Parks and Recollection - Mike Scully: The Comeback Kid (S4E11)

Episode Date: June 27, 2023

Writer Mike Scully (The Simpsons, King of the Hill) joins Jim O'Heir and writer Greg Levine to talk about one of our favorite Parks episodes: it’s S4E11, The Comeback Kid (written by Mike Scully)! They discuss one of the all-time funniest Parks & Rec bloopers, Ben Wyatt’s descent into madness, a delightful three-legged dog named Champion, and, most importantly, that chaotic scene on the ice rink. Give it a listen and treat yo’ self!Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email at [e-mail] and we might answer it on the show!

We're getting together to talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastians, 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 I am one of your hosts

Jim O'Hare, Gary Laird, Jerry Terry Berry And this other guy who shows up for some reason every week. You are? I'm Greg. I'm just Greg. Every time I forget, but good. Greg, Greg. That reminds me of my favorite Emo Phillips joke.

Greg, Greg, Greg. Or it's Emo, Emo, Emo. He said, I'm the one in the middle, you drunken slob. God bless Emo. Yeah. Well, this is a fun day. This is a crazy day. This is a crazy day. This is a good one, you guys.

We like to talk about parks and recreation here. I don't know if you're aware of that, guys, but that's what we talk about here. And every so often we get to say and talk about, oh, my God, what the hell is going on with me? We have this guest in the studio that is just flummoxing me like crazy. in the studio that is just flummoxing me like crazy. We have one of my favorite people I've ever worked with, the one and only, the amazing writer and great guy and huge LA Kings hockey fan, Mike Scully. Mike Scully is here.

Oh my God. Hi, Scully. Hey, how you guys doing? It's a kick to be here. It's nice to see y'all again. Mike, everyone's a huge fan of yours, obviously from Parks and Rec, and that's what we're here to talk about. But my friend, the Simpsons, you have done huge fan of yours, obviously from Parks and Rec, and that's what we're here to talk about. But, my friend, The Simpsons.

You have done a few of those. Yeah, like 28 years worth. Wow, 28 years worth of The Simpsons. Yeah, yeah. That's incredible. And you ran the show for a while, right? Yeah, I ran it four seasons, 9 through 12. The four most consecutive seasons of the show.

Yeah. That's incredible. And do you still love being involved with it? Yeah, yeah. The Simpsons has always been kind of a home to me. And they've always been great. Like over the years, I was, you know, consulting for a lot of years, like one day a week.

And even when I was at Parks, like people knew like Tuesdays I was at The Simpsons. And word got around town and I would go like to meet on other shows like, we know Tuesdays are your Simpsons day. Wow.

Like when Scully's worth it, we know we don't get Tuesdays, but there are four other days a week that you're available. He brings it. He brings it. Did you ever wind up as a voice on the show?

Only one time, just to kind of make a point. It was when Fox was renegotiating with the actors, with the cast of the show, and had kind of taken this very strong stance against the actors to the point of where the president of the studio at the time said, they can be replaced with high school students. And so in one episode, we did a couple of things to support the actors.

We had this one Bart writing on the chalkboard at the beginning of an episode during that time where he says, I will not demand what I'm worth. And then in one episode, Homer's laughing, but he's watching animation and like

the best part is you know they don't have to pay the actor squat because anybody can do it and I lean in the window as Ned Flanders and you hear my voice

come out of Ned oh that's amazing just to make the point of how awful it would be yes that's amazing yes

we should also talk about this show yes this show here watching the episode last night after many years where I just haven't seen Yes, that's amazing. We should also talk about this show. Yes, this show here. Watching the episode last night after many years where I just haven't seen it. It was a kick. I mean, I actually got a little emotional kind of seeing everybody again and remembering being on set.

Those were great times. And sometimes you forget because you're just going job to job to job. So it's nice to kind of take a breath and go like, oh, wow, that was a really fun week and a fun time in my life. So this is season four, episode 11 of Parks and Recreation. It is called The Comeback Kid, and it was written by our awesome guest, Mike Scully. Mike Scully. Directed by Tucker Gates. It aired originally on January 12th, 2012. And Jim, give us a little blurb.

I'll tell you a little something about the episode. Leslie asked for help from her team, otherwise known as the Parks Department crew, in order to stage a rally to reestablish her campaign, which is off the rails. But it goes about as terribly as it possibly could. Then uses his newfound freedom to explore new hobbies, alarming Chris, really alarming Chris, with their uselessness and causing him to step in and help. April and Andy adopt a new pet dog, the three-legged champion. This really is a special episode. I was thinking like in the Mount Rushmore, right, of Parks episodes. This is there.

It's up there. I also think, especially in this season, when I think about the campaign season, it's the comeback kid for me, and it's the debate as the two I think most about that encapsulate the spirit of this season, of this

ragtag group trying their best to do something. And in this case, it's trying and failing but doing it together. And then in the debate, it's trying and failing, but doing it together. And then in the debate, it's the B side of it, which is Leslie on her own, just nailing it. Yeah. And the debate was a lot of fun too. I believe Amy directed that. And wrote it. And wrote it too, right? Yeah. Because I do remember a very quick story on that episode

was Paul Rudd playing Bobby Newport at the debate. And we shot it in UCLA, I believe, like Royce Hall maybe. And at one point, I was the writer on set for that. And I ran in a joke to Paul Rudd. And I noticed he had a legal pad on his podium. And he had been doodling on it. And I started to look at what he had doodled. And there was the Van Halen logo and a pair of boobs. And I said, are you doodling in character? And he goes, yes.

