Parks and Recollection - Ron and Tammys (S4E2)

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

Jim O'Heir (Jerry Gergich himself!) and writer Greg Levine are here to discuss another great episode of Parks and Recreation: Ron and Tammys. They discuss the brilliant Patricia Clarkson's performance as Tammy One, why we all idolize Paula Pell (who plays Ron's mom, Tammy Zero), and Jim explains the secret behind proper jug chugging. Treat yo’ self!

We're getting together to talk about all the things we used to do The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastian's, the pets we fell into And we're putting it on in a podcast, then we'll send it up into the sky We're calling it Parks and Recollection Come on little podcast Spread your wings and fly Hello everybody, how are you? This is Parks and Recollection again Yes, and I am one of your hosts, Jim O'Hare

Better known as Gary, Larry, Jerry, Terry, or Barry And sitting, well, across fromare, better known as Gary, Larry, Jerry, Terry, or Barry, and sitting, well, across from me, really not next to me, though you're always in my heart, like you're right with me, is... Hi, I'm Greg. I feel like our voices are so different. Yours and mine? Yeah, I feel I'm very loud and obviously obnoxious, and yours is very... I can confirm both of those things.

Yeah, I'm sure you have every right to. Yours is more adult. Oh, my God. Yes, I and yours is very confirm both of those yeah i'm sure you get you have every right to yours is more adult oh my god yes i feel yours is i really appreciate you saying that because i um i i recently turned 40 i have a child i have another child on the way like real soon like real soon yes um and yet i don't i still feel like a little boy. Oh my gosh. Well, but you know what? I just turned, uh,

30, 30. Okay. 61. And I still feel like an idiot, you know, like age. I don't know.

And I look in the mirror and it's like, what the hell is going on? I, um, recently, uh, I was having a lower back stuff and I went to an orthopedist. And they're like, all right, well, let's do a scan or two.

And they did the MRI, and I came back in, and he comes in. He says, you know, I have to tell you, if I knew nothing about you, and I just saw this image in front of me, I would have thought this was the back of like a 55-year-old. Really? And there's something about a doctor saying to you. Yeah, that's, yeah. Yeah, and he pretty much said to me, and I appreciate bluntness, especially in medicine.

Yeah, in medicine, I think it's needed. You need to know the truth about things. And he said, you have coasted long enough on doing no exercise. It's time for you to actually step up. And I appreciated that. I'll do it soon enough. Yes, yes, yes. Not today, but soon enough. Soon enough. So you just turned 40, you're saying? That's right. Which brings me to something I was going to mention. I went to a 40th birthday party, and the fans will be happy to hear this, of our boy Aziz. Oh, wow. Yes, Aziz Ansari turned 40, and he had a birthday party. And it was super fun on many, many levels.

As far as the cast goes, our fearless leader Amy was there. Rashida was there. Retta was there. Aziz showed up, which was nice. That was nice. Yes, then, of course, the star of the night, I was there. No, but it was great. Mike Shore, we got to see Mike Shore, co-creator of this show.

The reason we're even sitting here today is because of someone like Mike Shore. Anyway, so it was a wonderful night. And it turned out it was actually on, the party was on the exact date of Rashida's birthday. So Aziz's wife had come out. We all stopped and sang happy birthday. And then Aziz goes, but today is Rashida's birthday. You know, Aziz can do that. And then we all sang happy birthday to Rashida. And it was very sweet. His parents were there, Aziz's parents. What a great night. And of course, you know, Amy and Rashida and Retta and Aziz, just anytime I'm around that

crowd, it's just, it's like old times. And, you know, you put Red and I in a room, it's like no time has passed at all. I mean, Red and I are, we were always tight, you know, because we came into the show both not knowing what was going to happen. Neither one of us were series regulars at first. And so it was that kind of thing. But anyway, I've taken enough time. We do have to talk about this episode. It's a great... No, that's awesome.

Happy birthday to Aziz and to Rashida. And I think that the fans, you know, the thing that people have to understand about Parks and Rec... You have to. You have to. And I'll say it. I've probably said it already, and I'll continue to say it. It wasn't bullshit when it came to

everybody getting along. You know, we had Mike Shore handling the offices and all of you guys, and he doesn't play games. Yes. And we had Amy handling, you know, she was our queen. Yeah. And that's just how it was. And so we're still all like in love with each other. And anyway, it was great to see them.

Oh, that's great. That's great. Just want was great to see them. Oh, that's great. That's great. Just want to share my little story. No, that's great. What'd you do? Change a diaper? Good times. My own?

Good times. Hello. I'm a kid. I have changed a diaper. No, you're hobnobbing. You're doing like, you're playing like a Z's party bingo, like trying to cross off all the fun people you see. And I'm like, what?

How many diaper changes have I had done at home that night? So I'm glad you and I have had equal nights. Different lives. Well, we should talk about this episode that brings us to the table. One of the great episodes. I mean, you know, that's another thing I say all the time. One of the greats. We should talk about when they're one of the worst ones. Just so people

understand how we actually feel about some of these. Exactly. But it's true. We're talking today about a Ron and Tammy episode. And we'll get into the specifics of it. But every time it's a Tammy type episode. And this is a whole other type of Tammy episode. They are special because we have a character comedy series, right? You get to love these characters.

You love what they do. And when you take them out of what they normally do and you make them different, it is wild. And we do that with Ron every time. And we're doing that today in today's episode. It's episode two of season four. It's Ron and Tammy's written by Norm Hiscock. Love Norm Hiscock.

Shout out, Norm. Side, I don't know, this popped in my head, but I'll never forget. We had badges made for us on the lot when we shot the CBS Radford lot, so we can go in and out. Come and go. Come and go. Go in and out. And Norm said Norn.

And I don't know why that's so funny. It is. It's like the name Norm has become Norn. Anyway, Norn Hisscock wrote this, and it was directed by Randall Einhorn, and it originally aired on September 29th, 2011. And we should hear a little blurb. And Jim, you want to blurb us? I'm going to blurb you. Ron's first ex-wife, Tammy One, which is amazing, reenters his life and tries to control his every move.

