Parks and Recollection - Mara Marini: Bailout (S5E16)

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

Mona Lisa Saperstein just rolled into town and *spoiler alert*, she’s the woooooorst! Jim O’Heir and Greg Levine break down every cringeworthy moment, along with April and Ann’s forced friendship, Chris’ poor attempt at parenting Tom, and the future of the Pawnee Video Dome in this week’s walkthrough of “Bailout.”  Plus, Mara Marini joins Jim and Greg to talk about her recurring role as Pawnee’s favorite adult film star Brandi Maxxxx.  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 another episode of Parks and Recollection Yes, we are here for another one

I'm Jim O'Hare, the guy who played Gary, Larry, Terry, Jerry, Barry. A lot of names. And I'm sitting next to one of the greatest, the most fun. I'll stop you right there. It's Greg. Thank you. Because I can barely get it out. You're very good at saying those names in a row.

Because it's a thousand times. I've heard it a thousand times. I've had to say it a thousand times. And people will come up to me, oh, who are you today? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's all fine. It's all sweet. But yeah, so Gary Larry, Jerry Terry, Barry.

And then it'll be like, Barry. And I have to remind them, yes. Johnny Karate. I was named Barry. And then what is interesting is April calls Jerry Larry. And it just immediately sticks. Yeah, yeah. Immediately. No discussion with anybody. He just immediately sticks. Yeah. Immediately.

No discussion with anybody. He is now Larry. Yeah. It's lunacy. When you, Gengert. Gengert, yes. That's technically, legally the name. No.

Gengert. I believe that's what was on the license. Remember during the episode where we find out that he lied about his name because he didn't want to cause any trouble when the guy called him Jerry. So he just went with Jerry and it was Gary. I think it was Gengarch.

I know. It's been a lot. I also want to mention since this is a Parks and Recollection podcast, I had lunch recently with Mo Collins who played Joan Calamezzo. And I just have to say, not that she needs me to say it,

she is, as our boy Chris Traeger would say, literally one of the funniest people on the planet. We had planned to meet for lunch, you know, what is it going to go, an hour and a half, maybe? Four hours and 20 minutes. Yeah. Guttural laughs, the kind of laughs

that you can't catch your breath. And at some point during your meal together, did she stand up and leave and said that she was going to go off to powder her nose amongst other things? Amongst other things, yeah. Yeah. She didn't. I did get up. You did that. You went to powder.

Because I had, you know. You have to baby powder. I had pottied myself. So I had to go clean up. I'm sorry, man. But that is from the laughter. And at my age, things know. You have to baby powder. I had pottied myself. So I had to go clean up. I'm sorry. But that is from the laughter. And at my age, things happen. Yeah.

You're right about laughter like that. I've had those moments too where you feel like I'm so happy, but I also feel like I might die right now. Yes, because I'm telling you, I was dizzy. Yes. Dizzy. I feel like I might throw up right now. I'm laughing so hard. And that's such a gift.

And to be with someone who can make that happen. And we both were saying it had been a while since either we called it a guttural laugh. That either one of us had really had those kind of laughs. And of course, it's over stupid, silly stuff. Yeah. But anyway, I just shout out to my girl, Mo Collins. I love her. She's one of my faves.

Yeah, yeah. The Pawnee unity remains. And I did not know her before Parks. So my relationship with her started on Parks. And you know when you meet somebody and sometimes... You feel like you've known them... You wish you could go back and do things again. Exactly, because you missed a lot of good years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she's one of those people. That's amazing. And she's got a good heart and she's... Anyway. This is a perfect tee-up for the fact that we're talking about an episode that she does not appear in. She's not in at all.

But the but, one with big guttural laughs. We are talking about an exceptional episode and we have an exceptional guest at the end. We will be joined by Pawnee's favorite adult film star, Brandi Maxx, the one and only Mara Marini.

So please stick around after we talk about today's episode. It is Bailout. It was written by Joe Mandy, directed by Craig Zisk, originally airing on March 14th, 2013. And Jim, will you give us a blurb? Leslie shifts into high gear to save one of Pawnee's last intellectual gathering places, the Pawnee Video Dome. Meanwhile, Tom has his hands full. Oh, does he ever. With a new employee at Rent-A-Swag. And Anne pulls out all the stops to make April her friend. As she waits for an important answer from Chris.

A classic Parks when you think about it. An A, B, C story is very separate, right? Everyone's in their own little thing. But tons of great comedy games for both of them. Well, let's talk about some notes before we get into the details. This episode aired the week after the big double airing that we had of Leslie and Ben and Correspondence Lunch. And it is filled with cameos galore.

We have Jason Schwartzman as Dennis Lurpis. Jenny Slate as her first appearance as Mona Lisa Saperstein. She'll wind up doing 10 episodes as Mona Lisa. The best. Ben Schwartz as John Raphael Saperstein. Mara Marini as Brandy Max. As we said, we'll talk to you later in the episode. And a little thing I like to call out is this

episode is Lurpus loaded. Let me tell you, there is Dennis Lurpus as we just talked about, Jason Schwartzman. We have Herman Lurpus will appear at the store later on. And Joe Mandy appears as Morris Lurpus.

Three Lurpi hanging out together, not really acknowledging the family reunion going on. No, I don't think they acknowledge each other at all. Maybe the Lurpis family is so sprawling that they just don't know who's in them. Yeah, I think they're a bit of a mess. That's not a family tree you want to be a part of.

All right, well, let's jump right in, Jim, to the episode with our synopsis. With Rent-A-Swag a success, Tom hires a new sales associate and gets more than he bargained for. Meanwhile, Leslie and Andy find out that the Pawnee Video Dome is going out of business. And Ben suggests that Chris test out his paternal instincts on Tom while he weighs the decision to have a baby with Ann. Yeah, three great setups. Yes. But I will jump in and say,

the opening of this episode is one of my favorites in the series. Really? That's a lot to say. I know that's a big statement. A lot of episodes, a lot of great ones. A lot of great openings. But because we get to meet the crazy Mona Lisa,

and we have Jean-Ralphio. You have just, for me, you have just loaded it up, and it's all a home run. Plus, we have everybody else there. We've got Chris and Ben and Jerry and Ron and, of course, Tom, and even a quick drive-by by Donna.

Like, I just love this opening. You get the family together. Exactly. And you have an expansion of one of our craziest families, the Sapersteins. Yes. I mean, Mona Lisa is pure chaos. Right?

