Parks and Recollection - Rob Lowe: I’m Leslie Knope (S4E1)

Episode Date: April 18, 2023

Welcome back to Pawnee! Today Rob Lowe ushers in a new era of Parks and Recollection, handing over the reins to our new hosts: the great Jim O’Heir (Jerry Gergich himself!) and writer/script coordinator Greg Levine. Our hosts discuss the show’s jam-packed season four premiere, featuring the start of Leslie’s city council campaign, the first appearance of Tammy One, and an important revelation about Jerry’s, ahem, package. Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: [e-mail] or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: [phone].

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 Hey everybody, welcome to Parks and Recollection I am Rob Lowe and I do have a very, very, very special announcement. A lot of people say that.

They say it on commercials. They say it. Everybody has a special announcement. Everybody's got something special to say. I promise you, when I'm done with this announcement, you will go, that was kind of special. And the announcement is this. We are now joined officially

by the great Jim O'Hare and Greg Levine. They are going to steer this ship better than the captain of the Titanic. I promise that. Welcome, guys. It's great to have you on board. Hello, Mr. Rob. It's so great to be here. I have been a fan of what you guys have been doing.

Everyone knows I do love Parks and Recreation and what you and Alan have done and Greg, because I hear Greg a lot on these shows too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm here. So big shoes to fill, but I'm going to do what I can. You know, Greg, we think is the secret weapon. He's like the Wizard of Oz. He really is.

You don't really see him very much, but when he talks, you sit up and listen. Yeah, yeah. Just like Oz. Greg, Oz, Levine. And Jim, no one's more beloved on a show of beloved characters than Jerry Gergich. How many names did Jerry have eventually? Jerry, Gary, Larry, Terry, and even Barry from Johnny Karate. That's right.

Yeah. But I believe it's always been Gurgich. It has always been Gurgich, although Gurgich has been spelled differently. Oh, I'm sure. So has Gary. Yes, that's right. G-E-R-R-Y. G-A-R-Y.

Yeah, all sorts of stuff. Yeah, I'm a blessed dude. The Jerry, Gary, whatever the hell name character has become what people consider like just the sweetest damn person in the whole world. And then they meet me. Yes, that's right. And reality hits. For those of you who don't know, you know, Jim went directly to prison after we wrapped. Directly, yes.

But I think you've rehabilitated yourself well. And you can almost live up to your on-screen reputation now. I'm very proud of what I've done in prison. I took it serious. You're not proud of what got you there, are you? I am proud of what got me there. And there's every chance I'll be going back. Okay, well.

I made some friends. Let's just say that. I made some friends. I'm terrified now to be in the studio with you. You should be. When did I do the one that I did with you guys? It was early. Oh, it was early. It's early on studio with you. You should be. When did I do the one that I did with you guys? It was early. Oh, it was early.

It's early on in season two. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was so much fun. And where was I? I was at a... Oh, do you know the craziness you caused? What have I done? So during the episode, I was out of town.

And I was doing Better Call Saul. But you couldn't... I wasn't allowed to say that. Oh, right. So whatever. I say whatever about, well, I think I did say I was in Arizona or New Mexico or whatever. Where the hell that place shot? And you said, yes, Jim's doing something.

We can't say what it is, but it rhymes with bar wars. So you just make this random off the head cover. just make this random off the internet? Well, Google my name with Mandalorian because everybody assumed I was shooting the Mandalorian and it got to the point where they called my agents

and saying, there's so much hype about this. Would Jim consider doing a spot on Mandalorian? Are you kidding me? I haven't done it, but I was like, yes, of course I would consider doing it. But that's from that one little comment. Oh, my God. Well, it rhymes with bar wars, whatever you said.

Yeah. The internet as it does its thing. Yeah. It took it from that to me doing Mandalorian. And I even to the point where I was doing, I was at some charity thing in Chicago like a couple months ago. And this guy comes up and he goes, when are you going to be on the Mandalorian? And I go, dude, that's not happening. No, no, I'm playing the mandolin.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm not on it. Yeah, but that killed me. I'm doing the orchestra for The Mandalorian. You know, but I'm really excited, Rob. I know this is, you know, you guys have been doing this, and you know it, and I'm terrified and excited, all of the above, because you guys have done it so well. Well, we could not be passing the baton

to two more qualified, hilarious people. I'm not going anywhere. I'm still going to be lurking in the wing. You're never going to know. I think it's going to be fun because you're never going to know when I'm going to show up. Oh, I like that.

Which makes it much more interesting than going, I know I'm going to hear that. That's like podcast herpes. Yes, yes. You never know when. Yeah, yeah. But when it's there, you can't deny its presence. Yeah, I love that.

Well, but then it would also have to be that I would show up at the most inopportune times. But I'm going to show up at the opportune times. Thank you. Wow. Thank you. It's an honor. I'm nervous all of a sudden. I didn't have to be nervous, and now I really am.

He has a key to your house, right? Yeah, but that's a whole different thing. Okay. Well, today, ladies and gentlemen, we are starting off with season four. Wow. Season four, episode one. I'm Leslie Knope, directed by Troy Miller, great movie director, and written by one of our favorites, Dan Gore.

Jimmy, take it away. Tell us what this is about. I'm so excited to be reading the book. Leslie is torn between her feelings. Oh, wait. You've already messed up. You've already messed up. Well, take it away. Tell us what this is about. I'm so excited to be reading the blurb. Leslie is torn between her feelings. Oh, wait. You've already messed up. You've already messed up. Well, that's it.

Okay. Well, let's see who else is available. Here's the problem. Call Retta. See what Retta's doing. Yeah. Yeah. Here's what you do, Jim.

