Parks and Recollection - Operation Ann (S4E14)

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

Happy Galentine's Day! This week, Jim O'Heir and Greg Levine are talking "Operation Ann." Leslie Knope makes it her mission to find Ann Perkins a Valentine's date, Ron Swanson proves himself to be a master puzzle-solver, and, for one beautiful moment, Chris Traeger contemplates a life with Jerry Gergich. It’s an excellent Valentine’s Day episode - treat yo’ self and give it a listen! Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email at [e-mail]! Episode recorded June 7, 2023.

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 all 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 How you doing everybody You should start this one

Go ahead, go for it Let's see if you can do what I do I'll see if I can do what you do Hello everybody I'm going to you do. Hello, everybody. I'm going to use my radio voice. Hey, everybody. How are you? This is Jim O'Hare.

Oh, that wasn't my radio voice. That's not a radio voice. No, that's not. Would this be more of my... Hello. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Parks and Recollection. You were a radio host.

I was a radio host, yes. Jim O'Hare on the air in Rensselaer. When you piece it apart, it doesn't even rhyme when you really look into it. Hello, everybody. We're being silly. This is Jim O'Hare. And we are back with Parks and Recollection. You know me as the guy who played Jerry Gergich or Gary or Larry or Terry or even Barry.

And I'm here with my best friend in all the world. Stop it. No. Stop it. That's not true, is it? I love it. That's not true, is it? I love you. That's not true, is it? No, I love this man, and you are?

It's Greg. Greg Levine. Yes, yes, yes. I've just been great. Although I was Pierre for a while, we talked about that, but I'm Greg Levine. I'm here with Jim O'Hare, and we're here talking about another fun, great, awesome Parks and Recreation episode. Amazing episode of Parks and Recreation.

And you bringing up Pierre, which we've talked about in the past, reminds me to tell you that I recently had a two and a half hour lunch with Greg Daniels. Oh. Now, for those who don't know, Greg co-created Parks and Recreation with Mike Shore. And Greg also did the American version of The Office and King of the Hill, which I have always been a huge fan of. And he's got Upload. Prolific, I would say, is one of the things. And we did mention the Pierre thing.

I met with Greg because, we've talked about it before, I am doing a book about my experiences in Parks and Recreation. No, Parks and Recreation. No, Parks and Recreation. See, now I'm even confusing the names. And, you know, here's the thing. When you are doing a show like Parks and Rec and it's very busy, you get your schedules, I'd never had one-on-one time with Greg Daniels

other than hanging in a conference room, you know, a little, you know, back and forth about life and others. But I had two and a half hours with him at lunch. He is, all the things we already know, he's kind and supportive and everything like that, but he's also so smart and he has done so much and he's so self-deprecating. And I tell you, it felt like it was 10 minutes and it was two and a half hours. He gave me some great information about, he told me stories I did not know, and I'm going to keep them for the book, people. I'm going to keep them for the book.

Anything you can tease us, Jim, anything you can tease us. And this might be something you might jump in and go, I already knew this because a lot of people will. So, but I'm going to tease. I just assumed, I just did, that Amy Poehler was the first cast person hired for Parks and Recreation. She was not. I was surprised. So he gave me the scoop on how we were all hired. And the one thing I will reveal now. Yes.

Because what people don't know is when the show first started, Retta and I, Retta who played Donna, we were not series regulars. We were, I guess you'd call recurring guest stars. Yeah, you were guest stars. Yeah, guest stars. So when that happens, you don't know what's going to continue to happen.

Are they going to keep us on the show? Are they going to dump us? We don't know what's going to happen. Are we going to be up to series regular? Well, that's the dream. That's the dream.

You don't know. Who knows? So if you ever heard the conversations that went on between reddit and i over the first year first of all because we were we were immediately reddit and i just bonded within seconds of hanging together we were if you were looking for me you went to reddit's trailer if you're looking for ready went to my trailer if you couldn't find us. We just clicked really fast. And love her to this day. She's Redda. And we would have so many angst-filled conversations about, well, what did they say?

Have you heard anything? Have your agents said anything? What's going on? What's going on? This went on for a year. Like, literally, anxiety-ridden. Whoa, are they going to keep us? Are we going to be gone?

What's going to happen? And then I have this lunch with Greg who tells me, what are you talking about? We always knew you guys were going to be serious regulars. I go, what are you saying? We spent a year of like our stomachs in a knot. Right. And that version of you will live with you forever. Forever. And actually, when I look back, it gave us so much great memories together, Rhett and I, that I don't even really care. But it was so interesting for him to explain, like, yeah, no, we always knew. Yeah. And we didn't. We're insecure actors.

We don't know what's going on. We're always, you know, every week I'd wait for the call from my agent. Are they going to bring me in next week? Are they going to bring me in next week? And sometimes there wouldn't be a call. I'm like, oh, this is it. And then all of a sudden the call from my agent. Are they going to bring me in next week? Are they going to bring me in next week? And sometimes there wouldn't be a call. I'm like, oh, this is it. And then all of a sudden the call would come in. And then I would be in on the next week.