Meanwhile, Ben helps Tom balance the books at his new company, Entertainment 720. And Anne makes a PSA with help from Chris. So much in this episode. So much in this episode. So much in this episode. Patricia Clarkson, who got to play

the Tammy one. Oh, Tammy one. I mean, Patricia Clarkson is in this episode. First of all, she's an amazing actor. She does comedy, drama. She does it all. But her, you know, because in this episode. First of all, she's an amazing actor. She does comedy, drama.

She does it all. But her, you know, because when we're watching, you know, redoing these episodes, we're rewatching them. Her every move is so planted and so planned. She has total control of everything. Well, I think about in the first Ron and Tammy episode in season two, when Ron and Tammy have like that makeout session at the diner. And then they go run into the motel. She's taking her clothes off. But everything's crazy. They are like wild animals, those two together.

And here is Tammy one as this controlled, hyper-specific, every move of mine is thought out type of person. And it's so fun to see how that person impacts Ron. Which, though I will tell you, I've never been more creeped out, I guess. Is that the right way? To see Ron like that. Because we know Ron, me man, me stone man. I can do anything.

And he is totally controlled by this little, she couldn't weigh 115 pounds. She's this little blonde burst of craziness. We're going to get into that. I know we are. I know. I'm probably jumping. Well, speaking of how Ron changes,

this is the only episode where Ron Swanson's signature mustache is fully shaved off. He does, remember, lose parts of it in previous episodes, like in the fireball in Little Sebastian at the end of season three. Yes. And from rubbing off from friction with Tammy 2. Brilliant. And this is going to be the first and only episode to feature Ron's mother, Tamara Tammy Swanson, played by the great Paula Pell.

Oh, my God. Paula Pell is one of the funniest people out there. And can I interject with another story? Was she also at Aziz's party? No, go on. Aziz's party. Because, I mean, literally, everybody was there. Anyone who ever worked on that show, even for Crafty was there.

Like, everybody was there. It seems like somebody was missing. No, no. Actually, I said to myself, wow, this was the perfect guest list. No. So, season, it could be season four. I don't know exactly when it happened. But Amy says to us, we got a call from Fallon's people.

And it was when Glee was the big thing. The TV show Glee. So, and they want us to do a, like a sing-off between Parks and Rec and the Fallon show. So anyway, we all go to New York. It was so much fun. The reason I bring it up is

Paula played on Fallon's team. Oh, that's right. So you guys, if you want, go to YouTube and look up Parks and Rec Fallonelan Glee. It's really funny. It's so, I think it's, I've actually watched that more times than I want to admit. Yeah, it's fun.

Yeah, it's really fun. There's just a lot of happy people. It's so much fun. But Paula, because I'd never known Paula. And Amy has been a dear friend of Paula's forever because of SNL and when they write together. Anyway, so, but Paula in this playing Ron's mother is just... So let's talk about it. Let's talk about this episode.

Let's do it. Let's open up our synopsis and begin. Leslie is preparing for the battle royale. Big. A big meeting between all departments where they argue over funding. Ron's intimidating presence and libertarian beliefs are pivotal for the Parks Department to succeed in getting more funds over other departments.

But he is too busy preparing for his upcoming tax audit served to him by his first ex-wife, Tammy One, played by, as we talked about, Patricia Clarkson. Leslie, Andy, and April help Ron but discover he has few actual receipts. He does, however,

have large amounts of gold that he has buried all over Pawnee. Yeah. And as Ron will say, right to the camera, income tax is illegal. Yes. Like he literally said,

so this is wrong. This is how, yes, income tax is illegal. Illegal. And that's an interesting thought. But also I love, if you notice, right after he says it,

they cut to Leslie who does a look to the camera with a like, like, it was almost like correcting him. Like, well, nobody at home

keep thinking this is a fact. Yeah, like I'm worried about you. Yes, this is not a fact. It's not legal. I want to call out one little thing

we don't talk about in that synopsis, which is that in the cold open when Andy runs back in with his Rolodex thinking it's a calculator cracked me up I forgot about that joke

and I looked in the script it wasn't in the script I don't know if that was a moment on set who came up with it but it's always fun to see how this like

puppy dog golden retriever Andy is going to react to normal, real reality happening around. I love that moment. Because Amy has sent him off with a task. Right. And he's proud. He's happy.

Like, give me something to do. He's like a little dog. He's like, go get that thing. And you come back and like, I have that thing. Like,

that's the exact opposite of the thing. He had to roll the decks. Oh, God bless him. So let's talk about Tammy one one's presence in ron's life i mean first of all she delivered him as a baby she was his teacher i think bath teacher she took his virginity you know all normal things normal absolutely normal yeah and you talked about this jimmy teased it like she is she's blonde and ron talks about dating brunettes.

Oh, yeah. We've always known that. Yeah. And so there's interesting. Tammy 1 was so impactful in a negative way to Ron that he says, I will forevermore not date blondes because they're too much like Tammy. Yeah. Yeah. Huge impact.

She scarred him for life. Yes. She scarred him for life. Also, my favorite thing when he's discussing what she did to him, the different reactions from Leslie. Yes. Andy and April, all Leslie is absolutely disgusted. And he's like, oh, cool. And April, of course, is loving that this monster of a woman exists. Yes. Like that to her, that's the best. Yeah, I love,

I actually love April in this episode. And Aubrey plays it so well. They're so small. You don't notice some of these things. For example, when Tammy 1

enters Ron's office, when Leslie, Andy, and April are working on the receipts, April consciously kind of sits up straight. Right? And in the last episode, in I'm Leslie Knope, and April are working on the receipts, April consciously kind of sits up straight, right? And in the last episode, and I'm Leslie Knope, when we meet Tammy Wan, you might recall, she tells April, sit up straight.