What do I do? Teach, Rob. Teach me. Teach me. Don't acknowledge. Don't acknowledge that you're reading. Oh. So I'm just thinking of this offhand.

Yes. Okay. Yeah, no, no, you're right. There's no blurb. No, no, no. There's no prep. This is just all from your memory. Okay, let me think.

I did it. So let me try it again. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. So Jim, you remember this in detail, I'm sure, right? Oh, gosh. Tell me about this episode. I don't know, Rob. Can I piece it all together?

Well, from my memory, Leslie, I believe, is torn between her feelings for Ben and her dreams of running for public office. If I remember, Ron braces himself for the arrival of his first wife. That was Tammy One. That's right. By running from his problems and hiding at his cabin in the woods. Your memory is just unbelievable. Pretty good.

Impeccable. Wow. your memory is just unbelievable pretty good impeccable wow you know we should start talking about some of the specifics from the episode some of the highlights our notes if you will

when Ron grabs his go bag out of the air duct and there's the note on the back saying that it's specific to Tammy 1 first of all I love that

Ron has a go bag I'm a big fan of go bags I don't have one I go bag. I'm a big fan of go bags. I don't have one. I should have one. And I always kind of like, when I'm bored or falling asleep late at night, I like to think about,

what would I have in my go bag? Wow. I don't have a go bag either. Do we actually see what Ron has in the go bag? I don't remember. You don't see specifically. I think you see that it's packed full and we see the Tammy 1 sign. But what I love about it is that if it's specific to Tammy 1,

it makes me think that there are other go bags strategically placed throughout City Hall for any number of maladies to come his way. There's not just a go bag at the office. There's a go bag everywhere Ron is, is my guess. Because he never knows when a Tammy is going to show up. Yeah. So that wasn't the only go bag. That's a great point. It's like at Disneyland, there's always a trash can within certain distance of any person.

He always has a go bag within any distance of where he is in City Hall. That's great. He can smell a Tammy a mile away. The other good thing about this episode, well, there's so other good thing about this episode, well, there's so many good, but this is the big dick pic storyline, and it was right around the time that Anthony Weiner,

you can't make it up. Yeah. With the luxury of time, it's almost like, no, there wasn't really a guy named Anthony Weiner that ruined his career with a dick. But it happened, didn't it? And we did it on our show.

It truly happened. Wow, that's amazing. We also have in the scene where Leslie and Ann are talking in Ann's office, the computer bag that was a gift from Mark in season one. No, season two is visible on the desk. Mark, what? No, was that a writer's choice to put that on there? I don't think so. I've reread the script and there's no mention of it.

I highly doubt that in prep, one of the writers said, let's, let's bring that in. But what I love about our crew is that there's such a great love of the world that was built out of in parks and rec of Pawnee that you see little, just thoughtful, funny choices by them to put the bag in there.

Do you see signs? You'll see a mouse rat poster for a concert. Maybe that happened a year before that. I love that about the crew what else do you remember about this uh episode jimbo does anybody call you jimbo oh god yeah i get jimbo all the time jimmy jimbo and jim and you know horse's ass and you know some of the basics but loser whatever just when i'm walking outside uh that's what that's with your family yeah i think they're just being it's when you're with family. That's the family, yeah.

I think they're just being, it's like they're loving little things, right? Do people call either of you by character names when they see you, or do you get Jim? Well, Rob is super famous from everything. So he's Rob, I think, I would imagine. Well, that's pretty much true. But every once in a while, I actually love it when somebody calls me by one of the characters, because there's a lot of them, and you just never know what resonates. I'm not kidding you. The other day I was surfing.

It was super big out. I was on a wave and somebody yells, hey, Atkins. He's just complimenting how well it's worked for you. Exactly. Yeah. I didn't see you out there. I must have missed that wave. You're not going to remember this, but one of the episodes we were shooting, I believe it was Freddy Spaghetti, but I could be wrong.

But anyway, so my family was out visiting, and I have two nieces. With the time, I'm going to say 15, 16. I don't know exactly. Roughly, that was their age. And so they're all excited to meet the cast, and they're all excited say 15, 16. I don't know exactly. Roughly, that was their age. And so they're all excited to meet the cast, you know, and they're all excited, whatever, whatever. They meet you. And again, I don't expect you to remember this.

They both got teary-eyed. And so whatever. It was a love. Of course, you were lovely and everybody was lovely. And we took pictures and it couldn't have been nicer. But I said to them later, not to knock you, but there were 14, 15, 16-year-old girls. Like, you've met everybody. You've met Amy and Pratt and Adam and Retta.

And, like, he was the one. They go, we've just loved him forever. And they got emotional again. But, of course, because some of the movies you have done that are still super, super popular. And then my sister said to you, do women still cry when they meet you or something? And you said, well, not they do not as much as they used to. But yeah, they do. And she just thought that was the sweetest thing in the whole world.

And anyway, you made their day. I mean, you really made that. And it just blew me away. Nothing, nothing against you. Like, well, why are you crying for Rob? I just thought their age range, you really made their day. And it just blew me away. Nothing against you. Like, well, why are you crying for Rob? I just thought their age range, they would have no concept. Well, they had a huge concept of who you were. So yeah, you are through the ages, my friend. It's sweet. And I will tell you that it continues. And the reason it continues is this show. this show,

this, this show, not a day goes by where it's kids, kids losing their shit because of this show. Yeah. So I'm grateful to you for being in it. Well, we should talk about this episode. We should talk about this show and jump into our synopsis.