She's pure chaos. That's her life. It's her existence is chaos. Yes. But the way that Ben Schwartz, and we're going to talk a lot about Mona Lisa, so I'm not trying to, but let's talk about Ben Schwartz.

Yeah. The way Jean-Raphael pops up behind Ben, you're like, in reality, he would have known he was there, but it's so crazy. Like, you don't think about it. You don't. There's no need to. And I'll also say this from an acting standpoint. God knows he was squatted down. Oh, yeah.

Because believe me, you don't do one take and move on to the next scene. Right, right. That could be 10 takes and then fun runs and everything else that went on. Well, you know, Jerry gets quite a Jerry moment right out of the gate in this episode. No wonder you love this cold open where Mona Lisa sees the guys lined up and she says, for the record, would hit it, would hit it, would hit it, gets to you, hard pass. Hard pass. But here's the great moment about it when she says hard pass to jerry he just this big smile yes yes but here's why in my opinion as the guy who played

jerry he didn't have a clue what she was talking about oh he didn't have a clue so she he who knows what he thought but it was like oh maybe it's good to be passed maybe it's good oh i get the hard pass like i guarantee jerry wouldn't have been offended because there's no reason. But what I also love that we found out in our amazing research that Lisa does for us, Jenny said that she remembers thinking that she knows what Jerry's been through. She has seen the show. Right, right, right. And she goes and she knows that we're all used to it.

But to her, it felt heartbreaking. Oh, yeah. Which is very sweet. That's very sweet. Because a lot of people, you know, if people are going to come up with something negative about the show, well, they were just too mean to Jerry. This, this, this. And we've talked about this a hundred times. It was all good.

Jerry knew what the situation was. Jerry had this wonderful life at home. It was all good. But I love that Jenny, as a person who watched the show, felt it. Yes, yes, yes. I thought that was very sweet. Well, let's jump over to the Pawnee Video Dome, which is going out of business, right?

What we're going to learn it is because it's no wonder. It's no wonder. Blockbuster was in serious peril at the time this episode was released. It ceased its operations in 2014. So that's what's happening in the world. We're feeling this end of an era. I mean, for me, I think about my childhood. I think about what Friday nights were. And we would go as a

family to Blockbuster. We'd get to pick something. It was such a bummer when they wouldn't have the thing you wanted. But now it's a different time and progress is great. But, you know, the DVD sections of the Ponte Videodome include 1970s classics of all time,

100 creepy movies of all time. This place needs some updating. It's awful. And as Dennis Lurpis will say, we don't carry cartoons but if you want to film about the ocean, we have a documentary about the brutality

of Japan's whaling industry. It's called Tears of My Blowhole. And it's nauseating. It's nauseating, yes. It's just nauseating. Yes, yes, yes. Those are the kind of movies you want to have in your place. Yes. One of my favorite little jokes that happened in this episode is how we find out that PIRD had a movie

review show. First of all, PIRD has had a lot of very specific shows. Clearly, this guy had access to the public access television. Those were in this guy had access to the public access television. Those were in the days when anybody could do public access. It was free. They had to give the community a certain amount of time.

It was called Lights, Camera, Purred, obviously. As he says, he gave E.T. one and a half stars saying, it's a heartwarming story, but it's just not believable. That's why I gave E.T. one and a half stars. That is so purr. Yeah, yeah. And what they did with his hair. I don't know what style you call

that. I'm sure there was a term for it in the day, but it was so great to see Jay Jackson, who played Purr, looking like that. Yes. And, you know, we talked about it, so let's just acknowledge Chris is weighing the decision to have a baby with Anne, and Ben suggests he treat Tom like a sack of flour to test his parenting skills.

Yeah, because Chris is very concerned. Do I have what it takes? Right, right, right. Almost like do a high school project here. Can you fake it in a way that it feels real? Like try it here. And as Chris says, it's a battle between my primal desire to bring a child into this world and my paralyzing fear of negatively affecting any living thing. And I will say, as now a father of two, I understand that. Right? Like, this is this blank slate.

And you're like, what am I going to do? What are my problems that I'm going to pass off onto this? Because no one does it perfect. No. Because there's no rules. No, no. You're figuring it out. Right. You try to correct sins of the past while not create sins of the future. Yeah. Right. Okay. Let's keep going with our synopsis. Intent on saving the Pawnee Video Dome, Leslie sits down with Dennis to rethink his business strategy, leading Ron to surmise that a bailout is afoot. Meanwhile, Ann agrees to write April a letter of recommendation for veterinary school in exchange for a week's worth of

friendship. And Chris tries his first stab at fatherly advice by telling Tom to fire Mona Lisa. Okay, let's start with Ann and April. So April needs a letter of rec, and Ann will do an exchange for a week's worth of friendship. Oh, that's so sad. So April needs a letter of rec and Anne will do an exchange for a week's worth of friendship. Oh, that's so painful. It's kind of, it's painful in both when you think about it. Yeah.

Here's the other thing I love about, and I know this is just good comedy writing. You're putting two characters together for a whole, their storyline is the two of them. Right. I mean, people come and go, but it's them.

Generally, their relationship is very much one-liners here and there. Anne says something, April slams her, and they move them. Generally, their relationship is very much one-liners here and there. Anne says something, April slams her, and they move on. They're in different things. I love that you put these two polar opposites together. And we'll get to the scenes. There are two important scenes, I think, that make it all worth it. Because for a while,

it's a recurring bit, right? It's Anne making April uncomfortable by doing very, perhaps stereotypically, just like, you know, girlfriend- Girlfriend-y things. Kind of things. But then there's a great moment we'll get to where April gets to be that person for Anne and Anne gets to be that person for April. And it's all worth it.

But it's so fun to see the two of these people together who, you know, as we've learned, Anne has tried very hard for April to like her. She's tried very hard. Very, very hard. Most people have given up, but not Ann. Yeah. And when they first try to get together, because April needs a favor,

and that's the worst position for April to be in, especially with Ann. Because when you need a favor, you got to, you know, you got to do it. And even as she's asking for the favor, she's asking for a favor,

and she says to her, I need a letter of recommendation since you work in a hospital as a janitor. I mean, she slams her. Right. Even when she's asking, it's just in her DNA. And of course, just so quick, just Rashida, nurse. Like, it's not even nurse. Like, she's not even going to try to full-blown correct it because it's not going to matter.

