a while. I know because I tried to scrape. Yeah. And it won't scrape. I know. It won't scrape.

We're going to be halfway through the next presidential term. Exactly. Coming up. But the thing is, you know, we're heading towards summer here. I will be in bare feet a lot or at least in my flips, my sandals or whatever. My flips. People are going to be like, they can't even look down because of the light coming off of my toes. It's not going to last that long.

You're going to be okay. Okay. Well, everyone, if you're still with us, this is Parks and Recollection. If you haven't tuned out. We're so excited to be here talking about another episode of our favorite show, Believe It or Not. And we should mention, in addition to this great episode we're going to talk about later, you get to hear this great conversation. We got to sit down with Kevin Simons, who played the Pawnee Councilman, most often embroiled in a sex scandal. Sleazebag.

Yet never willing to resign. Councilman Dex Hart. So he'll be here. It's an awesome conversation. Please stick around for that. Yeah, he's great. Right now, we're going to jump right in. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that after that story.

But we're going to jump right into, jump right in. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that after that story, but we are going to segue into Animal Control. It was written by Megan Amram and directed by Craig Zisk, originally airing on April 11th, 2013. And Jim, can you give us a gel-styled blurb? A gel-free blurb. Facing a massive pest problem in Pawnee, Leslie goes on the hunt for a new head of animal control and winds up finding the best candidate right under her nose.

Meanwhile, Anne tries to help Ron get over a bad case of strep throat and then approaches fragrance mogul Dennis Feinstein, yuck, about a large charitable donation for the Sweetums Foundation. Yeah, he's just the slimiest. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've talked to Jason Ansukas about this. He's just the slimiest. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And we've talked to Jason Natsukas about this. He's a pure bad guy. He's a bad guy.

There's no redemption for Dennis Feinstein. Yeah. Even when he tries to play a good guy, you know there's bad guy intentions behind it at all times. Right. But Jason himself is a great guy. Is a great guy. Yes. It was a blast to have him on.

Yeah. Let's talk about some notes. You know, just a little today, we have fan favorite cameos in this episode. We talked about it. Dennis Feinstein, Jason Mantzoukas is here. The Animal Control guys, Harris Whittles playing Harris,

and Colton Dunn playing Brett. Oren played by Eric Eisenhower. And of course, Councilman Dex Hart, who will, like we said, you're going to get to hear as we talk to him later in the episode. Also, we have an appearance by Katie Dippold. That's also, that's absolutely true. A brief little appearance.

Here's my question. Okay. Who, so you guys, you know, the episodes are done, and now we're, you know, we do a table read and whatever. How do you guys decide when you're going to reach to a writer to do a role, or when you're just, they're going to just put it out to casting? Well, sometimes, I should also mention before I answer that,

we have one other cameo, which is Donna Carey, who plays Vern Palletta. Right, Donna is in there too. Right, so we have Donna, Harris, and Katie. Well, Harris had been in the show for a while. And Katie had appeared once or twice before. And it's sometimes it's this thing

where you're writing the episode. And when it comes to a role like Katie's, who comes in for just one scene, just this comedy beat, sometimes it's the writer saying like, oh man, how funny was Katie in this one scene? We should bring her back for this. To a long list of what are the types of people, in this case, what are the types of funny people we should bring in

who are applying for this role. And we'd once seen Katie in an episode drop off an animal she didn't want anymore. An animal was pissed. Right, in an adoption fair, he or she is trying to get rid of animals. So here you are in this moment

being like, wouldn't that be funny? And so that is how Katie can show up like this. But sometimes it's just about that writer would read that part at the table read. I was just going to say, did the table read have something to do with it?

Oh, sure. Sometimes it's just so funny and you're like, you're great. Just do it. Yeah. The table read, you know, you don't have your full cast there. You have your, you know, your series regulars.

Every, rarely we would have someone who is very, very rarely. We would have a guest was- Very, very. Very rarely. Right. We would have a guest at the table. But generally, the writers would read all the roles. Right. And sometimes they were hysterical. So that actually makes sense.

Right, right. You'd be like, well, that couldn't have gone better. Why not just use that person? Right. And sometimes the writers would read if one of the regulars, one of you guys couldn't be there for whatever reason. Right. You're sick or traveling or whatever,

you know, like Alan Yang would read Chris Traeger a lot, right? And it was just very, it was always fun to be at the table read and hear the script come alive. And let me give you a little actor

show busy thing for those out there, the actors listening, never go to the table read if you're a guest star. If you can avoid a table read, avoid it because you're always going to lose your job. Not always, that's too big of a word, but it happens.

Right, because it's an opportunity. There's more people having input. It hasn't happened to me, but it has happened where I went to a table read to do a cast and director a favor, and then they ended up giving me the role over the guy they had cast. So table reads are a funky business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I've seen it too. I've seen actors lose their parts.

But you know, M's the breaks, right? And there's some shows that are known for that. I don't think, yeah, oh, there's certain, you knew that, boy, this could go bad real fast. Yeah, yeah. So we never had that on Parks, though. Because we had wonderful people. We did. And let's this could go bad real fast. Yeah, yeah. So we never had that on Parks, though. Because we had wonderful people! We did.

And let's talk about going bad really fast in the opening of our episode. Exactly! How dare you. After an eye-opening visit to Animal Control, Leslie and Chris fire the two guys in chart, Harris and Brett, and begin the search for a new head of animal control. Meanwhile, Ben prepares a donation pitch for fragrance mogul, Dennis Feinstein and back at the parks department and finds Ron in his office,

sick, shivering and wearing what looks like all of his clothes, all of his clothes. Yes. I, um, I love, uh,

the cold open. I love the animal control guys. You know, it's, it's so funny. Like, Harris comes in. They come in and Harris is like, let me show you around. Those are some chairs. That's a cat or a possum. This is a napkin

where I wrote down, cool name for a dog, Bark Obama. It's just, it's great. And, you know, there's a moment where Chris says, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And Brett, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And Brett, four. There's four ways to skin a cat.

