Parks and Recollection - Mo Collins: Born & Raised (S4E3)

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

Jim O'Heir (Jerry Gergich himself!) and writer Greg Levine are joined this week by actress and comedian Mo Collins, who Parks fans know and love as Joan Callamezzo, the host of Pawnee Today. They discuss one of our favorite Parks scenes of all time - and explore what makes Mo such a gifted comedic performer. Jim and Greg also discuss Leslie’s shocking birthplace, Ann’s quest to make Ron and April enjoy chatting with her, and much more. Treat yo’ self!

Hey, everybody, this is Jim O'Hare. Yeah, that guy. Listen, we have got a jam-packed episode of Parks and Rec Collection this week. So, come by, listen to my friend and co-host, Greg Levine, and I discuss season four, episode three, Born and Raised. And you are going to want to stick around

until the very end of this episode, I promise you, because you do not want to miss our conversation with my friend, my pal, my occasional drinking buddy, the hilarious, the super talented Mo Collins, who Parks fans know as Joan Calamezzo. And she may or may not step off to go powder something. If you know, you know. To talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastian's The pits we fell into

And we're putting it on in a podcast Then we'll send it up into the sky We're calling it Parks and Recollection Come on in a podcast Spread your wings and fly. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Parks and Recollection. I am Jim O'Hare, one of your hosts. Again, Gary Laird, Jerry Terry Berry from Parks and Recreation. Because, you know, my favorite thing when people are trying to, on the streets, they recognize me, they try to look up my name first.

Because no one knows Jim. It's Jerry, Gary Laird, Jerry Berry. But I am when people are trying to, on the streets, they recognize me, they try to look at my name first. Because no one knows Jim. It's Jerry Gator, Larry Jerry Berry. But I am not here alone. I'm just Greg. I couldn't do it. I'm sorry. Again, what is it? I'm Greg.

So nice to meet you. You look so familiar. Greg Levine, people. I'm just teasing him. We couldn't do this without him. I mean, truly. Because I've been drinking a lot. And God knows how I'll even get through this.

Anyway, my co-host Greg Levine. Hello, Greg. Jim, it is so great to be sitting here again with you to talk about another episode of our favorite show together. That's the only show we've done together. It is the only show we've done together and it is my favorite show whether you were involved or not. Oh, good.

Thank you. And this episode is, here's the problem that people are going to be hating me for. I'm going to begin every episode like, this is one of my very favorite episodes. Because as I have always said, and there will be super diehard fans who will agree or disagree, to me, they got better and better and better and better. And I would leave a table read. 90% of the times, I would say to Retta, how the hell did they do that again? How the hell did they do that again? Every once in a while, you'd be like, I will bet this script will change. And it would change because if it wasn't,

what I didn't know how to describe it, that feeling of just- Written by Greg Levine. Is that what you're saying? Well, those were the ones that we had some trouble with. But that's okay. You're learning. You're learning. It's all good. Oh, God.

You're very talented. Anyway. Jim. Well, I could barely get that out. No, but this is another example of this episode called Born and Raised. Well, here's why it's been so fun to do this podcast.

And now you and I doing it together is that, you know, I haven't watched all of these in a long time. I'll catch them on TV when they're on, or I, you know, want to watch one to remind how we did a joke of something I'm writing or whatever, but we keep watching these episodes. I keep watching these episodes I haven't seen in forever. And I forgot about storylines. I keep watching these episodes I haven't seen in forever, and I forgot about storylines. I forgot

about jokes. This episode happens to have one of my favorite bloopers that we're going to get to, so I'm so excited we're talking about it today. It's a joy to watch these episodes, and it's a joy to talk about them with you. If it's the same moment I'm thinking of, it's the kind of blooper that

part of me wants to say, stop this podcast listening right now and go to YouTube. But I won't. Well, we have a lot to get to. A lot to get to. We're going to get to it. Let's tell people what the heck we're talking about today. Tell them what's going on, Greg. So today we're talking about season four, episode three.

It's called Born and Raised. It's called Born and Raised. It was written by the great Ayesha Muhar and directed by the equally great Dean Holland, who is a fantastic editor, director, the number one director of Parks and Rec episodes. He's directed the most episodes of Parks and Rec. This originally aired on October 6, 2011. And here's what it's about.

When Leslie promotes her new book about Pawnee as part of her campaign for city council, she is accused by Joan Calamezzo, the great Mo Collins, of not being born in Pawnee. Trying to save the day, Tom woos Joan, but his flirting gets him in over his head. Also, you know, also back in the Parks Department, Anne tries in vain to bond with Ron and April. That is until she cracks the code. We got an A story,

we got a B story. And that's let's now see. Wow. Go ahead. Should I? There's a guy coming in right now with one of those canes. The big hook. Yes, I do know. Taking me off. It's one of those butterfly nets I'm being taken. Wow.

Anyway, Nopes Notes. Let's see the Nopes Notes. Some fun call-outs of our episode. The book that's referred to and talked about so much in this episode, Pawnee, the greatest town in America, written by Leslie Knope, was made into a real paperback book available for purchase from your local bookstore. It highlights some of the town's more ridiculous historical moments. One of the pages includes the headline, The Triumphant Return of the Harvest Festival

as engineered by Leslie Knope with the assistance of individuals too numerous to name in the title of the Harvest Festival as engineered by Leslie Knope with the assistance of individuals too numerous to name in the title of the sidebar. And it was written by Mike Shore along with the rest of the writing staff. That's a fun project that now sits on bookshelves and ready and waiting to be ordered by you at home. I sign that book all the time. When people come to signings or whenever, whatever, people want that signed. That's one of the top things I sign. Ron's mustache.

Oh, that's right. We should talk about it because Ron's mustache isn't as bushy as usual. That's because it's growing back after he shaved it off at Tammy Once instruction in our previous episode,

Ron and Tammy's. So continuity is king. We're paying attention to that. Yeah. And of course, Ron, as in Nick Offerman, can regrow that mustache in four days. I've never seen a human be able to produce hair like that. Yeah. I mean, truly.

And I am a hairy MF-er. Like, dude, I could take this shirt off and be like, oh, that's a nice sweater. Top, front, and back. But Nick, that facial stuff? Damn. Yeah. sweater, top, front, and back. But Nick, that facial stuff,

damn. There was a pitch in the room at some point that I think that he didn't have his mustache, and then he would just have it back between scenes. He's so good at it. He could just will several inches of hair. I love that. This reminds me,

I remember as a kid, I was on the bus to elementary school, and our bus driver had a thick mustache. And one day he didn't have it anymore. He came in, he was shaven. And we're all just blown away because this was like his defining feature. And we said, what happened? And he said something to me that I believed way too long, which was I shaved it off to make sure I still had an upper lip. Wow.

And for way longer than I want to admit to anybody, I guess now to many people, I truly believed that if you let your hair grow long, like long enough, like in time, it eventually would grow through your lip

and you no longer have a lip. This is a shame. At what age would you say you realized that wasn't true? Well, we're recording this. Yeah, it was recently. Ain't you something. Let's stop talking about my embarrassing facts and talk about our show, our synopsis. Is that okay with you?

It is okay. Two things. Aisha. Oh, yeah. Love, love, love Aisha. She is just the sweetest. I mean, truly such a sweet, sweet human being. And Dean Holland directed.