Or I'd see that if we were on location and they were doing a table read and I wasn't in it. So, and I remember saying to Mike one day, can I just sit in on the table read? Because I just love the episodes. I love listening to the people. He's like, of course, of course. So I did. And then by the end of the week, I was in the episode. And so as it turns out, I was in literally every single episode. Okay. Yeah. Okay. That's right, people. That's right. No, but hearing him say,

so, so like, well, of course, what do you mean you guys were worked up? Dude, we were worked up. You know, because actors, and especially at a show like this where, because I remember the first day, the very first day, Dan Gore said to, I believe it was Nick Offerman and Paul Schneider, who was playing, you know, Brian Danowitz at the time. They were sitting in their chairs, And Dan walked by and said, wow, this is the beginning of something big. Could be the beginning of something big. And I remember overhearing that and thinking, wow, how exciting. But at that point, I'm not a series regular. I'm just a guest. So, that doesn't mean it's big for me. And then I also remember after they got the first pickup in season one, I was not a series regular yet.

And we got the pickup for the rest of the season. And because they brought us all down into like, I guess they called the bullpen. Wouldn't you call it the bullpen where the main office was? And we were all there. And they go, we have an announcement. And Mike, I think it was Mike. But Greg was, everybody was there. Greg and Morgan and everybody was there and he said we got the rest of the season and everyone's like screaming and my guy I had so exciting I remember going up to Greg and saying congratulations I'm so excited for you guys and he looked at me and he goes

be excited for yourself too but at the time I didn't take that as, I don't know. But the fact that he knew the whole time that Red and I had nothing to worry about just made me laugh so hard. But the point being, I spent two and a half hours with him, and we talked about the show, and we talked about The Office, and we talked about he's doing a reboot of King of the Hill, And he's got his son. He did a, Greg had us all over for a premiere one night for one of the episodes. And he brought us all over to his house. And his son, Owen,

I'm going to guess was 12 or 13 at the time. And I remember thinking, what a lovely young man because he was so outgoing. At 12 or 13, I couldn't look you in the eye. Yeah.

Like I was, I wasn't the kid who was, but he walked up. And nowen is an actor and a writer and he's this huge success and anyway it was just great and then you know i just i couldn't help i just because when the again i'm oversharing but when the show ended i wrote mike and greg a handwritten letter to each one and send it to their homes. And because I think they needed to know, at least from me, the life-changing decision by hiring me that it was life-changing.

Not just the fact that, you know, you're on a series and, you know, you get paid every week and that's lovely. But because of the success of the show, it led to many other opportunities that were already happening before the show even ended. And so I just needed them to know that. And so I kind of went off on him again, like, do you realize the difference you've made in people's lives? And cause I really believe that. And to them, he's just hiring somebody, you know, but, um, he's a wonderful guy. And I, I, it was an amazing two and a half hours. He gave me so much great stuff for the book.

And he was so open about everything. And I know it was special. That's great. It was special. He's a good guy. He's a great guy. I know. He's a great guy.

Yeah. I could talk about him forever. I know. I know. Well, let's talk about today's episode. Yes. Wait. Oh, we're also doing a podcast.

Yeah. Yeah. We're not just hearing moments from your life. I could keep talking about that, though. Well, today we're talking about season four, episode 14. It's Operation Anne, written by Ayesha Muharra, directed by Morgan Sackett. And it originally aired on February 2nd, 2012. I love both of those people.

I love all the specifics of that date. February 2nd, 2012. Wow. And you remember because it was two days before my birthday of that year, right? Is your birthday on a different day other years? Yeah, that year was February 4th. It depends.

Okay. Yeah, it depends. Also, at this point, and I'm asking this and we might not know offhand, was this Morgan's first time directing this? Or had he already been? Because people who don't know, Morgan Sackett was our line producer. And a line producer, in my mind, is the guy who does everything. Like, he puts out the fires all day long.

And I've said it. I say it in my book. I'll say it to anyone who will listen. I think Morgan Sackett is one of the greatest line producers that has ever done the job. Just from what I've seen. I've done a lot of different things over the years. And I think he's amazing. But then he did direct us a few times.

Yeah, absolutely. And he's a great director. And a great director. I love when people would direct us who knew us. Because it gave it a different feel. They knew who we were. They knew as individuals as well as who our characters were. And I just love that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a big fan whenever Dean, of course, Dean Holland, because, I mean, Dean was one of us from day one. He was the editor and then he was. Right, or shows that keep bringing back the same directors. You create this extended family feeling. Yes, it totally feels right. Yeah. So I love that Morgan directed this. Well, tell us the blur bringing back the same directors. You create this extended family feeling. Yes, it totally feels right. So I love that Morgan directed this. Well, tell us the blurb about the episode he directed.

I'll give you the scoop. Leslie struggles to find Anne a Valentine's date, while April provides a surprising assist. She really does. Ron helps Ben with Leslie's difficult Valentine scavenger hunt, and Chris becomes depressed over his love life. I mean really depressed. I mean, really depressed. Really depressed.

Really depressed. Yeah, yeah. Millicent really put him in a place. Well, you know. She knows what she wants and that thing is in Chris Traeger.

It was not Traeger. Yeah. Well, this, in our notes, this episode features the great Martin Starr as Kevin. And a lot of people know

that Martin also starred, no pun intended, I swear to you, in the beloved TV comedy Party Down with our very own Adam Scott. Yay, I love Party Down. Yeah, yeah. And I also, you know, we talked about this. You know, who else was in there?

Our wonderful Megha Malali. Absolutely. One of our Tammys. That's right. We talked about this before in another episode, but I do love when you get to see actors together

who've done other roles and now they're doing different things. And I always wonder, are they bringing some of those memories and those feelings to this? Is it fun to be like,

oh, it's you, but it's a complete different you. And it's great. I love it. This episode also marks the return of Galentine's Day. It's another Parks and Rec bit. You know, we took it.

