Parks and Recollection - Ms. Knope Goes to Washington (S5E1)

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

Senator cameos, D.C. location shoots, AND a live pig named Tom—Jim O’Heir and Greg Levine break it all down in this week’s walkthrough of “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington.” In Parks & Recreation’s season five premiere, Leslie is off to the Capitol to visit Ben and apply for a federal grant to clean up Pawnee’s riverbed, leaving Ron Swanson in charge of the The Leslie Knope Employment Enjoyment Summerslam Grill Jam Fun-Splosion.  Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email at [e-mail]!

We're getting together to talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastian's, the pets we fell into And we're putting it on in a podcast Then we'll send it up into the sky We're calling it Parks and Recollection Come on little podcast, spread your wings and fly Hello everybody! I cannot believe we are starting a brand new season! Season 5!

This is awesome! Very exciting of Parks and Recollection I am one of your hosts, Jim O'Hare, otherwise known as Gary, Larry, Jerry, Terry, and Barry from Johnny Karate, along with... Your other hosts, some say the better hosts. It's Greg Levine, and I'm so excited, Jim, to be sitting back here in studio talking about our favorite show, Parks and Recreation.

Although, I think we also share another favorite show, unless you've been lying to me over text. What's that? It's a little show on MTV called The Challenge. Oh, no, dude. I am not lying. Greg and I realize we are both into this show. I am hardcore in.

I knew I'd finally find a reason to truly like you. And I think I finally did. I have watched every episode of the show back when it was the Road Rules Challenge. Back when the challenges were kind of like silly party games. And it was just an excuse to have 20-somethings in a house getting drunk and partying. With their shirts off and the girls in the tight little things. Whatever your version of the show, whatever gets you going. For me, it was the competition.

And perhaps the greatest reality TV host to ever walk the earth in TJ Lavin. TJ, yes. One day. Who just screams at them as he's standing there with a blow horn. That's all he's got. One day, I hope TJ Lavin says to me, Greg, you killed it. That would be a nice moment. Because when he gives you that, it's like.

Oh, it's so, yeah. Because he's seen it all over the years. It's better than love. It's just, it's respect. And when they don't kill it, there's that horrible feeling when he berates them. It's not good. But yes, we have that in common. So there is something that Greg and I both enjoy.

It's not each other, but it is the show of The Challenge. And if we haven't scared you off already by spending perhaps more time talking about this other show, The Challenge, we are so excited because as we kick off Season 5 of Parks and Recreation, we have Episode 1, Miss Knope Goes to Washington. It was written by Aisha Muhar. We love Aisha. It was directed by Dean Holland. We love Dean Holland.

It originally aired on September 20th, 2012. Jim, where are you? We love September 20th, 2012. It's a good day. Yeah, okay. Okay. Good day. And Jim, let's get back in and blurb.

I'm going to blurb, and then I have a question before we move further. So here is the blurb, because I know everyone's at the edge of their seats when I do the blurbs. And when you tease a question. Yeah, what. So here is the blurb, because I know everyone's at the edge of their seats when I do the blurbs. And when you tease a question. Yeah, what's the question? What's going on? Leslie and Andy are off to Washington, D.C. to visit Ben in April, as well as to apply for federal funding

to clean up the Pawnee River. Meanwhile, back in Indiana with Ron at the helm, the annual Parks Department employee appreciation barbecue goes off the rails in a big way. And Ann and Tom pretend to still be in a relationship in order to win a bet. So my question is, just because as I'm going through this and I'm like, you know, we wrapped up season four. Now we're on season five. When you guys are in the room at the end of season four, what's going on in your heads?

Because I have heard that Mike has said, we just kind of throw it all out there and we'll figure it out. Is that what goes on? Like, did you know when you ended season four, what season five was going to look like? No. Because first of all, we were always on the bubble. Who knew if we were even going to have a season five? Well, I think season four kind of ends in a way that if it happened to have been the series finale, there would have been a lot of satisfying things there, right? Leslie wins her election. And sure, we tease certain things are going to happen, maybe a career change for Andy or a job in DC for Ben.

But it's not monumental enough that you feel like, oh, I wonder what would have happened to those characters if, God forbid, we had been canceled. Right. Because every season we didn't know. Never knew. I mean, truly. The last two seasons I think we knew just because by that point it was. And then at the end, it was up to Mike and Amy how they wanted to wrap it up.

And we had a bit of an end game and we knew we weren't going to go maybe 10 seasons or more. We had an idea kind of let's wrap it up soon. And so there was a time early on. Amy said to me in, you know, just chatting and getting hair and makeup done. Not that I need either. I'm gorgeous.

But we were talking and she said, wouldn't it be something, and this is early on. So many, many sweaty moments after that to see if we'd even still be on the air. But she goes, wouldn't it be something if we did seven seasons and left them wanting more?

And that's exactly how it played out. And that's, how it played out. And that sticks with me. She said it as pie in the sky. Like, what if? You end on a high note and you end on your own terms if you can. If you're lucky enough to. But something Greg Daniels would do at the office that, you know, tracked on as we did Parks and Rec, and I'm sure he learned it from other people.

on as we did Parks and Rec. And I'm sure he learned it from other people. And it's just a good thing, which is just end your seasons with as much as you want. Like throw everything in there. Don't worry about how you're going to solve it. Don't worry about how I'm going to bring a relationship back together or what am I going to do if I have one person in Washington, D.C. and one person in Pawnee, Indiana. That's a big thing. Just put it out there.