Okay. So, Ron sifts out that a government bailout is happening. It kicks off a classic Leslie and Ron conflict, right? We've seen these. Many times. We love these. It's fun. But what I like about this one is that for a while, I think about Woman of the Year or I think about Sweetums, those episodes of season two where, you know, it's an opinion about awards

or it's Leslie overstepping in Ron's personal life. This one really was more localized to world views. Right? About this is Ron's true view in a way that we've joked about for a long time. This is what he really believes is the purpose

and nature of government. Yes, and we have seen Leslie with her beliefs sometimes maybe cross the line of 100% ethical, even though she's incredibly ethical, but she does want her way. And what I also love about these battles between Ron and Leslie, there's not like always a winner. There's not always Ron wins or always Leslie wins. It goes back and forth. Right. And you know, we haven't gotten to that episode yet.

It's a few episodes from now, but there'll be an episode that we'll talk about soon, Swing Vote, in which they're again going to be at cross purposes. Yeah. And I think of these

in concert in a way, which is like, this is the nature of why they work so well is because they may disagree on so many things, but they do also agree on each other's value and worth. And just from a personal aspect of their lives, they love each other. Right.

There's absolute love there. Right, right, right. Well, you know, this Chris and Tom little sit down that happens here, Jim. Oh, when they're on the couch? It's... Yeeks! I, you know, there's a lot to unpack here. There's that clear sight gag, as you talked about. They're sitting so close together.

You know, Chris says this line. He says says that you're a smart successful young man with an adorable little belly stand up for yourself and it's funny because chris at this moment in the reality of chris trager's life he is trying to be dad mode right yes so you're thinking is this what dad traeger is this what dad chris would be like i think dad chris there's every day some deep conversation yeah with his children but it's just weird because tom doesn't know what's happening why is chris being like this he doesn't know that ben has set this whole thing up right you. You know, to give Chris a sense of what it would be like to be a father. Right.

And think about it. He's doing it with a man in his late 20s. Yes. It's not even a teenager. Yes. This is a man in his late 20s who can make his own decisions at this point. Well, what I love about this is

there isn't a moment in the episode in which Tom learns that this is what's going on with Chris. Because you can see there would be a, there's a version of's a great comedy game. Where Chris is doing this and then Tom finds out about it and uses it to really like fuck with him, right? But no,

it's just, this is Chris's journey. He never knows. He never knows. And I think that's quite fun because you have this great little throwaway joke which made me laugh a lot where after Tom gets up, you hear Chris say, you're welcome, son.

Right? And Tom's like, what? He's like, oh, nothing. He just tries it on. And there's a version where Tom would have heard that. And then the next scene, then he finds out from Ben what's going on and then he fucks with Chris. No. This is just because Tom has his own problem. Mona Lisa, Saperstein.

Alright, Jim, well let's jump back into our synopsis. With the news of a government bailout spreading throughout Pawnee, the city council is inundated with local businesses looking for a handout. Meanwhile, back at Rent-A-Swag, Tom tries to fire Mona Lisa, but his efforts wind up turning her on instead of laying her off. And as April and Anne spend more time together, April starts to sniff out something happening between Chris and Anne. So this is what I'm talking about with the April and Anne thing. I like how after a while, April starts to clue in.

She's smart. She's a good read of people. Really good. Right? Because she silently judges everybody, right? She's silently judging. And actually, not always so silently. Right. But I just really like that. They know each other well enough, and April's good enough at this kind of stuff. There's something going

on here, and she's really poking at Anne. Yeah. But in addition to that, Jim, April must really want to go to veterinary school, right? Because she's doing everything Anne has been asking of her, including wearing her hair up and matching crown braids. Which is such a great visual. But does that mean Anne wears those crown braids that she would have April do it? Or do you think Anne was messing with April?

I think Anne purposely decided to push together what friends do over a long period of time. These are like, oh, these are some of our things we will do. And we'll just like crunch them together to really put April to the ringer. Like that scene when they're sitting together and it starts and all of a sudden you just hear Anne say, you know, she says, I guess it'd be Channing Tatum's body,

Ryan Gosling's face, and Michael Fassbender's sense of humor. And she's like, well, who's your perfect guy? Right? Yeah. And I love April's response. Do you remember? It says Yao Ming's torso, Napoleon's brain, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame's hunchback. Of course.

Yeah. Let's get into something here, though, that I caught, and I don't know if you did or anybody else. When Anne is discussing her perfect man, yeah, so she says, you know, Ryan Gosling's face, whatever. And then she says, Michael Fassbender's, there's a slight pause, a little smirk, and then she says sense of humor. a little smirk, and then she says sense of humor. Now, this episode was shot not long after the movie Shame had come out with Michael Fassbender. I remember that movie, yep. And there was a lot of hubbub about that film because he did full frontal nudity. Okay.

And let's just say it was impressive. And I guarantee that's what that pause was. And Michael Fassbender's sense of humor. To me, she was saying his package. Now, am I the only one who... Viewers, let me know out there. I'm serious. I'm serious. Be serious about this, viewers.

I said serious. All right, I'll give it to you. Because Michael Fassbender and Jerry Gergich, let's just say, have a lot in common. Yeah. Separated at birth, right? Separated at birth. That's what they say about the two of you. Crotchally, they have a lot in common.

Crotchally. I want that to be in the Urban Dictionary. I think crotchally should be the new term. Okay. That's how it happens, guys. Lisa, can we make that happen? Oh, boy. I'd like to see it in that Urban Dictionary.

Well, okay. Let's talk about things that happen? Oh boy. I'd like to see it in that urban dictionary. Well, okay. Let's talk about things that are happening out of the urban dictionary. It's the excitement and sex life now of Mona Lisa and Tom. Tom decides to fire Mona Lisa taking Chris's advice. And he's very stern and trying to like, you know, tell her this is how you have to be or I'm going to have to fire you. Right. And she just jumps on him. Like she takes him down like their plane is going down.

Oh, my God. Right? Like they're the last people on earth. It's great. She's drinking from a flask. She's still high on ecstasy, reading a magazine while on the job. She loves a man in control. Oh, she did.

Whenever he showed any kind of strength, she got horned up. She was ready. Yes, yes. I think, again, we've talked about Jenny Slate. Can you imagine anyone else doing this role? I just can't. No, no. She's so perfect for it. And I'm going to say

this. I think her and Ben Schwartz kind of look alike. I think it's a great pairing. Yeah, yeah. Because they're supposed to be twins. Now, I know they're not identical. They're fraternal. But still. You should have some kind of sense of, oh, these. These could be related. Yes.