Brilliant. Yes. And also, they've tried to do what Fred Flintstone did. They've put a dead bird on the wall and attached a string to what looked to be its little claw or whatever. And they would pull out. And he goes, it's not as easy as you think. It just doesn't really work. It's terribly sad.

It's terribly sad. Yes. And as an animal, all that kind of stuff is terribly sad. You look at that and you're like, that's very funny.

But if you spend more than a second thinking about it, you realize in order to get that joke in the real world of these characters, Harrison Brett

did this to a dead bird. Yes. You know? It's both funny. They're stoned 99% of the day they are out of their heads. Yeah.

They don't even know where they are. Yeah, well, that's how they're living. Yeah. That's how they're living. I mean, to not know the difference

between a cat and a possum. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let's jump over to Ron's office. He's picked up a truly terrible call from Diane's daughter. Truly terrible.

Yes. I live while watching Finding Nemo. And Anne insists that Ron drink plenty of fluids, but insists, you know, instead he's drinking Lagavulin. But he does put an ice cube in the glass saying, usually I drink it neat, but I will make an exception in the name of health. Yeah, he knows what's good for him.

Yes. But let's not forget, while we see Ron in this state, this is not the first time Ron has had a medical emergency, right, in his own office. The first was his hernia in season two's The Stakeout. Right.

He couldn't move in that hernia. He got the, remember, food poisoning? Yes. With Kristen Ben in this season's episode, Anne's Decision. So the guy has had a few brushes with illness.

It's funny because when I think of Ron Swanson, I almost think of beyond human. Yeah. Like he couldn't get all of these things. Right. But he is a human being. Well, he's beyond human. He's beyond human in the fact that he thinks

that he can handle this purely on his own. Of course. And every so often you need to admit that we have science for a reason. We do. Lastly, we should touch on the storyline of with Ben and Andy and Tom.

I love Tom's energy with Dennis Feinstein, right? He looks up to Dennis. He looks at him as this mogul he would want to be. We first meet Dennis because Tom wants to pitch a cologne to him, right?

And he wants to be just like him. Even though he embarrasses Tom the first round, Tom is still coming back. Right. And as Tom says, you know, that Dennis belongs to a new generation of wealth, rappers, tech geniuses, X Games medalists, and of course, scent artists. And, you know, he owns a Rolexes, and that is a Lexus filled with Rolexes. Yeah. It's nuts. And it doesn't even drive. You can't drive it. It doesn't move. No, but it tells great time. Tells great time. Yeah.

Okay. Let's push on, Jim, with our synopsis. Push it away, baby. In the search for a new head of animal control, Leslie appeals to the city council board to find a competent and effective leader, but quickly learns that Pawnee's departmental appointments are based on backroom handshakes and knowing nods rather than actual experience. Meanwhile, Ann takes Ron to the hospital for treatment, and on the other side of town, Ben, Tom, and Andy try to convince Dennis Feinstein to donate a large sum to the Sweetums Foundation. Okay, Jim, so we see Leslie in this city council meeting. First of all, we have Chris. I'm laughing, but the guy's in a wheelchair because he got injured in an actual trap.

Like a bear trap. A bear trap that his foot gets cut in inside animal control. Yeah. Now, and he at that point in animal control is thinking, well, you know, let's see how these guys work. Maybe we're just not seeing the whole picture. Right. And then they snap his foot.

And you just fire. They're immediately fired. You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. Everyone's fired. You're gone. Yeah. Yeah. The man's in pain. Well, but also the man is, he's all about his body. And that is, as he says, one of his running feet. Right. Right. It's also an actual bear trap inside of a building. I know. What the hell is that doing there? It's a real problem. Yes. Yeah. That whole department's a real problem. Yeah. Yeah. That whole department's a real problem. Yeah. Yeah. But Jim, I'm watching this, the scene of Leslie having to negotiate in a way to get a competent person to run a department.

And I'm reminded again of the season one episode, Boys Club, where Leslie learns about, you know, Mark would have like beers and drinks with the guys out of the courtyard and she wanted to be a part of it. And it was this element of a side of government that I think her optimism meets naivete, like wasn't able to compute, you know, and live with. And so here she is on city council in a way she must have thought,

see, I'm on city council, everything's going to be fine. We meet Jeremy Jan, he's a schmuck. It's way, she must have thought, see, I'm on city council. Everything's going to be fine. We meet Jeremy Jam. He's a schmuck. It's not easy, but all right, I know the bad guy is in a way. And then you just learn that, oh,

I guess this is just how it's done. It's just handshakes and wings. It is a boys club still. Yeah. And you get a job by being a friend. Yeah. A friend of a friend or whatever. And they take turns

as to who's going to give the next person the next job. Right. And now it's Jam's turn and he tries to explain that. And they take turns as to who's going to give the next person the next job. Right. And now it's Jam's turn and he tries to explain that. And as he says, this whole place runs on dibs. But I'm with Leslie. It is infuriating. It's tough to realize that in most places and still in many industries, it's not a pure meritocracy. Yeah. No. No. No.

No. Now, here's something that shocked me. Anne somehow got Ron to go to the hospital. Yes. And I can only justify it by there's a lot in this episode. Anne is guilting Ron about Diane and the hospital. Yes. And I can only justify it by there's a lot in this episode and is guilting Ron about Diane and the girls. Yes. And about, hey, you need to be here for them

and you haven't. It's not just you anymore, buddy. It's not just you like sitting with your log of woolen and making everything, you know, it'll just all get better. So I think that's the only reason he would have gone. It's also the tonnage of the things we talked about earlier and that the man has had a hernia, the man has had food poisoning,

that at some point, you do hope there's even a minuscule amount of evolution in your character that you can admit, at this point, I begrudgingly accept that I can't will this thing away from me. Right. And I need to be healthy for those around me.

Right. And that. He has responsibilities now. So I loved it. I was like, good for him. Yeah. Even though he's not going to like it. And it's fun to see him as a patient in the hospital.

Of course. And it's fun because it sets up a great comedy game in that, you know, first of all, Anne comes in, say, we need your information on your medical form, on your intake form, whatever. And he's redacted everything. It's all redacted. It's just all black lines.