Teasing Ron's first wife is coming back. Anything that we did at the end of the season. And then, you know, take a few weeks off and then get back, get your brains back together and just figure it out. Create story. Come up with something interesting. You're generally going to figure something out. But throw, you know, throw everything in just because why not? Why not? But also you can do that when you know you have the type of writers, the caliber of writers that, you know, number one, Mike and Greg themselves, and then people like you and everyone else they bring into the room

who are just, of course, I'm a little biased, but I think the best. And so there's got to be a comfort knowing I can do that and it'll all work out. Right, right. Love that. So yeah, so that's what we find our characters in different states of the union and in just different states of where they are in their careers as we start this new season. Jim's right. We ended season four on both a triumph for Leslie and a few cliffhangers. And now we get to see where people are in their lives. And so in our notes for

today's episode, we have that this episode was shot in multiple locations over four days around Washington, D.C. It included the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Hay-Adams Hotel, and the American History Museum. It features political cameos from senators such as John McCain, Barbara Boxer, and Olympia Snowe. The title of this episode is a reference to the 1939 Frank Capra film,

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Something I think is super cool, Jim, is that this episode was featured in a 2014 Jeopardy! clue. The category was sitcom by episodes for 200. And the clues were the Pawnee Eagleton tip-off classic, Miss Nope Goes to Washington, and Leslie vs. April. You cannot know how much I love when Jeopardy! references our show because I watch it every day.

And our Parks family text will snap pictures because there's been Amy a number of times, Nick Offerman, of course, Pratt with the superstardom. And I love it. And there was one of the producers who somehow heard that I am a fan of Jeopardy! sent me a clip because three of the contestants one day, I believe it was definitely Leslie and Ron, but it might've been Ben. So they were all names of Parks characters who were on Jeopardy. I want it to be like you were going to say, but that's awesome. Jerry, Larry, Barry. Well, that would be good too.

Wouldn't that be something? And it's just you and each one of them in disguise. Yeah. And I would be happy. Yeah. Okay. There's been whispers of like, you know, celebrity version. I wouldn't go on that for a million dollars.

Really? It's bad enough my family knows how stupid I am. I don't need the world to know. No. And you know, on the celebrity one, they're dumb and dumb. You signed up for a podcast for week to week. Exactly. Listeners can realize it.

No, but it is. I love the show. And I just. This is great. This is great because Parks and Recollection has become both a challenge podcast and a Jeopardy podcast in this one very special episode. We are very, very, what is the word? Blessed. Well, blessed is a given. But no, we don't just stick to one topic.

Thank you. Anyway, we shall continue. We'll continue with our synopsis. Ben has made the move to Washington, D.C. with April in tow as his intern, and Leslie and Andy have come to visit them as well as to apply for a federal grant application to clean up the Pawnee Riverbed. Meanwhile, back in Pawnee, with Leslie gone, the annual Parks Department Appreciation Barbecue has fallen on Ron's meat-loving shoulders, and he's not game for any of the fun events Leslie usually has planned. I can give you some behind-the-scenes on this one because...

Please, please. Yeah, we shot this near Lake Balboa, and that is about 10 minutes from my house. So there's nothing better than having a 7.30 call and leaving at 7.15 in the morning. So I love that. But it was hot as hell. It was unusually hot. And poor hair and makeup is coming up every two seconds to pat us and wipe us and everything like that.

And I remember Rashida. She goes, oh, look, I'm sweating. Because she was shocked. I'm like, you got a little drip. Lady, I could wring this shirt out. I could wring it out. Meanwhile, you're just like a pool of water on the floor with like two eyeballs.

You're like, I'm very hot right now. I am very hot. But then I thought, if Rashida is sweating, we are in the bowels of hell. Yeah. So that was a tough shoot. But it's also, and I know we'll get to this, but certain things happened this episode that had us laughing so hard because of grills driving off. It was a lot of fun. This episode was a lot of fun.

So at least while you were in the hellfire of the Los Angeles summer shooting television, you also got to have some fun. We had a lot of laughs, yeah. But we didn't go to Washington. Oh. Nope. Another hot, swampy, humidity place in the summertime. Yeah, big time. Yeah.

Okay. Well, on that steamy note. So, yeah, Jim, we teased that we end season four on a bit of a sad note, maybe, with Ben heading off to D.C. But the beginning of season five feels like a bit of maybe a note, maybe, with Ben heading off to DC. But the beginning of season five feels like a bit of a maybe a reset, an emotional reset, because Leslie comes to DC full of hope, and her and Ben's relationship feels stronger than ever, which is so nice to see. Love it. I think sometimes TV shows use the new season as a chance to say, well, time has passed, and you know those two lovebirds? Well, things are kind of rocky.

Other than the very beginning of their relationship, we didn't play the game. Right. We let them fall in love. Right. We let April and Andy, I mean, at the beginning, a little back and forth, but a lot of relationships do begin that way. Right. How are we?

Aren't we? Right. But then so many shows do the, oh, we're together. Oh, no, we're not. Right. Oh, no, we're together. No, we're not. Right.