You're not doing your breasts any favors. And I like the fact that we don't call it out, but Aubrey and playing it, April remembered that. And here Tammy Wan comes and almost without thinking, just like, all right, I'm sitting up straight. I also, I just want to call it out before I forget. I also love what April has to say about Tammy One when she says she's the cold distant mother I never had. I love her. Exactly. April has probably this warm, loving woman who would do anything for her. No, that's not what April needs. I mean, it's what she needed,

but yeah, this is what she wanted. And also how great, how, because, you know, when I think of Leslie, I think of this powerhouse. Nobody can keep her down. Well, Tammy one just terrified her when she first walked in that room. I mean, to the point where,

what is, I wrote it down here, something where she says, I don't think there'll be another need for you to talk while I'm here. Yes, she silenced her. She silenced Leslie. Yeah. That's pretty big. It is.

You don't see Leslie that shook in general. Especially, I mean, Tammy, too, has this other power over her. She hates, obviously, the fact that she's at the library. She sees her as this evil succubus. Right. Right. It's obviously the fact that she's at the library. She sees her as this evil succubus.

Right. Right. But Tammy, one, it's like if a Dementor, like a Harry Potter Dementor walked into the room. Right. And it's like, I, by looking at you, can suck your soul out. But she had that feeling. Yeah. Even watching it. It's like, damn, Patricia, you bringing it.

I know. I know. And when she says, at the end of that get together right there, Leslie's like, I know, but we have this big meeting we have to go to, blah, blah, blah. And I actually wrote down the quote. So, Tammy goes, oh, so you and Ron have a big meeting. Well, I'm sure Ron will remember the meeting finally when he's making toilet wine in a federal prison in Terre Haute. Oh, my God. She is a ball buster. Yeah, she doesn't let, I mean, the fact that she birthed him, like, my God. She is a ball buster.

Yeah, she doesn't let, I mean, the fact that she birthed him, like, she was, Anne was a teacher and probably lost. She is foundational and has foundational power over Ron. Yeah. And she uses it constantly. I love that. And I think Patricia just brought it. That's scary, though. That is terrifying. And when I saw Ron walk in, and he's all giddy in that shirt, it's like, no.

Yeah, yeah. We'll get to that. We'll get to that. You know me. We're going to get to that. I bounce, people. You do. Sorry.

Sorry. Okay, let's continue and reopen our synopsis. We got it. Because in a B story, Tom asks Ben to look over the finances of his company, Entertainment 720. Ben discovers that Tom and John Ralphio are wasting large amounts of money on a state-of-the-art office, giving employees high salaries with full benefits. They're paying Detlef Schrempf and Roy Hibbert, actual basketball players, to play basketball all day despite having no income. The company having no income.

They ignore Ben's warnings that the company will go bankrupt. And, oh my God, what a page turn. Dear God, but Tom later apologizes to Ben after discovering that, yes, Ben was very right. That was great, Jim. Can I just cut in just for a second and say don't ever do that again? Yes, yes, yes, yes, Mr. Levine. Consider that done. Maybe be prepared next time and I won't have to jump in and save your ass. Don't save me.

Let me just drown in my mistake. Now, I have to ask because you will know, and I should know maybe, but I don't. Where the hell, and I feel like it was, I'm going to say before I even ask the question, I feel the answer is Jean-Ralphio's father. But where the hell did the money come from to begin 720? Well, I think we find out that he got run over by Alexis. Is that what it is? I think that's, I mean.

So he, it's injury money. Jean-Ralphio's gotten into some money before. And we're not going to meet, we're going to meet his father eventually in the series. Right. But I'm pretty sure that in a sing-song way, he said that he got run over by Alexis. Okay. That does ring a bell. Right.

Yeah. And if you are going to get run over, the driver of Alexis is probably going to be able to help you. Sure. Well, yeah. I mean, these kind of lawsuits. I mean, they're out there. There's billboards for them every day. Okay.

So they come into whatever money they came into, which had to have been substantial. Right. Because they're saying they're giving three quarters of these basketball players salary. Yes. And look at this place. I three quarters of these basketball players salary. Yes. And look at this place. I mean, it's massive. It's massive. Even in Pawnee, Indiana, there must be a significant rent.

And that furniture is the same anywhere. Like, that's some nice stuff. And then that pretty girl sitting there, he says, are you the receptionist? And she's like, I don't know. And he goes, how much? Ben says, how much are they paying you? She goes, $100,000 with full benefits. Yes, that's great.

I want that job. What world is this? That sounds amazing. It sounds amazing. Yeah, yeah. And where did they shoot that? Was it? It was a warehouse.

I remember I actually went to set one day because between seasons three and four, we shot this promo, this Entertainment 720 promo that lived only online for NBC.com. And I was sent to set to be one of the actors in that promo. I started as like just our Joe Schmo goes up to, it starts with John Ralphio and Tom standing there. And it's me in a suit saying, you know, something like, you know, thank you guys so much. You made me millions of dollars.

And they're like, that could be you. And I was there that day and I was like, this place is weird and wild. But it was a fun set. So it wasn't a soundstage. It was just like a warehouse. Yeah, it was a big empty white warehouse. Wow. This is pretty meta. I don't know if this was intentional, but there's that joke where John Ralphio tells Ben he needs a better name. Yes. It's a great little Easter egg because John Ralphio was telling Ben he needs a better name. Yes. It's a great little Easter egg because John Ralphio is telling Ben he needs a better name when in fact, John Ralphio is played

by a real life Ben. He's saying, you need a better name than Ben. Well, Ben Schwartz is a Ben. He's a Ben Schwartz. And I love that bit of like, you need a better, he just goes into it.

It's the same John Ralphio energy we saw in the fight in the episode previous season at the bar where he's making up all those rhymes for people. He just. Let me ask because people have heard me say it and Ben has heard me say this and he says I have to stop saying it because he's embarrassed. But I'm going to say it again, Ben, if you're listening.