We had this bit like treat yourself. And it took on its whole other life. It lives outside of the show. People know about Galentine's Day if they've never seen an episode of Parks and Rec. Oh, it's a thing. It's a thing, yeah. It is my nieces. It's a thing.

Galentine's Day is a special day for the gals. Yeah. And just think, from a sitcom. Yeah. It's like the Festivus from Seinfeld. Festivus for the rest of us. Absolutely. Festivus for the rest of us, yeah.

Yeah, it just took on its own life. So today's episode is Operation Anne. We're going to jump right into it with our synopsis. Go for it. Leslie hosts the annual Galentine's Day celebration with her gals, but feels bad that Anne

doesn't have anyone to celebrate Valentine's Day with. She asked the Parks Department to set Anne up with someone at a Valentine's Day singles mixer that they are organizing. Chris, who is still depressed about being dumped by Millicent,

So depressed. I mean, deeply in a dark... Deeply, deeply dark. He decides to DJ the mixer. You know, sure. Meanwhile, Leslie gives Ben an intricate Valentine's Day scavenger hunt, ending with the location where Ben will meet Leslie later that night. And Andy and Ron agree to help Ben with the scavenger hunt. What a setup.

What a setup. What a setup. Okay, setup. What a setup. Okay, so Galentine's Day brunch starts it. Leslie has gifts for each of her gals. A needlepoint pillow

featuring their face and a headline story of the newspaper on the day they were born. So great. She, Leslie, she must have 40 hours in a day

because she couldn't get done what she does in 24. She thinks it's an idea and she makes it happen. And she does it for each one of the girls at this table. It's brilliant. And then, and I see you have it in your notes and I have it in mine. So Leslie does these amazing pillows for all of her gals and her mom's, the headline is Joseph Stalin dies. Yes. You know, there you go. Okay, that's your special day.

And the mom is like, what? And she's like, yeah, that's right, mom. And you replaced him, not in the terms of genocide, but in the terms of being on earth. Yes, yes. That's so, that's Leslie. She makes, yeah, she makes lemonade out of lemons. She made, she sure did. Yeah, it's great.

It's so good. And we talk about, you know, Leslie doing these things. She has an idea and she finds more time in the day than any of us have ever found to do things. But, you know, we talked to Kay Perrello, our prop master extraordinaire, who talks about, I mean, she kind of was the Leslie note for our show, right? Because we'd come up with an idea and she'd have a few days, only 24 hours sometimes, to make it happen. Like her job, her team's job

to make these pillows. These pillows, not like we were on Etsy one day in the writer's room and be like, oh, we should do these pillows. Someone's making these pillows. Let's do them for our,

no, Gay Parello, the prop team, did this. Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. Her and Julie and Tom. Yes. What a man. The dream department. And she did a lot of the book covers that people see, you know, all the binders, all the binders. It's all them. It's, I mean, they're, they're writers in their own way, which I think what we've learned is they can all do your job. Anyway, moving on. Moving, moving, moving. So Leslie creates two helpful acronyms for finding a partner.

Ask, A-S-K, attractive, smart, kind. And we start with one E educated F friendly F fun and Ron's like just tell us tell us the damn word thank god she did she told him because the word is

effervescent educated friendly fun egalitarian robust vigorous enthusiastic

sexy courteous empathetic not pigeon toed talented and I love that on the slideshow we get Leslie's ideals

for the type of person I said I'd end up with. Ryan Gosling. Great, obviously. That's a very, of course, Ryan Gosling would be on a lot of people's lists. Right. Then vice president, now president, Joe Biden. Then Sam Watterson.

How random is that? Great. So great. Leslie, she likes her older guys. Yeah. I mean, Ryan, I think she did just because she figures everyone likes Ryan Gosling. Yeah. But her two favorites are Joe Biden and Sam Waterston. Yeah.

No doubt. Well. I love her. Paging Dr. Freud. You know what I mean? Let's talk about it. I was surprised that Ben wasn't more enthusiastic about the Riddle Scavenger Hunt. Maybe he's frustrated by the difficulty of it.

It kind of seems up his, like he's got this like nerdy problem solving alley of his. It's interesting. Maybe he's just so flummoxed because he wants to finish it. He wants to get it done because it's something Leslie did for him. Right.

But then again, it sets up a great world where Ron is going to eagerly jump in because he secretly loves it. Secretly. Yeah, secretly. But not so secretly. No, but he does a good job of trying to keep a secret

from Ben throughout. But I agree. You would think Ben would be all over this. Yeah. The crypt text. Yeah. First of all,

the crypt text. Where does Leslie get this stuff? I mean, that in itself is amazing. You know, every time probably Ben thinks he's going to do something great for Ben thinks he's going to do something great for Leslie, Leslie's going to do something

10 times more extreme, 10 times more in-depth than he would do for her and it's okay. Each gets to love and do things in their own way. But maybe that's feeding it a little bit,

but yeah. And even in this episode, he gets her a Valentine's thing and she's like, oh, we said we weren't going to do this for each other. But look what she's done. But I did do this thing.

It was very intense. And here's this thing. Imagine the pressure of having someone in your life who was such a great gift giver that you could never compete. Yeah. That would be tough. Yeah. I've been told I'm pretty good. Really?