I love, love, love when Dean directed because I love when an editor directs. And Dean began as an editor. He was on The Office. Right. And an editor knows what they need and they know what they want. Not everybody, but a lot of them, I think. And Dean, it was very comforting when I saw on the script that Dean was going to be our director. I just, I don't know. I felt very comfortable with him. You and

I have talked earlier about, I think he helped veer the Jerry character a little bit into the beginning of the show. And Rob had mentioned this in a previous episode, but Jerry, he was still affable and nice. But sometimes he'd get a little pissy. Whereas time went on and it was through Dean's direction and guiding me. And maybe it was something in the writer's room that you guys all decided this is more where we want Jerry to go. But he gave me options how to play things. And I think it turned Jerry into who Jerry is. So I love Dean. And I've worked with Dean many times since Parks and Rec because he is now a director out in the world. And I recurred on Bless This Mess with Dax Shepard and Lake Bell. And when I'd see him there, it just brought me, it brought me the happy feels. Yeah. I love me some Dean. Well, he directed, I think, and Ayesha wrote one Helen episode. So let's talk about it in our

synopsis. Yes. Leslie wrote a book called Pawnee, the Greatest Town in America and wants to promote it on local talk show Pawnee Today hosted by Joan Calamezzo. Leslie is hoping Joan will select it for her book club, which would help her campaign and book sales.

But Joan claims there's an inaccuracy in the book and won't reveal what it is until Leslie comes on the show. One of her famous gotcha moments. Leslie worries about what will happen if they don't find the inaccurate fact ASAP.

So Anne teams up with Ron and April to help fact-check the book. She sends Jerry off to track down all the people mentioned in the state to track them down and see if what they were saying was right or wrong. And Anne is now trying to connect with Ron and April. It becomes clear they want nothing to do with her. We start the episode, though,

in our cold open in the Pawnee Public Radio hosted by Derry Merbles, the brilliant Dan Castellanetta. For those who don't know, which is maybe two people on earth maybe two the voice of Homer Simpson

among many other characters on The Simpsons Jim, why do you think Derry Marbles fits in so well in the show? Oh, he's perfect for the show Dan is perfect for the show and Dan is an actor what I love about and this isn't even show related,

but I just have to say he's a fellow actor. You know, Dan has been Homer and many other characters for many, many years. I guarantee he never needs to work another moment in his life, but he's an actor and he loves it and he loves doing characters. And so to watch him there, I was so excited when I heard he was going to play that role. And he just comes up with these voices. And I can't do it. I can't even pretend to do it. But he's so perfect for Pawnee.

It's just nerdy and awful. And people replace him who were replacing that person. He was a perfect fit. That's a great point. I think the character also is so fun on a writing side. You know, you write these big storylines. You have a lot to get through. But what's also so fun in the writer's room

is sometimes pitching on a very hyper-specific joke. So this is a fun commentary on public radio and some of the types of musical guests or bands they throw to, the foundations that support, the charitable, whatever. And I think that one, I remember being in the room and talking about what should the name of the band be that they throw to at the end. Let me quickly, before you say it, are you guys all together

when you're pitching that kind of thing? It varies, but I mean, you know, we've discussed it, I think, in little bits here and there

in the series so far on the podcast, but the way the Parks and Rec writers room worked was there were two main rooms. There was a room of a few couches made into a circle together, which was the story generation room. It was more the blue sky, broad topic stuff, or we're pitching on individual beats of an episode. But it's the let your brain take off and the collective imagination between everybody.

There's another room, which was a big conference table with a bunch of monitors connected to one computer, which is where we worked on the scripts, where we did rewrites before table reads, after table reads going into production. A lot of time spent in both rooms. Something like this was

probably pitched in the ladder, in the rewrite room, in the computer room, because you're in the latter, in the rewrite room, in the computer room. Because you're in the script, you are now paying attention to truly two hyper-specific jokes, to little moments. What is a funnier word? What is a funnier beat? And so in this case, what is the best name?

And what is the type of music? The Afro-Norwegian funk duo, Nefertiti's Fjord. And in doing some prep for our conversation today, because yes, I do that, Jim. You do. I think about what I want to say and talk to you about. Here's what I appreciate about you. You do all this prep, and yet I don't know if it's on purpose, but

you come across like you have never even seen the episode. So I think that's really something. That's a gift. It's like a person before a colonoscopy. It's a lot of prep. It's a lot of prep. But then you're kind of asleep at the wheel once it starts, right? Yeah. That's a gift. It's like a person before a colonoscopy. It's a lot of prep. It's a lot of prep. But then you're kind of asleep at the wheel once it starts, right? Yeah, it's a lot of prep.

Shove something up your butt and move on. Well, shove this up into your brain. Shove this up into your brain. Yes. That the lyrics sung by Afro-Norwegian Funk 2 and Nefertiti's Fjord are actually the first two lines from the national anthem of Norway. I didn't know that.

I didn't know how I would know that. But now we all know it. This storyline and crafting the season and doing episodes about running for office, it was important to do stories that weren't just ones we'd see on political shows like the West Wing. We wanted to be continuing to do episodes

that mirrored the world in which we live, which is kind of the ethos of the series. So it was about finding Pawnee-specific types of scandals that made good for Leslie's stories at the same time. So in the season premiere, do you remember the staff was dealing with the Anthony Weiner-like dick pic storyline? Yes, yes, yes.

In this case, the hostility about Leslie's birth certificate is mimicking that baseless, hate-filled conspiracy theory over Barack Obama's birth certificate. And plus, it was fun to put Leslie in a self-identity crisis with the storyline that she's not from Pawnee. Her worst. Her worst nightmare. Her worst nightmare. Her worst nightmare. Yeah. Yeah. And then to learn it's not just Pawnee, but perhaps the worst place in the world. Eagleton. Literally.

You know. The only thing worse had her mother given her birth in a library in Eagleton. Good point. Her head would have exploded. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great point. Couldn't have handled it. They don't give you a name. They give you like a Dewey decimal. Yeah. Oh my God. That was funny. Let's write this down. Greg't have handled it. They don't give you a name. They give you like a Dewey Decimal. Oh, my God.

That was funny. Let's write this down. Greg, at what time are we here? Had a good moment. The first time in human history, Greg had a joke Jim O'Hare liked. Liked. You know, at four minutes, five seconds, if you're watching at Peacock, which is how I stream the series now. Of course.

It cracked us up how Leslie tasks Jerry with going out of town and tracking people down, and how proud and determined he is to do it, and then we don't see him again at all in this episode. We'll get to it.

How did you feel, Jim? Here you are. You're on the show. You want to be part of the team. You're sent off. Actually, did that make you feel like you were part of the team? No. That meant get rid of them for the week.

Here's the thing, and this is a true thing. Before we shoot, you get your production and all this. You get your scripts. You do table read. You do all this. Then you get your day of days. That shows the days you're going to be working and what days you're off. I used to hate when I would see I had a day off. And I know that sounds nuts because people are like, who the hell doesn't want a day off? I just love being there. And you know, we did like The Office. Characters had to be there a lot more than normal because we're

shooting mockumentary, so the camera's flicking around and you could be seen. So there were episodes I might not have had a lot of talking to do, but I would be in them a lot,

so I'd be there almost every day. Right, there are a lot of windows purposely so you can see the cast behind you. A lot of glass. A lot of glass on that set.

Right. And I love that because I became so tight with not just the cast, but the crew. So like to me going to work, you know, other than getting up early, I'm never a fan of that. But once I was up and running, uh, I loved being there. So yeah, that would have been a week where I would have

been, Oh, cause I probably at the most, I worked two days. I would imagine maybe. Yeah. But I love your stuff in this. It's great. And it's, again, we see who this wonderful guy is. He wants Leslie to prove, you know, he wants to help her out. She has tasked him to do it and he heads out that door like,

yes, we're going to do it. Yeah. He's going to get all the info she needs. That's our Jerry. Joan reveals on Pawnee Today that Leslie was not born in Pawnee as she states in her book, gleefully

stamping gotcha, that big gotcha sticker, which is something we talked about in the room, like how do you make this thing? You pretty much are putting Joan's face on people's books. But now it's the gotcha sticker, the gotcha stamp over Leslie's face on air and refusing to back the book.