Once our couples got together, they stayed together. Oh, no, we're not. Oh, no, we're together. No, we're not. Once our couples got together, they stayed together. Right. I think that not a lot of shows would have followed through with Ben's storyline of moving to Washington, splitting up, at least geographically, two of your main characters. I think many would maybe reference that it happened and we'd start the next season and he's back. He said, I had a great time in DC. We did a great campaign and I'm back. Yeah, he would do a cold open about all the cool things that happened

and they're going to be back. But no, we're committing to it. And, you know, we pulled a quote that Mike Schur had in an article in Vulture when he said, you know, when you make a decision like this to end a character someplace, you have to commit to it.

We did it in season three of The Office when Jim was hired in Stanford. That's important because I don't think audiences like it, or at least I don't like it, said Mike, when a big change is hinted at or committed to, and then one second later, everything's fine and goes back to the way it was before. And that just, again, talks about the same thing we've been discussing, which is, I think, an audience's investment in your characters. And, you know, we are a character comedy. It's the kind of thing that you spend enough time with these characters and you fall in love with them, and you'll pretty much enjoy them doing anything.

And some shows, I think, take that to an extreme and maybe have their characters do things so far outlandish that, you know, they invariably, as they say in TV, they jump the shark and they don't feel like anymore the show that they started at as opposed to a natural evolution. Especially if a show is on too long. Right. And shows can go too long. Right. And I'm a big fan of television, but some are like, uh-uh, uh-uh, shouldn't have done that. But here, this is a character comedy and you fall in love with these characters.

And if you don't respect that with your audience and you just start the next season and they're back and you don't treat the storylines they've invested in with love, I think people think that you're taking for granted their viewership. I love that. And I agree. You know, it's great that Ben is in DC, but that he's brought April along. Obviously, we benefit from having him with one of our main characters as well. So it's not just him off on an island and we're introducing so many new people. We also didn't plan for him to be in DC perhaps as long as Jim was in the office at Stanford. So it was great to have April there. And it's yet another job opportunity. Now as Ben's intern, you know,

it's interesting, you know, April, for all her attempts to repel people, they seem to work in reverse and she keeps getting opportunities one after the other. As I would say, and we would talk about this at Parks and Rec, I can't remember who came up with this term. I think it might have been Harris Whittles or Dan Gore.

The plot thins. That's great. That's a great line. I have my friends and I, my wife and I, we use that a lot. Sometimes you just, for some people,

the plot thins. It's just that no thickens, it just thins. I love that. Andy Dwyer in Washington, D.C. is such a great comedy game. You know, first referencing and referring to Washington, D.C. is such a great comedy game. You know, first referencing and referring to Washington, D.C. monuments sexually or about what they look like as a body part, saying that building looks like a boob. And Leslie's like, well, it's not.

And I love it. Oh, yeah, I know. That's the White House and it's the Capitol building. Yeah. As well as a reference of when Andy says, Leslie, this is a really cool penis, but Ben and April are meeting us at the Smithsonian in 10 minutes. Right. And that penis he's talking about is the Washington monument.

Yes. Yeah. To him is just a penis. Yeah. It's a really cool penis. Yeah. Penis. It all is just,

which is an interesting reference. It's been considered phallic. Right. Right. Yeah. It's an interesting treatise on what the things, uh, at the time men build to talk about the greatness of what they've created. Exactly.

I happen to love his line when Leslie says, okay, grab the book, you know, the tour book she made, and let's hit the National Mall. And Anthony's like, there's a mall? Awesome. I need to get some flip flops. So great. He has no concept. Yeah, so good. He has no idea what he's doing there.

Other than he gets to see his April. That's all that matters no concept. Yeah, so good. He has no idea what he's doing there, other than he gets to see his April. That's all that matters. Yeah. So Leslie is facing one of the most exciting weekends of her life. She's newly elected as a city councilor. She's in Washington, D.C. to make a big presentation. Meanwhile, Ron feels like he's facing one of the worst weekends of his life as he's now going to host this barbecue.

I love how the department laughs in Ron's face when they life as he's now going to host this barbecue. I love how the department laughs in Ron's face when they find out he's hosting the quote, Leslie Knope Employment Enjoyment SummerSlam Grill Jam Funsplosion, which sounds so fun. So fun.

And they laugh as if they just assume this is a joke. Right. The last person in the world who's going to do anything involving enjoyment, SummerSlam, Grill Jam, Funsplosion is Ron Swanson.

Well, I think it's important to talk about also why. Because normal activities at this Funsplosion would include popsicle eating contest, slip and slide-a-thon, watermelon carving, gazpacho off, Leslie starring in a one-woman show about parks, rules, and

regulations, parks and dolls. And then Jim, you get this amazing moment. I do get an amazing moment. We're all so excited reliving what's happened. And I'm like, I got your park ride here. His name is Ramson Park.

And then everybody joins. Skates are open from dawn till dark. Now, the greatest moment for me, for Jerry, is when they all joined in. I know. Generally, you know, they would have been, Jerry, shut that down or whatever.

They join in and everyone is happy and having a moment together. I know. It made me think you kind of look like a camp counselor in a way. Yes. Kicking off a little bit of fun. Everyone says, all right. Oh, yes. And they sing along, too.

And also in the episode, they show clips from former events, and it is unbelievable. Right. Like, stick walkers, fire people, people throwing things. Yeah. It's a great celebration. Ron has a different approach. Right, because Ron hammers home his vision for the barbecue, which is, barbecue should be about one thing, good shared meat.

He says there will be no froofy desserts, no giant soap bubble guns, adult men in costumes, and most of all, there will be no, and it gets bleeped. It does get bleeped. No bleeping vegetables. We'll do effing. Are we allowed to say effing on this podcast? Are we allowed to say that? This is a trigger warning.