Yeah. And one day I'll decide to give you some. I haven't seen anything. I've been told I'm pretty good. Oh, interesting. All right. Well, let's move on then. Let's move on.

No, but no one gives like Leslie to everybody. Yeah, yeah. Everybody. And it's really wonderful. Even we've talked about it before with Jerry with his socks. It meant the world to him. Yeah. Just does.

She knows how to do it. She gets me. She gets me. Yeah. Okay. Synopsis. Though seemingly reluctant at first, Ron turns out to be very eager and adept at the scavenger hunt.

And the scavenger hunt takes Ben, Ron, and Andy to JJ's diner and then the Homferman Snowglobe Museum. Tom steps up to help Ann find her perfect match at the singles mixer, making Ann feel much better. When Jerry shows up with a potential male companion

for Ann because he put an ad out, right? Male-seeking male. Male-seeking male. What I love about that for and because he put an ad out right mail seeking mail mail seeking mail what I love about that is sure that's that's great

that's funny what I love is after it's pointed out the way you played Jerry at this one like almost like what have I signed up for

this night like but I brought this guy and Jerry's a good guy no matter he gets the shit but he's a good guy. No matter, he gets the shit, but he's a good guy. And so I'm watching this.

I'm prepping for the episodes. I do my prep. All right. I know Jim says I don't, but I do the prep. I disagree. I think you do a lot of prep. I'm watching this

and I'm thinking, oh my God. So I think the way you play this, which is kind of like, well, you know, now I feel bad, but I got to hang out

with this guy all night because I brought him to a Valentine's mixer. That's totally how Jerry would look at it. Right. Even though Les is like, get your gigolo out of here. Right. Get him out. Right. No, no, no.

I couldn't do that. But also, what is this? The guy, what's he thinking? Like, what is, I mean, what has gone on? I know. And we don't really dip into that story the rest of the episode. There's no talk of it. But I would imagine this guy, did he think there was money involved or was I just like, you know, he's into the daddy type of guy or whatever.

I have no idea. But he seemed happy to be there with Jerry. Yeah. Couldn't wait to go. Here we are. He goes, yeah, I'll see you inside. God, it was so funny. Yeah.

That was so funny to shoot because Amy and we were all laughing so hard because it was such a ridiculous moment. We couldn't get through it. That one was a lot of takes, a lot of takes because we just couldn't stop laughing. Yeah. Oh, my God. I also imagine that was probably the way it was when we had the scene when Oren is there as a potential suitor, right? Oren, what a sweet kid. The best.

The best. And Amy or Leslie, confuse the names. Leslie's dislike for him is just so harsh. It's so harsh. There's a joke we get to later. I'll jump ahead when Oren's clearly under the table. Yes. Right?

And his hands are there and I see and he slowly brings his... And it's so funny. He's so creepy. He's so creepy. And as long as you jump, I'm going to jump too. And when Leslie says to April, you brought Oren? And it's not some weird remorse.

It's one of those days, Jim. What is the word? It's one of those days. Remorse. What do you... I don't know what you... Remorse? Mummy? That's a quote. Remorse Jim. What is the word? It's one of those days. Remorse. What do you, I don't know. Remorse, mummy. That's a quote. Remorse, is remorse a word? Please, can I say something? Honestly, this is not a bit.

Please keep all this in. I don't know what's happening. Okay, April, Leslie says to April, you brought Orin? And is that some weird remorse mummy? Morose. Morose. Morose. That's the word.

That's the word. Oh, son of a gun. That is the word. So Anne is not some weird morose mummy. And then she looks right at Orin and she goes,

offense intended, Orin. Offense oran let this be a wake up call you present yourself to the world just harsh and actually leslie also trying to help him you need to present yourself better to the world this is not a good look yeah no yeah love it Love it. Morose. That is so funny. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, then, let me talk about a moment. I laughed so hard at home watching this. I totally forgot about it. Upon realizing that Jerry and Millicent share 50% of their DNA, Chris gives this amazing look of longing to Jerry. I cracked up.

I cracked up so hard. Rob's look of longing when he has that thought. Jim, your reaction of terror, the red background behind Chris, the music. It was like I was watching like Suspiria

or some arthouse horror film. It, it, it, yes. It's a kind of joke that you don't do stuff like that to. But I'm like, what are both of them thinking? I love it. Do you remember this moment? Do you remember shooting this? I totally remember the moment. Yes, yes, yes.

Rob is on stage, and he's just looking at me like, ooh, I don't know. It was just creepy as hell. And Jerry does not know what's happening. He doesn't even hear the conversation they've just had. He just knows something creepy is happening. Because Rob has given him a look, and Rob nailed that look.

It's so good. I'm sorry. I could spend an hour talking about this. Because it's both like, Chris is realizing this, and he's so sad about Millicent, but he's almost like, well, Jerry is 50%. Like, should I be with Jerry? Should I be with Jerry? It's one of the thoughts he's having.

The other thought, I think, was kind of just like, how could that have happened? How could Jerry create 50% of Millicent? No offense, Jim. No, and I'm taking this has been the question throughout the whole series. Or is it a fluke of science where perhaps Millicent is maybe 1% Jerry and 99% Gail?

You know, Christy Brinkley? We don't know. But there's just a lot of subtext in a really silly moment in this. I love it. It's a great moment. I agree with you. It's a great moment. Let's move on. Yep. Synopsis. Leslie synopsis.