Yeah, yeah. I think there's definitely a look. And she's as crazy as him. And from what we heard, Ben basically said to her, just go crazy. Have fun. You know? And that's what she did. And she just went for it every time.

And I think when you're,, this is her first guest appearance. It's a lot of pressure to come in. And she just came in firing on all cylinders. Well, she and episode writer Joe Mandy were friends already. I did not know that. Which I think also helped. It was his episode.

He helped shape now who the character is. It was perfect. So was she just in his head, like, this is who's going to play Mona Lisa? I think there was discussion that, oh, we could have Jenny come in and do this. Didn't know it. See, that's the fun behind the scenes stuff. That's the stuff, guys. That's the goss.

Yes, it's the good stuff. Well, let's jump into the city council meeting, which has tons of good stuff between Leslie and Ron. Because Leslie is shocked to see Ron at a city council meeting. It is shocking. Everybody's shocked to see Ron at a city council meeting. It is shocking. Everybody's shocked to see Ron at a city council meeting. He's like, Ron, what are you doing at a city council meeting?

Are you lost? Are you hurt? Are you hurt? But Ron is quite eloquent, right? And his metaphor is about government interference. He says, that would be like giving food to a mortally wounded animal

instead of slitting its throat and properly utilizing its meat and pelt. Now, that is quite graphic, but it's quite perhaps accurate in the worldview of Ron Swanson and perhaps other libertarians and everything. Alright, we have so

much more. Great episode. Let's keep going with our synopsis. After three short days, the Pawnee Video Dome is back in business and seems to be a wild success. But when Leslie ventures inside, she realizes Dennis has pivoted its focus to a different customer base. Meanwhile, Anne confides in April that she's asked Chris to donate his sperm, and Jerry gives Chris some much-needed advice about taking the plunge into parenthood.

Let's start right there, Jim, with Jerry's advice. I loved it, man. I loved it. You just see Jerry come over. He did so great. And he's talking about it. And he gives this really lovely, really truthful, heartfelt advice. Yes. advice. Yeah. And then just keeps going and gets lost. And I love it. No one ever lets me talk this long. I know. That must have been so fun. So fun.

Also, because they let me, you know, like always we got to play around and everything. And so I was just making up babbling words. Because I say the advice, I give it. And in the normal Jerry world, they would have discounted me and I would be moving on. Right. But they still seem to both be interested. And so now we got a problem because Jerry don't know how to handle that.

So it's just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I also love, and again, it's the writing. Jerry is so sweet. He's just honest. No one ever lets me talk this long. Right. He just said, this is why I'm here. This is why this went off the rails.

And Chris, he gets it. He compliments him. He compliments him, but also says, yes, that was... Until it was completely... Unintelligible. Unintelligible, yeah. But we're here because, like we said, Chris is convinced that he's blown it in the parenting experiment.

Because Tom is full in with Mona Lisa. Right, right. Not only is she working for him, they are now in a relationship because she's hot, she's young. Yes. She's up for it. Perhaps the most immediately abusive relationship that's ever happened, right? Yes. There was no honeymoon period.

No. No. It was awful from the. No. No. It was awful from the very beginning. Right. But what I love is Chris says that when he's realizing that, I think I've flown this thing. I love this line from Chris. He says, if Tom were a bag of flour, that flour would

never grow up to be a happy, well adjusted loaf of bread. Much less a bran muffin, which is the lightest honor that flour can achieve. Who thinks like that? Who thinks? Chris Traeger. And let's just keep

going back from this. Okay, so we're in this place with Chris because he's in this conversation with Anne about doing this great thing together. And so we have this really sweet moment

between Anne and April because of it. And I love the way Rashida played it, which is it's that thing where you just want to say something. Yeah. You just need to vent, whatever.

And you're like, oh, I've been talking too long. But you just need to get it out because it's been up here between your two ears for so long. And it just sometimes just feels good to say it out loud. It happened to be to April. Which I would think was put Anne in a very vulnerable position because she knows the relationship with April, that could have gone south real fast.

Right. But it leads to what I think perhaps this episode is best known for, besides the turn we're about to talk about at the Pawnee Video Dome, which is the singing of Time After Time. That's the best. It's cute. It's great. Anne starts singing it.

April eventually joins in saying, of course I know what this song is. But when Donna shows up gleefully, and I mean that in many puns there, gleefully joining in to sing it and harmonizing and being happy to be part of it. God damn it, that was funny. And that is so popular out in the world.

There's memes of this, or GIFs, or whatever you young people call it all. Yeah, thank you. And there's many times I've been jealous of scenes that I'm not in. This is one of the big ones. Because you can carry a tune? Well, barely.

Okay. It wouldn't matter. Yeah, it would have been fun. It would have been super fun. Let's face it, Rashida can sing. Reda can sing. Is Aubrey a singer? I mean, she sounded good in this episode.

She is now. She sounded great. But I don't know if she would consider herself a singer. I don't know. Rashida, big time as a singer. And of course, Reda. So no, just out of... You're right.

Just for the fun. Yeah. Like to just also peek in. Because of course, if Jerry walked in and goes, time after time, it would have been shut down. That is how that scene would have been. The lights would have cut off. The lights would have been cut off, and after time, it would have been shut down. That is how that scene would have been. The lights would have cut off. The lights would have been cut off, and that's how it would have ended.

But I was jealous. No, you're right. Well, let's talk about what really happened, which is that the Pawnee Video Dome does decide to pivot to a different customer base, appeal to its customers to get some actual business happening. I don't know why it took him so long to realize that. But the Pawnee Video Dome becomes the Pony Video Dome XXX Adult DVD Emporium. It includes a new

wealth of new titles. Spanx for coming to dinner is one. Hot Tub Nurses, High Heel Hellcats. But hey, it has our episode guest appearing. Mara Marini is in this episode.

Brandy Max is back. As Brandy says, you've always been a huge supporter of my work to Leslie. And I love, we got to talk to Mara about this because I love that game where she just clearly looks up to Leslie. She holds her in high esteem

and she keeps saying like, you know, like Leslie, I feel this way. Everything is like Leslie. You support her, Leslie. It's such an altruistic, great, great comedy game. And the way Amy plays it, it's so uncomfortable for her because she doesn't want to shame Brandy because you shouldn't. And yet she is in government and she has a different agenda. Right. And there's a hug that happens in this episode between the two of them.

And Amy's face is, I paused and just stared at that face for a bit when I was watching the episode. It's so perfect. I mean, Jim, they've already filmed the porn version of the bailout. Too big to nail the story of the funny bailout. They've already shot it. Right. And she gets to, and Brandy gets to be Leslie Knopf.

