Parks and Recollection - Pawnee Rangers (S4E4)

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

The episode that birthed a cultural phenomenon - Jim O’Heir and writer Greg Levine are here to discuss “Pawnee Rangers,” better known as the “Treat Yo’ Self” episode! Yes, it’s the B-story that (accidentally) changed the way we talk about self-care forever. Jim and Greg discuss Treat Yo’ Self Day, the Pawnee Rangers vs Pawnee Goddesses, Greg's stint as Pierre, Chris' budding romance with Jerry's daughter, and much more. You will not want to miss this episode!

We're getting together to talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastians, the pets we fell into And we're putting it on in a podcast, then we'll send it up into the sky 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 and welcome to another Parks and Recollection I'm one of your hosts, Jim O'Hare Better known as Gary, Larry, Jerry, Terry, Barry

And then one of my dearest friends in the whole world. I just think the world of him. I do this every time. I thought I paid you enough money to know my name. The name's Greg. Greg, Greg, Greg. Oh, my God. I love every minute we spend together.

Thank you. It seems like you do. Every minute. Every minute. The one I give you every day. What a gift. Jim, we're old friends. We're old friends.

I love Greg. We Josh. We Josh. We Josh. My brother's name, Josh. Do you know him? I don't. Can I tell you, speaking of names, so I'm Greg.

My dad wanted to name me Pierre, which is true. No one knows why, but he wanted to name me Pierre. First of all, I think you look like a Pierre. I really appreciate that. No one knows why, but he wanted to name me Pierre. First of all, I think you look like a Pierre. I really appreciate that. No, and I'm not knocking that. I think you look like a Pierre. There are nods in the studio enough from other people, which makes me wonder, have I been living a false life as a Greg for 40 years? Well, here's the reason I tell it, and it's about Parks and Rec. I went in for an interview to be the writer's assistant on the show, and I sat in a room with Greg Daniels and Mike Shore.

And Greg says to me, and I'm meeting Greg Daniels. I mean, Mike's great, but I'm meeting Greg Daniels at the office. And for me, this is like one of those like bucket lists as a writer moment. And Greg says, you know, if we hire you to be on the show, it's kind of weird when you have two Gregs or two people of the same name in a room. It gets confusing. Do you have two Gregs or two people of the same name in a room. It gets confusing. Yeah. Do you have a nickname? And I said, you know, well, actually Greg's a nickname for Gregory. And I thought I was being really funny and he didn't laugh. And so. Wow. You thought you were

being funny. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's not the end of the story, Jim, because I panicked a bit, but I told the truth, which is that, well, I can tell you that my dad wanted to name me Pierre and this Greg Daniels eyes just lit up. He's like,, I can tell you that my dad wanted to name me Pierre. And this Greg Daniels' eyes just lit up. He's like, oh, my God, that's amazing. We will name you Pierre. We'll call you Pierre. And he's like, and you can, like, wear a beret.

And I was like, yeah. Whatever, Mr. Daniels, whatever. I was like, I'll walk in with, like, a big paper bag and baguette sticking out of it. He's like, that's amazing. We'll call you Pierre. And I'm joshing with Greg Daniels and Mike Shore. And I'm like, this is great. About a week later, I start at the office before Parks and Rec as an assistant. And I come in and Greg walks me around the writer's room and introduces me to every writer on the office as Pierre.

I love it. Does not say this is Greg Levine. We're calling him Pierre. Pierre. I love it. Does not say this is Greg Levine. We're calling him Pierre. So for years, there are people I worked with at parks and the office who did not know that my name was actually Greg Levine. It was Pierre. When I was on parks for three or four years, I went by Pierre. I signed emails, Pierre. People would say, oh, bring that over to Pierre's office. Drop that off on Pierre's desk. Not like, you know, Greg, but we call him Pierre. No, like that's my human name.

This is a Jerry Gergich story. Like literally how it happened. Well, you're going to love this because this is the end of the story. And I know you're going to love that because you're like, Greg, shut up already. Yeah, when can I talk? Welcome to Parks and Rec Collection. It's me, Greg, only. The end of the story is Greg Daniels hired an assistant named Pierre.

Wow. His full name was Pierre Luigi, but he went by Pierre. But when Pierre Luigi, who goes by Pierre, was at the Parks and Rec office, because Greg would go between the office and parks, he went by Luigi. was at the Parks and Rec office, because Greg would go between the office and parks, he went by Luigi. So here was a real Pierre who had to go by a fake name,

because my fake Pierre name. And I remember asking Greg at the end of the series, like, I gotta ask you about this. Was that like a social experiment? Like, were you fucking with me? Did he remember that it even all happened? Yeah, for sure. No, but it truly, you look like a Pierre. Thank you. Well, I went by Pierre for a long time. But I didn't know you went by

that name. I did, and the moment Pierre Luigi moved on, he got another job, he got staffed on a show, and all this great stuff, I got to be Greg. Wow. No, but that is, what's funny about it is that's what happened to Jerry. Yes, exactly.

The name got, and it just continued and continued because how do you clean it up? Yeah, at that point, you're like, we're going to own this and make it weirder and weirder and crazier. But the fact that you were sending out memos. Oh, my God. With Pierre. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. And the fact that everyone knew what it meant, who you were.

That's what cracks me up and also makes me kind of sad. There were years that that's just like, you know, your name, especially in certain industries, your name is so important. Yeah. And I got mine taken away from me for a little bit. Oh, I kind of love that, though. I love that about you, Greg. You know, but I will tell you, because I also had a meeting, an introduction with Mike and Greg in the room. When I first auditioned for Parks, I auditioned for Ron Swanson.