Do you guys feel, are we itching? Are we ready? I'm itching. I'm ready. So taking place later the same night as the season three finale,

Leslie tells Anne that she was approached by William and Elizabeth, the political scouts who recommended that she run for office. And Leslie's conflicted about running

due to her romantic relationship with Ben, which would cause a possible scandal since he is assistant city manager. Now, meanwhile, upon learning that his first ex-wife, Tammy, Tammy One, we'll call her

played by Patricia Clarkson, has arrived in town, Ron grabs an emergency survival bag, the go bag we talked about from the air duct in the hallway, and flees to live in the wilderness for 180 days. All the days he's accrued. Why 180? I think it's the... What was that about? I'm pretty sure it's the days that he accrued.

He's been saving them for a moment such as this. Got it. Got it. I have a little bit of trivia. The great Patricia Clarkson, who I'm sure a lot of you know, but if you don't, she's one of our most accomplished,

amazing, throw- throwdown Tiffany actors. Been in everything. Not only has she been in everything, she was in the delivery room when my son was born. Wow. She played the doctor. She was so believable. If you'd like, let her in. Let her deliver the baby.

No, my wife was a makeup artist at that point in her career and was working with her. And she came to be supportive. And yeah. Oh, my gosh. That's lovely. And I think also, I don't know how she got in. You know, she came to play Tammy one. But I think Nick and Megan had a relationship with her too outside of the show.

That was my understanding. But, you know, I don't know if like someone thought of her. Well, we talked about this when we recorded the last season, that we wrote this character. We knew Tammy Wan was going to show up. We didn't know who would play her. It was upon, I think, casting Patricia and crafting

what the character would be that was a perfect marriage of those two things, no pun intended. But she was incredible. I mean, she is incredible in general, and I think she just killed it on Parks. We're so lucky. What I love about this episode is that only 90 seconds in, it's at a minute 30. It only took 90 seconds of episode.

But this is perfect that you're here now, Jim. We already got our first Jerry ah-gees of the season. It's when Ron slams into Jerry as he bolts off with his go bag. And that's how we blow into the cold open. It's incredible. Yeah, I loved it. I think we did three takes of that because I got doused with crap, food, whatever the hell was in my hand three different times. And what I, you know, because it was funny when I was watching the episode again, I'm thinking, it's all so familiar.

I was there for all of it. Like at first when the Ron thing, I'm thinking, why am I remembering all this? Well, I was right there because all of a sudden there I am getting doused with food. But also let me ask, did Ron, why was, what was the episode right before this that Ron's face looks so wonky? Oh, it was, it was it the, uh, it was the fireball. Yeah. Okay. So it was the fireball because his his eyebrows are still not back fully.

He hasn't developed the superpower yet to just will hair just out of his body at any length at any time. But no, it takes place right at that moment that we break from season three. I love the continuity of that. It keeps the fun going right into the premiere. Yeah. And also, I just want to bring out because poor Jerry, but everybody don't worry, it won't be all about me just talking about Jerry the whole time, though we really should. No, but there is at the beginning of the episode when Leslie is talking to the consultants behind the glass because they want to reference Ben that's

standing there since he's going to be the potential problem with her taking on this campaign. Jerry and Ben are having the loveliest conversation. And if you go back and watch, because no one probably looks at this, Ben is laughing. Ben is enjoying Jerry. So as we learn later, Ben is one of the few people who did enjoy Jerry.

That's right. And so I just think it was the beginning. The beginning of a lovely friendship. Ben also enjoy Jerry. That's right. And so, I just think it was the beginning. The beginning of a lovely friendship. Ben also enjoys R.E.M. I'm not saying it was good for him. I love R.E.M. They're great. What's also great about that moment is when Leslie

steps out of the room, I love the door of the window that's in the door says meeting room on it. But right next to it is a placard that reads geographic information systems cooperation. I don't know what the hell that means. That's amazing. That is some serious corporate gobbledygook.

What is a geographic information system? Well, it's the GISC, dude. Come on. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to spell it out for you. What world are we living in here? Yeah, it's the GISC. I have no clue what that is. It's a-C, dude. Come on. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to spell it out for you. What world are we living in here? Yes, the G-I-S-C. I have no clue what that is.

It's a mapping system, obviously. It's a mapping system. That makes sense. You know what's great about it? In a city like Pawnee, it needs its own room. Yes, exactly. Also, shouldn't it be illegal, at least at minimum, unethical for Leslie to be meeting with her campaign consultants in Pawnee City Hall. Absolutely. It's a violation of the Hatch Act. How about that?

Boom. West Wing. West Wing reference. I just feel like that's the scandal. That's the scandal. That's the scandal. And it makes sense. Obviously, the scandal should be about her emotional relationship with Ben. It should be on a personal level.

But on a series that we took the specificity and rules of government seriously, there's the Boys Club episode in season one about drinking and accepting gifts. This is the real scandal. But I think it obviously makes much more sense for it to be about her relationship with Ben. Yes. And later in the series, she will not even talk about the campaign in the offices. That's right. She jumps outside. That's right. We'll talk about later. But also, I can never get over the fact that there are these people in Pawnee that have this political power to get somebody like Leslie. Who is paying for these people? Where is the money coming from?

I know. Dark money. You think Pawnee has it? Pawnee has dark money, obviously. Pawnee has dark money. Maybe it does. I don't know. I know the hyper-specificity of a city like Pawnee having consultants who can do snap polls. Yes. Snap polls in Pawnee.