That's so funny. Because this is what I think Bobby Newport would be doing during the debate. That's amazing. That's perfect. Oh, my God. Well, let's file that away to talk about again when we get to the debate. Yes. Some of our notes, Time Magazine voted this episode one of the top 10 episodes of the year in 2012,

which is an amazing way to kick off the second half of the season. Yeah. 2012, which is an amazing way to kick off the second half of the season. And Retta, Donna, is glimpsed in, I think, two early scenes, maybe one to two early scenes of the episode, but actually has no lines. In fact, Donna originally had a subplot, a small subplot, if you remember the Scully, in which she had to look after the Parks Department alone when everyone was off doing their things. It kind of wound up getting excised from the final cut. Yeah, well, Retta and I were feuding at the time. That's right.

It wasn't allowed. I kind of demanded that it be cut from the show. No, it's smart. You know, Retta and I were buds. We still are buds. And we would hang in each other's trailers and blah, blah, blah. And I don't know that this was true. You guys could tell me.

Yes, just my thought. Retta had knee issues. She had back issues. I think you needed to keep her off the ice. Does that make sense at all? Is there any memory of that? Oh, shoot. That does actually trigger something.

Yeah, I think that might be right. I feel like it was really a concern for her because even though they were keeping us safe on that ice, we were still on ice. Right. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was actually a question I had for you, Jim, Because even though they were keeping us safe on that ice, we were still on ice. Right. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

You know, things. That was actually a question I had for you, Jim, and for you, Scully, later on. And we'll get to it. But that scene, I think that really is ice. And how hard was that? And how much you guys were. Oh, it's ice. It was ice. Oh, we'll get there.

Yeah, we'll get there. But anyway, that's my memory. That Retta, it was more of a safety. They didn't purposely not give her a part into that storyline. It was just... No, I think you're right. No, we were feuding. You're right, Jim.

You're right, Jim. But ultimately, it's going to be... Retta and I, we still talk once or twice. You're also a big Kings fan. Oh, yes. I was supposed to go with her a couple weeks ago, and then I ended up having to go to... But yeah, she loves the Kings.

We should talk about this episode. We should get the Kings. We should talk about this episode. We should get into it. We should talk about synopsis. Again, we throw the word nope into anything we can here. Just prepare for it. I think the first note that you mentioned, voted by Time Magazine one of the top 10 episodes

of the year. That's pretty amazing. I think. And it's one of those as an actor in the show that people talk about all the time. Oh, that's great. It's one of the go-to episodes

that people love. I do have to credit right at the time. This was an episode where the story-wise, I think I was gone. I think I was at The Simpsons the day the staff started talking about it. So when I came in on Wednesday, Mike Schur had a lot of it already. I mean, and

including the Get On Your Feet song. And so he had a lot, I mean, story-wise, so much of this is Mike. And as always, the staff is so good and so funny. They gave me a ton of great stuff to go off and write the draft with and then contributed a bunch of great stuff after I turned it in. I think I remember being one of those episodes that kind of clicked very quickly in the room. And, you know, some episodes are built around an amazing, I think, a way in, a great premise. Some of them are built around this third act sequence we know you want to get to, like Leslie chained to a gate in the second season,

or in this case, all the guys on ice and failing. And how do you work in a way backwards to create that? And once you have a great third act set piece like this, I think for this episode, it really fell into place. Yeah, yeah. So kicking off our synopsis, Leslie and the Parks Department are planning the big comeback for her campaign, and Leslie appoints Anne to be her campaign manager, turning down Anne's suggestion of the experienced and unemployed Ben, since his presence may remind voters

of their sex scandal. The team organizes Leslie's campaign rally at the Pawnee Sports Building. Just to pause, I remember calling it the Pawnee Sports Building really made us laugh a lot. So innocuous. So general. The sports building. And Ann

manages to land high school basketball legend Pistol Pete to endorse Leslie. April and Andy adopt a three-legged dog named Champion without consulting Ben. And Chris visits Ben at home and sees him involved in a variety of hobbies, none of which are going very well.

And Chris guesses that Ben is actually very depressed. Wow. So this, within three minutes, we have several huge, great storylines kicked off that launches a lot of fun. You know, something that jumped out at me right away is that when Leslie comes into the office to pick her new campaign manager, it's very funny how she pitches this job to the crew as if it's the best job in the history of jobs, right? Yeah. But in reality, nobody wants it. They all look away.

Andy and April bury their heads. I love how Ron ties his shoes so he doesn't make eye contact. Even Jerry doesn't want it. I know,

but I have to disagree with you on this. Okay. I think Jerry did want it. Oh. And if you watch the episode again, and I remember,

you know, you have your certain memories, and I remember playing it like as if she'd ever give it to Jerry. Come on, not in a million years. But, you know, you have your certain memories. And I remember playing it like as if she'd ever give it to Jerry. Come on, not in a million years. But, you know, Jerry was helpful, and he did want to do whatever he could to help.

And when she announces Anne, and I really, I went back and forth on this watching it. There is, oh, like good for her. Oh, that's a shame. That's funny. I think if you look at the episode, Jerry was on board. You know, Jerry wasn't like, oh, me, oh, like good for her, but oh, that's a shame. That's funny. I think if you look at the episode, Jerry was on board. You know, Jerry wasn't like, oh, me, me, me. And I remember playing it like that, and no one corrected me. No, it does make sense.

If you're playing it wrong, I just thought Jerry would anything to help Leslie. And so that's how I played it. And I do remember doing that. When I watched it, I saw that. No, character-wise, you're absolutely right. It would have made perfect sense for Jerry to eagerly want the job. Eagerly, yes. And for Leslie to pretend to not see his dad.

I'm the only one giving her kind of like, I'm holding it like, oh, okay. Never. No, I wouldn't even consider Jerry at all. Any other person would be amazing at it. Exactly. She'd prefer Andy over Jerry. Any other person would be amazing at it. Exactly. She'd prefer Andy over Jared.