And it is so nerve-wracking because it is, and again, Mike, sure, yes, it's Mike, sure. But Greg Daniels at that point, in my mind, is The Office. Yeah. And King of the Hill. Like, these are shows that I, of course, revere. And so my goal was to just, first of all, don't make a fool of yourself. Just don't make a fool of yourself. And again, I'm going in there reading for Ron Swanson, which, you know, that in itself

is also nutty when you think of anyone other than, you know, Nick playing that role. But I do remember we had some stuff in common because of Carell. So we were able to joke around a little bit. And there's nothing more soothing than to get a laugh out of someone who you truly just

look at as kind of a god in that world. You know what I mean? And we had some chuckles. I love that you have that story with him. That's your and Greg's story. I love that. The Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? And we had some chuckles and it really, I mean, so I love that you have that story with him. That's your and Greg's story. I love that.

The two Gregs. I think it's great. I think it's exciting. Well, thank you. I'm glad I got to share with you here and all those listening there. And speaking of all those listening,

my name should be Segway because of how fucking good that was. Yeah. Wow. Today, we will be talking about Pawnee Rangers. Pawnee Rangers.

Pawnee Rangers! Written by Alan Yang, directed by Charles McDougall, originally airing on October 13th, 2011. And if Jim Blurb O'Hare can tell us a little bit about it, that'd be awesome. I will blurb it right now. In an effort to fight the inequality of Ron's boys-only wilderness group, the Pawnee Rangers, Leslie takes her girls-only troupe, the Pawnee Goddesses, on an adventure weekend. Tom and Donna invite Ben to join them for their annual treat yourself. Oh, love that.

Spa and shopping excursion. And Jerry, oh, poor Jerry. Jerry takes his daughter and Chris to lunch, and it just goes wrong. Everything goes wrong. Jim, it's treat yourself. It is treat yourself. And as we remembered, Reda and Aziz singing, it's treat yourself 2011. Yes. I mean, this is the episode that spawned many marketing campaigns. Many marketing campaigns.

I still see greeting cards that say treat yourself. I see greeting cards that say Treat Yourself. I see gift cards. Target had a Treat Yourself gift. I mean, there wasn't. Treat Yourself didn't exist before this. Just two weeks ago, you know, we have this chain, this Parks and Rec cast chain. So the other day, I forget who sent it. It might have been Retta.

Someone was promoting like some business or something and using the treat yourself theme, which is wrong. That's one step too far. That is a big step too far. But here's the thing. Ever since Park started, and it's happened to all of us, but I think mostly Nick. I think mostly Ron Swanson. Like if you go to Venice or you go to any of those places, we're on every t-shirt, you know, but there's, you know, Ron with the mustache and the booze and whatever. He's more

than any of us, I think, but we're all out there. There's no repercussions. We don't get a nickel. Right. It's just one of those situations where people can take advantage of it. And I think by the time you, if you tried to even go out there and sue somebody over it you don't win so yeah it's become it's in the lexicon do-it-yourself is in the lexicon and I think to be memed in a way there's something you can't discount that you know those gift cards

those marketing campaigns those t-shirts that feeds the beast of people knowing about the series and it does eventually get there people like I want to watch a Parks episode. I have said that many times. Because some people are like, boy, don't you feel terrible? Like, you know, there's these dolls out there now.

We're all on these Stitcher dolls, and we don't get a nickel. You really want nickels. I want nickels up my nose. No, but it promotes the show, which then promotes us, because it gives more. So to me, it all kind of works. Yeah, this is the price of being in the cultural zeitgeist. Yeah, because Parks and Rec, for whatever reason, is still just, you know.

It's good. What do you mean for whatever reason? It's a good show. No, no, no. I mean, I know the reason. I'm just saying I've been on so many shows that come and go. They come and go. They come and go.

Pilots, you do them, never hear from them again. They're just gone. Parks lasted seven years and is still in people's hearts, like truly in their hearts. I get these, you know, believe it or not, I get fan mail, Greg, believe it or not. No, but people saying I was going through treatments. I was going through this. I was having this happen, and Parks helped me get through it. Yeah.

And so it is a special show that I take full credit for. I'm creating, writing, acting. It is my show. You do it too. It is all me. No, no. But, I mean, it really turned out to be this kind of special show. So I don't have an issue with the fact that other people are making money off of our likeness.

And, you know, I cut lawns for 20 bucks a week to keep a roof over my head. Whatever. We all do what we do. Yeah. Well, this, yes, this is a special show. And not just that, but you talked about you've done seven seasons. And here's something cool. Here's a first note for you.

Yes. This is the series 50th episode. Wow. 50. It turned 50. 50, 50. I remember being in hair and makeup early on. And, you know, we were always never knew what was going to happen with ratings.

And if we're coming back, no one ever knew. And I remember Amy saying, wow, wouldn't it be something if we got to seven seasons? And believe me, even at 50, we didn't know if we were going to keep going. It was. Every season. Every season was. Yeah, we never knew. We're going to keep going. It was- Every season we thought we were doing was the end. Every season was- Yeah, we never knew.

We're going to be canceled. Right. Here comes Outsourced. Yes, exactly. Gotta get Outsourced in. That's right. Outsourced. You're right. Oh my God. So funny. So the fact that, you know, we certainly would have celebrated that. I can't believe 50. And then we would end up doing another 70, six of them. 75, 76 episodes. 75, 76. Yeah. I can't believe 50. And then we would end up doing another 76 of them. 75, 76 episodes.

Yeah. No, it's great. Amazing. So it's our 50th episode. It's also the first episode, as we talked about, where Tom and Donna celebrate Treat Yourself. A fan favorite that fans of the show now observe on October 13th. Just like Galentine's. Galentine's.

Galentine's is February 13th. The 13th. We've done it is February 13th. The 13th. We've done it. We've taken over two 13ths. Wow. Not two 13ths, but two 13 dates. And 12, I mean, good for us. Yeah, good.

Aren't we something? Good for us. Aren't we something? You know what? Hey, this is also the first episode in which we meet a member of Jerry's family. Oh, we do. In this case, his daughter Millicent.

Oh, I love her. Sarah Wright. Also, Jim, I hope you're okay with me mentioning this. Chris introduces himself to Millicent as Jerry's much younger friend. Oh. In fact, Mr. O'Hare, Rob Lowe is just, what, two years shy of you? Okay. You know what?