He's a genius. I think he's a improv genius. Believe me, I've been gifted to work with a lot of amazing improv people. Ben is a level of his own. I really feel like he's special. And so did he, was he just rapping on his own, or was he giving these lines? There's, you know, there's stuff for every act. For John Ralphio, specifically, and with Ben, there's stuff for every actor, for John Ralphio specifically and with Ben.

There's stuff in the script and you also know it's going to spark this idea in Ben. Right, in his head. So that's in script, but you don't know what Ben and the writer and that moment on stage is going to actually do. So there's always stuff that you get surprised by when Ben Schwartz shows up. I totally agree. Yeah. But I just didn't know, like, is it literally

where they'll be just like, just let Ben do his thing? Well, yeah, there are definitely those moments. And that's the beauty, I think, of we've talked about this at Nauseam now,

but the Parks and Rec fun run. Yes. You get the script as written, the writer runs in new lines, director runs in some stuff. But then at that point, you say, guys, let's do one for fun.

Yeah. Stick at least to the storyline. Make sure you get the important beats, and new lines, director runs in some stuff, but then at that point, you say, guys, let's do one for fun. Yeah. Stick at least to the storyline. Make sure you get the important beats, but have some fun. And when you have comedy geniuses like Amy.

And anyone else you can think of? Like, let me think, like Rashida. Rashida. Rashida. And Adam.

Aziz. Aziz, Adam. I think Chris Pratt. Chris, of course, so funny. Aubrey Plaza. Aubrey, so funny, yeah. Reda. Reda, oh my God, so funny

And then Oh, and Oh, my God And, oh, Rob Lowe Yeah, yeah, no, Rob Yeah Boy, who's left? Ben Schwartz

Wow, well, he wasn't really a cast member, but So, what I also love about this episode Wow What I also love about this episode You son of a bitch Well, pay me more to promote you. There's a great moment at 10 minutes and 37 seconds, if you're watching this on Peacock,

when Ben hits the button thinking it'll shut down the printing press. First of all, the printing press. The printing, yeah, the money. Printing money. Printing money. But it's the party switch. It's so, this is is a how do i describe this is like you know um a little like slot machine this this this office it's like there's these like beeps and whistles and lights going off and you never know and you don't know if you've won or lost every

time you play but when you show up in the entertainment 720 office you're like is this the kill switch or if i accidentally caused disco lights to drop from there it's great that's a great analogy and obviously ben hit that button and the dancing begins yes even even the basketball players that left they're all dancing it was in those women and of course all the women are gorgeous and young and attractive and yeah yeah that is a party and they have no their brains they just have no concept of what's happening. I love the stupidity of it. Yeah, yeah.

I love the stupidity of it. Well, in our synopsis, because we also have, you know, this is a Tammy episode and we got to get back to Tammy 1. We do. Tammy 1 is horrified at Ron's record keeping and demands access to every part of his life for the audit. Her strict maternal nature intimidates everyone

into following her orders, which impresses April. Over the course of the next week, Tammy One moves back in with Ron and assumes complete control over him. Ron shaves off his mustache, like we talked about, becomes kind. First of all, becomes kind. He is a kind guy, but he becomes a different kind of kind.

He becomes, let's face it, he's a wimp. Yeah, like a very vanilla kind. Yes, very much. And he refuses to do anything without Tammy One's approval. Leslie needs the Ron she's used to in order to succeed at the Battle Royale, so she confronts Tammy One about the audit. Tammy One admits the audit is fake. Yeah.

And that she had decided to take Ron back after learning about all the gold he had. I'm going to pause for a second. I'm going to jump in with this thought. Don't pause. This is a podcast. We do need to keep speaking. I'm sorry for those listening at home. Those at home, don't pause with me.

Listen, Tammys have such power over Ron. It is so funny to see these people, but they, I mean, Ron Swanson's a great character. They are deeply obsessed with him in some way. Yeah. It tickles me. I can't put into words. It just, it tickles me.

And in a way, congrats, Ron. Oh, hell yeah. You know what I mean? Congrats, Ron, that there are these people who want something from you so much. Yeah. I think he's bringing the pound in, people. Okay.

I'm going to go there. I'm going to say it. Okay. I think Ron is, I think he's bringing the good stuff. Okay. And I'm going to say this. I can handle Ron with Tammy 2 way better than I can handle Ron with Tammy 1. Because Tammy 2, it's more guttural and it's dirtier.

And I don't know, maybe that's where I go. But Tammy- It's a podcast after dark over here. This really has taken quite a turn. Anyway, when he is with Tammy 1, I'm just so creeped out by the milk toast. Yeah, yeah. And Amy's like, we have to have lunch. He calls Tammy to see if he can have lunch.

And then he goes, she says I can't. She says I can't. I know, I know. That is crazy. Yeah, this is a guy who pretty much says, no, I believe in this thing, and I'm going to stand by that forever. Yes. And here he says, just getting lunch with a colleague. And Leslie, I mean, his—

No, I know, but as simple as that is, a colleague of mine wants to get lunch. I'm going to call my girlfriend pretty much, my partner, to be like, can I do that? Yeah, and then I'm going to jump to something because they do have a lunch, and then she ends up showing up, Tammy 1. But here's what I want to call out, and I want people to go back and take a look at this episode, and maybe you'll correct me if I'm wrong. It looked to me like in front of Leslie was a salad. Now, I don't want to bring this whole podcast down to a screeching halt. I don't want to take this whole show down. This is a podcast, so you don't want people to stop. Yes, I don't want to stop. whole podcast down to a screeching halt. I don't want to take this whole show down. This is a podcast, so you don't want people to stop.

Yes, I don't want to stop. They halted or sculpted. But I don't want to destroy the whole seven seasons of Parks. Yeah. But it looked to me like there was a greenish type of food in front of Leslie. And that bothered me. Deeply. Just saying.