Around three minutes, 40 seconds in, we have a scene where it's Leslie's campaign relaunch work meeting, right? They're in that space. We stick to the rule where you can't do certain, like the hatch act kind of, so you can't work on the campaign, the government building. So they're offsite. And the team is talking about the relaunch and the rally.

And it's when the most popular, I would say, and equally most explicit and perhaps most inappropriate blooper in Parks history took place. And it's Chris Pratt's ad lib about Kim Kardashian. It has been viewed millions of times. Yes. That is brought up to me constantly. Yes. And if that doesn't tell you the brilliant mind of Chris Pratt, my

favorite thing is to watch the reactions of like Amy and Rashida because of course Nick and I, you know, we're laughing our ass off, but the girls are just I, you know, we're laughing our ass off. But the girls are just like, oh, come on. No, it was an amazing moment. And Nick tries so hard to not break.

Even he, you know, got it. Yeah, it was one of the all-time great inappropriate. It is so inappropriate. So if you want to go, we don't have to get into details, but if you don't know what we're talking about, go to YouTube, type in Parks and Rec Kardashian. Yeah. If you type in Parks and Rec and Kardashian and blooper, I guess, you will know exactly what we're talking about, and it is crazy.

It's crazy. It had to be called out, and we will move on. But I do remember just being there. There's that moment of, you know, you're hearing what someone's saying because, you know, we do fun runs and we can say whatever we want. And there's this pause and then it all sinks in.

And then just so funny. So funny. My God, I love that. And then Retta, they cut to her. She goes, well, that's going to make the blooper real. Oh, yeah, yeah. It is fun to be on set at moments like that, right? Where you're, it's a fun show to write for.

It's a fun show to act, to be in, to watch happen. Then, you know, then these fun people, these funny people just inspire each other to be even sillier. No, I always loved being on set on the show. I would sometimes, and the other writers would do it too. We would make excuses to go down to the set, which on a lot of shows you don't.

I mean, you're kind of almost avoiding the set sometimes, depending on the show. But the park set was one that was always fun to walk into. My favorite memory was always like walking in and you sometimes hear Amy, kind of that great cackling laugh from across the stage. And you always knew there was just, there was, you know, fun happening down there. Well, I love to hear that, that you guys would sneak down.

Oh, God, yeah. I love that. Because, I mean, we felt it, but I didn't, you know. Yeah. It was, I always say it was love and laughter for seven years. Yeah. You know, not that every day is perfect, nothing is, but it was pretty great. Yeah, and the cast, you know, Jimmy, I mean, it was so inviting to the writers on set.

Like, we were encouraged to, you know, once we knew we had the scripted version, to run in a new joke or to try something. And I used to love, like sometimes you'd hear like Amy, or if something just wasn't working, there was that comfort of where you could go in or Amy would sometimes just like, Scully. Yeah. And you knew you were going to have fun. She would see the problem and then you'd talk it out

and then try something new. And the cast was always wide open to new jokes and trying things. So it was fun. And everybody on the show was funny. There was nobody you couldn't hand a joke to, which as a writer is a great thing. so you know in this in this sequence when we meet

Champion our three-legged dog he walks in on Ben who's home alone eating sugar rice pop cereal which I think is just great dry by the way

no milk and and he's reading Into the Den of the Lions, a book by our prop master extraordinaire, Gabe Pirello. So when Chris comes in to visit Ben, the running gag of Ben loving calzones, which we've established already in the previous season.

Oh, can I jump back for one second? Just on Champion, the three-legged dog. Oh, yeah, please. Because when I was watching it last night, I remember so vividly going to Mike because this was like, I wasn't there that day. I said, a three-legged dog. I said, an animation?

Absolutely. I said, live action? That could be really sad. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I was really worried about it. And Mike had just confidence you know, confidence. And he said, no, he goes, I think it'll be funny because of, you know, Andy's love. Andy and April's love for this dog.

I think it'll work. And I remember being so worried. And when I saw the dog, I'm like, oh, my God, are people going to find this funny? But then once the scene starts, and you say, that's exactly what Mike said, Andy's pride, he's the three-legged dog champion of the world,

why he named him champion. And there's so much joy in his face at this. I was like, I'm wrong again. To your point, Scully, Ben has that, there's a great line where he says, I have to ask,

did he have four legs or whatever? Did he already have four legs when you got him? Right? And it's so funny because it just calls out the question that we're all

thinking at home. Like, no, we're going to establish it. This is just this great dog and we really love him. Right, yeah. I like this quick moment when Champion walks in

and Ben's sitting there eating his cereal and he, you know, Adam, just so him. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I like this quick moment when Champion walks in and Ben's sitting there eating his cereal and he, you know, and I'm just so good. Hi. Yeah. Hi. I just read like a little creature. I just love that. I also noticed something last night that I never knew.

I always writing for Pratt, you know, for Andy in my head was a lot like writing for Homer in many ways. But I watched last night, his face, the joy in his delivery of like the champion thing. I'm like, who does he remind me of? And this is an old, you might get the word. Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers has this great facial expression, this kind of wide-eyed joy and naive look at all things.

And that's what it was when I watched Pratt do it last night. Because as a kid, I loved Tommy Smothers. The audience can look him up. Yes. Yeah, I think we refer to him as like a golden retriever dog in the room. Just that joy of, what's next?

I love it. That was John Schwarzwalder's description of Homer when asked, how do you write Homer Simpson? He says, think about writing for a dog that can say his name. Well, this moment when Chris comes to visit Ben, I love that just watching this, Chris immediately knows that Ben's depressed. Right. Yeah.

And it's very fun for Ben to not play, for Adam to not play the straight man in this episode. It's not a version of the comedy we've seen from him in a while. You know, it's just, I think some of the best stuff, especially in character comedy shows, is once you've gotten to know the character, is then being out of that character, right? That's why Ron and Tammy episodes are so fun with Nick,

that Ron is this person who really doesn't change that much throughout the whole series. And then every once in a while, he's completely different. It's fun. So it was so fun to see Adam play this comedy version of Ben that we have never seen. Yeah. And the two of them are just so funny together. They had a hard job.