So she asked him a bunch of questions. Obviously, normally she would say, please fill this out again. But it wouldn't allow us to have such great comedy. For example, for a date of birth, Ron wrote springtime. A history of mental illness in your family? He says, I have an uncle who does yoga.

For allergies, he says, cowardice and weak-willed men and hazelnuts. And then for sexual history, of course, he says, epic and private.

Well, good for you, Ron. Yes. Yes. I mean, we know some of this history because of the Tammy situation. Yes, yes. And from what we saw, it did look like it was epic.

Right. That part was, unfortunately for all of us, or fortunately for all of us, that part was not private. Yes. Yes. Unfortunately for all of us, yes. So here's something I'm loving with the Dennis Feinstein story is watching Andy through it. I have that written down right here. Chris Pratt played that so perfectly.

Because he let it build. Yes, yes. It was, because, you know, especially sitcoms, you can just kind of do the bit for the bit. He played this as an actor who knew what was happening from the beginning of this episode to the end of the episode. Right. But you also, he also played it in a way that, you know, he quickly has a take on him, but that feeling just festers.

And you see the frustration growing. You see him biting his tongue. You see him also trying to participate, right? He tries to actually convince Dennis and it doesn't work out that well, but he's not bad at it. He's trying to do the right thing, which is bite your tongue. Let's get this guy to say yes.

There's a slow burn happening. There's a slow burn, right? And you see, Ben is the epitome of biting your tongue. He has a talking head, talking about how much he hates this, but he's going to keep smiling and everything and just get through this because he wants his money. Yeah. All right, well, Jim, let's keep going with our story then.

Let's continue. Let's continue. How about a little more synopsis, Mr. Levine? All right, sir. Leslie and Chris begin interviewing candidates for the new head of animal control, but their applicant pool is disappointingly shallow. Meanwhile, Ben, Tom, and Andy join Dennis at the Pawnee Smokehouse to talk business over a couple of cigars. And back at the hospital, Ron undergoes a thorough exam revealing a bad case of strep throat. Not just a thorough exam, but as Ann teases, a thorough exam from a particular type of doctor that Ron is going to love, Dr. Harris.

Dr. Harris is such a curmudgeon. Curmudgeon. Yes. Miserable. Yes. Doesn't want to be there. Yeah. But thankfully, he told the world that Jerry had the largest penis he'd ever seen.

So I am a fan of Dr. Harris. Thankful for him breaking his Hippocratic oath. Yes. And saying to the, I never even thought about that. You're right. Saying to a camera. Completely not okay. No, not okay.

But I am fine with it. Because it's interesting because in the scenes in which, let's think about this, in the scenes in which we see him and his patients, I think you just assume the patient has, by being there, is allowing this to be recorded and thereby, you know, waiving any claim to privacy. Right. Sure.

In this case, Dr. Harris. Jerry's left. He's gone. In this case about Jerry's endowment, he's just happily giving that information away. Maybe not happily. He's in awe. But necessarily. Yeah.

He's like, wow. The world needs to know this. Yes. Okay, so... So, yeah, so they're interviewing all these different people. And, of course, the two dumbasses come right back in. Harris is there. He has no idea he's applying for the same damn job.

Yes. And then Brett comes in, who also has... He can't even believe Harris is there. They're roommates. They don't even know they're... They're stoned off their asses. Yeah. It's so funny. And I believe Harris is there. They're roommates. They don't even know. They're stoned off their asses. It's so funny.

And I loved Harris' pitch. He says, what's up? I'm Harris. I'm 33 years young. I have my cousin Jason's truck for two more weeks. I have one testicle whack-a-mole accident, and I'm down to clown. Now, if that doesn't get you the job, I don't know what will. Whack-a-mole accident? What the hell happened there? Meanwhile, Brett's like,

what up? Yo, my name is Brett. I like burgers, and also, I'm very high right now. I think that's a sentence that could be said all day long from those guys. I also just love, too, when they refer to themselves as wild stallions. You know, it's a reference to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures.

It's such a stupidly funny of a choice. Yeah, yeah. And then, so now they have to look elsewhere because these are their only two applicants. Right. So we've had Brett and Harris. And then who shows up? Yeah. Well, then there's, we got our boy, Jerry.

We got Jerry. We got Jerry. Right. Reveals he went to a two-year college, resulting in the Parks Department almost firing him. Well, because Chris said, well, you know, Jerry's been to a four-year college. And I said, well, to be accurate, it was a two-year college at the time. Yeah. And then Leslie says, wow, so you're not even technically qualified to work at your current job.

Jerry goes, oh, geez, April, you're fired. Get out. Because, of course. Yeah, of course. And then goes, oh, geez. April, you're fired. Get out. Because, of course. And then Chris, no, no, no, you're not fired, but we will definitely going to have to lower your salary. And Jerry goes, well, fair is fair. Whenever Chris Traeger joins in on the Jerry

hate, it's quite funny. It's so funny. Right, because he's Mr. Positivity, and he at this point we will have to reduce your pay. And Jerry just goes, fair, fair, fair. And Jerry went in there because he loves animals. It was all good. Like, it was a very sweet

gesture, and yet, nope. It did not work out that way. Well, then we get Katie Dibble, as we said, Katie Dibble's appearance. She's terrified of animals, does not want the job. She has to keep reiterating she does not want the job. But why is she there? Because her therapist, Dr. Richard Nygaard, suggested it.

She is a Nygaardian, too. And then we get Oren, right? Any Oren appearance puts a smile on my face. Yeah, yeah. Resume just says Oren. Just says Oren. Very Ron-like resume when you think about it. Yeah, yeah. Resume, just says Oren. Just says Oren. Very Ron-like resume when you think about it. Yeah, yeah.

April's all for it, of course. Yeah, because Oren studied zoology in college. And he can control animals with his mind. Plus he says, get out. He goes, I knew you were going to say that. Yeah, yeah. I made you say that. Yes, yes.

And then Chris says, I liked him. I know. How random is that? Yeah, I know. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more about our time with Dennis Feinstein. This slow burn in watching, waiting for Andy to just explode. First, they're going to go to the Potty Smokehouse. I love how they're about to go.