Okay, I'm not going to say it. No. Okay. Because you know we do. Yeah. We're above that. Yeah. Well, I think I'm.

Yeah, we know I'm not. Let's push on with the synopsis so we can see how things turn out. Yes. Back in D.C., Leslie takes Andy on a very thorough tour of the Capitol's historic sites before meeting up with Ben and April at the Smithsonian Museum. But the reunion is short-lived

with Andy and April immediately breaking off to go have sex and then having to return to a busy afternoon of meetings at work. Meanwhile, back at Ram's at Park, the barbecue has gone from bad to worse. Ron's returned with pre-slaughtered meats from food and stuff. But with hours to go before anything is ready to eat, the troops are getting hangry, leading to Donna picking up possible tension in the Haverford Perkins household.

Yeah. Or also the reason, I know we'll get to it, but the reason that Ron has had to leave and come back with meat is because Ron showed up assuming he can do whatever the hell he wants to do with this event. Sure. And by event, I mean it's gone from this huge celebration to a cooker and a pig. Right. That is it.

Yeah, it almost feels like it went from a carnival to a ritual, like religious slaughter. Yes, it is the saddest get-together ever. Yeah, and Ron's pretty sad that he can't take a pig named Tom and make him food for everybody. So he goes off and has to buy meat, as he called it, pre-slaughtered at Food and Stuff. And it is hard to watch. This pig is the cutest damn thing in the whole world. And he's just like, this is going to be our meal. Yeah.

I am the biggest hypocrite walking because I am an animal lover. I'm involved in this, that with all animals. But I eat meat. And I know that's hypocritical, but I don't want to see my meat walking in front of me. You know what I mean? Right. What's interesting, Jim, is that it feels like Ron is off his game. Like this is impacting him emotionally. And the reason I say that is because when he goes to get drinks, he only brings beer to drink. And when asked what the children will drink, he says, you can get water from that water fountain

and use it to water down the beer, or however he says it. And I feel like Aran in a different episode wouldn't have made that suggestion for children. Even that he knows, perhaps. Maybe the Swansons grew up drinking liquor and alcohol as their main source of water. But in

this case, it feels like he's so frustrated and so annoyed that he just said, whatever, the children can drink it. Yeah. And I love there's a line where Anne says, come on, dude. Because Rashid is a big dude person. She says dude a lot.

And to me, it was just this heartfelt, dude. Yeah. What are you doing? Yeah, like, come on. We live in a civilized society. Exactly. Right. Okay, let's talk about the Smithsonian, Jim.

I love how Andy climbs on that train asking if it's the one from Back to the Future 3. And sadly, it's not. We have a fun fact that this train is the 260-ton 1401 locomotive, which pulled President Franklin Roosevelt's funeral train on part of its journey to Washington, D.C. I did not know that. I didn't know it either. The real Back to the Future train, often called the Movie Star locomotive, is a 19th century steam locomotive

owned by the state of California and preserved at the Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. And now, dear listeners, you are ready for Jeopardy. Now you are ready. I am not,

because I've already forgotten what you just said. Okay. How great would it be to be in Andy's head? He's just happy. Yeah. It doesn't matter what these facts are. It doesn't matter.

Oh, my God, from Back to the Future. And he's happy to think that. And Leslie is trying to get him to climb down and he won't. And then the guard comes over and gets him to climb down. And I kind of wish I just had that same energy, that same kind of, I'm just going to go live life based on my emotions and not, you know, not maybe overthink things and just live. Whether I'm running out of an emergency room and slamming into an ambulance,

whether I'm jumping over a wall, throwing a briefcase and destroying a set, it doesn't matter. It's just a happy place to be. And that brings me to the reunion of two of our couples when Ben and Leslie and April and Andy reunite. First, Ben and Leslie. That reunion feels natural. It's full of love.

Their relationship feels solid despite the difference. And then meanwhile, April and Andy are making out like their plane is going down. And they leave the museum, tour to, well, have sex. Have sex. And the great thing, just the way it was shot and edited, is you have Ben and Leslie with this lovely moment. Yeah.

Oh, they're together. And then Leslie just looks. They're on the floor. They're on the floor. They're on the floor and they're going at it. Yeah, like it's their last night on earth. Yeah. Yeah.

And I like how Aubrey delivers this thing where they're kind of saying what they're going to go do. They're going to go maybe not do the tour and finally say, oh, we're going to go have sex. Yeah. That's what we're doing. Though I don't think they had to state that. I'm pretty sure everyone knew where that was headed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They haven't seen each other in, what are we thinking at this point, a month?

Maybe a month? Right. Yeah. Yeah. You got to get down to it. Last little thing before we move on with our synopsis, we got to talk about Tom and Ann and where they are. So they have actually broken up. Thank you. Happy to hear that. Your dreams have come true. Your letters to the editor finally made it through, Jim. Yep. And I would have been pissed. Well, for many reasons,

if season four was the last season, I would have been pissed. Well, for many reasons. If season four was the last season, I would have been pissed for so many reasons. Right. But as a viewer, I would have been like, so did they really move in together? Yeah, yeah. And they're a couple now? I would not have been happy thinking that that was what happened. That's right. Well, they've actually broken up.