I mean, to join a show at the same time, a show that's already existed, and to kind of blend in so seamlessly as they did is really a credit to the two of them. People tell me all the time they don't remember the show without them. Like to them, they were there from the beginning. And I think they, I'm going to say a number 22 or 30 of them, they weren't around, like 20. Yeah, the first six episodes, right, season one, and then the first 22 of season.

So 28 episodes they weren't there for. And yet people will think they were there day one. Yeah, exactly. How amazing is that? Was that perfect casting? And that's so funny you bring that up, guys, because they came in together, having worked together right in the state office, and they very rarely had a single scene together that was just the two of them.

So this is actually, I think, the first solo storyline between the two of them. I remember watching an early episode of season three. There's like a tag when Chris comes into Ben and he says, I think maybe it's after flu season. He's like, I think we need to stick around Pawnee for a little bit. And Ben's like, yeah, I think you're right. And it's our first sense of, oh, Ben is actually liking this place. He actually starts to like Leslie.

And I remember watching it then be like, we haven't seen the two of them talk that much. And they sensibly know each other very well. Yeah. I still remember the day Rob came up to the office, like right when he first joined the show. And the writers, I don't know if you were in the room with this.

You know, the women on the show were obviously very excited that Rob Lowe was coming. And I remember like me and Gore, maybe Norm and Harrison, we were like, we've seen him in the movies, but they can shoot you through all kinds of filters and do tricks. We'll see how Mr. Pretty Boy really looks up close. And he walked in like, oh my God, he's beautiful.

And in that scene, you're referring to great when he's at those scenes at the apartment. We do the kind of the same joke twice. There's like two smash cut jokes of Rob, like inside the apartment to Adam. Like, that's so cool. And then you cut to outside the door and he's like, Ben is depressed. Yes. Yes. And then we do the same setup later.

is depressed. Yes, yes. This is horrible. And then we do the same setup later and once again, put him in the same spot outside the door and kind of acknowledge

the fact, yeah, we know we did this type of joke a few minutes ago. We're doing it again. Yeah, yeah. That's how bad the depression is.

Well, I love this storyline between the two of them. We're going to get to more of it as we continue our synopsis. There's so much to talk about on this episode. So Pistol Pete is going to endorse Leslie, but he refuses to allow the campaign to associate him with basketball or his former nickname since he's tired of the town always bringing up his one famous moment. Anne reluctantly gets Pete to open

up more about his past life problems in an effort to get him to change his mind. And while the gang, you know, Park's crew gang, is driving over to the Pawnee Sports Building, they're pulled over by police officer Len, who makes them abandon their truck due to Ron not being licensed to drive it. So let's just talk about that little bit at the end. The gang getting pulled over. I love how Andy is gleefully honking. This is more along that golden retriever, like wide-eyed optimist, right?

Gleefully honking the horn along with the cops. No repercussions for your actions. You just, this is what you want to do in the moment, and you do it. And the cop has his sirens go, and I think Andy's like, oh, they're talking back to us, and he keeps going with it.

Yes, yeah, yeah. And then Ron's dismissiveness over the laws, you know, the agreeing to disagree, even Champion having to hold his pee. All of those things also are both funny in the moment, but they all pay off later for this big act three set piece where- Oh, yeah, yeah.

No, it's just them all piled in that truck with champion is just really just the sight of it made me laugh and also he's on april's lap yes oh yeah oh yeah yeah i love the uh now be a man and sit on that girl's yeah yeah yeah but in that scene with Pistol Pete, I remember Amy and Rashida are so funny in that scene when he's telling them about how it became his identity and how now he's not comfortable. He feels like he's living in the past. And I noticed last night, I can't remember if I remember it at the time or I just seen it for the first time.

Amy is playing this funny version of disappointment mixed with seething. If you watch her face closely, she's like trying to be sympathetic to her story, but inside, it's like, this fucker. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just need you to do a layup. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Rashida's so funny just listening to his story about his dad. The two of them, I always loved having Amy

and Rashida together just make me laugh. I think it was the first time, one of the You Beautiful Tropical Fish. It was Anne, You Beautiful Tropical Fish. And that's a line from the show that we'll live on forever. I had forgotten it was in that episode. I want to call out

what we would call in the writer's room as a Scully joke, since we have the man here with us, the myth, the legend. Have you heard that there's Scully jokes? Yes, I have. The Scully joke is like a certain formula for joke writing. And you have many formulas, but there's one that always tickled us. And I think it was, we talked about this in a previous episode of the podcast,

but I'm going to talk about it again. It happened in the first Ron and Tammy episode. And Ron has a talking head describing how terrible Tammy is. And I don't remember the exact detail of the line, but it's just this, you know, describing her like the devil. And then it cuts to, would I get married again? Sure, if you don't believe in marriage, what the hell is life? Right, yeah. And it's that unexpected turn at the end that you think you're building to something and it's going to turn.

And it just disarms you with the second joke that comes in. And here we are. And Ron has a talking head about contractors. And he said, I don't want to paint with a broad brush here. But every single contractor in the world is a miserable, incompetent thief. Yes. Right? I use that formula a lot.

It's so wonderful. Because you're building up a certain expectation. And then you get this feeling of, well, I didn't see that coming. And the humor is in the unexpected, right, of that turn. It's so great. No I love Scully jokes I love Scully jokes there's another one from the Simpsons that comes to mind I'm sure there are many that come to mind

for everyone but there's one there's you know there's something with Mo and old people does this ring a bell? Oh yeah from Team Homer the bowling episode yeah where they're thinking having Mr. Burns

join the team and Mo says, you know, call this an unfair generalization, but old people stink at everything. Oh, God. You really cracked me up.