Yeah, yeah. No, it's a problem. I don't, because I think we're, why did we let that happen? Do you know how there have been some movies in which the directors,

like Steven Spielberg has gone in with E.T. and he changed all the government agents from holding guns to like walkie-talkies. He didn't want the idea of guns in that movie anymore.

There's certain things he lived on. Like, I wish I can change it. George Lucas has done that with some Star Wars movies. And I'm sure there are others. It feels like what you're saying, and I think you're right about it. We need to do that here.

Yeah, we need to put a big old batch of waffles. Oh, I thought you were going to say we need to put a walkie-talkie. Oh. Let's just do what Spielberg did. Let's do what Spielberg did. You can only replace with walkie talkie let's put

yeah let's put some waffles some sugar some whipped cream I love that I'm not against that at all but anyway it bothered me a little no no

and maybe someone else would look at it and go no that's a plate of something to me it looked green it almost looked like there were green beans in it and I was

here's a fancy word I was nonplussed look it up people nonpluss and I was, here's a fancy word, I was nonplussed. Look it up, people. Nonplussed? I was very, oh. Enchanté. Enchanté.

Well, we talked about, it was fun to pitch on and I say like it was, it was not me. It was, it was the writing staff. It was fun to pitch on what Tammy 1's magical

witchcraft spell of Iran was going to be like, right? It's compared to that sex crazed version of Tammy too. And it made sense to make him this neutered man. Well, it's totally opposite. Yeah. Especially since we're going to soon meet Ron's mom, right? The original Tammy, it's fun to picture like, okay, if Tammy too makes him this extreme animalistic beast. What is the opposite of that, right? What is this like neutered babe in a way is the Ron with Tammy 1.

That to me is the brilliance of it. Yeah. He can be so manipulated in different ways by these crazy people. And that's why Tammy 2 is scared of her, right? The fact that Tammy 2 at the end of season 3, she wants to get the hell away from Tammy 1. Oh, she hears Tammy 1 and she's out. Yeah, she's gone. I got to get out of the way from this lady.

I love that. And also, I love when they do hook up with Tammy 2 to try to get her to help. And she just looks at Andy. Oh, what's up with this tall drink of water? Yeah, she can't help it. She just can't. She is, God bless her. God bless that man eating something.

Well, in our synopsis, because we have the sea story, and which is so fun. It's so fun because we have Anne and Chris filming a quick public service announcement. I say quick because it doesn't go quickly. A quick public service announcement about diabetes, but the overly enthusiastic Chris spends all day doing countless takes,

making Anne wonder why she even dated him in the first place. This little story is interesting. It lives on this weird little island, right? It's like we have Anne in the public health office now. We get to do work stories with her. We also have spent a lot of time with she and Chris in storylines when they were dating. It's fun now to see

Anne and Chris in this new light, but it's this weird little story. It could have been slotted into any other episode. It had nothing to do with the other storylines. There was no acknowledgement even. But that happens in writing where you have this A story, this main story that really tickles you

and you're like, this is our story. And then you also have, like in this case, we had this Entertainment 720 arc about five or six episodes long and we need to service that in every episode. And then you're like, who's left over? And this happens a lot. You'd have these storylines

and there would be a little group of writers who would say, okay, your task is come up with, pitch on like 30, 20, 30 different ideas of a storyline that involve these people who just didn't make it in this episode into one of the first two stories. And then you get moments like this. And in this case, it was Anne and Chris. Yeah. And so I say all that to say that I loved getting to see the looks that Rashida gave about Chris Traeger. This character who she fell deeply for, who she had like an early midlife crisis about, right? Who dyed her hair over him after.

All this stuff. It's so funny to be like, I dated that guy? Yeah. He's so funny to be like, I dated that guy. It's so intense. It made me think about the, just in dating, in life, in romance, where you find this person, you fall for them, and you love all these idiosyncrasies about them. Right? I love the way they do this. I love, oh my God, I love this with the way they, you know way they twirl their hair or they ask for more cheese at the restaurant or whatever that is. And then you break up with them or it ends.

You break up with them. They break up with you. Whatever. It's over. And all the things that used to be like, this is why I love you are the things that are like, this is why I can't stand you. If he asks for one more piece of cheese, I'll effing kill him. You're just over it. Exactly. It fasc just over it. Exactly.

It fascinates me. But also, he is very much, because I don't know the classic definition of a narcissist, but when you think of a narcissist, it's someone who's very self-involved. And that very much is Chris, but he's also very kind. He doesn't want to hurt people's feelings and stuff. I don't know. Is he technically, would you say he's a narcissist or is that too big of a word for him? I don't know.

I think he has narcissistic tendencies. Tendencies. Yeah. I think that's probably the way to go. Yeah. I'm not Dr. Richard Nygaard, Chris Traeger's eventual therapist to be able to analyze that. We all need a Nygaard. Yeah.

But when Anne presents him with this idea, he is immediately on board to the point where, well, where's the script? And she's like, well, I just asked you. Like, I didn't even know if you were going to do this. Yeah. But he's go, go, go, go, go. And within an hour, they're gone. Yeah.

And it goes and it goes. And God bless Anne because she's ready to kill him. Oh, yeah. And I love how he's so intense that, you know, that there's a moment where he winds up listing the Spice Girls because he's so excited to be in the PSA. He gets caught up in his own thoughts. He references the phrase magic. It's magic time, which is what Jack Lemmon would say quite often before doing a take. It's just.

And he screams. He goes, let's go, people. And they cut to Anne. It's just me. There's nobody else here. He has created a whole world in his head. So cut to Anne. It's just me. There's nobody else here. He has created a whole world in his head. Oh, so funny, though. It's so funny.

And when he's so intense. And we can't forget, the reason he's doing this is because the old guy who was his counterpart before or was doing this was 46 years old and had to retire because of diabetes and other terrible things. And Chris is very much like, well, that's too bad, but this makes perfect sense in this town. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And that guy we should talk about, Mike Schur, if you were here, would want us to call out names like this. The name of the guy in the video that they're talking about with adult onset diabetes, Walt Morfling. Okay. Tell us, how does that name come up? Because I know Mike is known for his names.