Yes. But they're pretending to be together due to a $1,000 bet between Tom and Donna. And I love this line from Tom. God, I was cracking up as I was re-watching the episode. due to a $1,000 bet between Tom and Donna. And I love this line from Tom. God, I was cracking up as I was rewatching the episode. When he talks about that bet, he says, I can't stress this enough. If Donna finds out we broke up, I'll go bankrupt.

The bet is for $1,000. There's this little look from Anne. And it's so funny because it's both stating the enormity of this bet. $1,000 is It's a big bet. It's a significant amount of money that he would go bankrupt. And I was thinking, oh, yeah, because we've seen your house, your apartment. We've seen what you fill it with. You fill it with the nicest things. You spend money on the nicest stuff.

Okay, so $1,000 bet between friends will cause you to go bankrupt. Even if he had $1,000 and that would make him bankrupt, imagine what he's got on credit cards. You know, Tom is to the hilt with every credit card that was offered to him because he lives, as they say, past his means. Yeah. But that is a great look for Machida or Anne. Yeah. And again, Retta had so many great moments with this storyline because she knows, I mean, the great thing about the Donna character, she'd been there. She'd done that. Well, we're going to get to that in a little bit, but let's hop back into our synopsis mobile. Is that something? That's nothing. It is now. With a flush of Washington, D.C. excitement rosy on her cheeks, Leslie arrives at the Department of the Interior to present her

proposal, but instead of the face-to-face meeting she was expecting, Leslie is given the runaround and told to add her proposal to a huge pile of other proposals. Disheartened, Leslie returns to Ben's office with the wind knocked out of her sails, but doesn't let on how poorly her meeting went. Meanwhile, Ben has scored he, Leslie, Andy, and April invitations to a swanky DC cocktail party, Leslie, Andy, and April invitations to a swanky DC cocktail party. And the group attends the event. And at first, Leslie is excited to rub elbows with DC's elite as the other half of she and Ben's power couple, but soon feels overwhelmed and outmatched by all the savvy and very tall women in attendance.

What kind of broke my heart about this for Leslie. She was so excited. I know. This is such a big moment. Plus, she wants to make her boyfriend proud of her because he's killing it on every level. And she gets there and things are just not going as she anticipated. Initially, with delivering that proposal, which if you looked in the bin, there's hundreds of them, apparently. But they're also very thin. Now, of course, that ain't going to be Leslie.

This is a big, thick thing. It's got a CD in it. It is ready to go. And it's spiral-bound in a way. The other ones are just in these binders. And there's been time, preparation, and most importantly, love put into this. And if there's ever a line that just says it, of who Leslie is, the woman looks at her like, well, most people just mail in their applications. Yeah.

And Leslie, I'm not most people. Yeah. And boy, does that say who Leslie is. Yeah. Leslie nailed that proposal. With excitement. It's for Pawnee, so with love. And speaking of it being for Pawnee, there's this sad little moment when, you know,

they pull up which Pawnee she's from. And we use this reference again at the party, and there are like seven or eight Pawnees. And there are. There are numerous Pawnees in the United States. And it just deflates Leslie even more because not only is your Pawnee one of eight, but maybe it's not even that special because of it.

So those were real Pawnees, the ones that were in there? Yeah, yeah. I did not know that. And yet, Pawnee, Indiana does not exist. Does not exist. So the others do? We decided to make up a place so that we could have a lot of fun with it as opposed to saying she's the Parks and Rec department in, I don't know,

a real city like Topeka or something. Because I had heard on The Office, it became a little troublesome because when you're, you can't really mock a city that exists because you're going to get people are going to go, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Don't talk about where we live. Right. And The Office benefited from ultimately it being a made up corporation and it being really focused on the office, right? They'd only go into Scranton from time to time, right? But in this case, Pawnee was a character unto itself. So we made up a place, but having it be a place that had multiple other Pawnees in the country

helped, I think, with clearances and just it provided the opportunity. I never thought about that. And provided an opportunity here to have a nice little joke, but you realize it being a sad moment for her. Yeah, it kind of broke my heart for her, Leslie. Yeah. I, you know, Leslie, yeah, she's in this decline, this disillusionment decline.

And she has this line about Ben and she being a power couple like the Roosevelts or the Clintons. And I love how she said, while I've got a big meeting here, Ben is off being a power couple like the Roosevelts or the Clintons. And I love how she said, well, I've got a big meeting here. Ben is off running a congressional campaign. I mean, the only way we could be more awesome is if we had our own signature dance move. Oh, wait, we do.

And then she does it. Yeah, it's so cute. But I actually put in my notes, I would love to have seen during, at some point in the episode, both of them doing their signature dance. That would have been a fun bit. Yeah.

And I imagine that they each have parts, but together it's even greater. Yes. Yes. And just watching Ben do that would make me very happy. Yeah. Yeah. Sad and happy. Speaking of which, the B side of that is, you know, she's with Ben and she's used to

telling Ben all of her woes and insecurities. That's a couple. That's a loving, nurturing couple. But she hides the fact that her meeting never even happened from him. And then, you know, he's talking about how things are going and things are going great. And there's this moment where, I love how Amy played it. You can see her, she kind of like looks him up and down, right? And after saying, wow, look at you, you're a big shot.