What the fuck? And literally, just to jump up on the back end of that, Tom looks at Chris and literally says, stop staring at Jerry like that. Tom has seen something weird is going down. Stop staring at Jerry like that. We can move on, but Jim, the way you played it is so funny. Stop staring at Jerry. Stop staring at Jerry like that. We can move on, but Jim,

the way you played it is so funny. The sheer terror. It's also like, that's your boss? You're like, what the hell is happening? It is so good. Well, I think we can all agree. I'm going to watch it again. Am I your favorite actor? Would you say I'm the

most talented actor you've ever met? In our synopsis. actor? Would you say I'm the most talented actor you've ever met? In our synopsis, Leslie gives Chris a pep talk pointing out that he was the one who broke up with Ann. Chris soon begins to play more upbeat music

and Leslie spots Ann doing her makeup in the car even though she said I'm just going to go home and begins to suspect that Anne and Chris are secretly back together. Ben, Ron, and Andy fail to solve the last riddle,

but Ron correctly guesses the final meeting spot is Little Sebastian's memorial site. God bless Little Sebastian. Yeah, gone too soon. Gone too soon. Yeah, 5,000 candles in the wind, my friend.

Okay, so Chris has this upbeat song. He plays its party rock anthem by LMFAO. Okay, there's nothing that makes me happier watching Parks, and it doesn't happen all that often, but a giddy Ron Swanson. Yeah. There is just something it does to your heart and to your soul that I could watch those moments over and over

and we don't see a whole lot of them, but the moments when he, any, any reference to a little Sebastian with Ron, even, you know, there's moments after he's, we think, you know, he's wearing his red shirt. So maybe he had a special night the night before or something like that. Whenever Ron is giddy and happy, it just makes me very happy. Yeah, and it makes me think of that time when Leslie first brings in little Sebastian to the... Yes! And he does this, like,

hand clap. He's like, well done, Leslie! Right? Well done! Well done, Leslie! Well done! Yeah, like, he's really into it. It's that same place. It's like it's a pure... Like, the Ron Swanson, like, the armor he's built into it. It's that same place. It's like it's a pure, like the Ron Swanson, like the armor he's built. It's stripped away for a second. And it's the pure boy, the pure kid that lives inside each of us, right?

It's like, well done, Leslie. And in this, it's like, I love riddles. I love them. And he, again, two or three different times in this episode, we see the giddiness. Yeah, yeah. And it just perks him. But he hides it. Well, he's not good at hiding it sometimes.

Right. No, but yeah. Yeah. Love any time. Any time he's giddy. A great little thing that there are maybe eight people putting down candles at the little Sebastian Memorial the night of Valentine's Day. I mean, the town really loved that little horse.

The town loves that little horse. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, have I loved that little horse. The town loves that little horse. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, have I told my little Sebastian story? We'll find out. Oh. Okay, people. If you're driving, pull over.

If you're not, drive somewhere. Go somewhere and then pull over. Yeah. So after Parks, I recurred on the series called Bless This Mess. Who was it? Lake Bell, Dax Shepard. Anyway, super fun show. So I'm there one day, and I played a farmer who was the town vet also.

So we had animals on set. So the one day there was cows or something, And I see this girl and she looked familiar and she goes, hi, Jim. And I go, hi. And I couldn't really replace it. She goes, I used to handle a little Sebastian. I go, oh my gosh, what's going on? Like, oh my God, how's he doing? And there was a pause. And then she just had a sad face. I go, oh no. She goes, yeah, he died. I go, what? But she said he had a very long life for a little horse and that he had a showbiz life so he had a

really wonderful life that made me feel better. But this is my first time saying this out loud. I've never told the cast because I think it's sad. Do you think they still think he's alive? No, they might. They might. I did. I did and I think they might. Something about you saying he had a really long life for a little horse. So pure.

You know? But that's what she told me. That's what she said. It's like if a parent has to explain death to a pet of a pet to a kid. Like, you know what, though? We loved him, and he had a really long life for a little horse. For a little horse. Yeah.

Lil. Lil. Lil. Not little. Lil. Lil. Yeah. Yeah.

But anyway, it kind of broke my heart, I will say. It made me feel bad. But yes, this town loves— We would have a moment of silence for Lil Sebastian right now if it wouldn't make most people think that the episode has ended. Yes. Right? Which could be for the best also.

Yeah. Yeah. But yes, the town loved their little Sebastian. Yeah. As they should. Yeah. We need to move on. There's more story, but I have to call out.

We have Harris Whittles back as Harris. Oh my God. It was so good to see his face, hear his voice. So funny. I love the outfit that Wardrobe put him in. And I just, God, every time he's on the show, it's incredible. I just love that he's in it.

It's so great. But was he being presented as the guy from the Animal Control? Yeah, he's not playing a different character. So, yeah, it's still the same guy from Animal Control. Yeah, yeah. Well, it makes sense. We've talked about the fact who shows up at a Valentine's Day dance.

Perhaps it's other government workers. Yeah, no, no. It makes perfect sense. I don't know if it makes perfect sense. Oh, it does. Okay, I'm so glad. Yeah, no, it does. I'm so glad.

All right. Synopsis. Feeling betrayed by Chris's supposed hypocrisy in dating a subordinate, Leslie and Ben decide to confront Chris and Anne on their date. And I just want to pause and say, I love how Ben is as eager to do it as Leslie is like, we have to go confront him. Oh yeah. They soon discover that

Anne is actually going on a date with a different co-worker, Tom. April reveals that she suggested the idea to Anne, an act of kindness that touches Leslie. Ron sheepishly asked Leslie to create a scavenger hunt for his birthday.