So is he someone who did that or do you think that's a pitch? Well, eventually it becomes a thing where the writers know the names are going to be this way. They're going to be silly and silly billies. And so you wind up, I don't know if it's Mike's name, Walt Morfling, but it got to the point where it clearly was that these other people, these other characters are going to have weird

names. And it's twofold. I want to speak about two things. One is, it tickled Mike in the room that when you'd go on IMDb or wherever to look at a list of credits of an actor, especially character actors who jump around from so many things and they fill out the space of these movies and shows, you'd see like Man 2 or Arresting Officer, right?

Or Charging Nurse or whatever that is. And so it was like first, or they'd be like Helen, Sue, Daniel, Mike, just names, just human names. And it's funny to think about, or Walt Morflay, or Fiona Lurpis, or there's one character, Judy Zapos, which is just Zappos, the company backwards and forwards twice. Oh my God. company backwards and forwards twice. Oh my God. And it's just, and so you get to be like, here you are, you're arresting officer two, you're nurse three, you're Walt Morfling. Yeah. Who? Wow. I will tell you after Parks, after Parks was over and then life goes on and you start getting other jobs. You know, I was always pretty blessed before Parks, you know, I did a lot of guest spots and all this kind of stuff well then parks ends and then it becomes where you know we'd get a call would jim be doing

would he you know you get a lot of offers rather than having to fight for every job which was a gift and still a gift and amazing but if it said like the character was husband too oh yeah i'd be like if because if it was a good role, I was still into it. But I'm like, they got to give him a name. They got to give him a name. I just don't want to do anything but name. I have to have a name. And you're a character.

Your character on Parks had like 30,000 names. 30,000 names. Of course you need a name. But I need it. So now I need names. Yeah, I get it. Because if you look up on my IMDB, there's over 200 credits. Anyway, the, I digress.

No, that's interesting. No, it didn't feel like you were digressing. Yeah, no, I digress. No, but please, early on, husband, mechanic, cleaner, like no names. So now I have to have a name. Well, one of the things speaking speaking of names and Mike Shore, which is that I remember in the early days of the creation of Parks and the naming of characters, like first of all, Leslie Knope.

It sounds like a comedy name, right? Yeah. It is. But it's stuck and it makes sense. The longer you hear something, the more normal it is. There was this other thing where the character of Mark Brandanowicz, that name, I remember Mike and Greg, but Mike talking about, well, that's what people's last names are like.

You don't have like Mark Hunters. You're sure you have Mark Hunters and you don't have Mark Smith. Sure you have Mark Smith. But you also have people have names like Brandanowicz. Yes. You have last. Yes. The human.

Wojahowskis. These names are out there. Yeah. The human... Wojahowskis. Yeah, the... These names are out there. Yeah, the lexicon of surnames is extreme. Yeah. And he's like, yeah, but you could have a Leslie Knope and an Ann Perkins and an Andy Dwyer and a Mark Brandanowicz. And those are all human names. And I think that was the seed that eventually became how we got to Walt Morfling and Judy's Apostle.

Well, I love it. If that was the seed, I love it because I love how they got there. Can I jump back? Because I feel like I had written myself a note that I wanted to bring up earlier in the episode. Aziz goes to Ben to say, you know, ask him to get help with 720. Yeah. It kind of broke my heart because Aziz sat down and Ben thought

we have this friendship. Yeah. And it really, and it really, I gotta tell you, I got, oh hell, because Aziz was using them, you know, and, and, and they all become stronger as time goes on, but it broke my heart for Ben when he realizes, oh, this is just. You need my brain. You need my brain. But I do love when he realizes the form that he wants him to look up, he really enjoys doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was good.

But I don't know. It kind of broke my heart. And then there's another episode, which we'll get you know when ben is having just a sad time i don't know if it's adam his performance whatever but he breaks my heart and this that really hit me when aziz was just using him and he caught on oh yeah i felt bad i know i i think yes one of my favorite ways uh the you know adam's characters and ben specifically these little moments, right? And he was really good at milking the anxiety, the stress,

the disappointment, the shock. Yes. But in small moves. In small moves. And also, every character chose how often they would acknowledge camera. He did it a lot.

I rarely did it. Right. Pratt did it a lot. Like, everyone did it different. But the way he did it was always just... It was lot. I rarely did it. Pratt did it a lot. Like, everyone did it different. But the way he did it was always just, it was perfect. I know. I don't know. I think everyone found their groove with the camera.

I hope things work out for him. I hope it works out. Yeah, you never know. You never know. He's just making, you know, claymation movies, I guess, somewhere in the basement. Three-second claymation movies. We'll get there. three second we'll get there

so in our synopsis Leslie asks Ron second ex-wife Tammy to Megan Mullally for help

but even she is scared of Tammy one after Tammy one attacked her with acid acid dear god who has acid

lying around they decide this isn't like a Batman villain like backstory here they decide to ask Ron's survivalist mother, Tamara, Paula Pell, nicknamed Tammy, or Tammy Zero, for help.

Tammy Zero challenges Tammy One to a prairie drink-off of highly alcoholic Swanson family mash liquor. But Tammy Zero says Ron will return to the farm forever if she wins. Leslie enters the drinking contest to save Ron from his mother and his ex-wife, but the liquor immediately makes her too drunk to continue. So Ron

finally fed up with people controlling him and moved by his friend standing up for him, chugs the jug dry and tells both Tammys to leave him alone. Well, first of all, Tammy Zero manipulated Leslie because Leslie did not know Tammy had plans to bring Ron back home. Right. She thinks I found Ron's bomb. She's going to help us.