So the damage is done. As Leslie promotes the book, she's being heckled now by citizens of Pawnee who demand to see her birth certificate. Tom goes out to lunch with Joan and with Ben, too, to try to win over Joan and to get her to endorse Leslie's book. But then Tom quickly tries to backtrack his heavy flirting when he finds out Joan is now divorced, extremely eager. As he points out, it was always fun when she had her marriage to go home to, but now that she's free out in the world,

this is like, he might have to follow through on this. Let's first, I have to, I love him every time he's on the show. At 10 minutes on the time code, we get to see Mel Cowan return. As the man who shouts at Leslie in town hall meetings.

You know, I believe his character eventually was named Mel, but on a show we've talked about, famous for very unique character names, Joan Calamezzo being one, I think named by a writer, an amazing writer,

Rachel Axler. Rachel. He was for a long time in scripts, purely red-faced man. Because we wanted to have someone whose face got so red from screaming and he's so funny at it. This was so fun. It was a town hall and not in the town. It was just in like a bookstore, but it was just like all of our town halls. Every town hall is perfect.

Every episode, every town hall is perfect. It's what people bring up to me all the time. Because there's nothing crazier than a town hall meeting. And when you talk to people who works in the city kind of world, that kind of world, they're like, you know, you're on point here. These are nuts. These are nutty people that come out here. Because a lot of people just sit home like me. I don't go out and scream and yell at stuff. But those people that do,

they go to these kind of things. And he was so perfect. But I did not know he had a name. Yeah, he became Mel, I think, just because... Even in the credits? In the credits, eventually Mel, but he was... Is he a Lurpus? Great question, Rob Schulte. I don't think he became a Lurpus. One of the

members of the great, sprawling Lurpus family of Pawnee. Lurpus, L-E-R-P-I-S-S became one of our favorite surnames. Mike Schur attached it to a lot of characters. I actually think I once caught Mike in the

editing Lurpus bios online about the characters. I'm pretty sure I'm right about that. He's not a Lurpus, if my memory serves me right. So maybe he married into the family, but kept just Mel. We should also talk about the fact that this is Tom and his Entertainment 720 storyline, right?

He's starting E720 with Ben Schwartz, Jean-Ralphio. And so he's got this additional swagger, right? He's starting E720 with Ben Schwartz, John Ralphio. And so he's got this additional swagger, right? When he's with Joan. Oh, so good. What is it about this flirtatious relationship? I've known a million Tom Haverfords when it comes to this. They're all boom, boom, boom, all talk, talk, talk until it's time to, you know, pay up. And when he realizes Joan is no longer married, he doesn't know what the hell to do. And that is so, there are so many dudes out there like that. They're all game. Well, they think they got game until the time comes. Because let's face it, Joan is basically saying, we're doing this.

Yes, yes, yes. We are doing this. And not just, yes. We are doing this. And not just with Tom. She wants Ben involved too, which is ridiculous and brilliant. And Mo Collins playing Joan Calamezzo. Mo is so good. Mo is so good. I can tell you, Mo tells people when she refers to me, and I should repeat it because it's not flattering, but it is.

She says, I'm the nicest asshole she's ever known. And I kind of love that. Yeah, yeah. We'll be chatting with Mo. She'll give us the scoop on that. I also love, before we just move on, I love Chris loving, Chris Traeger loving the gotcha dancers. And loving the gotcha theme song on Joan's show. And it's small.

Bouncing along to it. Yes. Like it's just his favorite tune in the world. Like why he's, he's as if, why have I never heard this song before? But that's, what's so brilliant about Chris Traeger.

He can love and hate something at the exact same time. Cause of course he feels bad that there's a gotcha moment. Right. But my God, look at those dancers. Yes. Yes. Song is very bouncy.

He starts singing along and Tom sings along. And there's Andy, you God, look at those dancers. Yes, yes. That song is very bouncy. They start singing along and Tom sings along with them. And there's Andy. You know, the head is bouncing. It's why there's so much to love about this damn show. So about this damn show, as Jim O'Hare likes to say, in our synopsis, we should talk about what happens next. Leslie shows her short-form birth certificate to her campaign advisors, but they tell her she needs to produce her original long-form one.

That may ring a bell with our Barack Obama inspiration. It has big campaign advisors in Pawnee. I love it. Yeah, it's great. It's a town of I don't know how many, but they have not just campaign advisors. They do snap polls. Yes.

Amazing. Yeah. Amazing. So Leslie travels to Eagleton. Ooh. The hated. Ooh, I just got a cold shudder. Ooh.

You should get that looked at. Pawnee's hated rival town. To retrieve it and finds, to her horror, that she was actually born in Eagleton. And at lunch. Nothing could be worse. Go ahead. I'm sorry. You just had to jump in. No,. And at lunch... Nothing could be worse. Go ahead. I'm sorry, just had to jump in. No, no, no.

Not about lunch being worse. He's saying nothing could be worse. Than Leslie. For Leslie, it is the ultimate... I mean, you made a great point. If it had been a library in Eagleton, she would just be like, that's it.

I've lived a good life. I'm done. Yes. You know, tell the world my story. Let's wrap this up. Yeah. Well, at lunch, back to Tom and Ben with Joan, and I think perhaps our favorite blooper.

I think we're going to agree on this, yes. Joan is trashed and tries to sleep with both Tom and Ben, but she's out of control, and they have to literally throw her into her bed at home. We talked about it. We'll come back to Leslie in a second, but let's talk about this great Mo Collins. There's so many great moments about it. Adam Scott, Aziz. And also an Aziz-Tom thing that to me is so important. Yeah, so they're at lunch.

She's being incredibly inappropriate. Tom is realizing it's time to put up or shut up and he does not want to put up because she's a mess and he's a, you know, because generally you would think his type of character, hell, I'll screw anybody. I don't care if I have the opportunity. He is afraid of this woman.

Right. And I would be terrified of a Joan Calabasas. I mean, just Jim O'Hare would be like, so like, this is scary. She's a lot. She's a whole lot. She's a lot. And her performance.

What I want to see though, and I don't know that I'll ever get to, I want to see an unblurred version of when she describes exactly what she wants to do to Ben and Tom. Because I'm guessing, knowing Mo, she went for it. That's so funny you say that, Jim, because in watching the episode for our conversation today, I was also, I was trying to see, did we write? No, there's obviously nothing written there in script, but it goes on for some time. And knowing Mo, knowing the comedian she is, she probably went for something crazy. She didn't just say gobbledygook to blur over. No, not the Mo Collins I know. We did a movie together once, an indie after Parks. And we got to the point we thought we were ruining the movie.

We couldn't stop laughing. It was awful to the point where we thought, we got to get this under control because there's money involved. Every laugh is money. Every laugh is money. So I guarantee,

because I think Mo is like me, and I would love to see what she came up with. Because I'm sure it was crazy. What everybody needs to do, if you haven't already seen this, when Joan says that she's going to go off and powder

her nose amongst other things, you get one of the all-time great bloopers from the series. That's what I told you earlier. Part of me wants to say, turn this off and go watch it now, but don't do that. Finish this podcast. Pause it. Oh, you can pause. You can pause.

Come back if you want. You know what? I'm getting a hard... Don't even pause. Don't even pause. We want to build up such anticipation that the moment the podcast ends, you need to go watch this. And do this right when it ends. Let me set the stage for one second.

Go for it. Go for it. After she says that, Ben says, is she going to go powder her vagina? Go look on YouTube, whatever. Be prepared to see Adam and Aziz break over and over and over again. And I watch it sometimes. It pops up on the, and I crack up. I giggle like a little kid.

It makes me laugh so much um i also love watching people who are generally better at not breaking i think adam was quite good at him breaking him break aziz it was a very very special comedy exactly what happened but first i have certain bloopers of different shows that I go to when I'm in a mood to just cheer myself up or whatever. This is one of them. There's many for Parks, just because a lot of them just brings back such wonderful memories. But there's some office bloopers that, of course, I go to.