Push calls. We saw your press conference. Yes. We saw your press conference. Ten minutes later, we have information from the Pawnee public about what their thoughts are on that specific topic. It's incredible. I love it. You know, as we keep going into the episode, we should jump back into the synopsis. Yes. later, an email with a picture of a man's genitals, as it happens, is sent to all of the female employees. And while Chris and Ben investigate, Leslie is sent to do damage control by having

a televised interview with reporter Pert Happley. And just to pause to say that I love this moment that when Ben asks, Leslie, could you do Pert Happley? And Donna slyly replies, oh, she could do Pert Happley. And Donna slyly replies, oh, she could do Pert happily. And Leslie was right with it, like, yeah.

Good one, Donna. Good one. And then says, yes, I can have an interview with her. What does Pert, I can't remember what Pert says. What is he, because he always crushed it. Pert doesn't understand the dick joke. He goes, it has the cadence of a joke. I didn't understand it, but the cadence.

It had the cadence of a joke, yes. Amazing. it, but the cadence. It has the cadence of a joke. Yes. Amazing. Jay Jackson. And you know, he's a singer. He's a jazz dude. He performs and he was a newsman. This is real life stuff.

It's incredible. Yeah. Jay's a great guy. goes so well that the scouts are are political scouts decide to have leslie announce her candidacy for city council that friday rather than their original plan of three months later leslie panics because she had been putting off ending things with ben she panics further when ben presents her with a gift during a romantic dinner out causing her to flee to the wilderness to hide out with r. Because that's how all bad dates end, right?

Yes, of course. You run into the woods hoping to never be seen again. Get out. And of course, she knew where Ron was. I always liked when we had to do romantic...

I like how we shot Pawnee. Like, there was the... There was obviously the waffle place. JJ's, yeah. But then when we had to go to like super romantic, highfalutin, you know, sort of like, it was always great because it was like really pretty looking almost. Yes, yes, yes. It was always like on Ventura Boulevard in the valley.

Yes, yes, yes. Where we shot everything. Right, like pay no attention to the unexpected foliage upon the Indiana. The palm trees. Yeah, yeah. That's right. Well, they never gave Jerry that romantic episode, so I don't know about those places. What are you talking about?

You had the most beautiful co-star of anybody on the planet. Absolutely, but we didn't go to a restaurant. We were either— Dined in. We don't need to. Are you kidding me? If I had her, I'd never leave my house. Christy Brinkley?

I'd go to a restaurant. I'd be ordering Grubhub. Here's a story I tell about Christ Christie Brinkley? I'd go to a restaurant. I'd be ordering Grubhub. Here's a story I tell about Christie Brinkley, Rob, and you can tell me whether I misread the situation or not. One day we're all – because she was, as Amy said, she walked in a room and lit it up. She just did. She's unbelievable. She just lit it up. That smile and her personality, just a special lady.

And, you know, Rob, you are famously known, at least in my eyes, is a great storyteller. Like I would just love we'd be in the Winnebago's or whatever, and you're telling stories. I think that's universal. I think it is universal, but I just can only speak for me. And, you know, you've met everybody, you know, everybody. And I just love that because first of all, I love Hollywood stories. I can listen to, you know, and not even so much new, give me the old stuff, like in movies, anyway, so you're a wonderful storyteller. Well, Christy Brinkley is a pretty great storyteller too.

And I remember one day watching her, listening to her tell the story and looking at you thinking, wow, she has totally got us all engaged. Like you seem like you were just as mesmerized as I was. And you've been around, you've met all these people anyway, but she's really a hell of a storyteller. Do you remember what the story was? Because I do. Is it the story about the helicopter crash? About her surviving a helicopter crash.

Well, okay. Yes. No, but in general, she was, she has this, there's something about her that you just want to stare and listen. It was just amazing. It was like, I don't know why she, it was something about her specific skill. She was so interesting and so good at telling just this story about a helicopter crash. Not just that story. She tells all sorts of great stories about her workout machine and how every, anyway, it goes on and on.

But that story was amazing. Like, I'm like, you got to write a book. She was in a helicopter crash. And then there was a kid on the plane and she was comforting him while they thought his mother was dying, if I remember correctly. It was the whole thing was wild. Yeah. But she's a hell of a storyteller. And I love her.

and we had a mini reunion at dancing with the stars because kate flannery i was there for kate supporting her and christy was there for her daughter sailor um and uh so we had a little well the gurgages are together yes they are together forever um what i love about this um moment at the very end with leslie running off and we'll jump back, but when she runs off into the woods to be with Ron, is that Leslie's a character who usually faces her problems head on, right? She'll make multiple binders for her. She'll come with a super plan. She'll have a realization, I know how to fix this. And this is a moment where she doesn't. This is a moment where she's running away, where she's hiding from that.

And I love that. I think when her problems are more matters of the heart, I don't know, there's this kid inside of her, you know, where she's, I'm running away from my problems. And it's brother figure, it's dad figure, it's Ron, who's the one who's going to be able to set her straight and say, this is how you deal with your problems. I'll never forget my first week of work. I got out of film school and I was a PA at a company. And I yelled at, and I got to do all the grocery deliveries. I did all these things. And I remember coming home and I complained to my parents about it. I said, I went to film school. I'm a writer. I can do this. And my dad was the one who said, you know, very much like a runway said, you know, Greg, I literally had to sweep the floors at my first job. There's a reason that you say you have to go sweep the floors. And there's

something about that person setting you straight to say, just kind of face your problems. So we're going to get to that. But I thought it was such a great choice for storytelling to make Leslie almost scared of what am I going to do? Because it's so anti-Leslie. Exactly. Yeah, I agree. And also in that scene with Ben, we get another great reference to Leslie calling the bathroom,

the whiz palace. Whiz palace. Back to our synopsis. Tom visits the Parks Department with promotional material for his new company, Entertainment 720, that he started with Ben Schwartz's great character, Jean-Ralphio. He tries to explain the company and what it does, and while he throws out a lot of words, it seems that even he isn't sure what Entertainment 720 does. It's amazing. He offers Andy a job, but Andy turns him down, unsure of where to go with his life. This is the beginning

of such a great run. This Entertainment 720 is just one of the great things about this show. It's, by the way, can you only imagine if Bitcoin had been a thing when we were making this show? You know, these guys would have had, or a board ape, they would have had their own, I mean, all that stuff. That's such a great point. I think we

teased it, like we get it in the end of the series when we do some of the tech companies, but, I mean, Tom and John Ralphio would have had scams up the wazoo. Absolutely. John Ralphio especially. Yes. Oh, my God.