And that's how we end our episode. Wow. So much went on there. You had a guttural reaction when I mentioned Tom. Break it open for us. Talk about it because we're going to talk about it. Okay. I think I might've mentioned this in previous

episodes. These are characters in a TV show, but there's something about the thought of Anne and Tom that just, I don't know. The pilot starts with Tom married and actively hitting on Anne, who's there with her boyfriend. He's constantly flirting with her. And here we are, and it's, you know, middle of season four, and they're going to date. But it's so weird, my reaction. It really is weird because I love the Tom character. He's the bravado, the bullshit bravado, but ultimately he's a good guy. And I love that he ends up with, you know, Natalie. Morales and Lucy.

Lucy. That just warms my heart. So I want Tom to be happy. I want him to be in a relationship. There was just something about it being Anne. I don't know. Like if it was Donna, I would have been the same. Like what?

Yeah. Like too close. Donna, I would have been the same. Like what? Like too close. So I was thinking about this. One of my favorite shows of all time is Friday Night Lights. I've seen it many times. It's an incredible television series. Perhaps the best couple the TV's ever had in Coach and Tammy. Anyway, it's much loved by people who see it.

You watch it, you've never seen it, you love it. And there's a season that is slightly less loved. And there's more, there's a split amongst people if they like it or not. And there's a specific storyline in it that gets a lot of guff from people. And I don't want to talk about it for those who haven't seen it yet or whatever, but there's maybe I should because I'm alluding to it so much. It's been out a long time. It's not a long time. I think there's no spoilers.

For those who don't want a spoiler for this, I guess I'm saying I don't know. Give us a minute, everyone. I don't know if that's a bad idea. Don't skip any of our genius. But there's a thing with Landry and Tyra and a murder. And it just jumps out at you as like,

I don't think it's what these characters who have come to love would, I don't think it's a storyline that this, and tonally it matches this show. Yeah, yeah. And I'm watching this episode in prep, and here we are about to hit a little arc of Tom and Anna. We've talked about they don't wind up together. We know who he winds up with, and that's great. So it's not going to last forever. And I'm watching like, you know, I don't think about this storyline that often with the

show. Just like when I think of Friday Night Lights, I don't think of this storyline that often with the show. Just like when I think of Friday Night Lights, I don't think of the Landry and Tyra storyline. You kind of block it out. Because it's overwhelmed by this other stuff, but it is a thing that we did. It is a storyline. And I think a lot of fun comedy comes out of it. I think it's fun to see Rashida's comedy and storylines with it

and the way that she still teases Tom. We're going to talk about it for the next few episodes. But it isn't. It is one of those things that people do have a gut reaction. I had a gut reaction to it. And in this episode, April's point being, the reason she tries to put them together, she says to Anne, all night, all this has been going on.

Who made you laugh? Because Anne says, I just want a nice guy who makes me laugh. Right. The only guy who made her laugh that whole night was Tom. I still see it. I can see how it happened. It's built very well, right? It's really built out.

Yes. I do think it's earned. I do think it's earned. But it is one of those things. And I think writing it, everyone in the room also knew that, you know, it's like, oh, this could be interesting. This could make people feel a certain way. But that's the fun of storytelling, especially on a network show where you go 22 a year generally and you have a lot of story to do and you have to service all your regulars all the time that you're sometimes going to do a storyline that may bump. But when you guys in the room, when you're talking about putting Anne and Tom together, is there anyone having the reaction that I have? Like, ooh, I don't know.

Well, yes, but there are people who are going to say, and that's maybe exactly why we should do it. Because if you're only doing the obvious. Yeah, no, that's true. That's good. If you're only doing the obvious with story, like to that's true. That's good. Right? If you're only doing the obvious with story. Like to me, I've had this thought about writing and storytelling, which is that the best stuff is when you're watching something and it takes a twist and there's a turn. And at first you're like, wait, that shouldn't work.

But then you keep watching it. Like, not only does it work, that shouldn't work. But then you keep watching it. Not only does it work, it works really well. It was a great journey and it shouldn't have gone any other way. My first reaction was, how the hell am I going to get out of this? And then I'm like, actually, that was great storytelling because that tells you you're doing something original, something new. You're not just doing your version of the same tried and true thing. And so I think there is something to be said for here's a story and a storyline that isn't just that, that, that does push you, that does bump against. Oh, it bumped. Yeah. Right. I like it. Yeah. I agree. And I never even thought about it. It got me thinking,

it got me, gave me the cringe. And I also, there was so much comedy that came from it. So much great comedy that came from it. Right. And so I wanted to set in that stage because you had that reaction. People I know, I've talked to fans of the show. I've read people's opinions of it. I remember reading the reviews of this episode when it came out and all this stuff. And so that being said, let's set the stage for the next few episodes talking about it with this world of let's see the fun that came from it, too. So much fun came from it. Yeah.

I just love that I'm not the only one who had that reaction. No. Because I really, ooh. All right, Jim. This episode has so many great little moments. I know you have a lot of crap sometimes that we don't get to. Can you give us some of that crap? I got some craps.