There's some, my God, there's a blooper from, this is so random, but there's a blooper from Mad TV with a pig pissing and shitting that I lose it. I literally, Bobby Lee is playing Connie Chung and I lose it totally. Just terrible. But anyway, this one, the way that there's something about the way Adam says vagina. Yes, yes. Is it just me or so you get that too? Well, because it's his affectations, the way he's like, because he has that incredulous,

like, really, is that happening? Did I hear that right? Is she going to powder her vagina? I can't even pretend to do it. One of the great, you know, Jerry has odd Gs a lot. Right, exactly. Adam has like a dear Lord.

Right, yes, yes, yes. That observation about like, am I witnessing the world the way it's actually, is this reality? Right. And that reaction he has, like, is she going to go pound her vagina? Her vagina. And like, who comes up with that line?

Like, were you there when someone came and said, yes, that's the line? I think so. Well, I think we're all there. It's one of those moments that cracks all of us up. all of us up. Andy as Burt Macklin is trying to save the day in the Eagleton Hall of Records office by jumping over the front desk to go get Leslie's birth

certificate because the person there wouldn't give it to them. It takes time to get the birth certificate as we saw. And one, I love that he doesn't realize how to spell Leslie's last name at the last second. But earlier, there's a moment where as he jumps over the desk,

he knocks over and breaks a computer. That was actually an accident. It wasn't supposed to happen. And the look of shock on Amy's face was real. And they decided to use that take. And beyond that, Jim, I don't know if you remember this blooper, but there's another great moment

where he throws the briefcase back and it goes so far, it hits the light switch on the other end of the room. It turns the lights off, but it shatters the light switch, too. Crushes it. Crushes it. They broke something in a real place. Total reset. And even Rob, Rob was in the scene.

And Rob mentions, like, well, that's going to take a while. Like, that's ruined. He said, you shattered it. You shattered it. You shattered it. It was totally shattered. Yeah. Well, anytime Burt Macklin is around, I'm in.

Yes. I'm in. I want to jump back real quickly to the Tom thing just because I hope this is okay. What really struck me, and again, I'm watching these again because I haven't seen them forever. Tom, who is this bravado and, you know, this and he's this and he's blah, blah, blah. He was truly concerned about her safety. That's a great point. Yeah.

I love that. Like, truly concerned. He says to me, we got to get her home. Like, we got to, she's got to be okay. And even they get her in the bed, which is, you know, mayhem, but they finally get her there. And of course, Tom has to check out the count on the sheets. Yeah, yeah. Just because that's Tom, of course.

But they finally leave, and he yells to her, oh, there's water and aspirin on the table. Yeah. I think that's a really important thing that we learned who Tom really is. Yeah. Because in moments of panic, and this was moments of panic, this woman has just said these things to them, and she has gone off to powder her vagina. And so it is crazy. He's terrified he might have to sleep with her because he's all talk. And ultimately, he's concerned for her safety.

Yeah. That gave me the warms. That gave me the feels. That's a Parks and Rec, I think, truism, right? Yes. We can be as crazy, but they're all good people. Yeah. Even, you know, tough Ron and April.

Of course. Everybody has that good and bad and then that sweetness. And Tom shows that. I love that. This is a great point to call out. Love that. So once Leslie finds out that she was from Eagleton to her shock and horror, she goes to her mother, to Pamela Reed, to Marlene

Griggs Knope to confirm. And not only sorry, we find out, I want to call this out because it cracks me up. Not only was she born in Eagleton, but she was born in Eagleton because Pawnee's Hospital

was overrun with raccoons at the time. Of course it was. Yes. I'm going to bring up, I had to unfortunately go to the hospital recently for a health thing. And I bring it up. Here we go, Rob. Get ready. Sit back.

I say that not for the texts and the tweets and the things. And the tweets and the things. And the gifts. But I bring it up to say that like the fact that even Pawnee has births happening, right? People get born in Pawnee in a hospital. There are actual doctors, aunts and actual nurses. They take care of real – there must be emergencies at the Pawnee Hospital. And this is the same place that a person just very casually says, you know, it happened to be run over with raccoons. It just was.

It's so funny to picture, like, if I was having some kind of surgery, even if it was, you know, whatever, it was casual, to know that maybe raccoons on the third floor kind of is disturbing. And the way she's casual, like saying, oh, there was a

pandemic of whatever. No, we just run over with raccoons. We couldn't give you birth there. And she just accepts that. I mean, she's horrified by it, not because of the raccoons, just the fact that she didn't give birth in Pawnee. We're going to jump, we're talking about, we'll jump back in the synopsis a second. But since we're in this scene, let's just talk about when Pamela Reid continues to be awesome as Marlene. I always wondered, I thought we would

see more of her. Between you and I. In the show? In the show. I think she did three or four episodes. Would that be my guess? I think she did more, but I think one of the things is that you want to use guest stars, but specifically characters'

parents, strong characters' parents, sparingly because Leslie's such a strong, fierce, independent character and she's a different person when her mom's around. And that was the nature of that relationship, so it changed Leslie. Two writers thinking about all that. I'm just an idiot. We happen to think sometimes, Jim.

It's like when you see Aubrey's parents. Exactly. It makes you think of that character in a quite different way. And Ben's parents, which is another episode. But my God, that's a whole... Oh, yeah. Isn't that a Greg Levine episode? I did write that episode.

Really? We have a season until we get there. Synopsis. Synopsis. Sheltie, what are you doing to us? Come on. So, Anne. Remember Anne?

Anne, yes. The Ann? Ann, yes, the beautiful, well, there's a million terms for her. Beautiful swan seductress or whatever Leslie says this time. Ann finally gets Ron and April to open up because they've been playing hard to get by telling them gross

medical stories about her job at the hospital. And, you know, by telling them gross medical stories about her job at the hospital. Oh, great. And, you know, it's great. She says some line about, like, everybody loves a gross medical story. I don't know if everybody does, but clearly she knew these people would totally respond to this. And there's a great little...

I think she's right, though. You think everybody likes a gross medical story? I can't say everybody. That's a generalization. But I think a lot of, though. You think everybody likes her? I can't say everybody. That's a generalization. But I think a lot of us. I'm in. You are. I'm in.

So Ron says that he was on to Anne's kind of like underlying motives to get chummy with them. And so he purposely calls her by the wrong name just to keep her at bay. I love that. Such a great little thing he does. Was there ever any in the writer's room? just to keep her at bay. I love that. Such a great little thing he does. Was there ever any in the writer's room, was there ever any talk of Ron pursuing Anne? Because think about it.

He was single. She was single. I mean, I don't see them together. That's all we need. Well, you know, in a writer's room. You guys are coming up. You got to come up. Was there ever any talk of them as a potential? I don't think so. I don't think we ever pitched on Ron and Anne together. We've talked before.

There was a moment where Greg Daniels, as a way just to see what would happen in conversation, pitched that Ron and Leslie kiss. And the reaction of the writer's room was like, oh my God, no, that can't happen. And, you know, Greg, what I love about him is that he'll, in the rooms, he'll pitch things that he either knows aren't going to bear out as something or maybe thinks it's just like one of those interesting who knows just to get a reaction. But the more you think about a weird idea like that, the more stories that sparks in you, the more you change your character. You can take them in new directions.

Maybe we should have put in... No, I'm telling you. He likes dark haired brunette or whatever. But I am with the rest of the writers. When you said they were like, oh, no, no, no. The thought of them kissing, it really jeeves me. Like, no, no,

no. That'd be like my brother and sister, which there was an instance in high school. But anyway, and again, that's between my family. It's no one's business. Well, the business we should get to is the end of our episode, our synopsis. Leslie is extremely depressed about not being a true Pawnean. And Chris supports Leslie and encourages her to tell the truth on Joan's show

as it only matters where she's from. Joan eventually allows the book in her book club and also slaps a gotcha sticker on the back just for good measure. The next day, Jerry returns to the office empty-handed after driving all around the entire state looking for incorrect facts. Actually, he's not really empty-handed. He all around the entire state looking for incorrect facts. Actually, he's not really empty-handed. He actually has a lot of good information, which is, and he's quite proud to say, I've talked to all these people. I've tracked all this down.