That's a Scully. That's a Scully. We got a Scully here. Busted again. I also like the formula there. And I can't remember what episode of Parks it's in where Leslie's trying to make a decision of who to put in charge of something. And it's like, all right, I've made a decision. We're playing it safe.

We're going with the crazy guy. I don't remember what episode. Once again, it's just a formula of one way and go the other. See, comedy writing is easy. Once you got something that works, just beat it to death. Hell yes. My God, I call that my career. Are you kidding?

my career. Are you kidding? You know, we talked about it, but this stuff, the scenes with Pistol Pete with Anne and Leslie are so funny that

I like that there's a fun fact that Leslie and Pistol Pete overlapped at Pawnee Central School, I think they call it, and that he probably

remembers her voice from the morning announcements, which is such a small little thing, but you think about it, like, of course she's that. She's like that

Tracy Flick type character. Listen, I'm about to give you guys a million multi-million dollar idea Leslie Knope the early years I'm not a writer young Knope

but what was high school year what was Leslie in high school just throwing it out there the millions are out there to be made people I'll be right back Peacock well we should They're out there to be made, people. I'll be right back. Okay. Peacock.

Well, we should, let's keep talking about this episode. There's still so much more to go. I can't believe it. I love this episode. Ron, Tom, April, and Andy are forced to leave behind most of the event supplies and cram what they can into Leslie's car. Leslie's come to bail them out with the cop. And because of this, Ron is only able to create a miniature podium with no stairs

and only a portion of Leslie's campaign banner is able to be displayed. And upon arriving at the venue, April then discovers that the basketball court she supposedly booked has in fact been converted into an ice hockey rink. So we have all that happening. We're going to talk about also the fact that

Ben continues his distracting hobbies and Chris says he needs serious help with his life. You know, just perhaps a midlife crisis. Okay, so all of these things that have been going on in this episode leading to this rally that's going to relaunch Leslie's campaign. This is the new

introduction. She has lost her advisors and here we are and everything has gone wrong. You guys were both there. I was not lucky enough to be on set at the ice rink. Talk to me about the scene, about everything. I think, yeah, we were talking about it, right? I'm jumping the gun, but we're talking about it now. When Leslie goes out on the ice to give her speech, what was the feeling on set that day? I will give you one. I have so many memories of the day. Number one, we're shooting at an ice rink.

I love just Jim O'Hare as a person, as an actor for a thousand years at this point. I love location shoots. I just think certain things are fun, like how did this happen? How am I here? How am I in an ice rink today? I just do love that. And so it was fun. But I was also in the middle of purchasing something called a green egg, which is a smoker for like ribs and beef and all this kind of stuff. And I remember talking to whoever I was,

you know, whatever dealer was selling this thing to me. And I said, I cannot talk anymore today. I am in an ice rink and this is one of the greatest days ever. And I hung up. That truly was a conversation I had with a salesman about some green ink because I knew it was going to—it just was so crazy. I knew things were nuts when wardrobe gave us our shoes, and all of our shoes had cleats. It had a little—cleats, is that the right—am I using the right word? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a golf shoe. Like for a golf shoe. And so—because they didn't want us to right word? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a golf shoe. Like for a golf shoe. And so,

because they didn't want us to be falling like every two seconds. Right. But even with those cleats, we were sliding. I mean, there was valid sliding going on. I think, and I've seen in the episode, we could not stop laughing. We couldn't stop

laughing. Trying to get Amy up on that podium was real. We were sliding and we were trying to get her up there and she's laughing so hard. And then we were feeling bad because we know we were ruining a bunch of takes, but we couldn't, it was so ridiculous. I mean, we start going out on this beautiful red carpet and then boom! Because Tom couldn't negotiate it any better than he did. Anyway, so that is one of my all-time favorite days.

I love that you were on the phone for a barbecue. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought you were going to say you were in the middle of closing escrow. I did too, yeah. I'm buying a little thing you might call a house. No, a green egg barbecue.

That is what I was buying. And those are serious business. Of course you're going to. Serious business. But you know what? It didn't matter that day because this was about parks. We're going to get back to the ice rink, but we should also talk about one of the famous Ben Wyatt moments.

Also, as in this episode, Ben first has this idea for his fast food empire, the low-cal calzone zone, which I think he described as something like it's a fast, casual eatery, a whole new spin on Italian fast casual dining as if the pizza has, and he's like, pizza, that's yesterday's business, right? Pizza, never heard of it, I think he says. But the claymation. Oh my gosh.

It's so damn funny. And again, that was like there, it dropped in my lap by Mike and the rest of the writers. That idea came up. And yeah, I mean, watching it last night, it made me laugh. And his hopes every time he hit the button, thinking that there has to be more than that. There had to be a glitch because there has to be more. And I think he said something like he said that he told Leslie that it was Avatar level.

Yes. Right? Yeah. Yeah. No, I love the other. He compared it to Avatar. Yeah. And then the depression sinks in.

Yeah. Because now he realizes, oh, damn. And that goes to what you were saying, Scully. But we just started beating this joke. And it's funny that every time something's going on, Chris beefs up Ben and then in a talking head outside, said that man is severely depressed. Something's really wrong with him. And you have to kind of keep saying that

so that this moment really lands too. And Ben's like, oh no, oh no, my life is in shambles. Yeah. And I think Chris also makes a reference to him being able to tell something was wrong by Ben's hair. Oh, right. Didn't have Ben's hair. Oh, right. Didn't have that same something. Yeah, yeah.

It's about the bridges. I couldn't help but notice, like, God damn, Adam Scott has amazing hair. He does. He does. And he still does. Yes, even when we're using it to indicate depression, it looks fantastic.