A couple of just one of my favorite moments because it's my gross sense of humor uh i love in the episode when we're in the conference room and leslie's trying to get a date for ann she's asking all of us and tom because he's a little bit of a perv goes does anyone know if she has any indian in her leslie immediately goes no no no nobody say anything nobody say anything. Nobody say anything. He says something again along those lines. Nobody say anything. And Jerry sweetly goes, I don't think she does.

And Tom, boom! Would you like some? Yeah. Such a... Oh my God. I love silly stuff. It's a long walk for that little moment. It is a long walk. And you know what? Now we know at first you think, oh, here's another Tom moment, but it's actually setting up

what we're going to later on. Of course. So it's all purposeful. It's all purposeful. I love when they bring the cryptex to Ron and he's going to figure it out because he just takes a hammer and crushes it. And he does it.

And I also love when Ron goes into the gay bar to get a clue. He has no, I mean, Ron is so, he doesn't care that it's a gay bar. I don't think he has any, there's no problem with any of it. But these men are ogling him and he has no idea. Because in their mind, here comes this mustached daddy dude who they're, anyway. I actually think he does know. I love it.

I actually think he gets it. And he's just like, hey, what's going on, guys? I hope that's the case. I just think he's, you know, Ron is Ron. I mean, he's got his opinions about politics and everything, but I think he's a very inclusive human being who just let people live their lives. He's a libertarian. It's like you should do what you want to do. You do what you do.

Yeah. I love that about him. I also love when Leslie sees that it's Tom, the scream that she does outside of the restaurant, when she sees that it's just a great moment. Just a great moment. And then I just, that whole, that whole moment of realizing what was happening, that it was Tom, because Leslie had the same reaction that Jim O'Hare had. Yeah. And you know what's great is April's there and April's like, you know, she's pointing out the truth to Leslie,

which is like, you know, I suggested it and this is why I suggested it and, you know, it's interesting. Two episodes ago, I remember we were talking about in campaign ad, Aubrey, April has that moment where she shits on Anne about, you know, her relationships and

here she is two episodes later showing that she's got a soft side. She still cares about people even though she pretends like she doesn't. Even Anne. Even her husband's ex. And she suggests somebody to him and it's Tom. And I think I mean, for the game of the episode, she's right to suggest

Tom of all the people who should be set up in this episode that is about getting Anne Anna date. Tom is the right person for it. Of the people we've met, of all the suitors, Tom is the right one. He may not be the right person for her long term. So April's right in that.

And I love when April's walking away and Leslie's like, you're a good person. You're good. She's just, yeah. You are a good person. Also, a bit that has to be stated again because it's, it's Ron and Nick Offerman playing Ron. When Leslie's at the top of the episode, you hear Ron go, thank you all for being here. Let's get started. And we're all like, wow. And Leslie literally says, wow, great attitude, Ron. And he goes, oh, I'm sorry. I was

talking to these ribs. And then he just goes right into the big slab of ribs. Oh, my gosh. It's just a pure sight gag. Pure sight gag that is brilliant and funny and character-driven. He doesn't give a shit about this meeting. He could care less. He's sitting down to this plate of ribs, and he's happy they're there. I know.

It's great. It's so good. That's my crap that we didn't talk about. Oh, I love your crap. Well, let's flush the toilet once know. It's great. That's my crap that we didn't talk about. Let's flush the toilet once again on Jim's crap. Episode MVP for you, sir. Wow. I didn't

think about MVP. So I'm going to say you know what? I don't I think I'm going to give it to Ann. I think Ann went through a lot this episode. I think she did. And also Anne went through a lot this episode. Yeah, she did. I think she did. And also, Rob went through a lot. Yeah.

Meaning Chris Traeger. I might split the MVP. I think I'm going to split the MVP with Chris and with Anne. Well, I'm going to say my episode MVP moment we've talked about is the Chris-Jerry look interaction. Yeah, that was creepy as hell. To me, the funniest thing in the episode, and I love so many things about

so many of these episodes, I love this. But yeah, it's Anne, and especially because Anne doesn't often get these moments. Right. She has a very specific role in the show, and Rashida's awesome at it. Perfect. But this is Operation Anne. It's built around her story. We don't

often get storylines for Anne that are also this big of a comedy game. And so Rashida, who's so great, I think, at being like Leslie's number one or this person that April pokes at or whatever. This is Anne's episode. She sells it. She's great at it.

Great. You're rooting for her. You're rooting for her to be with somebody. And that's why I do think as much as it may bump some, she and Tom,

it's going to be a fun little journey. Oh, it's a fun journey. And because of how good Anne is and how good Rashid is. It just makes me cringe a little bit. Yeah, it does. Well, listeners, let us know if you cringe

and 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. Jim, we're going to do a town hall. Town hall. Yeah.

Let's do it. And we maybe should set it at this kind of sad, kind of necessary Valentine's Day dance. This one comes from Jenny from Cincinnati who asks, you guys have discussed Parks and Rec's recurring theme of parties, gifts, and jobs. Jenny, it's gifts, parties, and jobs,

but thank you. I'm kidding, Jenny. This is wonderful. Thank you so much. Any advice she asks on a birthday present for a boyfriend who hates gifts? Wow.

I also, I'm not comfortable getting gifts. Getting gifts? Getting gifts. Love giving gifts. I am not comfortable getting gifts. That's really helpful because I have never given you one. Right. And I just assumed it's because you knew.