And Dennis says, wait, wait, guys, we got to scent up before heading out. Tom grabs ooze, Andy gets money shot, and Ben grabs blood spurt. Yikes. Yeah, not great. Okay, you guys must have had a blast in the room,

though, coming up with scents. Yeah. Because that's all, it must have been so many, so many options. Yeah, yeah. And it's also fun because we talked about,

there's a document called the candy bag, all the stuff that we would pitch on that wouldn't wind up being in the final shooting script. Right. And the writer and director of the episode would get the candy bag. And so for sure, there are probably like 30 different ideas of this

in a candy bag just waiting. And you know, the actors are going to have fun coming up with other new ideas too. Dennis has this hunting story. Do you remember this? Where he says, I have my foxes flown in from Russia. We drug them pretty heavily

so they can't get very far. In fact, mostly they just flop around on the ground. Makes it easier to just walk up and pow. And then he turns to Tom and starts talking to Tom about hunting and what Tom should be wearing for hunting. And then you cut to Tom talking head saying, I think that guy wants to hunt me.

I think he did. Yes. I think he did. Yeah, I think he did. Well, anyway, back into our story. Andy finally can't help himself. And he just, and he doesn't even say it in a way that makes it sound grandstanding. It's one of those things where you're thinking something in your head long enough and it

comes out, you say it and you almost don't realize you said it. Right. It's just like you lose the, that, that filter as a higher functioning animal. Yeah. The moment of, did I say that out loud? He says, you're a dick. Yeah. It had to be said.

Yeah. And their reaction is so good. And it is an especially satisfying moment. You know that it's going to, you know, destroy their attempt to getting money. Yep. But someone's got to say it. Oh, it had to be said. Yeah.

And as much as, you know, we all love been, and he is doing what people have done for years when you're trying to raise money, you just have to bite your tongue. And he has been biting his tongue, but you just want to go, someone's got to say it. And then sweet little Andy, because, you know, as Donna has said, he's simple, but he's fine. And he just, he just blurted it out. And speaking of Donna Donna as they're leaving the smokehouse when they see

Donna in this like just like this moment surrounded by well-dressed good-looking men smoking her cigar gentlemen she's in her element.

Again we say it every week you just got to give Retta one little bit here one little bit there and she is going to nail it, and it will be memorable. Alright, Jim, let's keep going with our synopsis then, my friend. After an exhaustive search

for the new head of animal control, Leslie realizes the best person for the job is right under her nose in the form of April Ludgate. But April's not so sure. Meanwhile, Ben, Andy, and Tom return to Dennis Feinstein's office to apologize, and at first, Feinstein seems to accept the

apology, presenting them with a check for $25,000. But when Ben takes a closer look at the check, he sees that Dennis has made it out to go fuck yourself. That son of a bitch. Well, you know, Jim, as he says, in your face, Dennis Feinstein

helps no man get the hell out of my office. Eddie, get my crossbow. Yeah, that's the moment. And if you listen, if you go back and watch that exact moment, he says, get my crossbow, because Ben has already run off. Right. And then Andy, it's almost under his breath, goes, crossbow, what the fuck? Yeah, yeah. And then they cut him off, because he's even like, what is happening?

And how is this man wealthy and a successful person if he attempts to shoot people on sight? It's such a great moment. Another great moment. Yes. Okay. So Leslie wants April to run the animal control. And do you know what? April loves animals.

It is a really great idea. It's a great idea. It is a really great idea. It's a great idea. It is a really great idea. And we have seen in other episodes, she loves animals. She's always about the animals way more than humans. We've kind of secretly

been setting up a thing where it's time for April to take on more responsibility as she has also volunteered to take on more responsibility. She has come up with ideas that have been good ideas. This is a good idea by Leslie,

but she forces April into it, right? And that becomes the discomfort here. Yeah, April is not a fan of these council meetings and these interrogations and she wants nothing to do with it. She's terrified. It's also like, we know what the city council is like, we know what

JAM is like and Dexart and Milton. And April has, what, five minutes to prepare for an intense grilling. A person who probably needs days to prepare to how to bite her tongue and not say the things she wants to say that we want her to say anyway. Leslie says to her literally, I will be your Pocahontas. Yes. Climb into my papoose. Yeah, Leslie's quite maternal and motherly there. It's sweet.

Always. Yes, yes, yes. Also, speaking of the council room, you know who we didn't have in there? We had a different court reporter. We didn't have Ethel Beavers. We didn't have Ethel Beavers. Yeah. I wonder, maybe they reached out and she wasn't available.

My guess is it's availability. Yeah. If you can get Ethel, you want to see Ethel. I would think so. Because I missed it. Like, they caught my eye. I'm like, oh, this woman seemed lovely. Nothing against her.

Doing her job. I miss my Ethel Beavers. Yeah, yeah. You know me. I miss the Beavers. Okay. All right, Jim. Let's finish up the episode. Our last bit of synopsis.

Unswayed by Jam's intimidation, April returns to the city council confirmation meeting and suggests the animal control department be absorbed into the parks department. Another great idea. And the city council board agrees. Meanwhile, impressed by Ben's efforts and the foundation's charitable work, Tom decides to donate five cents from every dollar made at Rent-A-Swag for the next month to the Sweetums Foundation.

And back at the parks department, Ann finds Ron on the mend back at his desk and reminds him that he now has a very important reason to start taking care of himself, which we see the second part of in the tag when Ron tries to eat a banana, he finds the only way to get it down is by smashing it into the middle of a punch burger,

which is just great physical comedy from Nick Hoffman here. That tag is brilliant. Him trying to get that banana in his mouth and it's just not going to happen. No words. It's so funny. No words. The guys are leaving and it's just,

it's a very simple thing. Ron needs to eat a banana. And you probably only needed to write that one sentence and know that Nick is going to take it from there. Nick is going to make that happen. Also, talk about character growth. We have Tom giving a portion of his proceeds to the foundation. I actually thought about that.

It was five cents from every dollar. That's up, you know. Five percent. Yeah, I'm no John Nash here, but about that. It was five cents from every dollar. That's up, you know. Five percent. Yeah, I'm no John Nash here, but five percent. That is five percent. That's five percent. You know, it is a little victory. And all we needed was that. It was to show the growth from Tom.