Yeah, yeah. I also want to do a jump back here because as much as so many things went awful, before they went awful, things looked really good. And the moment when Amy is going,

is so excited because of, you know, Pistol Pete and she is about to break dance. Oh my God. Is just another

brilliant Oh, yeah. Amy Poehler, Leslie Knope, whatever you want to call it, moment. She has to get it out. And it comes out. And then when they cut to her with her head on the floor trying to do a, what do we call it? A head, I don't know what rap, I don't know what goes on.

Yeah, because the script just said, I think, Leslie breakdances. Yeah. Breakdances, yes. And then Amy on the spot had to just kind of come up with some different moves. So, yeah, we shot her in a bunch of different poses. But it's super fun. And it's an extremely popular gif, as the kids say. They do say that.

They do say that. They do, all the kids. Oh, my God. It is. It gets sent to me by people who, like, friends who've forgotten that I worked on the show. Or they just send it as a way of, like, good news, celebrating. Well, let's move. We've talked about it a bit.

I may have jumped the gun earlier to get us going. But in our synopsis, here's where we've landed. Leslie goes out on the ice to give her speech. But Tom's red we've landed. Leslie goes out on the ice to give her speech, but Tom's red carpet ends abruptly, so she and the whole department slowly creep their way to the podium on the ice while Champion pees all over Ron. They have to hoist Leslie up on the podium because there are no stairs, as Jim was talking about.

Really took some effort here. And all her index cards are out of order, and it's no surprise that her speech falls flat in front of the crowd. And you have that great moment. I love the way Amy played it where she's like, this is really not going well, right? This is really a failure. Yeah, and there's something so real about,

yeah, this didn't really go the way you planned. And in fact, this is the episode that is going to launch the rest of the season. And it's demonstrating that they have an uphill. They have this like Herculean task ahead of them, right? To go from 1% and the snap pulls that Pawnee has

to winning. Yeah, no, it was that whole day, it was just such a fun sequence to shoot. That was all shot at the Pickwick ice rink in Burbank. All that stuff. But in the locker room, just backing up before they get out on the ice,

when they're bringing in the sign of Leslie, it's just her eyes. And she's like, oh, my God. And then she's hoping nobody shows up for the event. And Jerry is in charge. And it's just like, please tell me you pulled a Jerry. So hurtful. I don't like that you guys say that. I don't like that.

But don't worry. I got it. There's a hundred people out there. I love that this is the time Jerry came through. And also Pratt, I remember being in the locker room and like there was some hockey equipment around. And during the takes, there was a goalie mask sitting there and I asked Pratt just to put it on for a take.

I remember that moment. Chris, right away, he goes, okay. No questions asked. And he just plays the whole scene without ever doing anything with it. It just has the mask on. It just has the mask on. It just has the mask on. But out on the ice, because you're

right, you're on ice. It is scary. And there was a planned fall for Chris Pratt to take. And there was a stuntman there. And we told him, we'll have the stunt guy will do your fall.

And he insisted on doing it. And if you watch, he falls hard. He gets kind of hard. And then I think there was a little bit, maybe I should have let this go. But to his credit, he got up and I think he did. He might have done a second take of it. I don't recall. But it's a really terrific call.

But everybody was doing those little kind of Tim Conway steps on the ice in unison to get out there. And Nick having to carry the dog while doing it. So now you feel responsible. You got a dog who's already

got three legs. The ice is a challenge. So all that was just, it was yeah, yeah. The ice is a challenge. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so all that was just, it was fun to watch. And I think it was just a fun, like physical sequence.

Amy, you know, one of her heroes is Carol Burnett. And I think that sequence of her being hoisted, you know, struggling to get on the platform was kind of her channeling a little inner Carol Burnett

and making like her body just kind of go limp. And you guys having to get her up there. And we were laughing. So Nick, Ron was laughing so hard. It was craziness. No, it was like everybody knew like, you know, that the slower it is, the funnier it is. You can always tighten it in editing if you want, but you can't make it slower.

And it was just fun just to watch it it was a blast and also what was cool about when all this was happening I believe

was McGill the DP then was he full time I think Tom McGill was our DP Tom McGill and they were on he was on skates

and he was the camera was on like some slide thing and people were skating around with cameras I mean the whole thing

was just so cool oh yeah I was actually really pissed I brought my skates and stick and I thought

oh maybe we can have a little like pick up game and they wouldn't let me out on the ice because I was not like essential personnel

oh for a liability thing it actually yeah it was a liability thing with the studio that it was no reason for me to be actually on the ice and skate. So I was so mad. Oh, yeah, it's been like a dream come true. I get to play hockey with these great people. But yeah, the laughter that was going on was,

because it's such a ridiculous situation. You got a pissing dog. You got, you know, Andy falling and Leslie trying to get up there. It was great. And then the music, of course, the music. Well, I want to talk about that. Yeah. So, when we did the cast read-through for this episode, so I, at the time, was the writer's assistant. I was

at my desk. There are two audio cues in this episode. We never, sometimes we'd have music, but as a, as a, you know, mockumentary, there aren't many audio cues in a script. But this one had two. And so Mike Shore had this plan that we would have both of them in the episode. And so I had REM stand for the claymation scene, and I had Gloria Estefan's Get On Your Feet ready to go.

For the table read. For the table read. For the table read. Thank you. And so the first, you hear that tiny snippet of Stan, you know, Stan in the place and it cuts out. And for me, as the assistant who doesn't normally participate, it was a joy to get to have a part to play. And that was great.