Let's clear some shit up. Can you want to? Yeah, I do want to clear some shit up. Do you want to? Yeah, I do want to clear some shit up. Do you want to? You know what I mean? I do. A couple things. One, he's not even a full two years.

Okay. Okay. So let's. Let me just start with this. Let's start with that. Yeah. Not even a full two years. Okay.

So we'll give him that. He has, you know, obviously struck a deal with some demon. And he has been allowed to have that face and god bless you know when when he's obviously struck he's struck a deal with the demon when the time comes i think i'm going to live my life in heaven and have nice things i think rob will be in a fiery somewhere because he did this deal. Because he's very charmed. He's very charmed. He's very charmed.

But one day, I forget who brought it to my attention, but one of the, I think a cast member. And it was a newspaper article. And it was a picture of Rob and I next to each other. And it said, what's wrong with this picture? And it was shocking to see this side by side. I will admit it was shocking. So I show it to Rob and I said, for the record, you are what's wrong with this picture. I know the joke is on me.

I get it. I get it. You know, the fat old guy. I get it. You, my friend, are the joke. You are what's wrong with this picture. Oh, my God. are the joke.

You are what's wrong with this picture. Oh my God. I am still crying thinking about, well, obviously, Rob Lowe struck a deal with a demon. Well, look,

and it still hasn't changed. No, no. When beautiful people age, it puts all of the rest of our aging to shame. It's too much. It's really got to end. I'm just like,

I mean, God bless him. The joke, and I might have said this before on a couple of episodes, if you goofed up a line when you had a scene with Rob, you would just go, sorry, I was looking into his eyes. And then you lost all track of space and time and everything. No, Rob is a, I always joke, oh, I'm shockingly good looking. Rob is shockingly good looking.

He just is. Do you think when he looks himself in the mirror, it's like, dear God, what happened? Oh my God, I'm amazing. Well, you'd have to. This is shocking. Believe me, I look in the mirror and I go, dear God, what happened?

But I don't end up with, that's amazing. Yeah. Well, good. Congrats to Rob. And you know what? Congrats to you, sir. Yes. congrats to you sir yes let me tell you something this is

what's so special about this episode we're talking about is that there's a lot to talk about even we haven't gotten to the story really

and we're talking about the fun of this there's three ABC there's a lot going and I want to just I'm going to do a new segment if you will it's called to the story, really, and we're talking about the fun of this. And there's three ABCs. There are lots going on. And I want to just, I'm going to do a new segment, if you will, which is called Breaking the Story story. Wow. And I don't know how often it's going to happen, but every so often.

Wait, does that mean you put thought into this? Wow, that goes against everything I've believed for you. Let me just text my therapist, say I need to talk to her later. We're going to do a Breaking the Story story. This episode was a long time getting here. So there was an index card on the writer's room wall for a long time. And, you know, when we would break story, come up with episode ideas, you just write them on an index card.

It gets put on some type of bulletin board, and eventually they come together to an episode. It's kind of the writing way. On this index card was written Challenge Day. And I believe it was from a pitch from Katie Dibbold based on experiences she had in her youth. And the basic idea was some kind of youth involved cooperation competition that would pit Leslie and Ann or Leslie and Ron against one another. So we broke so, so many versions of a story for this. And we never cracked it.

It was the index card that haunted us, okay? So the Leslie-Anne version would eventually become season three's The Fight. The Fight, okay. So we had a fight between them. We had something. So this isn't one and done. That card can continue. It's a great idea for a potential episode. Right. We just knew

we should have some kind of fight between them. We thought it would be a proxy fight with this youth cooperation thing. Eventually, we had it over the drunken fight at the club. But we had a Leslie and Anne fight. Well,

Pawnee Rangers became the Ron and Leslie fight in a way, right? And it was over at this point, this youth-involved thing. So the thing I want to talk about, the Challenge Day index card. So it had been put, somebody, I think it was Dan Gore, someone put it up

high in a corner in the writer's room. Almost like, here was this thing standing over us. The impossible to crack story. It was like a sword of Damocles for us. Watch your language. Go ahead. So sorry.

Like a knife of Damocles. Between seasons of the show, our entire office gets painted. So the painters come in. They take everything off the wall. All the names, all the posters, all the whatever. So the painters come in, they take everything off the wall, all the names, all the posters, all the whatever. And all the cards that have been amassed have been taped to the wall in some way.

We come back at the next season. Everything is still gone except that index card. The painters clearly could tell that this index card was special. This quasi reverence that we had for it. That's the power of the Challenge Day card. It was special. It was special. This quasi reverence that we had for it. That's the power of the Challenge Day card. It was mythic in the room. Be gone. Well, I'll tell you where it is now. The end of the series, we're cleaning up. I'm cleaning up the office with everybody else.

All the writers. I'm taking home stuff. I'm taking home mementos. I go and I climb up and I get the Challenge Day card. It is now taped to the top corner in my office at home. It's my gargoyle. I love that. Yeah.

So that's the backstory of the story. And I just love that we finally got a challenge day. Yes. Oh, that's a great story. Thank you. I have a few. I'm going to use that as mine in the future, if you don't mind. Okay.

Yeah. I'll say that I was in the writer's room and then I took it. Yeah. Okay. That's mine. Great. Well, then let's talk about the synopsis. All right.

Now we're not going to talk about my story or your story, but the story. Ron is the troop leader of a boys-only wilderness club called the Pawnee Rangers, with Andy as his assistant. Five years ago, Leslie created her own girls-only troop called the Pawnee

Goddesses in response to a fifth-grade girl being denied entry into the Rangers. Leslie is very determined to prove that her group is better than the Rangers. So she arranges a trip for the goddesses to be on the same weekend and at the same campground as the Rangers. That's setting up a perfect Ron, Leslie. Yes, yes. Who's going to do it better.

Yeah. And obviously, if you know Leslie at all, she will do it better, but it will be obviously different than Ron's. But in Ron's world, what he was doing was better. Right. Even though Ron had one rule. Be a man. Be a man. Be a man.