And there's this little moment of, is it jealousy? No, I don't think it's jealousy. I think it's, here's this person she loves and she wants to match him. She wants to match that feeling of success that they're both earned, they both deserve. And she feels diminished and like, you know, there's like just a piece of it, not the whole. But I love the way we played it,

this little moment of like, oh, my partner is doing it and I just want to be like him. And there's nothing better as an actor when you get the chance to play those kind of moments, because it's not comedic. It's pulling at the heartstrings like, wow, this is not what I thought it was going to be. Look what he's got going on. And you can't just do that. That's a pro. That's someone who knows what they're doing. It reminds me of this joke about how a writer will come up with all these great things to say and this great monologue, this great speech. And so the joke is like, Shakespeare has written to be or not to be in the whole monologue. And the actor's like, can I just do it with a look?

But sometimes. That's not far off, though. But sometimes a look gives you so much more than any word could. And that look from Leslie that Amy pulled off is just, there's depth there. She should stick in this business. I think things will happen for her. We should find her. We should let her know.

Yeah, see what Amy's up to. Okay. Yeah, so now, you know, Jim, she's at this party. She's coming face to face with the powerful women of DC, this existential crisis for her. She's always believed herself to be powerful and influential, right, in this microcosm of Pawnee. And so she

meets some of these D.C. power women. There's Lacey, who works for the then-rep Eric Cantor. And Lacey says, local government is so important. My grandma's on the city council in her town. It gives her a reason to leave the house. That's so hurtful. And I know she didn't say it to be hurtful. No. But you're saying to a woman who said, well, I'm part of city council, very proud of it. Right. Oh, that's what my grandma does. Right. But it treats it like, you know, some people think of one person's passion as more like a hobby.

Yes. Like, that's a sweet thing you do. Like, no, but I'm devoting my time, energy, and life into this thing. Yeah. There was a lot of kind of heartbreaking moments in this episode. Many of those. For Leslie. And meanwhile, Leslie is just

so frustrated and so overwhelmed by it that she's like, why are they all so tall? It's like C-SPAN and Neiman Marcus had kids or something. So Leslie is in this state. She's feeling frustrated. She's overwhelmed. She's sad. And she has this little aside where she says,

Ben and I both did some amazing things today. He scored a victory for the congressional campaign he's working on. And I was mistaken for Beverly D'Angelo by a Japanese tourist. And I love how Amy kind of slips into her weekend update voice a little bit for her punchline delivery. It's very satisfying. Another bit of a heartbreaking moment for Leslie. Right. Well, let's return to our synopsis because, Jim,

back in Pawnee, Tom and Ann continue wearing on each other's nerves while Ron snaps from everyone's hungry complaints, canceling the barbecue, packing up his smoker, and driving away in a huff with a cloud of smoke billowing behind him. And meanwhile, in D.C., Leslie retreats to a coat closet in dejection after meeting numbers four and 26 on her list of amazing women. When Nick drove off with that big ass smoker, it was so funny because... Yeah, take us back to that day.

You do a whole bunch of takes, of course, just the nature of anything when you're shooting something. But the thing was bouncing. It was literally bouncing because he hit it. He hit that pedal and he took off. I'm sure they tested it like with maybe a stunt driver at first. I don't know about any of that. But when it came time to do it, he took off. And the thing was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing.

So damn funny. And again, we're sweating our asses off. But I think of that day with a lot of joy. That was a very, as much as it was a wet day, it was an incredibly funny day. And again, here we are. Now we got nothing. He has driven off with the only possible

sustenance we were going to have on this special day for the department. Right. But it's like a little kid. Like, I'm going to take my toys and leave then. Yes. And that's what he did. Oh, God. Yeah.

That must have been so fun. Yeah. Like you're saying, it's a sweaty, hot day, whatever. But you're just like, oh, we're making silly, funny comedy TV. And this is an especially funny moment watching him do it. And that's also one of these days that I talked about a thousand times. Just a lot of hanging around, which meant a lot of joking around, which meant a lot of laughing. It's your favorite time, right? It's my favorite. People say, I just did this interview the other day. Oh, what was your favorite? Do you have a favorite memory? Any time. So there's

hundreds where we just hung out because it was the real deal. We got along. And Ben Zavolinsky played the park ranger. And I know that because we are also Facebook friends. We became buddies that day and he ended up doing a couple of episodes of Parks and Rec. And he's the one who put Ron in his place saying you can't do any of this. You can't have a pig.

You can't barbecue here without a permit. But of course, Ron shows him the permit that he has, which is just a piece of paper. What did it say on that piece of paper? I can do what I want, Ron. I can do what I want, Ron. I can do what I want. Exactly. Meanwhile, Jim, I love

this runner we have with Tom and Ann about glitter. How he's put glitter in what? Their soap? Yeah, she looks down. Her blouse is covered in glitter. Right. And Tom has a company or an idea he has for it. Sparkle suds. And he says, dress loud. And then I a company or an idea he has where Sparkle says, and he says, dress loud.

Right. And then I think it's in the butter and he says, disco dairy, spread the party. And when you guys are in the writer's room, is it just people pitching one crazy one after the other? Yeah. Yeah. That would be so much fun. And you're trying to top the other one and be silly. Yeah.

Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And Anne gets in fact by putting some of the moisturizer, right? Calling it Sparkle Skin by Annie. Twinkle, twinkle, big star. God, it's so funny. I love how Rashida delivered that.

Twinkle, twinkle, big star. Yeah. And his face is covered in glitter. Let's talk Senator cameos. Okay, here's the Senator cameo logistics. Now, the scene was filmed on Emmy nomination day, and the news that morning, sadly, was disappointing. Though Amy and Mike sure received nominations for writing, they had hoped that Parks and Rec would also make the shortlist for television's best comedy, and it didn't.