But when we did get on your feet, every time it's written in the script that it plays again, we played it again. And it killed. Yeah. It killed. You always have laughter, the network execs who come,

the studio people. But I think everybody from that moment, from the moment it was pitched in the room, to the moment it happened at the read-through, to the moment we just talked about it shot, it's one of those things that just has always worked. It just killed. Yeah. Now, anytime you can add a little production value at the table read, it just makes it more fun for everybody. Yeah. Let's close out this episode, unfortunately, with our synopsis to say that

here we are at the ice rink and Pistol Pete arrives to endorse Leslie after sorting out his issues, his emotional issues. The crowd loves it until he attempts to dunk and immediately slips, falls, breaks his arm, and rushes over. The event is officially a

total disaster. Speaking of the disaster, Ben realizes how pathetic his life has become and is touched by Chris's efforts to help. And later, post-terrible rally, everybody comes back to Andy and April's house and Ben accepts an offer from Leslie to become her new campaign manager. And in that tag, Pistol Pete asks Ann out on a date when she and Leslie visit him at the hospital. She says no. Because she's married. Because she's married.

And Leslie, no, you're not. Yeah. I mean, what a shitty wingman. Yeah. Yeah. You set up this person and then when they say no, I'm actually going to be still a terrible wingman and not have your back. And Pistol Pete falling was so perfect. That's a tough-looking fall.

Yeah. Now, that wasn't him, right? No, I think that was a stuntman. That had to be a stuntman. But even for a stuntman, you're like, you got to nail it. Oh, yeah, definitely. That's a lot of ice underneath you. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, there's no give. And also, you got to remember, story-wise, while Amy Leslie is up there giving the speech, looking at her are her former campaign managers. I mean, so it's just such a horrible, like it's just as horrible as it can possibly get. Yeah. And then. But then it's, you kind of need to, just like Ben, we showed him at rock bottom here. You're kind of showing Leslie at rock bottom.

We never saw her rock bottom in the campaign storyline. We saw the advisors leave her after the trial of Leslie Knope and the Christmas episode. But we're seeing rock bottom for her, which is important. So you know that she is going to have to have this task of rising again. And that's what I think was so fun, that we're going to show you a bunch of stuff that's going to go wrong with your main character and your characters. And in fact, you're going to love them even more for it. Yeah, no, it was

fun to see them all come together. And Parks was the first show that I ever worked on doing story arcs. I had never been on a show, I've always been on shows that you do a story, and then it resets, and then the next week is all new. Totally've always been on shows that you do a story and then it resets and then the next week is all new. Yeah. So you don't have to worry about it. So it was, I learned a lot, you know, from Mike watching him kind of plot out the season. I frequently got

episodes to write that didn't apply to the arc, like kind of standalone. So it was fun to do something that was part of, you know, the season arc and, and, and see it all come together. But no, it was, it was really fun to, to watch again and, and relive those, those moments. Cause you know, it was, it's a special show. It really is. You know, I look back and like I said, having all the laughs in the writer's room coupled with all the laughs on the stage, it usually doesn't happen like that. It just doesn't. Yes. I've had this conversation a million times.

I've been on a bunch of different things over the years. Nothing was ever like Parks that I've experienced. And I've been on lovely sets, like really lovely sets. But nothing where from top to bottom. And again, I credit the whole thing in my mind. I could be wrong. You guys could be thinking he's out of his mind. Mike and Amy.

So when you have the top of the showrunner and then your number one on the call sheet, who are both incredibly lovely people who just want it to be good without craziness, that's what you can have. They're working the hardest of everybody. They're putting in the most hours and sweating the most. So if they're not complaining and making it miserable,

I don't have the right to do so either. I couldn't agree more. Because I'm good at it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're number one. I can stir the pot, man. Oh, man, if I'm ever number one, I'm bringing that shit down week one.

Yeah, okay. So the two of you should not do a show together. No, no, because it will not be good. No, no, no, no, no. It will be angry. Very angry. Well, we like to talk about the park's theme of gifts, parties, and jobs. So many episodes have either a gift given, a party thrown, a job

gotten. And in this case, Anne gets a new job as Leslie's new campaign manager and is fired from in the same episode. And is thrilled to be fired. And thrilled to be fired from. And Ben gets a new job as Leslie's new campaign manager and is fired from in the same episode. And is thrilled to be fired. And thrilled to be fired from. And Ben gets a new job as her new, new campaign manager in this episode. We have two jobs, the same job. Our most valuable Pawnee and our episode MVP is the thing we like to talk about here.

Which character and what character moment maybe in this episode sticks out the most to you and why? What do you guys, anything? Somebody go first. Oh, yeah. Which character and what character moment maybe in this episode sticks out the most to you and why? Oh. What do you guys, anything? Somebody go first. Oh. Yeah, I know. Oh, see that too because there's so many. That was a Scully being like, how do I pick for my darlings?

I have to go Leslie. moments from the dancing to the performance of getting on the stage and dealing with the nightmare that's happening on the stage and her dealing with Anne. And yeah, for me, everyone's great. I love everyone's greatness. But for me, I'm going to have to go Leslie Knope. Yeah. No, you and I are very like-minded in this. And a lot of these I think MVPs you know these episodes really do stick out and I think about that moment on the stage when she finally gets up there and she kind of just after her index

cards are out of order and she's kind of like this is not gone well this is and she has this like this like laugh of this honest laugh that you kind of can't fake but she does such a good job like this this is not great. And she just encapsulated this feeling so well to me of why this episode works so well. And in an episode where she is the RA story,

she is the comeback kid, but she doesn't have this huge arc in it, this huge moment. She really does stand out. She really takes a kick. Yeah. I thought this was one of Amy's weaker performances. Welcome back to Point Counterpoint.

I don't know. She usually makes me laugh. I know. That's fair. You and I just participated in that Scully joke. Yes, we did. Now, because it was, like you said, it's Comeback Kid.