There's been no factual inaccuracies. He says, I'm going to go back out there unless there's anything you need me to know. At this point, the story has wrapped. Everything's fine. And what happens? She says, nope, you're all good.

And Jerry seems so happy. He's like, you got it, boss. He just marches out. And there's that great moment. Do you remember this in the episode where Leslie and Donna look at each other and Leslie says something like, he just seems so happy.

And Donna was so good here. And she's like, I didn't say anything. Yeah, perfect. Were you happy, Jim? Did you like doing storylines where you were on the team, so to speak, rather than being the butt of the joke? I love being on the team.

I'd like to be more in front of the camera too. But I love being on the team. But one of my also favorite moments of that at the very end when I leave, and it was just an improv that somehow made it. It was so silly. But, you know, I say to Leslie, okay, I'm going to go back out there. I'm going to go home, shower. I miss my daughter's birthday.

For Jerry, imagine missing his daughter's birthday. It was family, family, family, family. But Leslie was in a bind and Jerry could always be counted on whether he goofed things up or not. That's another story. But he would always certainly be there when people were in a bind. But so he's going to take off and he goes and he looks over at Donna. He goes, sorry, Donna, can't talk now. As if she had any interest in talking to me anyway. I don't know. That caught me and I loved it. You know, gifts, parties, jobs, let's call it out.

We have a waffle party. Oh, that I wasn't there for. I know. I'm sorry. You must be so hungry. Because I'll tell you, they brought in great food. When it was time to eat on that set, they always brought in good stuff. Good.

Really, really good stuff. Good. It was Gay's job. Was Gay the one who? I think it was Gay Per eat on that set, they always brought in good stuff. Good. Really, really good stuff. Good. It was Gay's job. Was Gay the one who? I think it was Gay Perrello. Yeah. And Julie and Tom. Oh, my gosh.

So good. Yeah. I was disappointed I missed that. Sorry. But everybody else got it. They got a waffle party. Literally everyone else got it. And there's that sweet moment where Lon and Resley.

Is there a doctor here? Where's Ann when you need Lon, is there a doctor here? Yeah. Where's Ann when you need her? Is she still burning hair? Yeah. There's that great moment between Leslie and Ron cheersing with syrup. Yeah.

Which is so great. It's the perfect cheers. And also a sweet moment where, was it Ann who poured the syrup on Ron's waffle? Oh, yes, yes. Like, okay, because even though- I have my little victories, right? He's giving her, yes, it's these little victories. He's still not going to waffle. Oh, yes, yes. Like, okay, because even though... I have my little victories, right? He's giving her, yes, it's these little victories.

He's still not going to, you know, Ron is going to have his distance. But yeah, I love that moment too. This is one of those episodes where, you know, Leslie, there were a lot of Parks episodes where Leslie's in a bind, there's a problem, someone says something to her when she goes for advice, whether it be Anne to Andy to Ron, someone says something that inspires them. Ah, I know the fix. She's done that before with the Harvest Festival. She has that thing and she saves the day with her ingenuity. But this is one where she just had to deal with it. She had to learn a lesson.

And in a season that's about her running for office, where we do episodes like this that are about the campaign, and we did an episode before, which was the Ron and Tammy story, which really wasn't about the campaign, because we didn't want to overdo it and make 22 episodes purely about... We weren't the West Wing.

We weren't Spin City. She learned a fact,. She had to, she learned a fact, and she had to deliver a truism that she says, this is where you're from, Pawnee. I know about you, guy behind the camera. We went to school together.

I broke, I injured myself on this spot. I am this place where I'm from. I think it's such a great point, and it's such a great point. And it's the right lesson to an episode, which is you are not who you are. Where's your birth certificate? It's like, you're looking for a fact about me that's actually not true. I love that about this and that you could have a lesson in a 21-minute comedy series.

It's a huge lesson. I always say, I've lived in LA now. It'll be going on 30 years. I moved from Chicago when I was 32. Yeah, do the math people. Anyway,

let me just carry the two. Just carry the two and then divide that by six. Yeah. But, Chicago is still home to me. That's my home. That's where I'm from.

And Leslie is from, there is no one more Pawnee. Jim. Yes. Episode MVP, our most valuable Pawnee, and who is it for you? You can't say yourself, my man. Well, then I have to. Yeah, it can't be me.

I'm sorry. I love her. So I have to give it to Mo Collins, Don Calamezzo. I'm with you. I'm with you. I just can't. And there's so many great, again, I really feel that the Aziz Tom stuff

was so important character-wise. It really struck me in my heart. So that was important. So many important moments. But Joan Calamezzo and what Mo did with that. Yes. MVP. Yes.

She had a great scene, two scenes with Aziz and Adam. She had great scenes with Amy. She was everywhere in this one. As an actress, you have to watch her, her go-through. Even when she comes back after the,

you know, after she's had the night out and she's hung over and everything, she just plays everything. i don't know i i could yeah i could she delivers that line i had some bad seafood which is what everybody says when they've had a bad night of drinking yeah but just her i don't know there's something you know when this was all over and i don't know if this is a secret or not but amy actually was trying to do a pilot with uh mo because Moe was just so damn talented. And so,

yes, she is my MVP. Well, listeners at home or wherever you are listening to us, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Team Cocoa Podcast or by using the hashtag, hashtag Parks and Recollection. Do you want to go to the town hall? I think you do. Well, this is such a great Joan Calamezo episode, Jim. And what's so exciting is that sitting across from us right now is Mo Collins, the Joan Calamezzo. Hi, Mo. Hi.

Wow. It's electric in the room. It's absolutely electric. The way he said that, I'm not sure. Are you accusing me of something? Of being high? Or are you saying hello? It was very accusatory.

I guess I wasn't sure how I wanted to take this. Is that all? Hello and goodbye and that's it? Or are we going to have a conversation? How do you want to play this? I can leave right now. Okay, you know what? Let me save this whole damn episode.

Thank you, Jim. Ladies and gentlemen, Mo Collins is here. And even though it kills me to say it because it just hurts me, I love this woman to death. She is so, so talented. And for the huge Parks fans, you don't need me to tell you that. To me, and I'm going to just say this. I've probably said it to her. In private. In um, in private,

in private, in those special moments. Um, no, I think Mo is, uh, again, my opinion on things.

There's certain actresses who for me are along the Carol Burnett's and you're one of them. Uh, uh, Wendy Malick, I think is, is pretty amazing. Anyway, Carol Burnett herself.

No, but I think you are, I think you're pretty amazing. Anyway, Carol Burnett herself. No, but I think you are above and beyond the average wonderful actor out there. I just do. Thank you, Jim. I so wish I could return the compliment. I know she does. She means it, you guys. She really does.

But she thinks very little of me. You are the nicest asshole, as I call you. But truly, thank you for that compliment. And by the way, the Carol Burnett reference has always been for me. She is my goat. And you know I got to meet her. No, I haven't met her. There you go. Yeah. Everyone but me has met her. Yes. And we talked about you the whole time and she said, oh, I don't think she's nearly as talented as me. And I said, well, you're right, Carol. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought I was going to meet her one time. In fact, she was possibly going to guest on Parks and Rec and be on Pawnee Today. And I found out, and I was actually in a car ride in New York City. And I had to put my head between my knees like a Beatles fan moment. I never heard that. Yeah, I just started crying. Oh, my gosh.

Oh, yeah. I had a huge reaction. Then it didn't happen. Yeah. Because the Lord hath spoken. No. I've been smited. Not today, Jesus.

Not today. What is it? Spate? You were smote. Smote. Smote. Smoted? Yeah.

Smited. Smited and smoted. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When I met her, I will tell you, I didn't know she was going to be on the set that I showed up to. It was a big secret. And when they told me, the director called me over and said, Jim, do you know who's here today? And I said, I don't know. Like, I had seen the call sheet, and it was, you know, Odenkirk and basic names that I knew.