That is all that was required. Right. He had that notebook, that handbook for the Rangers. It had that one entry. I think it was written in Courier font, of course. Of course. I think he also had in the handbook or whatever, there's one activity, which was not getting killed. Not getting killed.

Yes. Well, you're right, Jim. Like, this is set up for a great Leslie- Ron fight. And, you know, I think of Sweetums and their debate over what, you know, when there was the driving home drunk kind of like who should limit what people do with their own bodies. There's, I think of Ron and his pyramid of greatness. Genius. In Go Big or Go Home and season three. And setting up a Ron who is very opinionated about this thing

that almost goes to the core, the marrow of his DNA of what it means to be this person. And then you have an Andy or Leslie or whatever, or Tom, whatever, who's going to have this completely different take and poke at that, right? Poke at the marrow deep. And she poked right from the beginning. Immediately.

From the very beginning, she went at him. And I want to call it also Woman of the Year in season two, right? In this case, it's Ron who gets to do it. So Leslie, they love doing this to each other despite the feelings that come up for the other. I love it. Because they have the utmost respect for each other. Right. But as friends, I bust balls all the time.

Look what I do with, oh, God, friend. Did I indicate you're a friend? Oh, boy. I was so excited. We're going to need to edit that out, too. I was so excited. I don't want anything out there like that. No, but you know what I'm saying?

You bust balls. You joke around. And that's what they do, too. Leslie is at him. Ron, who's the best club? Say it, Ron. Say it, Ron. Who's the best club?

My club is better, Ron. My club is better. Oh, yeah. I mean, and he's just staring at her. Just staring at her. I love that. Great moment. So much to come to because let's just keep going.

Let's keep going with this episode. There's so many more beats to talk about. Synopsis part two. Donna notices that Ben is on edge. Of course, it's Ben. So she invites Ben on her and Tom's annual treat yourself trip, where they take a day off

spending extravagantly on things they don't need, but really want. Clothes, massages, mimosas, fine leather goods, et cetera. Chris gives Jerry the day off. So Jerry, you know, in this other story, Chris gives Jerry the day off. So Jerry invites Chris to lunch with him and his daughter Millicent.

But Chris declines until he sees that Millicent is very attractive. Millicent, who has also cut a deal with a demon. Yeah. Maybe the same demon. Maybe that's what attracted these two. At Wilderness Weekend, back to our age story, the goddesses' activities are so over the top, in-your your face fun, that the rangers understandably get a little jealous. I mean, their schedule is—

Oh, my God, this story. Yeah, the schedule for the goddesses are hiking, capture the flag, puppet show about the Bill of Rights, lasso training, and a s'mores off. S'mores off. And Ron's is literally, don't get killed. Don't get killed. Use your tarpaulin to build a fortress. How were they going to build with it? I don't know.

That was good. Yeah, that made me great. Now, I have to ask, just because I don't know how the writer's room happens. This is a lot. Yeah. Couldn't they have? I mean, but I get why we wanted the C story and I'm glad I was in it. To move things along with, you know, because then Chris starts dating my daughter.

But it's a lot. Like they could have filled the show with just an A and B. Yeah, but you know, you have series regulars. You have these people, you and Rob Lowe. You're not, you're not, I mean, sorry. He's not nothing. Wow. People, did you hear that?

Can I tell you something? Just so everyone knows, there's a tear dripping down. Right, did you hear that? Can I tell you something? Just so everyone knows, there's a tear dripping down. Right now, it's a tear dripping down my cheek. Yes, this is a lot. It's a lot. I also think it's a lot because of the mythic nature that is now Treat Yourself. Now that we know how great that was, you're almost like, couldn't you have found a way to put Chris and Jerry in there too? But at the time, it was this fun little story.

And Retta, she has great stories of shooting this. You know, they were at Nobu in Malibu. I'm sorry, guys. Yeah, no, but I mean, they really,

it was, I mean, it was a hell of a storyline for, you know, Retta loved this storyline. But again, nobody thinking it would become what it became. I think you know it's a funny thing, but you again, nobody thinking it would become what it became.

I think you know it's a funny thing, but you don't know what's going to go viral. You don't know what's going to enter the cultural lexicon. You don't need to know that Parks and Recreation was a show, and you can understand now what Treat Yourself is. Oh, yes, you don't need to know anything else. Right. Yeah. And those are the memes.

Treat Yourself. Well, what I love about this episode, and I love all the treat yourself stuff. I do. But what always gets me is the way it's introduced. I love when DJ Blunt comes in. Oh, really? And then he introduces Tom, who comes in. And Tom has those treat yourself cupcakes.

And then Tom and Donna look at each other. And Aziz and Rhoda are so good in this talking head they do, where they explain the treat yourself holiday and the various ways they treat themselves. And then they, you know, they say that, that like sing song, it's the best time of the year. But in that, I, I love it. I love it in a way that like, I shouldn't love it so much

because I worked on the series. Yeah. Like, I'm not like, I have nothing to do with the storyline. Yeah. I love it so much because I worked on the series. Yeah. Like, I'm not like, I have nothing to do with the storyline. Yeah. I love it. It's one of my favorite moments from the series entire run.

Their talking head is the best. Clothes, treat yourself. Fragrances, treat yourself. Massages, treat yourself.

Mimosas, treat yourself. Fine leather goods. Retta's saying fine leather goods. The way her eyes bulge out it is great

and it's also a great moment every so often you get a storyline where two characters are together who should be together because they're great together

but then you have a storyline that brings out the most fun about those characters and that is treat yourself with Tom and Donna. And what's great

is the choice to throw Ben in, to gum up the works. Who is the last person you'd expect to be the third of this group? Well, because also, and the reason they bring Ben in, at the top of the episode, Ben is having a meeting with Jerry

and Donna. And he's being very... Ornery. Ornery, I guess would be the right episode, Ben is having a meeting with Jerry and Donna. Yes. And he's being very… Ornery. Ornery, I guess would be the right word. And where is this one, Jerry? I see you haven't filled this out in two and a half years. And Jerry's like, what the hell is that? And Donna's like, yeah, we kind of do that at our own pace.