I mean, a dream come true. It is a dream. Well, Jim, let's finish up today's episode our last bit of the synopsis, sir After sitting down at JJ's diner listening to Ron explain the importance of capitalism over a platter of cold cuts Leslie decides to hold a movie night

at the community center Meanwhile, proving their forced time together has resulted in actual friendship April gives Anne a book of baby names and wishes her luck on her baby journey. So sweet. Sweet.

And keeping small victories in mind, Chris has a hopeful interaction with Tom and agrees to have a baby with Anne. We wrap it all up, baby. It's nice. I mean, Ron ordering that platter of cold cuts, it's meant to serve 12 people. It looks like that thing you do

when you go to like a function and there's like, oh, you should make a sandwich or something and then come sit down and we're going to talk. It's like, it's just rolled up meats with cheese in the middle and like a coleslaw.

Yeah. And Ron quickly hands him the garnishes that they put on the tray. Yeah. And I love how Leslie also says, I was just sticking around and watching him eat it because it only takes four minutes

and it's pretty amazing. And Ron says, when the man says, well, sir, this is for 12 people. Ron's like, I know who I am, son. Right. And he does. But that just goes back to what I think is so great about the Leslie Ron episodes,

which is that at the end of the day, here they are breaking bread together, right? It's like, I'm going to have a beer with my opponent. We're going to sit down. They have a meal. You should stay and watch this. This is pretty amazing. Talking about the guy who just spent the last

few days just trying to put the kibosh in most of the work she's been doing. I think it's really lovely. It's a friendship that they can put their differences aside and still be friends. Well, talking about friends, like you said, we have a real new connection here between April and Ann, as much as April wouldn't want to admit it. Ann gives April the letter of recommendation she wants, and April gives Ann a book of baby names and hopes that it works out with someone, even if it doesn't work out with Chris. What a sweet, sweet, coming from April.

Right. That's about as sweet as it gets. And doesn't this make you think of earlier parts of the season? Chris is in his lower part of his life and is clearly depressed. Yeah. And April gives him some good advice and gives him a hug. Yes. She is this helper for the two of them

on this journey that's eventually going to bring them together. Yeah. April has a huge heart. I know she's got this persona, and I think she does believe a lot of her crap, but she ultimately cares about all these people a lot. Right. Well, you know, Ann and Chris talk.

They decide to do this thing together. It's lovely. And Chris says, well, you're youter you, and my youter me are now youter us. So gross and funny. And it's funny and Ann said, don't make me change my mind. Yeah, that could do it. That could make her change her mind.

And also when he comes up to her, because you know, Chris is so great with his name, Ann Perkins. And he walks up and goes, Ann Perkins. And she doesn't know because you don't know with him. Is this a good Ann Perkins? Is he about on and goes, Ann Perkins. And she doesn't know because you don't know with him. Is this a good Ann Perkins? Is he about to tell me we're not having baby? Could it be that we are having a baby? Again, another wonderful, great Rob Lowe moment. Yes. And we can't rap without saying that when they go to roll sound of music at the very end to watch at the community center, too big to nail comes on instead. So we get just a very end, to watch at the community center. Too Big to Nail comes on instead. So we get just a snippet,

just enough that the network allows us to show of Too Big to Nail. Yeah, great. Well, Jim, we've come to the end of Bailout, our episode, but it's not the end of today's podcast, obviously. Much to talk about, including the crap we didn't get to.

Do you have a few pieces of crap for us today? Oh, I got some crap, my friend. One of the funniest moments in the episode that we did not talk about, in my opinion, is when Mona Lisa goes up to Tom, and also standing there is Ben and Chris,

and she goes to her boyfriend, hey, bitch, I need to borrow some money that is none of your damn beeswax. And she goes, because I need to wax my beave. Chris does a spit, literally a spit take. And Mona Lisa, she looks at him and goes, yeah, I'd still hit it. And then she looks at Ben. Yeah, I'm cooling on you. Just so funny. So funny. Okay. Also, I loved when John Ralphio was thanking them for hiring Mona Lisa. He's like,

thank you so much for hiring Mona Lisa. It means so much to me. Though, honestly, she is the worst. She's the worst person in the world. Huge skank. Terrible. Yes. This is his sister.

Yeah, but he knows her. We've met her. He knows her. And also, Mona Lisa's reaction as he's saying this is like, mm-hmm. That's me. He's just so happy about the whole thing. And then there's really, I have a thousand

on this episode, but one of the other things when, because we didn't get to talk a lot about Ben, but when he realizes, you know, that Mona Lisa's now

going to be working there and he says, and Tom's like, yeah, we're going to keep it all in the family. And he goes, yeah,

but this family? Yeah. The Saperstein's? Yeah. There are other choices. There's a lot of families in town. Does it have to be this family? Another great moment is, so again, April is looking to Ann. She needs a favor. And so, Ann says to her, well, I actually know the guy who runs the veterinary program over there. And April jumps in with, oh, because you hooked up with them? See, she can't help herself, even though she needs her help. And then Ann goes, I didn't hook up with everyone I know.

But then she goes, but yeah, we did hook up. Yeah. Well. Great moment. That's some of my crap. There's more, you guys. Go to this episode. There's so many great one-liners. That's a bunch of it. Well, then let's talk about our final thoughts on the episode, then. Let's do it. Jimmy, final thoughts on today's episode.

This is, like we said at the beginning of the episode, it's the classic sitcom ABC story, and they were all fun, and so but we also crossed a big hurdle in Chris deciding I am willing to have a baby with Ann Perkins. Right, right. That's big. Right, a major

moment in their arc. Major moment in their arc. Also, I just because I love when I see the soft side of April, we got to see that. Because remember, one of the things they did together was they had their nails painted. And she goes, oh, look. And April holds up her nails and it says, Anne sucks. So, I mean, she was fighting this tooth and nail. Right. But by the end, she's handing her a book.

She's wishing her the best. If it isn't with Chris, I don't know, growth. Yeah. But by the end, she's handing her a book. She's wishing her the best. If it isn't with Chris, I don't know, growth. Yes. Growth. No, no. It's, you know,

ultimately, when you think about the long arcs of our characters, only one of the stories really has some real movement, which is the Chris and Anne.