But you're so right, Rob. This storyline with Entertainment 720, it's going to launch a series of business attempts by Tom, but there's something really special about this one because of how stupid it was from the get-go. Yeah. You know? There's nothing funnier to me in comedy.

There's so many sort of classic comedy moves, but there's nothing funnier to me. And when I get to play it, I jump at it, where it's a person who's clearly a moron acting like they know exactly what they're doing. Yes. It's the best. And this is a perfect example of that.

Yeah. And I love how he comes walking back into the office and he's throwing swag around what looks to be expensive swag, like expensive shit. And he is just throwing it all over. They're not making a nickel. You know, when,

um, when Tom comes by, he goes to get a shoe shine from Andy to talk about entertainment, entertainment, seven 20 about coming on board. And you'll notice that Tom isn't really wearing shoes that need shining. They're fabric. And so when you cut to it, Andy is just very casually, lazily even just brushing them.

There's a moment where it looks like the brush isn't even touching the shoe. It's like a leopard fabric. Yeah, yeah. It's just so, that's just what Andy does. He sits, he talks to people as he shines their shoes. Yeah. And Tom needed to talk to him.

And I love that when Tom tells Andy that his all black magnetic business card, black on black print, right? He said black prints on black. It's the coolest type of business card. When Tom tells him that his business card should be kept away from his credit cards because it can destroy them,

Andy says, destroy my credit cards? Debt and everything? Brilliant. If only. Brilliant. That's great. Well, it's like, you know, along the lines of The Office when Michael Scott says he's going to declare

bankruptcy. Oh my God. So he just stands up and goes, I declare bankruptcy as if then it all goes away. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I also love that scene that's between Andy and April when he goes to her to get advice about if he should accept Tom's job offer. I know it plays for comedy, but it's kind of heartwarming that ultimately, you know, April just keeps saying yes to Andy. He says, I should,

I take it, take it. I don't know if I want it. Don't do it. What if I wanted, she just says yes to him. And I think it's quite heartwarming that April's just being supportive and she's letting Andy figure it out.

Why can't everyone give advice like that? That is one of, I think, one of the all-time great relationships. So, you know, in our synopsis, Anne informs Chris that the, you know, the genitals in the picture, the genitals in the picture show symptoms of mumps.

She's good. She is good. Chris and Ben discover that Joe from the sewage department sent the email and fire him, as they should. And Chris announces Ann's discovery to everyone about the mumps. This prompts male employees to email Ann pictures of their genitals because they are worried that they caught the mumps from Joe. So Chris has Dr. Harris come in to perform tests on everyone. Now, I'm perhaps a little prudish, but are people that comfortable

sending pictures of their junk? They aren't Pawnee. I guess they aren't Pawnee because her beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. She was getting notification after notification. Or the healthcare system is quite terrible and no one has access to their doctor. Yeah. Yeah. Why? Or is it all just their doctor. Yeah, yeah. Why?

Or is it all just their pervs? Yeah, that's an excuse to... To send your drink to a pretty girl. It's deeply unfortunate. Deeply unfortunate. One of my all-time favorite things ever in any episode is Sewage Joe's email. Oh, brilliant. Oh, brilliant. Sewage Joe's email is stinkmaster69 at alumni Sarah Lawrence College EDU.

Best ever. And he says he went there because he wanted a small college. Yes. Small college experience. Yeah, yeah. Can you imagine him at Sarah Lawrence? Oh, my God. It is funny to think about. You know, you never know the history of a person.

He has an interest in a small liberal arts college. I don't know what he was doing at that small liberal arts college. Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea. Yeah, I think he was preparing for this moment in history. This is the kind of joke that cracks me up. This is the kind of moment also in the writer's room that's so fun because what seems like a simple throwaway, someone just pitches. This is like an hour.

This one thing right here. Oh, sure. What kind of email should he have? What is his name? What did he choose his name to be? Okay, we're going to have it be a college, a university. What's the funniest college? Someone pitches something, people crack up.

Let's say it's Tufts or whatever or whatever it goes in someone pitches a new thing and you keep finding the funniest thing and i think this is it that's it how do you find um my by the time this comes out my new netflix series will be out unstable and there's a there's a very similar moment we had in the writer's room where my character has to talk about a movie that he can't believe that someone hasn't seen. And so it's like, what is the most obscure, ridiculous, lame, but also a movie that some people think is great? And like, you pitch that stuff and you make yourself laugh and you go on and on and on.

And I was like, like, I can't believe you haven't seen War Horse. Or like, or like, and I love, I love pitching.

And I could, I could work on, on, on Sewage Joe's email forever. By the way, we decided, the movie we decided on was August Osage County.

Oh, wow. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. That's right. Which made me laugh. That's right. Because it's so obscure. A John Wells movie.

My wife actually worked on that movie. That's incredible. August Osage. Well, we make a lot of fun of it. I'm sorry. It's an incredible joke. The hyper-specific jokes are the ones that take time. That's what it is. It's so specific.