And he's like, uh-uh. Like, it really was odd. It was a weird thing. And you knew Ben was going through something. Donna clocked that right away. And so the fact that she brought him into that mix, again, it's the love of the show. It's the love that the characters have for each other. Even though Ben was very new, Donna cared for the guy.

And all good sitcom characters have their own selfish things. And if you watch some of the classic sitcoms comes, you know, people are selfish and stuff. But I think the difference with parks is as much as that can happen, there's also so much love and caring for the other characters. So the fact that she brought him in and Tom was immediately, no, this is our thing. But then very quickly,

he's like, all right. Yeah. Right. That's also the fun of it, which is that could have been the entire comedy game, which is, no,

don't bring him and convincing Tom to bring Ben in on this, this tradition of theirs. That's not what this is. We get that quickly because the fun

is actually going to be Ben being there the whole time. Tom, who is incredibly selfish at most times, says, it's the one day a year

that I'm selfish, that I allow myself to be selfish. Dude, every day you allow yourself to be selfish. And then, of course, Jerry goes for a cupcake and he slams that down right away. No cupcake for Jerry. Okay, I don't care about time. I have to say this.

I mean, cool fact we get from Chris when he tells Jerry about lab rats growing tumors when they're deprived of rest. Yeah, what the hell is that? What the hell's going on there, man? Cool fact, guys.

All right, guys, save it. Use that goblet when you're like, you're going to a club, a party, and you're like, I want to tell you something

and be like, let me tell you something cool that I know. Lab rats grow tumors when they're deprived of rest. What the fuck? That was very random. Very weird. And That was very random.

Very weird. And Jerry was very not understanding what was happening. Yeah. Jerry just wanted out. He told him he could take the rest of the day off because everybody else was doing their thing and he wanted out. Yeah. And also, Chris Traeger from time to time

shows the man that he is because he's pure man when he decides to join Jerry and Millicent at lunch because Millicent's attractive. I mean, there's no other reason he even offers. Like, he's like, oh, actually, I remembered. I'm famished or whatever it is. It's a sharp 180 from no to hello, Millicent. Yes.

And also, if you watch the episode, go back to the episode, when I'm walking down the hall, Jerry's walking down the hall with Millicent, and he's like, oh, here's my boss. And then he comes in. The Rob gives her the once over, which all guys try to sneakily do the once over. I don't understand what you're talking about. Other than Greg, guys would kind of, you know, whether the person turns their head a little, whatever. There is the once over.

And then it's the boom. I need to be at that lunch. Yes, yes. I need to be part of this right like a billion calculations went off in his brain exactly compute attractiveness with schedule yes with jerry opinions exactly i need to be there at lunch yes and imagine even with jerry in the mix it overcame everything yeah he was going to that lunch. One more thing to talk about before we synopsis again, which is Anne in this episode. The comedy game that Anne gets is so fun to me.

And I just want to acknowledge it so we don't lose it. That Anne continually fails to impress Leslie in a way. Yeah. Right? I mean, she's the club assistant, which is a new fun dynamic for them. And Leslie, like, really takes it to her. Like, she's the club assistant, which is a new fun dynamic for them. And Leslie like really takes it to her. Like she criticizes her hair by saying she doesn't work hard enough on it.

She forces her to follow the kid who made the Gertrude Stein mugs. And saying before it would suck to follow that. But she was setting her up, I felt like. Setting her up to fail. I don't know. It's weird. Because she loves. I mean, my God,

there's no one in the world she loves. She loves Anne more than she loves Ben. Yes. Like, so I, that threw me a little,

I will say. Well, I think it's also because when Leslie gets very proud of a project, she's really into it, that's the focus here. It's the Pawnee goddesses,

right? And how awesome they are. And sometimes other things get short shrift because of it. But I don't know. I thought it was funny. Well, of course, Rashida plays it.

Oh, yeah, yeah. She plays that kind of thing so perfectly. And also, shout out, huge shout out to the art department. That cabin was perfection. Yes. It was perfection. All the little things and even wardrobe, all the departments, everybody came. Everyone came to play that day because it was great.

It really was. And the awards and the badges. And I'll be honest, I did, you know, some of you might be shocked to hear this, but I researched before I come and do these. Yeah, I know that certainly doesn't sound like it. You look at how to interact with other people. Exactly. But I did some research on these kids. And a lot of these kids have had really good careers.

Oh, yeah? Yes. Some of the rangers, some of the goddesses. Yeah. I was like, one of the rangers is one of the main Cobra Kai guys. Really? The one who wanted to become a goddess. Who wants to become a goddess.

Yes. Check him out. That's awesome. Yes. Way better career than you. Anyway. Back to our syn out. That's awesome. Yes, way better career than you. Anyway. Back to our synopsis. Asshole.

One of Ron's rangers tries to defect, as we're talking about, to the goddesses. But instead of inviting him with open arms, Leslie denies him because he should, quote,

stick to his own kind. Not very Leslie. Not very Leslie. That's the power of an argument with Ron. Yep. Lauren, one of the goddesses, rightfully challenges Leslie's decision, reminding her that her original goal was equality, not exclusion. Now, during Tree Yourself Day, Ben is trying really hard to relax, but he's never

been more stressed out in his entire life while getting face acupuncture at the spa with Donna and Tom. And remember Chris? Chris and Millicent really hit it off at lunch with Jerry. That sentence alone is a mine for us to go down. Let's talk about it. Yeah, let's talk about all that. Let's unravel what you just talked about. Let's open up.

Let's go in there. Ooh, unseal, open, pull it out. Let's open up. Let's go in. Ooh, unseal, open, pull it out. Let's unbox this. Let's unbox this. No. So obviously the A story with the goddesses. Yeah. Yes.

I mean, for Leslie to go, no, really is against everything she believes in. Yeah, yeah. But there's also that competition she's got with Ron because she immediately is feeling good. Like when he says it, the smile creeps up on her face. I win. Yes. Because one of his wants to be here. And I love how it turns out to be her goddesses are the ones who make her realize.