Yeah. They decide to do this, this thing. I mean, I guess, you know, we get to see Tom's business doing well. He's hiring someone else, having some Mona Lisa. And we get introduced see Tom's business doing well, he's hiring someone else

having some Mona Lisa and we get introduced to that character yes absolutely but I'm thinking this is a time when comedy series we talked about this with Rob when he was I guess on our fun Q&A episode

where these are 22 episode seasons right and you can't always have tons, especially in the half-hour comedy, which really is just 20 minutes of television, you can't have constant plot for everything. You'd lose some of the fun. And so this, to me, is the classic Parks and Rec

formula, right? We have three storylines happening. Everyone's doing their fun thing. You have some character growth, some sweetness, big craziness happening in Pawnee. We have a city council meeting, which is our new version of a town hall, right?

We have Leslie and Ron, which is a go-to dynamic that really is satisfying. It still ends with them, dear friends, even though they battled it out. In a very good way, this is a classic

Parks and Rec episode. And I would say what's perhaps most interesting about it is that despite airing just a week after the big wedding episode, it doesn't feature any interaction between Leslie and Ben. I didn't even think about that. Which is actually, I think, quite satisfying. Which is you don't have to hang so

much of their story just on their romantic relationship, right? Because there's going to be plenty of that to go around. Yeah, that's good. Well, let's talk about gifts, parties, and jobs. As you know, we have a lot of them in Parks and Rec episodes. Today, April gives Anne a book, Baby Names. I think Anne writes the letter for April.

It's a bit of a gift for her. I wonder if we can call the movie screening an event, like a party. But you know what? We got gifts. That's all you need. You need at least one gift party and job to have gift parties and jobs. And also, just to go back to the movie screening at the beginning, Pratt wakes up because he's

so bored. He's sleeping and he wakes up and he I don't know what he's thinking, but he leans in for a kiss with Leslie. Yeah, well, he's not woken up. But Jim, that belongs in your crap. I know, but I just thought of it now. Was that a party for Andy? I tend to ramble. You're great.

You're the rambler. We have an oops moment in today's episode, which is that Dennis states that his store doesn't carry cartoons. However, you can clearly see the SpongeBob SquarePants movie in the background in a couple shots. Wow! So,

there's something. That's an oops. That's an oops. I didn't know that. Jim, episode MVP, we've come to that moment which character sticks out to us

the most and why. Now, I will say, we've started to veer away from just our 10 series regular sometimes for episode MVP. And so,

I think no character has perhaps made as great an initial splash in a long time than Mona Lisa. And Jenny Slate just kills it. She's so funny. She's so fully formed. This is the Mona Lisa we are going to experience

for the next like 10 episodes or whatever. Yes. So she is who she is. It's fun to see John Ralphio there and his take on her. But I will say Jenny Slate as Mona Lisa is my episode MVP. How do you have? No, I agree with you.

Jenny came out of the gate hitting it hard. And she's so funny. And you're right. It was just so fully developed from the very beginning. So I am going to give it to her. If I had to say one of us, I do love that Chris learned a lot. So I would have to give that to Rob because I do love when that happens.

And it's changing a huge storyline now. We are going to have, well, we'll see, but the plan is to have a baby. Great, great, great. So if I had to give it to one of the regulars, I'm going to go Rob. Awesome. Well, listeners, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Tim Coco Podcasts or by using the hashtag, hashtag Parks and Recollection. Well, Jim, speaking of most valuable Pawnee,

we got a chance to sit down with one of our MVPs, the one and only Pawnee adult film star with political aspirations, Brandi Maxx. Brandi Maxx! Mara Marini. And you know what? Here's what she had to say. honey adult film star with political aspirations, Brandi Maxx, Mara Marini. And you know what? Here's what she had to say. You know, we always love when we have, as we use the term, extended Parks family, come and join us on the podcast. And today, we have one of my favorite recurring characters.

Before I even say your real name, we all know her as Brandy Max. That's four X's. That's four X's with her name. You guys sitting across from me and it's really tough on the eyes because she's just let herself go. It's really a shame. But we have the truly beautiful, stunning Mara Marini.

And we're so happy to have you here. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here. Hi, Mara. This is so fun. This is so fun. This is so fun. You know what? Let's just get from the very beginning.

Because we do want to talk about you, of course, too, but also how you got here. But how did your journey on Parks begin? Well, great question. Thank you. That's what I do here, Mara. It's just what I do. I had, at the time, not great representation. So I wasn't really getting

in front of the casting directors I wanted to get in front of. So I happened to have access, you know, the breakdowns that come out every day, but only the agents and managers get them. I had access to them

at that particular time of my life. Just so you know, I used to have access also. Oh, it was so great. I used to pay, I forget, because everybody would, it was kind of stealing, I guess, because you'd pay somebody who then they would pay.

But you would get access and you would see what was going on out there. And that must have been tough because the two of you were going out for the same parts. Well, yes, yes, yes. Mara and I were constantly seeing each other in auditions. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, Mara. And I'm going to say this, Mara, and I hope this isn't insulting. But when I do, when I put on the right bra, I'm looking pretty good. That's how I did it.

Jim, easy. Okay, so Mara, yes, you have access to this. I have access. I'm so sorry about that. Yes. And so I saw this breakdown come out. Actually, rewind. Dorian Frankel, who cast the show, she happened to be doing a workshop.

And so I went to that workshop. And just a couple days later, there was this just guest star, porn stars, all it said, all ethnicities to come in. And so I made a fake email address. And I emailed Dorian. And I was like, oh, my client, you just saw her. Actors are nuts. I love us. Good for you.

That's amazing. You just saw her at the workshop. She'd be perfect for this role. You've got to bring her in. She did. That's amazing. She'd be perfect for this role. You've got to bring her in. She did. That's awesome. And yeah, it was all different types that were there at the audition. And then I think, and then I booked it, which was so exciting.

Who was in the room? Do you remember? Was it just Dorian or was Mike? It was Dorian and her assistant. Marlies. I just saw her hiking up Runyon last month. She's wonderful. And then saw her hiking up Runyon like last month. She's wonderful. And then I booked it. And then I think because I looked similarly to Amy, they kind of went with that through line, that joke.

And then they brought me back. I mean, it was just a dream. But when you got, when it was the one gig, you just thought it was one and done. I changed my hair. I dyed it dark brown. And then they called my agent at the time who had nothing to do with me actually getting it. Oh, but they got their 10% off that. Of course.