Very kindly, Jim sent a gift basket when we had our kid, and I thank you for it. I thanked you then. I thank you again, sir. Oh, you're very welcome. No, I'm sure in therapy, they could spend weeks and months and years on it. I'm just not comfortable with that. Of getting gifts. I'm just not.

I know people are like, oh, you love being in the... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't like to be in that limelight. But you say you like to give gifts. Love, love, love to give gifts. So Jenny from Cincinnati is asking for advice for a birthday present for her boyfriend who hates gifts. You do hate getting gifts, but you do love giving them. So you perhaps might be the best person for this question. And that's coming from someone who very humbly but famously said today, he he's quite me, great at giving gifts.

Wow. What would pierce through this for you? You know what? For me, it's simple. A meal out, a show. I don't like the presentation of opening and being looked at. And that whole, I'm just very uncomfortable with it. But hey, listen, we're going to go to dinner for your birthday.

Or we're going to, I got these tickets. I just don't want a big presentation of it. Yeah. It's just this feeling of performing perhaps. I guess. You don't want to let anyone down. Like, am I giving the right reaction? Because you're always grateful to get a gift.

There are some people who give gifts, I think, and they do it because they want to be thanked for it. Absolutely. Right? There are those people, we all know some of them, who give a gift because ultimately it's more about them

getting the thank you, thank you so much for this thing and that's why they want to, yeah. But that's, I don't think that's who our Jenny is.

I'm very comfortable saying, hey, we're going to go grab dinner for your birthday. Super sweet. Love that. But I don't want to open

gifts at the table. I don't even, and I know this normally happens, I don't even want that little cake that the restaurant comes over and, I don't even to open gifts at the table. I don't even, and I know this normally happens. I don't even want that little cake that the restaurant comes over and I don't even want any of that. People, my world knows no surprise parties. I don't want any of that. It's just not my. And I have people, I have friends who they call it my birthday month.

I'm like a birthday month. What's that going to cost me? It's called a birthday. It's built in. No, but some people, they really love it, and God bless. That's their deal. But for me, I'm like her boyfriend. I'm not comfortable getting gifts. So I think a dinner out

or just, hey, listen, tomorrow we're going to see whatever show or whatever band he loves or whatever. And the show's thought. I know the person. That's great. I'm with you, by the way, about the candle and the cake and the restaurant. I once went, my wife took me out for dinner for my birthday, and they brought over a little dessert because she told them it was my birthday,

and the waiter drops it off. There's no candle. And she's very calm and said, happy birthday from us. And I just loved it because not anyone else knew. They acknowledged this little moment. And she's very calm and said, happy birthday from us. And I just loved it because not anyone else knew that. They acknowledge this little moment. This is this day where we celebrate the year around the sun. And it's really lovely.

So I think that's great. I think for me, because you're kind of stepping on what I like about giving gifts is giving something that shows that I get a piece of you. I understand a piece of you, friend, family member, loved one, whomever, or teacher or whatever. I get what you might want as a gift. And I've thought about it beyond just like a robe or tie or something. Maybe people love that. And if that's the case, that's the perfect gift for them. So you're putting, you're really thinking about it

before you just, you're not just doing a quick run to the store and grab something. Yeah. Or like, I like, like, you know, my wife's birthday is in March. There's Valentine's Day

in February before it. And there's Christmas, Hanukkah to like a month and a half before that. So I have like three months in which like gifts are given. And so I've started like to theme them, meaning like I'll give like a more like useful type gift for one for every like Christmas time, more like romantic,

slightly geared towards jewelry or something for Valentine's Day and for her birthday, a little more fun and different and experiential. And that may, I don't have to worry about perhaps like, what am I, what's this one going to be? It helps anything that can get you on your path, Jenny. I think Jim's giving you great advice. There are women listening to this thinking, my husband gets me a damn vacuum cleaner. I want, I want Greg. I want Greg. Like that is a lot of, that's wonderful. Yeah, but I'm taken. You are taken, but that's wonderful.

I mean, that is amazing that you put that much thought into it. It really is. I mean, let's face it. Guys are known to not even know the dates of birthdays and anniversaries and all that stuff. So the fact that you not only know it, but you seem to really go all out. I can't wait for my birthday. Stop it, Jim. Stop it.

Actually, my half birthday is coming up soon. If you want to do a little something. I'll give half your gift then. Yeah. I don't want a gift. I don't like gifts. Actually, my half birthday is coming up soon. If you want to do a little something. I'll give half of your gift then. Yeah. I don't want a gift. I don't like gifts. Well, Jenny, good luck. I know you're going to nail it.

And all of you listening at home, if you have questions for us for our town hall, leave us a comment in your reviews. Let us know. You can tweet at us. You can hashtag us. Let us know. We would love to hear from you. And thank you all for listening

and Jim thank you for being here with me well thank you for allowing me to be here that's what I appreciate the most thank you I know

you know what it is it's a gift yeah and I don't like gifts I know so now where are we at but you like giving them you told me

I do so Texas episode do a group chat give us five star reviews give us if you hate us just give five stars thank you you'll show us it'llstar reviews. Give us... What if you hate us? Just give five stars. Thank you.

You'll show us. It'll be a gift for us, honestly. Thanks, as always, to our amazing Joe and Sean. Yay! They keep everything going.

They're lovely. They're being sheepish right now so they don't even like to be called out. And this is a podcast where you don't see them. Jim, goodbye from Pawnee.

Goodbye from Pawnee. See you soon. This has been a Team Coco production.