I said, no, I guess not. And she goes, look over there. And there was Carol Burnett. And according to her, because the moment kind of flashed, my eyes kind of watered over and I stepped away. Like I needed a moment

because it was Carol Burnett. And then she goes, do you want to meet her? So she takes me over. And you know, the scary thing, be careful when you meet your heroes. She was everything you would have wanted. She was lovely in telling me stories about Clark Gable and the party she was at.

For God's sake. It was incredible. So then I go to do some ADR, which is when you do some voiceover work over an episode you've already shot. You know, months later in LA, because this was in New Mexico, I think. And she was after me and we bump into her and she goes, well, hello, Jim. And I was like, she remembered my name. And for all I know, she saw a call sheet.

I don't think so. I didn't see a call sheet that day. But anyway, it meant the world to me. So, yes. Yeah, she's Carol Benet. Let's get her in. Let's get her. You know what? Can we get rid

of Mo, please? Is Carol here? I'll just wait and see her in. I'll just, I'll greet her. Anyway, and I know, I think I told this story, actually, Mo and I, we're pretty sure we ruined somebody's production once because we couldn't stop laughing. Oh my God, Jim. It was

terrible. Wow, that was one of the biggest, yeah, that was one of the worst I've had. That was one of the worst. Stop laughing. Can you give us a little more details around that? It was a short film kind of thing. It was a short film. It was a short and it was lovely.

It was supposed to be serious, which is always when it's. That's the problem. Don't put us in serious together. That's the problem. Don't put us in serious together. And so we were, there was a line about every time an angel, something Oh, that's right!

Moe improvised, every time an angel farts, someone gets his wings. Whatever it was, we were gone. We were gone, and I'm pretty sure we ruined the production. We couldn't come back. We couldn't come back. Legally. Yeah. I still have the papers. Anyway, okay. We couldn't come back. We couldn't come back. Legally. Oh. Yeah. Legally.

Exactly. I still have the papers. Anyway, okay. But we're so lucky. We're so lucky. I hope there's a lot of laughter today between the two of you. And maybe you'd be lucky enough to make me laugh. Who knows?

Wow. You're a real buzzkill. Isn't he? Bring it down, Greg. Bring it down. We're so fortunate to have you here with us. Mo, you were in 19 episodes of Parks and Recreation. Did you realize that? 19?

I know. Yeah, that's a lot. I actually thought it was 20, but yeah. Oh, well. There you go. Can we cut you out? No, I think one of them is a two-parter. No, I just like to round things off because I'm shitty with math.

But yeah, 19. What do you remember of the casting process? What do you remember about joining Parks and Rec? Oh, absolutely remember the casting of it. They, you know, they wanted this newscaster-y, cable access lady, not really good, very green. So I really tried to just play it as real as possible because, you know, what do they call it? Single camera was fairly new then. as real as possible because, you know, what do they call it? Single camera was fairly new then.

So that whole style coming away from sitcom and everything was like, dial it, just dial it way, way down. And I just, you know, just did my, I just did very real. Yeah. And then of course we see where it went from there. Yeah. Yeah. Very grounded. Very grounded. course we see where it went from there. Yeah, very grounded, very grounded. I actually really do enjoy going back and seeing the evolution of Joan. And when you do go back and I still, regardless of how extreme, let's just say that Joan became, how outlandish, I always, every single time I would do an episode, I really did try to remember that very first episode and some of the things that I was telling myself about not being very, very slick with the speaking when it comes to actually doing her show,

just to kind of skip up a little bit while still trying to be professional. Just making it, having a bit of that awkward in there. But I, I totally remember the audition, tiny room. Was it, was it with the boys? Just for the record, she is now also naked from the bottom. It becomes me. Yeah.

Who was in the room? Were the boys in the room? Was it Mike and Greg? Just Allison? Just casting. Yeah. It was just, you know, in and out as it is. Yeah. Who was in the room? Were the boys in the room? Was it Mike and Greg? Just Allison? Just casting. Yeah, it was just, you know, in and out as it is. Yeah. Welcome to showbiz. But once you joined the show, I feel like your character and you made this indelible mark in, especially once you and Amy would be in a scene together. I think that there was a special energy between the two of you. I think this is what happened, and I'm grateful for it, as I am with any job that has me do this, is I keep going until they yell cut, you know, and improv is my BFF.

And I think from there, you know, part of it was just Mo Collins playing on set, but stuff comes out and they start to see just potential of writing. And I feel like that is where the writer sort of went, she's game, right? Like she's a player, she's game. And I do that on any job I go to, whether they want me to or not. But if they're smart, they see that and they know to let it ride. But look, one time I specifically remember Amy Poehler saying, Moe's here, just keep the camera rolling. Now, is there a better compliment than that? No, there's not. And it's also like woman to woman. It's such a beautiful thing to have a contemporary, you know, be so supportive. That's why Parks and Rec was so

great. The captain of the ship had no ego. Exactly. 100%. So that gave me a lot of confidence being a guest there. You know, I'd always felt like sort of a cousin to the family. Right. Which was really fun because they had an expectation when I would show up that I would maybe deliver some extra treats. I think people like Mo, I think people like Ben Schwartz, they just knew, okay, we have our script. We have a base. Let them do their thing.

And there were others, too. Let's get the plot out we need. Let's get the base done, but then have fun. Let them do what they do, and look what they do. I mean, Joan Calamezzo is iconic. It's mining for gold. It's, you know, Parks and Rec, the script already was gold. Yeah.

But on any comedy, what you do want to do is mine for more gold while you're there. And that's why you get funny people to do comedy. Yeah. I still maintain that. Funny people. Okay, let me write this down one second funny people it's great when funny people pencil not pen i'm not sure you're not sure if you've landed so i'm gonna i'm not gonna make it well parks and rec i think our set was famous for fun runs

where after we've recorded the scene that we need that we do a fun run and just for the actors just to have fun to improv as much as you want as long as you get a general sense of the scene as needed. Still have fun because you never know what gold would come. And I feel like when you were on set, especially when you'd be with Amy as well, both people with huge improv backgrounds. There must have been this element of the fun run is happening throughout. You know that each of you trust each other, right? It's the trust. It's the trust, you know,

and I obviously know they're good for it. We're cut from the same cloth. Yeah. And what you said, which is so 100% on, Amy Poehler has no ego. Right. She wants what's best for the show. Yeah.

And so she knew who you, she knows what you do. She knows what you bring. And so for her, let her go. Let her go. And it's beyond that. It's the support goes to where Amy actually wanted me to shine. She didn't want me to just do well for her show. She wanted me to shine. She wanted to shine a light on me, you know, and that's what really good people do. Yes. You know, is, is you, you shine a light, you know, that's why you want

your own light to shine because that light is shining onto somebody else. And that's what Amy is really good at. And so am I. Yeah. Stop me from saying the term 100%. It keeps coming out, but it's just, you're saying exactly how I feel. That's how Amy was for seven seasons. It's just you're saying exactly how I feel. That's how Amy was for seven seasons. It was never about Amy. And that, you know, as Mo and I, we have been on a lot of shows over the years. We've seen a lot of things over the years.

And a lot of times your leads are what they are. And funny goes to them. And you can lose funny because it's going to go to the lead. That was never the case on Parks. Not with Amy, not with anybody on Parks. But I just, I love that you saw that too. I just. Oh, absolutely. And you know, Amy's one of your biggest fans.