Yeah. She goes, she's proud of them. She's annoyed by them. It's kind of 70-30. Yeah. Which would be true. That would be so it. Yeah. She goes, she's proud of them. She's annoyed by them. It's kind of 70-30. Yeah. Which would be true. That would be so it. Because 70, like, wow, I have created a little Leslie Nopes. Yes, but also. But also,

damn it. I'm terrifying. There's nothing worse than a little Leslie Nopes can bring me down. Right. Yeah. Anyway. It's fun to see this version of her, this competitive nature. Yeah. Especially with the person that she respects a lot in Ron. I would venture to guess in Leslie's world,

would you say that Ron is who she most respects? Yeah, I'm sure. Like if he had to. Yeah, because there's this, like you respect the equal, right? You respect the debate partner who can go toe to toe with you. Yeah, and he can go,

even though totally different beliefs, like politics and everything else. Right. But I do believe he is her, yeah, I think she respects him the most. I don't know if there's a better word for that, but that's what I'm going with. I'm going with a sentence rather than a word. She respects him the most. Well, let's talk about Treat Yourself again because there's a lot.

At 7 minutes, 45 seconds, if you're watching this on Peacock, we witnessed perhaps one of the saddest images in Parks and Rec history. It's Ben eating soup on a park bench alone, wait for it right next to a trash can. It's like a New Yorker cartoon. You know what I mean? That I don't understand? Go ahead. Oh, well, New York is one of the states

it's like one of the 46 you could just draw that and be like caption this moment but the fact that it's our Ben

yeah it's heartbreaking that's why he needed this I know he's kind of like hunched over a little like we were talking about in the other episodes

he plays that so sadly, perfectly, and heartbreaking. He's a man eating soup on a park bench by a trash can. My God. Yeah. Like, what have I become? But then something happens that, I'm going to use a word that the young people use, looking over to Joe and Sean. Not you, Greg. The young, hip people over to Joe and Sean. Not you, Greg. The young hip people.

It's called Triggered. I had a triggering moment in this episode. So he's sitting there, heartbreaking, just heartbreaking. Donna and Tom are in their car, and they see him. And Donna's like, no, this is too much. We got to fix this. And Tom agrees. So they go, and here's what triggered me.

Donna grabs him. He doesn't know what's happening. She takes her soup, and she flings it to the ground. Now, you're like, well, what triggers you about that? Soup on the ground doesn't trigger me because birds can eat it, and maybe little animals can come. But I am kind of anti-littering. And isn't that a silly moment that like kind of made me crazy?

Like, no, Donna! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pick that up! Yeah. Pick, because she threw the whole thing. The spoon and the little, you know, cardboard container hit the ground. So it's because another public servant is going to go clean it up. I know.

That bothered me. I'm just calling it as a season, people. Triggering triggering Ben was triggered by those needles in his face right first of all I'll tell you Donna comes walking in

I'll tell you who wasn't triggered Donna comes out with like that Hellraiser whatever look right and she says needles in your face pleasure in your base

talk about another hot tip we got a Chris one about like you know rats growing whatever and now we got needles in your face, pleasure in your base. Yeah.

And how good is Adam Scott at playing very stressed? We talked about this in a previous episode about he's very good at the small moves, the small things. We, you know, he's getting acupuncture. It's a masterclass. He barely moves. And he does so much with that. Yeah. It is a masterclass.

It's amazing. i totally agree and he says the sentence harp i'm paraphrasing i wrote it down i'm paraphrasing here the harp music gives me anxiety now there's nothing yeah there's nothing more soothing yeah than the harp yeah just the it's such a soft it's such a soft instrument. And for him, that gives him anxiety? I was thinking about that watching it, which is, that's an instrument. That has a lot of strings on that.

See, you're one of those who can ruin the day. That's a little like the musician. I get stressed for him or her. It's what they do. They know what they're doing. In our synopsis, the kids' troops hold a public forum to debate

letting the girls and boys co-mingle. The rangers' main reasoning being that they'd prefer to be indoors with Candy. All of the rangers

end up joining the goddesses and Leslie swears them in. Now, Chris asks Jerry if he can date his daughter, but Jerry really doesn't want

to know all the details around it. None of the details. None of the details. And treat yourself. Ben opens up to Donna and Tom after splurging on a Batman costume, breaking down, sobbing,

and admitting that a recent breakup, who we know, they don't know, is the reason for his depressed state. Yeah. I mean, everything is coming together at this moment. I want to talk about the public forum with all the children. Yeah.

It might be the cutest scene Parks has ever done. Oh, that could be. You know what I mean? First of all, this is the show that had a mini horse on it a few times. Okay. This is one of the cutest scenes, I think. You know what I mean? First of all, this is the show that had a mini horse on it a few times. Okay? This is one of the cutest scenes, I think. Maybe it's because I have a two and a half year old. No, but seriously, maybe it's because I have this kid

who's like becoming from not just being like this little toddler thing to a person who has ideas and thoughts and opinions. And it's so cute to see these kids, these little Lesleys in a way, and little Rons and little people do a public form which has become the comedy game for us. Right? Like we're going to have a public form and do a bunch of silly, crazy people. And what I love about it

is the confidence and smarts of the goddesses, right? Talk about another epic moment. It's Ben in the Batman costume. First we get him crying in it. Later he has that moment where he's fixing the router with April and Andy while wearing the costume. It First, we get him crying in it. Later, he has that moment where he's fixing the router with April and Andy while wearing the costume. It's like, we have a Batman

costume. We got the rights to using a Batman costume. We have to do more stuff with the Batman costume. Also, when Donna says, Batman's crying. I mean, just the way the world is ending, Batman is crying. It was so perfect.

I know. And is it just me? Or I don't know if this would be a Kirsten question, you know, the wardrobe people. Adam looked totally different in that mask. Well, not everyone can wear the cape, my man. No, but he really, there was

I don't know what I, do you know what I'm saying at all or no? I do. After Adam West, there's no other Batman. It was super tight to his face. I agree. And it just, like, I would have had to really look to see if that was Adam. If I did not know that was Adam.