It was to show the fact that this whole storyline wasn't truly just so Dennis Feinstein could be told that he's a dick. In a way, it kind of was, but it also was just about this group of guys, these three guys who are working together, who at the end, you know, impart wisdom and help for each other. And I also feel Tom, as much as he is impressed by, you know, Dennis,

he was like, oh, wow, this, I don't want that. Yes, he would like the riches. He would like the money, blah, blah, blah. But I don't want it to be like that. I don't want it to be like that. Yeah. I thought that was a great growth episode. I totally agree. And, you know, Anne is so sweet to Ron

and we talked about it a little bit, but so, you know, you're not alone in this world anymore. It's a really good point. You're dating a woman who has two kids. So every three days think about Ivy and Zoe and Diane and eat a damn banana. Just a banana. Yeah. And Jim, April Lugate is now

deputy director of the animal control portion. Through the Parks Department. Because she let them know, here's her idea. Because she said to Leslie, I have an idea. And Leslie just let her run with it. Leslie did not know what that idea was going to be, which was great.

And so when she pitches it, you see Leslie's reaction. The way Amy played it is great. It's a genuine reaction. She didn't know it was coming and had to like, yeah, that's a great idea, everybody. She says, that was a brilliant idea from a dark torture genius. And I move the animal control be absorbed into parks and rec.

And it's great because it's a good idea. She thinks it's a good idea. Chris Traeger thinks it's a good idea. And even jam will raise his hand. Now jam says he does it because he can't stand being beat. Right. He wants to be on the winning side. And he says,

I'm going to tell everyone this was my idea. Retro jammed. It's such a dumb ass. Yeah. And he says, I'm going to tell everyone this was my idea, retro jammed. It's such a dumbass. Yeah. But I mean, think about it. It was a great idea.

Yeah. And so now she is the head of it. It's through the Parks Department. So she has control. She's still with the Parks Department. Right. I don't know. Brilliant.

Yes. Whoever came up with that idea. So we end the episode with April heading up our new animal control section of Parks and Rec and Ron eating a damn banana. A great episode. Again, I can't believe we did it. We did it.

We came to the end of our great episode of Parks and Rec, but it's not the end of our podcast episode, as you know, because we need your crap. Jim, what's the crap we didn't get to? Well, there is some great crap that we didn't get to. And I'm going to be a little selfish here. For once? And do a little Jerry crap. Oh, okay. Yeah, just for once.

Leslie is talking to everybody, you know, in the council. And she says, animal control has long been a repository for some of this government's most incompetent employees. Jerry Gergert's got to start there. So that's a funny bit off. But everyone's reaction. Yes. Oh, yeah. This mumbling. Oh, yeah. Oh, God. Yeah. That's the worst oh yeah there's mumbling oh yeah oh god yeah

that's that's the worst but it's not i'm sorry i'm sorry to jump into your crap but it's not so fun i love the fact that everyone had to take everyone knows who jerry gergich is apparently they do yes yes yes all right what else what's the rest and again because i'm it's a jerry moment when leslie's trying to convince april she says do you remember all those candidates that we were interviewing for the animal control job and how they were all total losers who didn't care about animals? The camera cuts to Jerry. And, of course, Leslie corrects herself, except for Jerry, who was great, but we had to pass on for other reasons. And then Jerry, I was just happy to be considered.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, he is the sweetest man who has ever walked this damn planet, people. So that's some of my crap, buddy. That's great crap, Jim. Thank you for it. Oh, Jim, I'm sorry. We've already talked about your crap. I know, but here's a moment that we cannot forget in this episode.

We cannot forget it because it was visual and funny. Yes. The doctor is doing the exam on Ron. I was hoping you were going to say this. Thank you. And he literally says, there is something occluding your ear. Yes. And Ron goes, it's sawdust.

Just blow. The doctor blows on his ear and a puff of sawdust comes flying out. Yeah. Visual, funny. Yeah. Perfect for Ron. And it could have been just Dr. Harris saying there's sawdust in your ear. But no, Ron knows in advance what it's going to be. It's going to be, it's sawdust in your ear, but no, Ron knows in advance

what it's going to be. It's sawdust. So that's some of my crap, buddy. I, once again, acknowledge your crap and say thank you for it. So, what do we think about this episode? What are your final thoughts on it? Such a good episode. I love that we learned that Tom is growing, which is wonderful.

I loved watching Andy really take things in and slowly do a slow burn until he finally couldn't take it anymore. April has found the perfect job for herself, which, of course, I love that. It was great. I love the animal control guys up front. We see Chris injured. That's tough. He's not a man who wants to be injured in any way.

His body is a temple. Yeah, yeah. So, great episode. Yeah, yeah, I know. You said all my thoughts. So, I'll just add that, you know, on a writing level, I find very satisfying that the conclusion for this episode, the solution is a very smart one.

Super smart. You don't have to contort yourself too much to figure out, oh, this is the perfect way to wrap this up. It's April saying that we should make

Animal Control part of Parks and Rec. You know, the things you've been watching five and a half seasons worth of. And it's just a very satisfying turn of story.

Yeah. So, another great episode and filled with, once again, some gifts, parties, and jobs. And it's just a very satisfying turn of story. Yeah. So another great episode. And filled with, once again, some gifts, parties, and jobs. Always. Leslie gives April a basket of lotion bottles filled with fake blood, vinegar, and mud. So kind.

She knows April so well. She knows her. We have Brett and Harris being fired from animal control. So they're losing their jobs. But April becomes deputy director of animal control in the department, getting a job. We got a gift. We got jobs. No parties.

Oh, there were no parties. Yeah, no parties. I don't think we could... You know what? I was a party to watching a wonderful episode. Please stop. See what I did there, people? Yeah.

Write it down, people. This is what you're paying for. Well, you're not paying, but still, this is what you would be paying for. Well, that's our gifts, parties, and jobs. And we should call out an episode MVP.