Yes. Yes. Have we hit it? Have we hit it? We finally got it. And so in the writer's room, when this comes up and whoever pitches Sarah Lawrence, are you guys like, well, that's it. There's no more need to pitch. We're done. Nothing can be better than that. Well, it must be with August O'Shea's County. At some point, you find the thing that either people all agree this is the one, or there's this satisfying feeling in writing that you're like, in a gut, I know that's it, and we're ready to move on. You don't even have to say it out loud.

It's in the script. You see it, and you're like, yes, that's the right one. That's the right joke. We should move on because we have a lot more episodes to work on. Right. And speaking of which, I love that Chris can always find a positive spin. Right? Even for the mumps.

Or as Sue as Joe says about them, someone's got mumps on his lumps. Genius. But yeah, Chris's character is that eternal, he's much like Leslie. I think he's an eternal, and Andy, maybe one of the reasons you like him, but he's an eternal optimist, right? And it's just a great, funny move. Like, I think the great comic characters all have a couple things in common.

But the number one thing is they have one very specific, very clear worldview. And Chris's is positivity. You know, Ron's is, you know, individuality, whatever. You know what I mean? Leslie's is can-do enthusiasm. But like there's always one, you can distill it down to a sentence. And in a comedy, they never change. That you hammer it and you hammer it and you hammer it in the audience.

In The Office, it's that Michael Scott doesn't get it. You know, so I love that Chris's positivity. I was skiing this weekend and I was getting on the ski lift. And as I'm pulling away on the ski lift, the guy operating the ski lift yells, diabetes, fight it. And I was like,

that is a Chris Trigger deep dive. Yes, yes, yes. Like, you know, that Chris could get positive about fighting diabetes. Yeah.

It's just, you know, sweet. And also the way Chris just, so when he's talking to Ann about testes, it's just also you know, it's what he does. And also the way Chris just, when he's talking to Ann, about testes. It's just also a matter of fact. Oh, testes, that's right.

And the word testes, I don't know. You know how a lot of people hate the word moist. The word testes, I don't know. I don't know. And you're talking to her as if, here's what's happening and the testes. And we're going to check this out. I don't know.

It just makes me laugh so much. Anytime you can say the word testes in a comedy, you're in the red zone. Exactly. You know, we have to talk about this very special moment in Jerry Girkich's life. Oh, yeah. A life altering. A life altering. And I'm pretty sure.

And Jerry for the record. Okay. Okay. That's interesting the way that synergistically it worked out for you. If you're watching on Peacock, 1823, Dr. Harris finishes. Put the emphasis on. We are there. Not on P.

We're with you. Dr. Harris finishes his assessment of Jerry and gives him a clean bill of health. And then decides to tell us in a talking head, completely breaking his doctor-patient confidentiality. He's so overwhelmed by this fact, he has to tell us. Screw HIPAA laws. That's right. Quote, that man has the largest penis I'd ever seen. Jim, I'm quite confident, I'm quite confident

you have Dan Gore to thank for this. It's comedic. It's another moment of giving Jerry, no pun intended, a big win to balance out the crap he gets at work. It's like when art and life come together. I think that's what happened. Yes, I think it's based on that. That makes sense. Yeah, it does.

It is why people have decided that Gail is with me, with jerry um because he's he's taking care of her he's a big heart in that department and um people this has gone on forever since the episode came out but what is frightening terrifying to me is from my understanding they did an alt where the doctor said, that man has the smallest penis I have ever seen. Oh, no. That would have sucked. Why? There's already enough shit for Jerry. Come on.

Now you give him the smallest penis this doctor has ever seen. It would have given the writers a perfect opportunity to use one of my favorite phrases, micropenis. Micropenis. Chris Traeger would have loved. Chris Traeger would have absolutely loved the term. It's such a Chris Traeger. Micropenis. Yes, because it sounds like something he would have made up to describe the thing, right?

It sounds like he, in the lexicon, he invented the word micropenis to explain a micropenis. Yeah. This dog has a micropenis. I got a call from Dan Gore, you know, after Parks. He goes, hey, listen, we have an idea for if you do a couple episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. And I said, Dan, you gave me a huge penis. I will do anything you want. That's right.

That's why he did it. He knew one day he needed a favor. Yes. No, but really, seriously, it could have, and I know this is so stupid because who cares? It's just characters. But, you know, people out there, I'm very happy they went with that direction

rather than the other direction. Yeah, like diabetes, your diabetes line, this mattered to people, Jim. This matters to people. Yeah. So I was thrilled. Well, congrats from all of us. Back in our synopsis, if we're okay moving on from this important topic.

I mean, actually, the more I think about it, I'm getting really flushed. You're getting misty-eyed. That's right. It really was a lovely moment. So back in our synopsis, at Ron's cabin, Leslie and Ron both realize they cannot run away from their problems and return instead to the Parks Department. Ron tells everyone that Leslie is going to be running for city council and will need an assistant to help her with the extra work. So April suggests Andy, who's hired. Leslie later meets with Ben to break up with him. But to her surprise, the gift she left

unwrapped at dinner is a Nope 2012 button. Ben deduced by how Leslie was acting that she was offered to run for elected office, and I think that she was practicing her announcement speech in her sleep, and the two break up amicably. She later announces her candidacy for city council. And just to launch us into the next episode, Tammy One, who we find out is an IRS agent, later meets up with Ron in his office and hands

him audit papers. I mean, that is a jam-packed ending. It's launching a new episode for Ron, clearly, in an arc with Tammy One. It's launching an entire season for Leslie, running for office. It pulls on perhaps the greatest relationship on the show, Leslie and Ron. It puts a stutter step into Leslie and Ben's relationship that we got.