She's going to be great. I mean, she's this... No, but she's a Tammy, Jim. If there's a Tammy in Ron's life, they're going to use him, but not lose him or abuse him. Not lose him. Yeah. And actually, I'm going to say it wouldn't have been pound town for her that I had mentioned earlier. I really appreciate you clarifying. I don't know if that needed clarification. I think it did. I truly think it did. I was on set. that needed to be cleared up. I don't know if that needed clarification. I think it did. I truly think it did. I was on set. I got to be there when this battle happened.

And it was amazing. Number one, because I love Paula Pell. And I had known her. So that is lovely. Whenever you know someone on set who's also just someone you're just a big fan of. And then here comes Patricia Clarkson, who is Patricia Clarkson. So I'm in awe of her. It was just really one of those great days on set.

Poor Nick had to drink a lot of water. It's just the nature of the beast. I would have loved to been able to do that because there's something, I don't know if it's, I don't know, it's probably showing off. I don't know. But I would love to prove that, yes, I could drink that whole jug. I could do that. Yeah.

Jim O'Hare could do that. You mean the jug of alcohol? The jug of alcohol, even though it's not alcohol. No, I understand. Yeah. But anyway, that was one of those days on set where you're just like, what is going on? How am I here? How am I like in this group of people?

How am I here? How am I like in this group of people? And then Amy being so, excuse my language, fucking brilliant with the drunk routine. I know. Her drunk cracks me up. Oh, my gosh. The way you described that set that day, it's kind of like describing like a fever dream to be like, so I was just on the set of Parks and Recreation. And, you know, it's really crazy. But like, of course, Amy Poehler was there.

But Paula Pell, I mean, you know, Paula Pell was there. And this is going to sound really, really fucking weird, but like, Patricia Clarkson was there. It was also there, yes.

And you're like, this is a fever train. You're describing a weird train. This couldn't be real. This couldn't happen. Yeah. So those kind of days, and the gift of parks

was that there were so many of those days. Yeah. So many of those days. But this was a really, really fun one. And the fun one was off the charts. It was ridiculous. These fun runs, you know, we've all, all I've heard all of us say it because people are like, it looks like you guys are improv-ing most of the show. No, no, no, no, no. The writing is so strong. That's mostly what makes the, the, the cut.

And also the fun runs would last 20 minutes for one scene that's going to get three on air. But that was an exceptionally fun day, a really fun day. And me, Jerry just got to sit back and watch. Yeah, I have no agency in this. I just get to be a fun observer of comedy brilliance. Exactly.

And I know you wrote it down in the notes, but Amy with the pants, pants, pants. Oh, everybody pants now? Pants, pants, pants. Everybody pants now. Is that not one of the great Leslie drunk moments? Oh, my God. Well, first of all, there's many great Leslie.

Because, you know, they'll tell you, doing drunk, acting drunk is not easy. Because people immediately just think they're going to do this. Well, it's really not just that. No, I can tell. Oh, no, I don't think I do it well. I will admit that. Amy has nailed it.

Amy has figured it out. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I also like especially when she does it with another person. Like when she and Rashida are drunk in the fight or in the pilot when they're in her office celebrating the committee being formed. And it's really fun to see that energy. It's a fun, also because Leslie's character like lets go of that, those inhibitions,

that thing that she's building to be like a certain type of person. She's just silly. Yeah, just silly. She's just, you know, you talked, Jim, about Nick having to drink all that water, that jug. Let's talk about that moment. Because if you go and watch this episode on Peacock to 20 minutes, 10 seconds, I know you can't see this, guys, but I have this still up here for us to look at.

I know you can't see this, guys, but I have this still up here for us to look at. And it is Nick, it's Ron, holding the jug in this way where he picks it up in a certain way. He lifts it. He's holding it between two fingers, but instead of putting it up to his mouth and turning, he flips it the opposite direction. And almost like he is a human water dispenser, right? Where you're going to go to the office to get something. And he holds it and he drinks it.

Why does he do that? Is that the way to do it? Because that's how you drink a jug. I was watching it. That's how you drink a jug. Today's episode of Parks and Rec. It's how you drink a jug with one hand. Otherwise, he would have had to hold it. This is a heavy jug.

He would have had to do this. You do this. The weight ends up on your wrist, and then you can do that. You've jugged before. I have, dude. Let me tell you a couple of things about Jim O'Hare. He's shockingly good looking, number one. Humble. Humble as all hell. No, but in college, and I'm not saying I'm proud of any of this, but I was the fraternity chugger. And I can tell you, I know how to hold a jug. And whether it was beer or grain alcohol or whatever the hell else was in that,

God knows what went in my gullet. But that is how you hold a jug. So I'm guessing Nick had either experienced that himself. Yeah. Because it's about the weight. It's all about the weight. And it's a better camera angle rather than him doing this. We have him just with the one arm cameras.

I feel stupid now for not knowing. Well, you are. Does that also tell you a bit about my lack of being like the fraternity or campus chugger? Like I was the like, I'm going to, I'm going to have some tea

and talk about film. I didn't have much tea. Yeah. I did not have, at 1130, when class was out, we were at the bar and not saying it's

what anyone should do or whatever, but this is what happened. You know, I'm like rushing home to watch episodes of the West Wing and you're like,

where's the nearest tap? Wow. My point is he did it exactly how he should have done. And I'm proud of him and I'm proud of us for having him. Just so we know, what they were drinking, Ron literally says, we use it to burn warts off mules. Right. That's what they were drinking. What a specific thing to create then, right?

It's like we need to spend time creating this liquor. And here's what we're going to do with it. It's so awful that it can burn off warts. Yeah, yeah. Well, good for them. Well, listen, this episode is chock full of a lot of stuff. And we're not going to be able to talk about all of this. But little moments like that, little moments like the way he holds the jug,

to the way April reacts to Tammy 1 walking in, to just the little looks Rashida gives about how crazy Chris is, to Ben's little looks to camera about Tom asking. These little moments in this episode tickle me a lot. these little moments in this episode tickle me a lot they really I love that this world now is so fertile

to have these moments that as little a moment like that will make you laugh and be as pleased as the fact that Ron walks in one day in the office like wearing a sweater from like Old Navy and just happy-go-lucky like big comedy moments are as fun to me

as these little comedy moments. But I also think it's the reason why people keep watching. There's so many moments you miss and there's always something new. And that's the perfect example. Like if you really just study Ben in this episode, there's so many great Ben, little Ben moments that are worth repeat.