So, Jim, what character moment in this episode sticks out the most to you and why? As always, great episode of great work by everybody. I love, you know,

what Pratt was doing. But Nick's tag with the banana. Yeah. I just can't get past it. And I've got to give him the MVP. Well, great. I would happily agree with you.

And I do. I think that is just a pure, just physical comedy masterpiece. I also really love what Aubrey does in this episode. Yeah, me too. April is so fun. I like her reactions to Jam and Dexart's interviewing of her in the council chambers. I like the comedy she has with Oren or with Leslie.

And then she comes up with a great solution and she's confident enough to say, just trust me, let me do this. So I'll go with my co-MVP in April, like Gabe. So listeners, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Team Coco Podcast or by using the hashtag, hashtag perks and recollection.

Well, Jim, you know, speaking of valuable Pawneans, as we talked about earlier, we got this awesome chance to sit down with Councilman Bill Dexart. He goes as Kevin Simons in real life. And we talked all about his time on the show. It was fantastic. Here's what he had to say.

We've built this up. We've built it up. And now it's happening. I am super excited. I can speak for Greg too, I think, to have one of the sleaziest of all time members of the Pawnee community. That's right. Sitting here is... It's a little uncomfortable. I shudder even saying the name. Councilman Dexhart. Dexhart.

Bill Dexhart. Kevin Simons. Kevin Simons is his real name. And in real life, he's not a sleazebag. Well, I've heard some stories. I'm not going to... It was typecasting. Yeah, yeah.

Welcome. Thank you so much you're one of the iconic characters from the show you know you there's some guests that come and go here and there you how many episodes overall do you know how many you did we shot 15 and i think 14 aired that's right yeah because i think we were cut out of one yeah it was like a quick scene at the top of the show, and they were just like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it wasn't even in the outtakes. Actually, it was in the outtakes. Oh, really?

I think it was, yeah. And so, yeah, so it was great. Yeah, it was a nice time. And he was iconic. I mean, they wrote, you guys wrote such great, great stuff. I mean, really, really outrageous stuff. And it would just build and get more crazy

and it just would get more popular as nutty as you know as crazy and Dexhart had no morals so none of it bothered him no oh absolutely not

none of it seemed to bother him right and I think that's the fun of it the moment we meet Dexhart he's already unwilling to acknowledge the severity perhaps

of what he's done yeah and so at that point if that's where you meet the person, it's only going to get crazier and worse. He should have been MeToo'd for one month into office. He should have been gone. I actually ran into Mike Schur at the party when we did the Paley Fest. Remember the Paley Fest?

Sure, sure. And I said, you know, Michael, I was wondering, what would you guys do with him today? Because this was when all the Me Too stuff was going on. I was just wondering. But the thing is that he didn't care. He didn't care. It's just, no. You know, he had sex to and from the press conference in the limo with a prostitute where he's going to apologize for having sex

in a cave in Brazil. Right, right, right. And he says, and in my defense, it was my birthday and I really wanted to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is a great defense.

I really wanted to do it. I really wanted to do it. Yeah. Okay, let's... If only the birthday defense really worked for anything. For, yeah. Yeah.

I tell people all the time, on your birthday, you can do whatever you want because you really wanted to do it. It's like the Pawnee version of worked for anything. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I tell people all the time, on your birthday, you can do whatever you want. Okay. Because you really want to do it. It's like the Pawnee version of The Purge. Yeah. So let's start at the beginning. How did you just audition for the show?

Did you know anybody? Nope. Or how did it just, Allison, or probably Dorian. It was Dorian. Yeah, Dorian. Dorian Frankel, wonderful, loved her. Yeah, I've been loving Dorian. She's been so good to me over the years.

I just love her. I went in, she had this teeny tiny little office and with, you know, we're all waiting in the hallway to go in. And it was just reading with her. And it was just that opening speech because the episode was practice date and they're all trying to find dirt on each other because who would want to be in politics because look at what this guy is like. And so, yeah, so I did the whole speech and she laughed and I don't remember. I think I may have gotten adjustment. And she said, that was great.

And I left. And then a couple of days later, we want to bring you to producers for the producer read. And that was another office, tiny office. And I walked in, same material. And was it Mike? And it was definitely Alex Hardcastle, who was the director. Right. Right.

Alex Hardcastle. I think Harris Whittles wrote that episode. Right. Yeah, that's right. Harris. Dear Harris. Wonderful. And so I think he was in there, and I think Mike was in there.

You know, when you go into these things, it's a blur. Yeah, yeah. 100%. And I walked into the waiting room, and I'm seeing heavy hitter, heavy hitter, heavy hitter. I'm going, there is no way I'm getting this. But I think I did a line very, very different from what I heard the other people were doing. And the line was, I wasn't just having sex. I was making love to a beautiful woman and her boyfriend and a third person whose

name I never learned. And that got the biggest laugh because he's saying, if I never learned her name, then it doesn't matter. I never learned it. So I'm not going to take that one. I'm not going to take that one on. And it got a huge laugh. And I walked out and I thought I hit every beat I hit every moment that I've worked on I felt great and I got on with my manager

and I said it went really well but I am not gonna get it because you just seen who was going in after me it's what actors do to ourselves all the time you should have seen

we see who else is out there and you think well this is silly I don't stand a chance it ain't gonna happen but I went home feeling great about it and I did it this is really all you can do all we can. It ain't going to happen. It ain't going to happen. But I went home feeling great about it

and I did it. This is really all you can do. All we can do in an audition is feel good. If you've done what you planned on doing, it's all you can do. And you know,

we've done that and we've also beat ourselves up all the way home. I've redone the audition in the car 10 times on the way home that I will never do again. Exactly.

But I thought, no, I thought, I felt great about it. Maybe there'd be something else down the road. Who knows? Sure. And then a couple of days later, get the call and I got it.

Nice. Did you know it was going to be a recurring character? Nope. I was one and done. They said it was just one guest star and that was it. And I had a great day. It was just me on the stage with Perd Happily. It was his first episode.

Jay Jackson. Jay Jackson. Yeah, Jay's a great guy. And the actress playing my wife who just looks livid and she's turning around. Yeah, Jay's a great guy. And the actress playing my wife, who just looks livid and she's turning around. Yeah, yeah, it's very extreme. And of course, that was the episode that had Dex Hart's catchphrase with it, which is, I have no plans to resign. So that was always what he would say.