Of course. And then they're like, oh, no, no, no. You've got to dye your hair back to platinum. You're going back. My hair was so fried, but I'm like, I'll do it. See, I think that you and your character

are the perfect testament to what was great about the world of Pawnee and Parks and Rec, which was that we create funny worlds and characters, and when they do well, and when an actor meets that character perfectly, and it's so fun, you just want to keep bringing those people,

those actors back, those characters back. And you wind up being on six episodes, I think, of the series when you would first think okay we know she's being written for this this character being written for this one specific episode but now you're this member of the Pawnee extended universe when you could have just been you know what I mean yeah it's amazing I mean most guest spots are one and done yeah that's what happened you go that's what it was you're thrilled to get it. That used to be, I mean, I was the king of the guest stars before Parks.

You go in, maybe you'd maybe get a second episode. Right. Like in a miracle. Yeah. But yeah, you did a bunch.

I was so, I felt so much. You were so perfect. And what I love about Brandy is her optimism. And she's always so happy. Yeah, that's a great point.

And so supportive of Leslie. Yeah. And Leslie is like, what is happening? So tell us then about this first time That's a great point. So happy and so supportive of Leslie. Yeah. Leslie's like, what is happening? So tell us then about this first time. So you're doing your first episode. Is it Jerry's painting? Yes. Is that the first one?

Yeah, that's the first one. So talk to us about that time. Yeah, it was such a dream because you're going in. I remember I was in the makeup chair the first day. I'm sitting there and Rob Lowe comes up from behind me and he goes, oh, I almost kissed you on the head. I thought you were Amy Poehler from behind. I was like, oh, you couldn't kiss me.

He used that line on me too, to be honest. Yeah, he's like, don't cross that off your list, Rob. That's the standard Rob one. He tried to do it on me. He was so shockingly symmetrical. I was like, oh my God. And then yeah, we did the first take and Amy turned to me and she goes, oh, you're really funny. And I was like, oh, my God. And then, yeah, we did the first take and Amy turned to me and she goes, oh, you're really funny. And I was like, oh, I can die now.

Thank you. Oh, my God. What a moment. Yeah. And it was just such from, you know, everything was just such a wonderful experience. Just makeup, wardrobe. Everyone was just so happy to be there. And you felt that energy and it made you excited.

Right. See, there's a perfect example. And again, this isn't me bragging because it was the other cast members also, but like Rob would have greeted you whether you were Amy or not. No, everyone was so, you were so, everyone was just so well-timed. Oh, I was nice too. You were nice to me.

That's a bit surprising. I always thought that you were the exception to prove it. Actually, I tried to be that exception. Yeah. And the writing was just so phenomenal because it's easy to make a character like this so one-dimensional, right? Like I was, because I was platinum

and the way I, platinum hair, the way I looked, I went out for a lot of strippers and porn stars and you know what I mean? We get labeled.

Yes. And although I, you know, everyone, every career choice I support, you know what I mean? But I wanted to,

you know, do other things too but I was so pleased with how it was so three-dimensional. Like it was to you know do other things too but I was so pleased with how it was so three-dimensional like it was you know she was a porn star with a heart of gold yes heart of gold truly and I loved that about her and it was so funny and and um I made like her backstory was that in my mind that her idol was Dolly Parton and then when she met Amy that became her idol.

So it was sort of this like constant positivity and wanting to be aligned. And so I thought it was just, it was just so fun. And what I love is this recurring thing that develops where, yes, Brandy is so positive and I think truly does look up to Leslie Knope

and the comedy tension that would occur because Leslie wants to support, but also is like, please don't tie yourself forever to me. Yes. Because Leslie is not a shamer. Like she would never want to shame someone for what they do. But yet, you know, you are a porn star. Leslie is working for the government with aspirations to be whatever she ends up being. Like how many lines from

Leslie, from Brandy, excuse me, that start like, well, like Leslie. It's so good. It's so good. It's so funny. And then Amy's reaction to that. She's like, oh. Because she, again, trying to be supportive. I know. But the other thing that i love about brandy

is of course your positivity but you're also very proud of what you do you hit there is no shame no shame in our game absolutely no shame in what you're doing yes it's like look what i'm doing it's almost like yay look what i'm doing yeah this episode in particular, because you've, somehow, they have shot a whole porno in about a minute and a half. Well, I've done 11,000 films by the end of this. 11,000 films! Oh, my God. You know, in your run on this show, when I think of my favorite Brandy Max moments, as much as I love the stuff in today's episode, Bailout, I think of the debate a lot. The debate was so fun. It was such a great episode.

You know, you have such great comedy moments between Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, but then this cast of also-rans who are up there, right? And again, the positivity of Brandy Maxx running for city council. I'm just curious if you have any favorite moments or memories from shooting the debate. Oh, it was, well, I just remember walking, I didn't know there were going to be 300 extras and it would be an actual,

until we got there. I was like, oh, wow, okay. We're doing this. I love it. And it was just, it was so much fun. Adam, he actually spoke at my graduation

at the academy. And when I told him, he goes, no way, Paul Rudd spoke at my graduation. That's amazing. Oh, I didn't know. That's wild.

Triumvirate. First of all, just to jump in, how excited, because I know how I feel when I show up on sets and there's people who I really love

who are there. So you get there and there's Paul. Did you know Paul was going to be there? No, I don't think I did. I remember just going in and everything was like,

oh, wow, because it was, you know, my second episode. I didn't know I'd be asked back. Everything was like a surprise and so exciting and fun. And the other funny part about that episode is she's polling. She has

numbers in the polls. People are going to vote for her. She is screwing up Leslie's numbers. In the director's cut version of the debate, the stuff that we didn't wind up putting in the air episode, Brandy Maxx reveals that she holds a bachelor's degree

from Princeton University do you remember this? oh my gosh and but that's again it's another great testament to the fully formed version of what this character was that it wasn't just a stock character joke

right this was a real person whose career happened to be this whose idol happens to be Leslie Knope yes they did such a great job. Yeah. Really. I know that was another thing. I do remember

there were so many fun one-liners they would throw. And I didn't know what would make it into the actual episode because, you know, we got to do fun runs, which was so fun.

Yeah, it was the best. And then they, you know, the writers are incredible. They throw such fun things out at us. I'm like, I wonder what's going to actually make it. I remember we, they had a bunch of like

fake porn names of movies. They're like, okay, say this, say this, say this. I don't know what's going to make it. It was really fun. Oh, that's great. Do you get recognized from the show? Do people know Brandy Max out in the world? Well, you know, my hair was platinum and quite big and I had the shoulder pads. So it's, it's definitely, I think when people hear my voice, if they're a real fan, they're like, what are you? And then they'll clock it. But,

but yeah, I'll get it on online and stuff. And then in person sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.