And I'm one of hers too, because it's, you know, like I say, it's like looking at people and watching her career. And now granted, they went in different directions but uh you know um which by the way when you leave make sure you clean the table i just gotta make sure you get all this stuff but i do understand how she started and how i started and i know what it all feels like and and that was really keeping an eye on ensemble too like i come from dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis and it really was about ensemble, you know, not about the individual. It's about what can the ensemble accomplish together and we make each other shine. Many interviews have asked me

over the years, oh, would you love your own show? Like, you know, no, no, no. It is an ensemble that the cheers, Carol Burnett, that's the dream. And I had it for seven years because Parks was an ensemble. I couldn't agree more. I just, it's all about the group effort and everyone supporting each other. And not every bit works, not everything, whatever, but you're all there for each other. And when it works, it can just explode. But it's not even such a bad thing to fail together. Sure, of course. You know, like, I mean, I go back to Mad TV days for that.

You know, there were some things that failed and failed right in front of the audience. And brilliant. Yeah. Brilliant. But when we fail like that, we're like, all right, let's do another take. And then the improv comes in and ensemble gathers together. And boom, you've got gold. Like, you just find stuff like the process of comedy is just oh it's so good isn't it

like i just sunk in a little bit because it truly is like just pure chocolate yeah oh yeah it's a treat chocolate is really good chocolate is good yeah good. Yeah. But when it all comes together, that feeling is like no other. And it's, you know, it's why people keep golfing. I know this is a crazy, I'm jumping off the bridge here. But, you know, you golf because you get that one good shot during the 18 holes that keeps you coming back. That's what comedy is. You get that one moment where you're like, oh, I do love that. It's a drug, I guess.

I think it might be a bit of a drug. Yeah. It is. And you need to, oh, I do love that. It's a drug, I guess. I think it might be a bit of a drug. Yeah. And you need to, you are constantly searching for that. And if you're lucky, you end up with a group of people. You get it a lot. I know. A whole lot. It's the luckiest place to be.

You, I think, had two iconic scene partners in Parks and Rec. We've talked about Amy, but you also had a lot with Tom Haverford, with Aziz. And they were totally different energies, totally different comedy games. Talk about that and the evolution of that, because we're going to get into that a bit when we talk about this episode. Talk about that comedy games you'd have with Tom. How did it delight you and how did you come to find it? Well, for one thing, he's a stand-up. So there's a bit of a different game in there. And I've done some stand-ups, so I kind of understand you're playing a little faster, harder with the stand-up, I find, but I like that game too.

And I mean, his character was just plain silly. Yeah. Right. So it just allowed Joan to go. It just becomes like a silly contest then. And I'll be goddamned. I'm Irish and I want to win. You're not going to lose that contest. You know, so that's where that goes. You know, there is a little bit of that. It's like when you go and do a stand up gig, stand ups are kind of trying to one up or something just in the conversation. And maybe, maybe I don't, I don't know that I was aware of that at the time, but maybe, maybe that's partly why, but I think it just sort of, I don't know. It's a natural evolution for me to go, go to the crazy places. Well, I also think about that. I love that. I don't know. I enjoy it.

I have a lot of fun taking it as crazy. I like the edge and I like going over the edge. You don't know where the edge is until you go over it. That's how you find the edge. And that edge, either you're finding it like with your writer's group, or a live audience. It's a little different when you have a single cam, except then there's the editing bay to take care of it if you have gone over the edge. But you go over the edge. That's the only way in my book to know where the edge is.

That's awesome. And it's our job as people. It is awesome. But I think it's our job as comedians. Like, I actually think that's just part of our job is to go over the edge to know where the edge is. It's a death-defying profession. Coming back to those scenes then with Tom, I mean, for me, I think about how your scenes

with Amy were so much more plot specific too, right? You're dealing with the main character, dealing with the A story. So there's stuff you need to get across too.

But with Tom's character, it's a lot of fluff, right? It's cotton candy. It's the fun, sweet stuff. And so you can push it in a direction without worrying so much about that edge

because you're never going to worry about losing the plot as much, right? You're not going to lose the details here. It just becomes more behavioral comedy, right? And it's just silly. It got to go silly because it was about attraction or feigning attraction. It's flirtation. God knows that can go everywhere, you know. But yeah, with the Leslie Knope character, there is much more confinement just in terms of the job to be done there. Well, like Greg said, it's true.

It's the A story. Certain things have got to get across. Right. But when you're playing with Aziz, you can play. Not that you didn't play with Amy, too. I'm just saying the energy is different. The energy was different. Yeah.

Not that you didn't play with Amy, too. I'm just saying the energy is different. The energy was different. Yeah, I mean, when you're in the restaurant and, you know, you're doing karaoke or whatever, dancing, it's like that just goes, you know, that's unleash Mo Collins. Yeah, exactly. Just unleash her. And I really did feel drunk midway through shooting that. Well, then speaking of the end.

You have a terrible alcohol problem. Oh, are we still on? I'm sorry, are we still recording? We haven't had your mic on for a long time. Do you have a napkin? I need to get this gin off my chin. Well, speaking of the edge. Yes.

In this episode in Born and Raised, when you got your script and you see that Joan Calamezzo, we're going to go to her home and we're going to see some nude boudoir photos, paintings. When you read this, are you like, this is great. Of course she has these. Do you read this and like, oh, this is the direction we're going. When you get that moment, what was that like? Oh, I love moments like that. Yes, of course.

That was all about me and my character. Why wouldn't I like it? Me, me, me, me, me. Oh, my gosh. They're going, ah. You know. Of course. It's Parks and Rec, and they're going to build my character a boudoir.

Yes, please. Yes. Do this for me. There will be paintings of me. Yay. By the way. What happened to those? They're in my garage. Okay.

So you did get them? You guys. Yes. What happened to those? They're in my garage. Okay. So you did get them? You guys, yes. So when the show was done and, you know, they're clearing everything out, they called and I said- You mean when the series is done? When the series is done, they called and they said, hey, do you want one? And I was like, yeah, I'll take one. Do you have a specific? No, I don't care.

I'll take one. A truck shows up to my house in, you know, North Hollywood. Yeah, her address is one. Oh, go ahead. A truck. And these things come loading out and they're not covered. And like, my neighbors don't really know me as, you know, a TV person, but they're, they're, it's like, oh my God, did my neighbors think that, wow, our neighbor. She's really into herself.

But they're, they're in my garage, which is my art studio. And I only have one up, but I did, when was it? I think, oh, for my 50th birthday, I put them all up I think oh for my 50th birthday I put them all up around my house for my party that's perfect and also for the record she is an amazing artist oh that's sweet

thanks with what is it watercolor what do you use what is your main blood the blood of all the actresses

she has shit on over the years it's day's first kill no I yeah I oil acrylic shit on over the years. It's day's first kill. No, I, yeah, I oil acrylic. Yeah, she does wonderful work. Thanks.

You guys like each other. I could just tell. Very much. Mo, tell, even though I think you've already said it, tell them what you call me. The nicest asshole. Isn't that sweet?

She calls me the nicest asshole. And is that based on like photographic? Just because everybody knows him as, ah, Jim O'Hare, he's so nice. He's so nice, but come on.

Come on. He is an asshole. No, that sense of humor that, you know, it's right there and I love it so much. That wit and it's dark. I've seen- Oh, it's dark. It is dark.

And I love it so much and I love him so much. Oh, we got to get rid of her husband. That's the problem. That's the problem. We're friends for life. I don't like it or lump it. This actually makes me think of the fact that both of your characters, like Jim

Jerry is such a sweet guy who gets shit on and Joan is such a booze heavy and... Where are you going with this? Roasting your cup right now. Where are you going? I think you know where I'm going.

This is coffee with almond milk. Okay. Fermented. But they're both extreme characters and they have a specific take. Do people expect you to be like the character they've fallen in love with? I do. I think that people think, and this is sad, and I'm going to try not to cry here, but I think people think I'm a lot more fun than I actually am.

Really? I never thought that. Yeah. You're the worst. The worst. No, but like, I'm actually, I am not. You are fun. I'm fun, I am not. You are fun. I'm fun, Jim.

But I'm not, I'm not this, like, I don't go to a party and not, I'm not like lampshade on my head. Exactly. I'm not, you know. Get me to the bar! Like, I'm not. I'm not that. I'm not that. I'm far more reserved. So, yeah, I guess not that. I'm not that. I'm far more reserved.