So I did not know it was recurring. And then several weeks later, it was 10 episodes later, they called back and said, we want to bring him back for Christmas Scandal. I thought, great. And then I get the script and I'm the A story with Amy. And there's all these things. I'm like, oh, crap.

I'm so excited and so petrified. What? That's exactly what it is. It's the excitement of, oh my God, I'm in the A story. But then, oh god, I'm in the A story. Oh, that's scary. I've got to pull it off. It's the thing, you get the thing you want and you're like, but I've got to do it now.

Yes! And I've said, I've got to be learned. Because you know, you're a journeyman actor. As a guest star actor, you've got to go in, you've got to be great, but not too great because you don't want to overshadow the leads. Exactly. But that's the great thing about Parks, and I've heard you guys talk about this on the podcast many times.

I'm a big fan of the podcast. Oh, sweet. And we did not make him say that for the record. Actually, I am a big fan of Greg. I have some notes. You have notes for Jim? I brought some notes. You have notes for Jim. We should cover this later. It's several pages.

And I did not plan that either. I don't want to take up. That is hurtful. It's fair, but it is hurtful. But yeah, I'll give them to you later. But anyway, so, and here I am. And we had the first scene, which was with Amy doing like a press conference thing. And then I had a scene just her and I in this restaurant.

Yes. In the Valley. We're doing the scene as written, of course, several takes. And then, you know, it would loosen up and loosen up. And then Randall Einhorn was directing the episode. Yeah. And he would whisper on my ear, okay, let's try it this way this time. And then it was just Amy and I improvising.

Oh, so fun. And I got off there. I called my, I was like, I just did my dream. Yeah. Yeah. Improvising with Amy Poehler.

And trying to keep up. Trying to keep up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that intimidating? Yeah. Well,

it is very intimidating. I remember we were doing an episode, oh, the episode that you're, you're covering today, Animal Control. Yeah. And, you know, we were doing, I know you guys have explained the fun runs.

Yeah. And I was sitting at my chair and John Glazer's here and Amy's down there. And we were completely improvising and I was talking to April Ludgate and saying, you know, I've never heard of several of these terms, these sex terms, and I'm a freak. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so when we got to the fun run,

I was trying to get in a couple of, you know, jokes or just laughs. And Glazer and Polar are going at it and I just was like, I'm sitting back and watching.

My job here is actually just to let them. I'm going to shut up now. Yeah, yeah. Because I am not even in the hemisphere of these people. I totally agree. I'd be like that when Ben Schwartz was going, like, let the man do what the man does. I don't need to interject here because I will make a fool of myself.

That's just a good lesson in general. In general, I should go, but yes. Listen more and talk less. I remember Ben Schwartz, so brilliant. Yes. And he was in the middle of talking in the chambers, in the councilman chambers, and we had pictures of like old black and white photos. And he's in the middle of talking and he says, excuse me for a minute.

And he walked over to one of the photos and he put his hand on it and he goes, hi, daddy. Hi, daddy. I miss you. a minute and he walked over to one of the photos and he put his hand on it and he goes hi daddy i'm just like sir for just no reason yeah yeah but that would be so intimidating it's just you and amy at a table yeah and they're letting you go yeah and they're letting us go and it was take after take yeah let's let's try this let's try that sure but you talk about how so you get the script and you're in the a story and in these scenes and you come to the end. At that point, what a professionally satisfying moment. Absolutely. I was on cloud a thousand.

I mean, it was exactly what I wanted to do. I had studied improv. And to be on the other side of that booth with her was incredible. And those were the days, you know, they used to hide the cameras a lot, so you really couldn't see them. Right. Behind a bush. Oh, there were many times I said, where is the damn camera?

Where is the camera? And it made it so creative because you didn't have to, you didn't even have to worry about the cameras. Right, right. And Randall is very good on letting people go and improvising, and yeah, it was pretty amazing. And I was walking back to my trailer and passed Nick like a day later

because I was on for the whole week. And Nick said- He said, don't look at my eyes. He said, don't look at me. Look down, yeah. Call me, yes. Call me by my surname, right. And Nick said

so Amy told me about you know the scene you did and she said you were just absolutely prepared and were fantastic and we were doing

a great job and I was like thanks that's the best thanks thanks for stopping yeah first of all

you know how great it was the fact that they were even chatting about it meant it really it meant something to Amy too I hope so unless they were going this guy sucks.

No, you wouldn't have been back. That would have been an easy fix. I was going to say, let's talk about that. You're in Practice State. You're in Christmas Scandal. Season 2 episodes. And then we don't see you again until Season 5. So when there's a storyline happening on the show where Leslie's

running for city council and she wins, you're like, oh, here we go. Do you feel at this moment like, oh, I'm going to be back. This is great. Because we could have had a whole new city council at that point. What a great thing that I think three seasons later, that's the fun of the show, is that you get to bring someone back that you might not have seen for a while,

but they're just as much a part of Pawnee as anyone else. We were such fans of the show by this point. We were watching every episode. Yeah. And I thought, hmm, she got elected to the city council. I wonder, and that was like the end, last episode. But you just have to, you're like, what's going to happen? They haven't had me back in three seasons,

so I don't know, you know, which I was kind of bummed about, but I thought they had so many other storylines going on. And then she became on the scene. I thought, there might be a chance here. And then it was just one after another after another. Don't you love when you get the guest on a show that you like? Yeah.

I love that. I do too. And here's the thing, Jim, and you know this, is that everybody was so nice on that show. And every time I went back, it was like we picked up right where we left off. It was like good family. Love that. And they made you feel so, you guys all made me feel so welcome. I love that we have that reputation as being a set that people enjoyed.

I just, that gives me a lot of pride. And people who have recognized me over the years have always asked, so what was it like? Was it a fun set to work on? I said, yes, it was.

And it all stemmed from Amy Poehler. Of course. It trickled down from her. It's about your showrunner and your number one on the call sheet. And if they're, if they're not crazy people, you're going to have a good experience.