Well, let me ask you, Marcus, I've been asking a lot of our guests this. Do you have a Parks and Rec moment? Like when you think back and I'm not, it doesn't have to be like, Oh,

this is my favorite moment on that. I, you know, my favorite scene I was in. Or it could be in shooting and in the hair and makeup, whatever. When you think back on your time, you're like, this was my time at Parks. Let me tell you a moment. Oh, man.

Two come to mind. First, just the first episode because it was so unique and special. And Amy was just so generous. Like she could easily have gone when the coverage is not hers, but she stays with you. And that just, the feeling of that was just so generous like she could easily have gone when the coverage is not hers but she stays with you and that just the feeling of that was just so electric and then you know the line when the goes in everyone kind of lost it it was just like oh people think i'm funny thank god um was really special and then also amy when she would do the dance parties and the makeup trailer at lunch that was that was awesome It's so crazy.

And what you mentioned about coverage, what Mara was talking about is if you do, you know, you're doing a two-person scene or whatever, you got to get your coverage and then their coverage. You get wide, you get everyone's coverage.

And a lot of times, and I've had this happen to me, when you're guesting on a show, when they're, you know, you're there for their coverage and then when it's time for your coverage, they're gone. yeah you're doing your coverage with their stand-in and i'm telling you that is disgusting that is but it happens all the time uh my god that never would have happened on parks it just never would have occurred to any of us yeah not to be there for the other actors

just wouldn't have just wouldn't have it really felt like everyone just not to be there for the other actors. It really felt like everyone just wanted to be there. They wanted to be involved. It was special to them and that made it so fun. I've told this story a million times. We'd get our day of days for the following episode to see what days are going to work and I'd be like, oh, I'm off on Thursday.

That's so awesome. Most people would be like, yeah, I'm off on Thursday. I was like, oh. Because for me, it wasn't just the cast, who, of course, the greatest, but the crew and the writers and the producers. It was just such an amazing place to be. Totally. I didn't mind getting up and going. I know.

It was really, really great. And let me ask you, when you go backstory at all all for Brandy. Yes. What was her story? Was she born and raised in Pawnee? Was she? That was my perception. And just had this like, you know, Dolly Parton was on her wall, had this big eyes, big dreams. Yeah. And really latched onto that.

And it was just like a businesswoman, a go-getter. And then really the real life idol became Leslie. Yeah. You know, became her Dolly kind of thing. And do you think Brandy had relationships other than on camera? Yeah, I think so. But, you know, just like Dolly kind of kept them private and focused on her career. Because can you imagine how hard Dex Hart would have been pushing to make something happen with Brandy?

I mean, he would have been. But he probably would push to make something happen with pretty much anyone. Yeah, that's true. He was, yeah, yeah. I don't think he was too. For some reason, I always pictured that Brandy and Perd might get together.

Oh, I love that too. Jay, great. This story is that I'm about to have sex with Brandy Mack. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's classic. That's brilliant.

Yeah, yeah. And I kind of want to see that. Oh my God, me too. I love that so much. I know. I actually, I've written like a seven season continuation of Parks and Rec as Brandy Mac Spinoff. Wow.

But it's, you're the mayor and Joan Calamezo is like my PR media team and we're building Brandywood. And that's sort of like the number two attraction because Sweden takes the still number one. And it's just like the success, the rise and fall of this and dealing with it. So you actually thought that out? Oh, yeah. That's amazing. I love that.

And that's just because it is such a full flesh, embodied character. And it was easy to kind of with all these Pawnee characters to bring them back in. And I'm like, oh, in a perfect world, this would be the dream. Well, as they said, it sounds like from the beginning, from what I understand, they always wanted it to be like Springfield. Where this is its own world. And these people keep coming back because that's the world we're in. Yeah, I loved that about it so much, too. Because it made it so, oh, that person from there, they're back.

And it felt homey and fun and familiar. Well, Mara, it's been so amazing to talk about our time on Parks Together. Thank you so much for coming in.

Gosh, the time just flew. It felt like 30 seconds. But that means we're having fun. That's how I always think. You know what's one thing I wish I did is I wish I got that cutout of Brandy Maxx before I set that day, that big.

I just remember being like that day, like, would they mind if I asked? I'm like, no, that's so rude. Like, you can't ask. But I'm like, I wish I did. Like you'd hang it on your wall like Jessica Wicks. It's a shame. I hate to say it now because it didn't happen. But had you asked, my guess is what they would have said is once we wrap, we will be happy to send it to you.

Because Mo Collins, who played Joan Calamezzo, will tell you they sent her these huge paintings of her that were in the episodes. She goes, a truck pulled up to her house and these massive self-portraits of Joan came out of those trucks. So I know they would have done that because they were so generous about everything. Do you want to make her feel like this? No, but I'm like you. It would never have done. I'd be like, oh, I don't know

that that's the proper way to do it. No, I would have done the same thing. Yeah. Oh, I wish you had that. Yeah. But you had us today. And I have the memories and I have this. Yes. And if it makes you feeling better, I will take a picture.

I will turn it into a cutout of myself. That's nice. Really, is there anything better? Is there anything less desired? Oh, I'm so sorry. He said less desired. Less desired. You must have misspoke. Yeah, I did make a mistake.

Let me see if I can figure this out. You're awesome, Mara. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. We love you. We love your character. Brandy Maxx truly is one of my favorite recurring characters on the show. And the play that you and Amy had together is perfect.

It's just perfect. And as someone who also admires people like Amy and the comedy geniuses of our world, I know how exciting that is to be involved in that. And so I'm so glad you got to have that. Thank you. You deserve it. Thank you so much. And you guys are so wonderful, too. So thank you so much for having me.

Thanks for being here. Thank you. Thank you. That was great, Jim. Awesome. That was a great. Is she the sweetest? She's just awesome.

She, you know, in a way, I feel she feels like she is her character in the sense of just positive and happy and eager and, you know, looks on the bright side of things. That was such a lovely conversation. She walked in this room and it lit it up.

Yeah, yeah. That was amazing. And it's so fun to have the extended Pawnee universe come on in. That's what's been so great about making this podcast together. So thank you, Mara. And thank you all for listening

to this great little thing we're doing. Text this episode to your group chat. Give us five-star reviews wherever you are listening. And from all of us here at Parks and Recollection, goodbye from Pawnee. Goodbye.

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.