I mean, a lot happens in this last act. Yeah. So, do you subscribe as a writer to the notion that every season open, first episode of every new season is almost like a reset or a pilot? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, you never know who's showing up, right? You never know if someone is starting for the first time. And in a way, you have to, at some point, say, we're going to do the stories that we're committed to, but you kind of have to tell everyone who the characters are again.

Right. You have to reset. Even people who haven't watched it for a few months, you have to say, these are the characters. This is a character comedy. The reason you love what they do is because you love these characters. So we're going to give you some of the best,

most fun storylines for them or launch them into a whole season so that you fall in love with them again. And that happens, I think, for pretty much every single character in this episode. By the way, a lot of talk about Ben and the great Adam Scott. Are you guys been following Adam Scott's red carpet game recently?

Are you talking about his fashion attire? Yes, I am. Because it's incredible. He is next level right now. Dear listener, I urge you to Google Adam Scott red carpet. Because he is, first of all, he's on a lot of red carpets right now. And he is just next level. His bolo tie game at, I want to say he was at the CMAs, Country Music, something. Or the Critics' Choice Awards, I think, perhaps.

Critics' Choice Awards, yes. Bolo tie, I mean, not since Bruce Springsteen in the Tunnel of Love era have I seen the kind of bolo work that's going on. It's so good. I have to tell you, Rob, I'm 100% on the same page with you. I saw that bolo tie. I've seen him. I think he's killing it.

That bolo tie, there've seen him. I think he's killing it. That bolo tie, there are moments when you see fashion and it's pulled off so well and you think, I can do that too. And then you do and you realize

you can't. I cannot. Yes. Adam kills it. He's the man. God, I'm almost sad for myself right now. I have seen him on these things.

I've seen him at all these award shows. I never noticed. I'm like that idiot. I really am. I'm like that idiot. I go to some sort of an event. I've seen them in all these award shows. I never noticed. I'm like that idiot. I really am. I'm like that idiot. I go to some sort of an event. I have my one black tux. I have my one

basic of everything, and then that's what I do. It's sad. That's great. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not necessarily a bad thing. When in doubt, you just got to ask yourself, have you ever seen Cary Grant in it? Oh, that's interesting. And if the answer is, and you go with that answer, I'm just saying.

Yeah, that's valid. We love our Adam Scott. You know, there's that great moment. We do love Adam Scott. He's incredible. And he gets these great moments with Leslie in this episode. He's incredible. And he gets these great moments with Leslie in this episode.

It's sad when they decide to break up and decide to say, your dreams, my job, all this is more important, but it has equal weight than our relationship. His gift to Leslie, it's crushing, right? As it is sweet. He doesn't want to stand in the way of her dream, even if he gets crushed by it emotionally. I think it's a really lovely character choice. And that continues throughout the series with those two. They both make big concessions for each other. That's right. Really big concessions.

Yeah, I think they're just the sweetest damn couple. I love them. And speaking of another great couple, the couple that never was, and probably for the best, Leslie and Ron, that scene between them, besides having a really great joke where Ron's talking about his toes, that he has

nine toes, and Leslie says, you only have nine toes? He lost a toe, right? And he says, you only have nine toes? And he says, I have the toes I have. Let's leave it at that. I think he's sad or mad that he admitted the fact that he only has nine toes. He's like, let's move on from my personal

information. His brother, someone shot it off and they didn't pay much attention to it and then it fell off. There you go. That's life. I just really love the two of them together in their scenes, especially these moments of heart to heart. These moments where they're putting aside everything and just telling the truth that the other character needs. And it's exactly what Leslie needs. It's the kick in the butt to get back, to get back, pick yourself back

up and say, I'm Leslie Knope, right? And that's the point of this episode. I'm Leslie Knope. No one's going to tell me who I can or can't be. I'm Leslie Knope. That's how I'm introducing myself to the world. That's how I'm saying I'm running for city council. And there's some great throwaways. Like Nick, Nick, Ron, get confused. You know what I'm talking about. So she's telling him this and she says, well, I'm thinking of running for city council. And he says, whatever.

And she goes, well, who knows if I win? And just, he'll win. He'll win. Just, he'll win. Yeah. He's sage. And I just love their relationship. And the support from the office when she comes back and tells everybody.

It's really nice. Also, Tammy won. She's an IRS agent. I mean, it's great. It's kind of the government. It's like the federal government's library. I know there's a library of Congress. I know we have libraries, but there's something about her being an IRS agent.

We're working for the IRS. That's pure genius. It's not my idea, so I could say it's pure genius. Do you know whose it was? I don't remember. I was trying to remember. I mean, there are always a lot of pitches when you bring in a new character. Who are they going to be?

But something about involved someone going after Ron's money, right? About his gold. Yeah, no, it's brilliant. Yeah, it's great. Not only she enacts, she's a government official, a true enemy of Ron Swanson. It's a really fun episode. These are my final thoughts on this episode, I would say. It's a simple A story. The A story is generally in a show like this, it's our main character's A story. The A story is generally in a show like this, it's our main character, it's Leslie's story. The A story of The Office was Michael Scott's. You know, you get Ron out in the woods,

allowed us to push Tammy one storyline to the next episode, devote the entire A story to it. And for Leslie's story, the general point of it is that she gets the confidence to make a decision and the support of her work family once she's made it. Those episodes seem to have busier B and C stories where it's not really

about this, the swings, the curves, the moments for Leslie. She's not trying to save a gazebo or put on a harvest festival.

Her plot story is actually more emotional in every scene. And those episodes seem to have much busier B and C stories to beef it up.