Well, that's why Batman donned the mask so that you wouldn't know who it was. You wouldn't know, yes. No, but it was great. No, but I'm with you. He looked weird, but also I think the weirdness and awkwardness helped. Because it's like, I don't care how I feel or how I look. I care how I feel. And then he feels such emotions being a Batman that he cries.

That's one of those moments in the room where you're like, wouldn't it be great if that happened? And you're like, yes, we need to make sure that happened. How do we build a story to get there? Yeah. And does that happen a lot where you build the story? Someone comes up with that, like, we want to see him crying

in that Batman outfit. Let's get there. Sometimes, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind I remember is in 94 Meetings in the story in season two, we were like,

let's have Leslie change to a gate. Right? Like, okay, how do we work backwards to get there? Or like, we want to do,

I don't know, Ron's going to accept a Woman of the year award, but that's going to be a moment we actually see happen. How do we work backwards to that? Sometimes you have a setup and sometimes you have a payoff. Like we're going to talk about it soon enough in an episode about, you know, the comeback kid. There's some of the scene on the ice, right? Oh, absolutely. We're going to have that scene. How do we get there?

How do we get there? Yeah. Oh, and get ready because I have a lot to say about that scene. A lot. Going forward in our synopsis, Leslie is pleased that her efforts to make the boys jealous has worked, but she starts to feel sorry for Ron when she spots him sitting at the campfire all alone. Since Anne keeps feeling like she's failing, she buys a fish and stands in the lake

pretending to have caught it, redeeming herself in the eyes of the children. Meanwhile, Chris, his openness with Jerry takes a weird turn when he tells him he slept with Millicent. After the... It still bothers you. After their date.

And then, back at our A story, to make Ron feel better, Leslie takes out an ad in the paper for a new group of self-reliant survivalists called the Swansons. And Ron is surprised to find a group of eager children in his office ready to join him on Monday morning. Was that the perfect way to crap that off? I know. Oh, my God. That's why it was great because, Ron, you actually are going to have an even better job. Yes.

Gives partisan jobs. It's the heart of Parks and Rec. Even though Leslie did win, he literally said to her, your group is better. That's not how she wanted it. And she took care of him because he's her dear friend. And that's the love of Parks and Rec. That is the love she wanted it. Yeah. And she took care of him. Yeah. Because he's her dear friend. Yeah. And that's the love of Parks and Rec. That is the love of these characters. That is why I think we're still out there and people still like us and watch us because it seems like that.

A lot of the resolutions of these stories are just sweet. There's a sweetness about the show. Right? We talk about gifts, parties, and jobs. There's a recurring motif of someone giving a gift, getting a gift, a new job,

a party thrown. These are generally celebratory types of things. And here it is. It's like, Ron has this thing he's built. He's proud of the Rangers. Right?

But actually, Ron, you're going to oversee the Swansons. Your name, your vision of what it means to be a man is great. No one's discounting you. What it means to be a man, to be a person is great. And I think it's very sweet. And the sweetness doesn't come off too sweet. It's not saccharine, right? It's not that you're not like, I have this weird aftertaste in my mouth from it. You love it because the characters clearly respect one another enough

to fuck with one another, to mess with one another, to poke fun at each other, but then to have each other's back at the end. And that's why let's just talk about it. Chris popping out of nowhere, frightening Jerry and revealing he had sex with his daughter might be a new level even for Chris.

Who the hell in a normal world would say to a father, just, you know, full disclosure, I slept with your daughter last night. There's something about the character Chris who is like, I am a positive person. Yeah. He's positive at bad news, right? He's good at giving bad news. So there's a part, I want to live out in the open. I'm very open about how I take care of my body like a temple. I'm very open about my views on workplace romance.

I'm very, I'm just open. I'm an open and honest person. He doesn't hold back. And I think that's this. That's, to me, when I think of it, that's the comedy of it too. The character. I totally get that. And now if you wanted to, if a therapist or someone to psychoanalyze our characters,

it would honestly be fascinating if we sat down with someone who is a psychoanalyst who also loves the show to be like, how would you describe each of these characters? And what are their personality traits and things they're working on? And there is a sentence, there is a statement called honest to a fault. Yes, yes. He could just be honest to a fault. Totally. But my God, like, no, what father wants to hear that?

And then they just cut to Jerry's face like, holy shit. Like, what am I in for? What is happening? And what I did love about Jerry earlier was when he asked to go out with Millicent, Jerry was very much like, Chris, she's an adult. I trust her. I trust you. And then here's a moment that I really like. And it's quick. I don't know if most people catch it. Chris comes in for the hug with Jerry. And they do the hug. And I remember that day because what I loved about the shooting that day,

it was Rob and I had the sea story, so we got to hang a lot. And that's always fun. That's when you get to bullshit between takes and blah, blah, blah. So I love that. And Rob has so many great stories and Hollywood stories. Anyway, so it was just a really fun time for me. But we come in for the hug. And then they cut to Jerry, who's a little put off by the hug. But then he puts his arms around Tim.

And then at the very last second, Jerry closes his eyes. And he goes, oh. Like he just, oh, this is nice. This is nice. You know? And I love that moment. I know, and I love that moment. I do too. I remember that moment.

Especially for Jerry, those moments aren't often. They're not often. And here's a coworker, let it be a boss, but still a coworker, showing me affection and gratitude. Yeah. Yeah, no, I love that moment. Yeah, no, it's great. It's weird from Chris, but it's also... It's weird, but yeah, it works.

Well, you know, this episode is so fun. We've talked about so many fun things. So I'm sure you know, Jim, just recently you introduced perhaps one of my new favorite segments for doing this, the crap we didn't get to. Yeah, we didn't get to. What's the crap we didn't get to that you want to get to?

Well, I got a couple. I love when Tom and Donna are showing their wardrobes and Ben is just sitting there like not understanding any of it. And Tom comes out and he goes, I am a cashmere velvet candy cane. And Donna just goes, treat yourself.