Yeah, you are. And we did. And as you were talking about, if you have talked about before, is that she wanted everyone to shine. It wasn't the Amy show. Amy wanted everybody to get whatever laugh, plenty to go around. Plenty of laughs to go around. At one point, Amy, in one of the episodes, was so excited that Hauser, one of the other city councilmen, agreed with her that she spilled coffee in his lap. And she's like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I was just so happy that you agreed with me. And then after one of the takes, it was just about to cut, and I said, you can spill coffee in my lap, Leslie, anytime. And she said, that's funny. What's your first name? Bill. Okay, she said, she calls the rider over and said, we need to try this.

That's great. And we did a couple of takes. And I said, you can spill the coffee in my lap, Leslie. And she said, not now, Bill. Not now, Bill. It was just hilarious. They didn't use it. But I'm sure there's a lot of stuff they didn't use.

But it was nice of her to just say, oh, come here. This is really funny. But that's the part of the collaborative process of making TV that I really love, especially comedy, in that it really is greater than the sum of its parts. And you never know when someone's improv there is going to inspire a storyline there or improves her performance, which could improve your performance. You're trying to make something that you couldn't do alone. Yeah, absolutely. performance, you know, you're trying to make something that you couldn't do alone. It's interesting to have, you know, to be on a show that's

popular means you're going to be recognized. But to be on a show that's popular and you're going to be recognized for a very specific type of character, right? A generally unredeemed character and one who's purely there for a very extreme joke. So what are, people meet you

and you're not Bill Dexart. What's that like? I come on to them immediately. Okay, good. You're like, you know what? Truth and comedy. Absolutely. And then after the slap in the face, and you're right, people in fact all over the world now because the show

is everywhere I've been recognized. And yeah, they generally know that I'm not the character. Yeah, yeah. But then they want to know about the set. They want to know how it was. They want to know, did you have a great time? And yeah, absolutely. And again, it comes down to Amy.

Did it open up doors, like work-wise? Did it help? It did. In fact, right after the show was done, I got a series regular on a Disney series. I was the dad on a Disney series. And my first day, I reported, and I had gone in for several auditions and then a chemistry read with the kids and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I booked it. And the two showrunners, executive producers of the show, were like, we got Dex Hart. We got Dex Hart on the show.

And I said, you wanted Dex Hart? He's playing the father of children, you know, teenage kids. And they said, yeah, you were so great on that show. And they loved the show so much that the girl that was playing my daughter actually was kind of like their Leslie Knope type character. Yeah.

You know, always seeing the good and so they were thrilled to get sexy-dexy. No. And that was great. So I went from that and I went on

just right onto that show. Wow. It was really great. I have had when I, you know, go on different sets for whatever, like just recently

I rapped something and during it, you know, every once in a while someone will say something. But then at the end, when they say, oh, and that's a rap on Jim O'Hare or whatever, then the crew will come over and some of the co-stars and say, oh, my God, we didn't want to say anything. And then they take pictures. It's all very sweet. The show has taken on a life of its own. It wasn't a show that just came and went. Because many shows come and go. Every day.

You know, we could talk forever with you. And we should talk forever with you. But we're going to have to say goodbye, but I want to leave you with something. A fact about your character's name that I don't know if you knew. Which is that one of the things that we had to do on shows is name

characters and why some of the characters' names had to do on shows is name characters and why some of the characters' names got crazier and crazier later on, because the legal clearance department would be like, well, clearly no one has this last name. If we had been taking place in a real city, then they would have cleared names based on people who live in that particular city. But because

it was Indiana, we had a much larger group of people we had to clear. So we kept naming people and we kept being told, you can't name this thing. It's too similar to someone else. Or there are only three people with that name. All of that is to say is that the guy who did clearances at NBC sent over to me when I was a writer's assistant,

a list of like 100 surnames. And those 100 surnames were all legally cleared. You could put any person's first name in front of it. Okay. And they were going to be okay. And so what happened was we were naming characters. We're coming in with your character. And I think of one or two weren't getting cleared.

And I had this list and they saw Dexart. And they're like, and Dexart was one of the cleared names. And so I said, well, you got it. He's going to be and Dexart was one of the clear names. And so I said, well, you got it. He's going to be Bill Dexart. And it's so funny now to think of something so oddly just trivial is tied to your characters, like your ethos. Like it feels like Bill Dexart is Dex. You know what I mean?

Oh, gosh, yeah. I can't even imagine that. It's so perfect. It's so perfect for it. It almost sounds like it's almost like a double entendre. I don't know how it fits in there, but it almost sounds like it is. Oh, you got a Dex art. Or it lives in like this like dynasty Dallas, like, you know, like 80s soapy drama world.

Yeah. And then you got to have sexy Dexy, which was great. Oh, that's right. Sexy Dexy strikes again. The headlines. So great. So great. Kevin, thank you. Strikes Again. The headlines. So great. So great. Kevin, thank you.

You're awesome. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for what you brought to the show. Thank you. Because it's out there and you are forever Dexy. It is one of the highlights of my career. I just had a blast.

Thank you, Councilman. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Yes, thank you, Councilman. Thank you. Kevin, of course, was awesome.

Awesome. I know Kevin off, you know, off camera. Is that the word I should use? You did right. He's a super funny guy. We have a lot of mutual friends.

We see each other here and there and he's, he's, you can hear in his voice how happy he is that he was a part of the show. Yeah. I feel that way every day.

How grateful that I am that I was a part of this show. Yeah. Because it's a luck day, how grateful that I am that I was a part of this show. Yeah. Because it's a luck in the draw. You audition, you don't know what's going to happen. Yeah. But he's really grateful and he deserves it because he's just so damn good.

Yeah, it was so fun to talk to him. So thank you, Kevin, for joining us. And you know what? Thank you all for listening. Text this episode to your group chat. You know, I love it. And do you know what? Start group chats.

Start them, damn it. Talk to your friends and family. And while you're talking to them, text them about this. Text them about our podcast. Give us five-star reviews wherever you're listening. And Jim, once again, from all of us here at Parks and Recollection, goodbye from Pawnee. Bye.

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.