And case in point in this one, it's the, it's the penis pics, the dick pics that roped Ben, Chris and Ann in. It's the entertainment 720 story that roped Andy, Tom and April in and kind of Leslie's a bit of drift in it. And it makes sense for her character.

She's making a choice. And so that's my, that's, that's my thought. I thought it was, it was a really, really smart choice so that now she's going to announce she's running for city council and then we're all in. Everyone's all in.

What do you think, Jim? What are your thoughts? I love the episode. A couple of things I just want to point out that just made me laugh so hard just because we've already gone through the episode. when Leslie and Ben are sitting down to have their talk at the restaurant and Leslie goes, I would like a glass of red wine and I will take the cheapest one you have because I can't tell the difference. That is what I think most people should be saying because I go to dinner with a lot of people and everyone's like, oh, let me have the blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm thinking, you couldn't know the difference if they put down two buck chuck. So that was i just i love that moment and i love when when uh

near the end and april says to ron about do you want me to get a hold of tammy and he goes she'll find me she has the tracking abilities and the body odor of a bloodhound my god that's so funny that is just so funny and then of course i you, we didn't mention Donna much in this episode, but having John Ralphio on one boob and Tom on the other when she puts on that 720 blog. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Or bikini or whatever the hell that thing was. That's right. Love it, love it. So much going on in this episode.

And like you said, it's the first one back of a new season, so they're just creating all sorts of stuff. And I love how everybody, when she makes that announcement, is on board. Everybody's there. As they are on board for this season of this show with you guys. You guys steering the ship, man.

And I think you guys crushed it. I mean, this is... I got something I get to listen to and then pop in now. And please pop in. We need you to pop in. Oh. I'll be popping. Pop, pop, pop. You know, I get to listen to and then pop in now. And please pop in. We need you to pop in. Oh, I'll be popping. You know, I want to say I don't have an oops moment to call out,

but I do want to call out in another segment, gifts, parties, and jobs that Tom gives gifts to Andy, as we see in that scene. Ben gives his gift to Leslie. Tom offers a job to Andy. Andy gets a new job working as Leslie's assistant. And of course, the ultimate new job, Leslie declaring her run

for office to get a new job. Jam-packed gifts, parties, and jobs. You know, Rob, you're here with us. We gotta do a town hall together. Do you want to go to the town hall? I think you do.

Rob, where would you like to set this one? Town Hall, we're going to set... Oh, we're going to set it at the mapping system room. What the hell? Oh, yeah, yeah. The CIS something, yes. Yeah, the geographic... Yeah, well, we're going to set it there, everyone. I love it.

We're going to go into the GIS room. So today's town hall comes from Laura, who says, do you have anything planned for the new season? Your listeners miss you almost as much as we miss Lil' Sebastian. Oh, maybe a memory. Nobody

misses anybody like people miss Lil' Sebastian. She says, hope to hear from you soon! With three exclamation points. I mean, we just talked about what do with three exclamation points. I mean, we just talked about what do we have planned for the season? Well, this is a big plan.

This is a big plan. This is, I mean, you can't kind of, does a plan need to be bigger than you two, you guys? That's as big as it gets in my book.

Two big guns. Two big guns to the show. They call us, Greg has been here. They call us two guns. Two guns, yes, yes. And as someone would say who will listen when I use the term big gun, they're going to say, well, Jerry has a big gun.

A big heart. Yes, a big heart. He's the rifleman. He's the rifleman of Pawnee. He is. Yeah, I think that's a big change for the season. Yeah. I think a really big change.

But I want to tell you, Laura, and everyone listening, we have amazing things planned. We have amazing guests lined up. So many great guests. We have perhaps one of the great arcs of the series after the Harvest Festival arc. We have Leslie's City Council run. We have great moments for every character.

This is going to be a really fun season. And we're going to have a pop-in, a jiffy pop of Rob Lowe. And we're just so honored to be taking on this mantle from you, Rob, and we so appreciate it.

You guys are going to be amazing, have been. And this is a good season. This is a really good season on Parks. Like you said, so much going on and lots to unpack. I am of the mindset and there'll be the hardcore fans who

agree or disagree. This show just continually got better. And I always, I credit that with Mike never left us. Mike Shorey, he was with us from beginning to end. A lot of shows, once they hit big, people take off to do, you know, other projects, the networks want them to do whatever. to do other projects. The networks want them to do whatever. We never lost Mike's voice, and I think it's made all the difference. Are we MVPing for this episode?

You know what? We have to talk about it. We should talk about our most valuable punny, and before we say goodbye to everyone, Jim, I think we all have a... What's your vote? My vote is Jerry's penis. Okay. I had to say that.

Yes, he was the MVP of this episode. Do you know what I love about you, Jim? You're humble. Absolutely. Remember, I said Jerry's penis. Okay. I had to say that. Yes. He was the MVP of this episode. Do you know what I love about you, Jim? You're humble. Absolutely. Remember, I said Jerry's penis. Okay, okay. I'm never going to vote against Jerry's penis. I'm never going to vote against that.

There we go. You know what? I'm going to call out Dr. Harris then for calling out Jerry's penis. Jerry's penis. I'll give you that. I'll give you that. Well, thank you all for listening. Tell people about this episode. Text it to all for listening. Tell people about this episode.

Text it to your group chat. Tell people about this series. Give us five-star reviews wherever you're listening. If you're listening on your phone or your computer, if you're seeing it skywritten in the sky, whatever, however you get your podcast.

Thank you, Rob, for being with us and for, you know, Jim, for us now being together. Thank you to, you know,

our great Rob Schulte, our producer, to our engineer, Joe Samuel. Joe. And Rob, can you say it for us? And until next week,

goodbye from Pawnee. This has been a Team Coco production.