It's all about Leslie all the way through. It was fun going back, and everybody was hilarious. But spotting those little things, like I said, like the disappointment coupled with seething. And in the ice sequence, there's one spot where things are going really wrong on the ice. And the music cue comes in, and she instantly she instantly like head goes up and smiles at the crowd which I don't think I had noticed before but it instantly lights up

like it's still going great it's little stuff like that that just kills me and you know and also to go back different a little to the episode

when Pistol Pete falls the music kicks in again the poor guy is literally he can't get on his feet. And there's a great reaction shot of Pratt laughing at that. The guy looks like he clearly hit his head on the ice and Pratt's

just cracking up. Well, she did great. It's a great Leslie episode. A great Amy episode. Maybe you throw a bone, I guess a pun intended to champion our three-legged dog. Of course, God bless champion. Yeah, absolutely. Do you want to go to the town hall?

I think you do. We should get a town hall. We should get a question from our listeners. We're going to set it. We set it in different places in Pawnee. It's when we get a listener question in our own town hall. And let's set this one in the Pawnee Sports Building,

North Gym. Makes perfect sense. And of course, when it's the ice rink, not the basketball court. And our producer, Sean Doherty, is going to read to us. So this is a question from Claudia in Australia. Claudia wants to know,

I wanted to know if you have a particular scene from the show that makes you laugh out loud every time you watch it. Mine has to be the scene from the episode The Comeback Kid, where the song Get On Your Feet is playing. I honestly cannot stop laughing every time I see it. Mine has to be the scene from the episode, The Comeback Kid, where the song Get On Your Feet is playing. I honestly cannot stop laughing every time I see it. Thank you for this podcast.

Such a gift. That's so great. Thank you from Australia. Yeah. Wow. Is that south of Michigan or where is that exactly? Oh, you poor man. Oh, okay.

Well, we'll get into geography later. Okay. Okay. Okay. A scene that makes you laugh out loud every time you see it. Jim? Ooh. I mean, there are some I will, when I'm in the mood and I need a laugh, I will go to YouTube. Definitely this is one of them.

The ice is one of them. The bloopers are almost always going to be on my list. Yeah. Just bloopers I'm not involved in. Just funny, crazy moments. You'll probably say stuff that'll remind me. I'll go, oh my God, yes, that one. Well, there is one that immediately came to mind.

It's coupled with the feeling of being in the writer's room also when it was written. And it's going to be, I believe, it's in a season or two. And it's the episode Two Parties. And it's where Leslie and Ben have their two bachelor, bachelorette parties. There's a scene in the last act where Andy has this run about Chris Traeger's eventual bachelor party. When they realize they never threw Chris a bat. He's the one who didn't get this bachelor party. And we'll all get to this.

I don't want to spoil too much for some of our listeners. the one who didn't get this bachelor. And we'll all get to this. I don't want to spoil too much for some of our listeners. But Andy goes on and on about this fantasy about one day he'll be in a cave. I remember he says, and I'll be in the cave training. Do you remember this? Where he goes on this amazing run and every time they think Ben says, okay, we're going to move on. He just keeps adding to it. Right. And that's the fun of Andy, I think, is that he is just this cartoon dog. But in the room, it just took a lot on a life of its own. And it made everybody laugh. And we kept adding to it.

And we keep giggling. And you're like, this is never going to make it in. This is a waste of time. We're going on too long. This is a joke and a joke and a joke. And it did. And that's one of the scenes I always go to. A couple come to mind.

One you referenced earlier in the podcast was Leslie chained to the gate. In 94 meetings, yeah. Yes. Because it just, at the time, correct me if I'm wrong, Amy was pregnant, right? Yeah. I believe she is pregnant. I believe so. I believe so. And there was a concern

about that whole thing. There was a concern about like, and, and so the scene makes me laugh, but also her being so game, you know, where she had a perfectly great excuse to say,

I'd rather not do that. That was also, you know, when Andy does the movie, the entire movie Roadhouse. Yes. And I wish the audience could have seen the full version because it goes on and on and on of him doing every story point in the movie and doing the fight scenes. But even just watching it when it aired, it made me laugh on its own but also the memory of how long

he actually did it just cracked me up so but I mean there's so many little moments and if I want a tearful moment if I'm ever in the mood

for a little cry all I gotta do is put on the final the finale because I couldn't get through the damn episode shooting it let alone watching it

just tears tears tears and I think it was done so perfectly. But that's another topic. That's the finale. We're not there. Do you know what's going to be so sad?

We're going to have to talk about it at some point. Some point, I know. Oh my God, that's going to be sad. That could be a rough day for me, just so you know. Well, before we get there, let's be thankful.

Let's be thankful for so many things this show, but especially being joined here by truly a great writer, a great guy, Mike Scully. Thank you for being here with us. I know you hear this and you're probably saying, but you're iconic.

You're not just a writer. You're an iconic writer. I mean, you were, no, but truly. I'm a laconic writer. No, but I mean, you're Mike Scully. Everyone knows the name. Everyone knows what you've done. It's just exciting that you're here.

It's just, thank you. No, it's my pleasure. I'm an extremely lucky, lucky guy. I have no right to this career. You know that. Yes, I know that. Yeah, no, it was an honor to be part of the show. And I thank Greg and Mike for bringing me on

and taking a shot at Cartoon Boy. Giving you Tuesdays off, yeah. With Tuesdays off. With Tuesdays off. Well, Scully, thank you for being with us today. Thank you all for listening to us today and all the time. We love it. We love hearing from you, too.

We love hearing your thoughts and the reviews and things you want us to talk about. So give us a review. Throw five stars in because we deserve it. So wherever you're getting this, wherever you're listening. Was that what the barbecue salesman was calling? Jim, you're going to give me five stars.

Exactly. I was four, but then I went five. I do love it. So for the green egg, I heavily promote the green egg. Well, thank you to Jim. Thank you to Scully. Thank you to our producer, Shondori.

Thank you to our engineer, Joe Samuel. Thank you to all of you. And from all of us here, goodbye from Pawnee. This has been a Team Coco production.