And believe me, that, again, don't get me down the Emmy road or the SAG award road. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it all makes me crazy. Right, right, right. But anyway, it didn't make it. And that, again, they're just awards, and what does that mean? But they also help a show. You know, it gets a lot of publicity for it and all that kind of stuff.

And again, how awesome that, you know, they got nominations for writing. That's huge. That's huge. But yeah, there was hope that the show was going to get named. Yeah. And it wasn't. Well, as Carrie Fisher says, take your broken heart and turn it into art. We got this cool scene out of it.

And it was Senator Olympia Snowe's first on-screen appearance. It was Senator Olympia Snowe's first on-screen appearance, but Senator Barbara Boxer had made previous cameo appearances as herself in other TV shows, including Murphy Brown, Gilmore Girls, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well as a cameo as herself in the 2000 film Traffic. There's a quote we pulled from the New York Times where Senator Snowe says, I didn't see that much difference between political performance and entertainment performance. I said to Barbara Boxer,

it's from one theater to another. Interesting. Isn't that amazing? And just the self-referential part of it. Yeah. And then Amy jumps in with, everybody knew their lines really well. It makes you realize how politicians prepare and how actors don't. Yeah. Yikes. Yikes, yikes, yikes. I would imagine

that they love doing this type of thing. It changes their world a little bit for the day. It's not the same old political stuff every day. Sets are fun and they come in. They're not, you know, like a lot of actors, there's a lot of waiting around. There's a lot of sitting around between setups and relighting and all that kind of stuff that goes on. But these people come in and they're not making them wait. They come in, they do their bits, and they leave. I would imagine it's very exciting. Right.

I would think. Well, speaking of which, we also have the coat closet scene, which has my favorite cameo from all the politicians we had on the series. From the entire run, we have John McCain. And the reason I love it is because Leslie doesn't get to fully enjoy it. And it's an added element of the fun. Like, yes, it's fun to see her, you know, she's going to meet the then vice president and Joe Biden. She's going to meet the then vice president, Joe Biden. She's going to meet the then first lady, Michelle Obama. There's going to be some cool moments, right?

People she lives for. Right. Political figure bingo, if you will. Yes. It's going to happen for her, and it's awesome. Good analogy there. I love that. But the John McCain one is great because he gets so much of the comedy, too, and she doesn't get to see him.

And it's just great. Apparently, McCain made a beeline for Amy on set saying like, do you remember when we shared a shower together? Which is a reference to an SNL sketch where he played Amy's deranged husband. I never knew that. Yeah, yeah, it's great. So they filmed the scene in four takes, and apparently Mike Shore was worried

because apparently McCain had a good comedic sense, but had a bit of a reputation for wanting to do only one or two takes when he would do cameos or things like this. Get me in. See, people don't get how this works. Nothing is quick in the world of TV and film. And 100 years ago, I did a commercial with a guy named Regis Feldman, who also happened to be Mike Shore's father-in-law. Correct.

And we had a 6.30 a.m. call, and we're in the hair and makeup and his energy. And I'm like, ooh, wow, that's a lot this early in the morning. But he was lovely. He was great. We do a couple of takes, and he says to me, now, it's a commercial shoot. And if you think things are going to go on all day, that's not a commercial shoot because they have to justify they have flown everybody in from all over the place. And they put a ton of money into it. And he says, so, Jim, how much more time do you think they're going to want to do this?

We'd only been there like an hour. I go, oh, we've only just begun. He had no concept that this was not going to be a quick in and out. And I think that's what happened. John McCain is probably like, no, no, no. They got it. They can move on. And he has, you know,. John McCain is probably like, no, no, no. They got it. They can move on. And he has, you know,

committee meetings to go to. Yes, there is other stuff going on. Yes, yes. And he, I mean, I am a big John McCain fan, what he's done, what he did for the country. And anyway,

I love that he was in there. But yet another heartbreaking moment. Yeah. Leslie doesn't even turn around. Doesn't get to enjoy this. She doesn't even see him. She's actually pissed. Like, okay, dude, I need a moment here. Can't you tell them I need a moment? And she dismisses him. Ah! Well, that's the state we find Leslie as we finish our synopsis for the

episode. Back from DC, Andy helps Leslie see that she is just as good as any of the high-powered D.C. ladies they encountered on their trip. And feeling empowered again, Leslie decides to take the Pawnee River restoration project into her own hands and clean it up herself. Now, meanwhile, back at City Hall, Chris reminds Ron that the point of the barbecue was to show appreciation for the Parks Department employees and not just an opportunity to enjoy meat. And with the cat out of the bag, that Ann and Tom have officially and actually and everything broken up, Donna takes pity on Tom and lets him out of their bed. So many great moments for each of the three different things you described. Yeah, I mean, first, Andy is the sage, right? Of the episode, like the wise, the mentor.

And yeah, at first, you know, he maybe stumbles into it because he's a doofus. Right. I love how Andy says, you know, you're... Well, first, Leslie, she makes up this idea of Hot Rebecca saying that Hot Rebecca is this jealousy amalgam she created combining all the giant dark-haired smartphone power goddesses into one woman she calls Hot Rebecca is this jealousy amalgam she created, combining all the giant dark-haired smartphone power goddesses into one woman she calls Hot Rebecca.