So, yeah, I guess I get some of that. Maybe do. But you've done so much. Like, I will forever be known as Jerry Gergich. That is going to be. And believe me, I take that. It's an honor. I certainly know negative about that.

I'm like gravestone. But thankfully, I've done things, many things before Parks, many things after. But you have done so many different things over the years like with mad tv you had hundreds of characters like so yeah you can't really be no i and you know they to my grave i'll be you know lorraine and well lorraine is a big one yeah that's a big one yeah for sure. Should we get to the greatest moment? This is, the episode is so amazing overall and so many reasons and the gotcha episode and so many great, but, but, but, but the moment when you're having dinner or drinks or whatever you're having with Tom and Ben. Yes.

And you are going to leave and go apparently powder your vagina. I'm going to go powder my nose amongst other things. Amongst other things. Wow. Have you seen the outtakes? I mean, you were there for it, but have you seen the outtakes? Wait, there's outtakes? Of Adam and Aziz. They can't get, because Adam has to say to him, she's powdering her vagina.

You got to go. I haven't seen that. Every time that your character walks off, that you walk off, you leave it on Ben and Aziz and Ben and Tom. And Ben says, is she going to go powder her vagina? Yeah. And they can't finish that without laughing. They just can't get through it. They're both dying. Well, it truly was a ridiculous day.

It was just snotty laughing fun. It just was ridiculous. I had so much fun that day, so much fun. Like I say, I really did feel drunk. You play that and you get so into it that, and I got giddy. I couldn't stop laughing. I was laughing so hard it made my eyes real watery, which actually really helped. Totally, yes. That boozy kind of thing going on. But only laughed. And even as you're walking away, you trip into something. That was real.

No, yeah, that was real. Wait, when you mean real, you planned it or real you actually no i actually tripped i did i actually tripped but again like i say i really felt loopy from just all the dancing and being drunk and then playing drunk at the table and you know you get up and yeah i really i really hit the table which of course we were already cracking up. Right, of course. So it was just like, that was a hilarious moment. And we had so much fun. And there must be some kind of, I don't know, this feeling of a win to make others break, to make others laugh. It just adds goodness to your life, years to your life, however you want to put it.

But it's worth it for those breaks, as long as they're authentic. Those breaks are worth it because comedy should be fun. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Comedy should be fun. Comedy should be fun. Yeah.

If you're not having fun, how can you expect the people watching to have fun? Yes. Right. And I will say this about Parks, and you'll hear me say this over the next how many episodes we're going to be doing. It starts at the top. So we had, you know, Mike Shore and Greg and then, of course, Amy. But Amy's the one on set every day. And Amy Poehler walked on that set. And life is thrown at us every day. And life isn't always happy-go-lucky and everything is wonderful. So Amy had shit going on in her life and we all have had different things.

But she had a smile on her face when she walked on that set. And it was love and laughter all day long. And I'm not saying shit didn't happen in trailers where you're upset about what's going on in your life. Right. But on that set, we're doing comedy. Yeah. So that's what we need to bring. And I've been on shows where people are yelling

and you're like, this is not good. It makes me so mad. This isn't what we're here for. Yeah, I get real upset when I go to places that are like that, especially if I'm just guesting

and I'm like, forgive me, but you motherfuckers have a series regular contract. You have the privilege of doing comedy. How fucking dare you? I'm have a series regular contract. You have the privilege of doing comedy. How fucking dare you? I'm bored with you, baby.

Preach it. Not have a good time, not appreciate where you are right now because that may not last. Exactly. You know, and I just, like, it's such a joy. It's such a privilege to do comedy and especially to have a contract. I mean, I haven't had a contract doing comedy since Mad TV. Which makes no sense. Nope.

But you have had a contract doing a very scary role on Fear the Walking Dead. Yes. But I was a comedy relief on that alone. Yes, you know, not all comedy. No, absolutely. I mean, there was some relief. There was some relief, but I'm just saying. To bring levity.

Yeah, but you also did some killing and some. I did. I did. Yeah. Well, you wind up coming back, I think, for, if my count's right, about 11 more episodes from here. You were in eight or nine before this. Do you have, of your time on Parks, do you have that moment that sticks out? It's like, if I were to tell the story, this is my favorite episode,

this is my favorite storyline I did, or this is when I had the most fun. Two things come to mind. And one of them is definitely this episode we're talking about, Born and Raised. And this is kind of a strange point to bring up,

but I'm going to say it. It's personal. Can we bring the lights down? Just bring the lights down. Okay, go ahead, Mo. I was deep into my cancer story at the time. And one thing that I was sort of laughing about inside my head as they're carrying me into the bedroom is like, in my head, I'm like, oh, God, they're carrying me into the bedroom is like, I just, in my head, I'm like,

oh God, they're carrying me in my tumor load. Like, just so we, you know, dark humor. But like, I don't know. It was just something, I liked how much I was playing, knowing that there's this other story that is happening in my life and just like the freedom that going and doing that and and just it was just phenomenal the other story i have that really sticks with me is just update the cancer story she's doing amazing she is yes clean and clear and all is good i'm here um that was 2011 a long time ago the other moment that just to this day still, still blows me away, and this is Dean Holland, your fabulous director. I love Dean.

He's like my favorite director. I just love him. So the episode where the phone call in with Ron, you know, with the— Oh, sure. And Joan had just come from a booze cruise. Oh, yeah. And so Dean just says, just keep switching up your position. And this is just the improv stuff.

And, you know, this is, of course, where, okay, well, I'm going to keep going. I keep going until it just goes into ridiculous. I'm planking. I think you were the original planker. I think you started planking. You know, it's just like he, the camera was still rolling, Dean. It's like still rolling. And I had done all of the potential ones, right?

And then it's like, all right, let's keep going into my favorite place, this ridiculous beyond. And after we shot, I was like, wow, that was super fun. Got to go over that edge. What a great day. Then when that show aired and I saw what Dean did and he put the plank in, but somehow he did it so brilliantly that he just turned, he made it plausible or something. Like it was just gorgeous, plausible or something like it was just gorgeous gorgeous editing comedy like that's what i just that was a perfect encapsulation of just my experience on the show of just like letting me go as far as i can go and then them taking and molding it into something even better. You know, like just so great.

Such a great episode. And Nick was so good as your counterpart on that one because Ron Swanson in front of a camera, he doesn't know what the hell's going on. Yeah, it was. And the quietness of it too. Of course, I always love that sort of awkward quietness of comedy. And there was that going on.

It was just ridiculous. Just soaking it up like a pancake with syrup. Those are two incredible Joan moments. I think a good way to kind of tie a bow at the end of this conversation that we wish could go on forever.

When you have that marriage of great character and the perfect person for it where you can't picture a single other actor doing that role, that to me is the moment

where you're like, this is the perfection of creation when you have that, especially on set, on a show. We're so lucky to have you here. Thank you for coming and talking about Born and Raised,

talking about Parks and Rec with us. She's got a movie she's going to be shooting soon. Yes, yes, yes. You know me. I just love her so much Gordon and Ray's talking about Parks and Rec with us. She's got a movie she's going to be shooting soon. Yes, yes, yes. You know me. I just love her so much, and I love you so much. I love you so much, my friend.

And thanks for doing away with the restraining order. I appreciate that. It'll be back this evening. I won't be near her. We love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks for having me. You are such a bright spot, just, of course, in life in general, but to Parks and Rec, you're iconic.

You are Joan Calamezzo. You are brilliant. Thank you, Mo. Text this episode to your group chat. Send a messenger pigeon to your friends afar. Thank you everybody. This has been so much fun. Again, we're looking forward to doing a lot more

and having a lot more laughs. So, continue, and we'll see you in Pawnee. Goodbye. Bye-bye. This has been a Team Coco production.