Treat yourself. A velvet, a cash. A velvet candy cane. Yeah, well. And that's kind of what he looked like. Yeah. Yeah. And then I love when Anne has a talking head and she's doing the fish and she goes, oh, it feels real good to have a bunch of little boys into me. And then pause.

Well, that came out wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Brilliant, brilliant moment. That's a Jim O'Hare type of joke right there. Yeah, that's a Jim O'Hare type of joke. And Rashida, of course, nailing it because she's Rashida. Well, you know, who's our MVP? Who's our episode MVP?

Who's our most valuable pawn in this one? I'm going to let you go first. I'm feeling the pressure on this. Yeah, I hear you. Here's what I'll say. I love the Leslie Rahn story. I love the Chris. Jerry, I love a lot. This is another really special episode, I think. And I the Chris, Jerry, I love a lot.

This is another really special episode, I think. And I know it sounds like I say it a lot. It's fun to watch these again and be like, look at the fun stuff we did. In this case, if it's not, treat yourself itself.

Wow. I never thought about that. Yes. You don't want to, I mean, how does that not take the cake? That has become, it become a thing. That's. Yes. You don't want to, I mean, how does that not take the cake? That has become, it's become a thing.

That's the MVP. You nailed it. To me, it's treat yourself. And the fact that our three characters who experienced it, Tom, Donna, and Ben, each had a different

experience from treat yourself. Yeah. That's the power of treat yourself. So for me, it's treat yourself. Are you with me? I'm going to go 100%. And if I had to give a character, like if I was like, okay, well, I have to pick one of the main characters, I'm going to go with Adam.

I'm going to go with just because of the Batman and the breaking of the heart and the bench, and so I'm going to have to go with Adam. But you're right. It is treat yourself. That is the MVP. 100% agree. Do you want to go to the town hall? I think you do. Let's go to a town hall, Jim. Let's talk to and hear from someone who has a question for us.

And maybe hopefully give them a satisfying answer to that question. Well, I can guarantee that. This comes from Danae from Oregon. Hello, Danae. Hello, Danae. Oh, where are we going to do the town hall? At the mall? Should we do at the mall?

The Eagleton Mall? Yeah, let's do the fancy Eagleton Mall. Yeah. Why not? I have noticed that Parks and Rec, this is what Denae says, when compared to The Office, uses the bleep button a lot more. It seems like nearly half the episodes, something's bleeped out. Was that intentional? Is there any network drama surrounding that?

Now, don't get me wrong, Denae says. I love it. It just seems to be unique for sitcoms on network television at the time. Well, obviously, you can speak more to that about network, but I would imagine

there's definitely rules. Oh, for sure. I'm not going to say the F word or the S word or any of those, but we used it

from the very get-go. The bleeping? Yeah. I mean, early on, Ron says, I'm Ron fucking Swanson. And we bleep that out. I remember talking,

you can overuse something that's funny and it stops being funny. Right? If you do something that's funny too much, sometimes you're like, I get it.

I'm actually, I'm now desensitized to that funniness. And there's this thing, like there's the rule of three and 17. Right? Where like three times,

you need to do something three times, that feeling, and there's a funniness. 17, right? Where like three times, you need to do something three times that feeling and there's a funniness. There's a comedy in the third time. And then you keep doing, you're like, okay. But if you really keep doing it, it becomes funny again. So if you get to 17, it's funny again.

Now it's not true that it's exactly 17, but that concept of once you've passed it a few times, all of that is to say is, I hear what Danae is saying. We did bleep a lot. Yeah. But I always think it was intentional to make the joke the funniest version of the joke. But there were moments when we would talk in the room about is this too much?

Do we – because it is an easy way to get a laugh. Yeah. But I will also say we were a mockumentary. So cameras are supposed to just be catching us in our day-to-day lives. Right. And people, adults,

use language where they swear here and there. So I think you can get away with it more than... Right. Because there's comedy in the fact that that character chose to do it,

but we just can't play it for you. But what I would say to Denae and to those interested is for sure, Because there's comedy in the fact that that character chose to do it, but we just can't play it for you. But what I would say to Denae and to those interested is for sure you have to bleep on network television if you have an expletive. Right? You have to do it. You have to. There are rules. There are certain standards and practices you have to do.

But it is a conscious – you have to think about it. It's a scripted show. So it is a conscious choice to have the character have a line that requires bleeping. So it's not so much that the bleep occurred because you can't say fuck, shit, whatever it is. It's the fact that the writers chose to make a line that included the word that

needed to be bleeped. So did we do that a lot? We did a fair amount. I thought it was generally always funny. And hopefully today and others, you laughed. You know what I mean? I like fair amount. I thought it was generally always funny. And hopefully today and others, you laughed. You know what I mean? I like the bit. You love it. I know for you, you're blue. You love it. So today, hopefully, what I hope you've mostly

taken away from this episode is beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And that mother beep. Oh boy. Well, thank you, Jim, for that method acting of a bleep. That rant. Wow. Well, thank you, Jim, for that method acting of a bleep. That rant?

Yes. This guy, you were a bleep just now. Wow. I don't know what that means. But let me just say to all of you, thank you for listening. Thank you for loving the show enough to sit down and listen to these schmucks talk about it. Literally these two schmucks. And just relive it and tell you whatucks talk about it. Literally these two schmucks. And just relive it

and tell you what we think about it. We love doing this. It's so much fun. As much as Jim likes to make it seem like he hates sitting across from me, he does love it. I do love it. We love talking about this series and we want to keep doing it. We're going to keep doing it. So if you have questions about it,

write in the review about it. If you love it, go to wherever you get it from. Give us those five stars. Petition for eight stars. Whatever we need. We love to hear from you. I want to say thank you, as always, to our engineer, Joe Samuel. Yes, Joe.

As always, to our petitioner, Sean Jordy. Sean. As always, to Jim. Jim. And from both of us, goodbye from Pond. This has been a Team Coco production.