And then Andy says, you're better than Hot Rebecca. You're kick-ass Leslie. Long-distance relationships are never easy, but you never give up on stuff. And you spend 30 minutes with doofus Andy so you can get one little nugget like that. And that's a really good point. That's sage.

And he's living a long distance relationship. Yes. So he's not just saying it like, hey, listen, let me just tell you what I think. Let me tell you what I know. Yeah. I love when Andy has those moments. So, Jim, we come to the end of our synopsis and the end of our episode, but let's get the crap. The crap we didn't get to.

Crap we didn't get to. A couple of things. Again, we hit a lot of my stuff on this, and I do love that. One of the moments was when Ron is explaining how his version of the party is going to go. And Jerry goes, Ron, can we at least have corn on the cob? And Ron slash Nick Offerman gives this death stare. It's just a death stare. No.

Oh, my God. I just, Nick kills me on every level. Leslie, it's 1776. The nation was born. Andy, which nation? I mean, which nation? Which nation? But because it comes out of his mouth, aww.

I know. Instead of going, you dumbass. And my heart is like, aww. Yeah, which nation? It's Andy. And then when Ron brought out the pig for everyone, he just goes, everyone, meet your meat. Meet your meat. Meet your meat.

I think that is genius. Okay. And then at the end, when they do the closing with Ben and Leslie doing their little video call and Leslie's talking to Ben and she goes, oh, it's nice to see you again. And Ben, are you talking about my butt? Oh yeah. She's talking about his butt. I love that. Also, one of my favorite moments when Chris says, Jerry accidentally forwards his bank statement to everyone, classic and depressing, which could be depressing on two levels. One, the fact that he was so stupid that he did that. And two, what's in Jerry's bank statement? Yeah, what is? What is? Is there money?

Is he in the same situation as Tom? I don't think so, but I don't know. Who knows? Anyway, continue. Well, thanks for your permission. Okay, well, let's continue then with gifts, parties, and jobs. We have a swanky DC party at the Hay-Adams Hotel. We have Ron Swanson's attempt at the Leslie Knope Employment Enjoyment Summer Slam Grill Jam Fun-Sbalosion. And we have April's job with Ben in DC. Episode MVP, my friend. Wow. Well, of course. So for so many levels, I got to give it to Amy slash Leslie because again,

there was a lot of heart-wrenching stuff in this episode. So anytime a comedic actor gets to do that, I'm on board with them. But I got to tell you, there were great moments by most of the cast this time. But MVP, I'm going to have to go with Leslie.

I want to agree with you, but I can't do it. I want to agree with you, and I will. Because the way we started this episode talking about how you have to start a season and you're building off all the stuff, all the balls that are in the air from the previous

season's finale. And Leslie ended season four on such a high note, getting this job as an elected official. It's like a dream come true for her. She voted for herself in something. It's amazing. And so here we have to reset things in a way that say, that's great.

And you are a city councilor now, and you're going to clean up the river on your own and you can do these things because you have control and agency in your life and your city. But also, I'm going to give you a little perspective on the world, right? As we step out of Pawnee into now the

national stage. And so it kind of reminds her that she's still got a big uphill battle and we're about to lead us into a whole new season of Parks and Rec where Leslie's going to have a person, a character, Councilman

Jeremy Jam, who's going to be her foil. She's going to have these citizens now saying, we elected you and what are you going to do for us and are you worthy of being a city councilor? And there you going to do for us? And are you worthy of being a city counselor? And there's going to be bigger and more and more to deal with.

And so it's a really good stage setting, if you will, for a season to come that I am so excited that we get to sit together, Jim, and talk about and tell you all about and our fun little insights, our memories, and our thoughts about it.

So, so before we say goodbye, yes, we have a little change of staffing at the parks and recollection podcast. We have been working with Sean Doherty for all of it up till now, and he's awesome and we love him. And he's leaving us to do other things within the family of the Team Coco. Bigger and better, he said.

Bigger and better. No, no, no, no. Couldn't be worse. Couldn't be worse. And we now have a new amazing producer named Lisa Berm, who we love to death. But Sean, we are going to miss you, my friend. I'm going to miss both of you so much. You're in great hands, though.

I know. Lisa's the best. Thank you. But you know, you get used to your routine, and you're awesome. We see your punim across the table. No, but Jim's right. It's been just a joy to have you,

and the podcast has benefited from it, and our listeners have benefited from it. It's so great to be back doing this. Season five of Parks and Recreation. We thank you all for listening. Please text this episode to your group chat. Give us five-star reviews wherever you're listening. Whether you believe it deserves it or not.

Yeah. Well, when we do. And we do. That's a given. Sean, if you will do us the great honor of ending our episode. Wow. Goodbye from Pawnee. Now, Sean, do you want to take that one more time?

Let me give you some notes. It's about the energy. I need you to look right into the microphone. Yeah. We're going to miss you, my friend. Love you both. Bye. phone. Yeah. We're going to miss you,

my friend. Love you both. Bye. Parks and Recollection is produced by me, Lisa Berm, and engineered by Joanna Samuel. The podcast is executive produced by Jeff Ross, Adam Sachs, Colin Anderson, and Nick Liao. Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Brit Kahn are

our talent bookers, along with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Our theme song is by Mouse Rat, a.k.a. Mark Rivers, with additional tracks composed by John Danek. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Parks and Recollection. This has been a Team Coco production.