Well, I think this is a wonderful episode. All the Tammy episodes are wonderful episodes. They get, you know, we really showcase the fun of Ron's character in these episodes. And any final thoughts from you about it? I do have my list of things that crap we didn't get to. Oh, yeah. And there's a couple, but one, just one that really struck out when Leslie takes her first sip of the hooch. Oh, yeah.

And she just goes, poison. Poison. Just the way she says it. And then when she tells Ron that he's going to go to jail because of the tax audit. Jail, Ron. Jail. Jail. Ron, you're going to go to jail.

Jail. Jail. Jail, Ron. Jail. Jail. And again, these are just things when I watch it, it just, they make me laugh so hard. Anyway, so I, and that could go on and on, because I...

Well, we should do that more often, Jim. We should do it. We have to have a segment at the end. Crap that we didn't get to. The crap we didn't get to. Yeah. Our episode MVP, our most valuable pun, Ian, who's yours?

Well, for me, this one was easy. Yeah. Ron Swanson, Nick Offerman. Yeah. And again, you've heard me say it, so I'm saying it again, how Nick was never given the opportunity to win an Emmy for this role. He's doing things that no one, another character hadn't, certainly wasn't on television at the time. And just the performance of being the Ron that we know to now being this, oh my God, just horribly uncomfortable nerd, like wimpy little, it's hard to watch, but it's wonderful to watch as far as performance

goes. So for me, it's Nick for the win. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it's easy for me to say Nick as well, and I will, but I'll also say that without the fun, weird Tammys that each Tammy episode brings to create that. So in here, I'll be like, let's give it also to Patricia Clarkson, whose character was fun to create, but who brought this other level to it to bring out this new Ron for us to see. Very valid.

And you know what, listeners, those listening to us, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Team Cocoa Podcast or by using the hashtag hashtag Parks and Rec Collection. Do you want to go

to the town hall? I think you do. We need to do a town hall. We need to do a town hall. We need to talk about this episode and hear from other people what they think of this episode. And should we do the town hall? Where, Jim?

Wow. This is an episode that spends a lot of time in the office except for... 720. 720. You know what? 720 is a party atmosphere. I say we do the town hall at 720. That's great because most town halls are parties.

Yeah. Yes. All right. So let's go to the Entertainment 720 offices and open our town hall because today's question comes from Riley, who says, My now husband refused to watch Parks and Rec because he didn't like The Office. Well, first of all, what the fuck is that about? What is that about? Let's just talk about that.

Let's end the question and be like, we have to do a deep dive. Move on from here. What is up with your husband? There are divorce lawyers out there. Get one on the phone. Yeah. Well, okay. Didn't like The Office.

Fascinating. But I eventually got him hooked with season four, episode two, Ron and Tammy's. Jim, that's what we're talking about right now. That's what we're here for. It was the old-fashioned Prairie Drink-Off and Leslie yelling, poison, that won him over. Absolutely. A few years later, we got married.

Congrats. In true Parks and Rec fashion with a fancy dinner party and a ceremony full of quotes from our favorite show. Awesome. What if the ceremony was just poison over and over again? Or like Ron, jail, jail husband, jail. Jail, jail husband. Okay, our question is this. How did non-traditional weddings become a theme in the Pawnee universe?

how did non-traditional weddings become a theme in the Pawnee universe? They made sense for the characters and within the story, but what was the conversation both in the writer's room and on set like for these events? Well, I'm going to put that to you then, because to me it just made sense for the characters. Yeah, yeah. But what did go on in the... Well, we talked about this a bit when we did the episode about the Andy and April's Fancy Party episode

about the writers retreat that we tend to do at the beginning of every season just to talk blue sky ideas about where we wanted to take the characters and someone pitched on that retreat, what if they got married? What if Andy and April got married?

And you know the first reactions I think were some being like that's hysterical too that doesn't make sense we can't rush it to let's enjoy this romance blossom according to these characters would do this that's why it does work and I think that

is where we landed these characters would do that in fact they're going to have a run where they talk about, let's get divorced and get married all over again. They don't care what is traditional about tradition. But I will tell you, because I know you guys did this episode

before I was here, which, garbage. Anyway, I cried on set when aubrey april was walking down the aisle to mary pratt it was so emotional it was so right for those characters even though leslie was 100 right don't get married what are you doing your kids but everything she said was right until you see it happening and you go these two crazos this is perfect. And I truly got emotional that day. It was amazing. So Riley and your now husband, that's it. That's it. Because you can love it no matter what. You can enjoy it if you know the characters. You can enjoy the weirdness if you're just in the

mood for a comedy episode. And this show was about doing things that broke the mold, right? There's a Galentine's Day. This is a day about celebrating your female friendships the day before this traditional Hallmark kind of holiday. That's why we do things like that because it fits in the universe. So I'm so glad that you got to love it and be inspired to then put a little bit of that into your wedding. Thank you, Riley. Thank you, Riley, and you're now a husband.

Yeah. And if you people have questions for us about these episodes, about the series, you want to know from Jim, like, what's your favorite I don't know, movie? I have a couple. Well, let's see if someone asks us about it.

See, ask. I'll give you the answer. Open book. Write these in your reviews for us because you should be giving us five-star reviews wherever you're listening because we're five stars. We're five-star level. You should be fighting that you want more than five. You should be contacting the places going, I want to be able to give more than five stars. We have a show that breaks the mold.

They need more than five stars. They need more stars. Text this episode to your group chat. Give us reviews. Thank you to our team. Thank you to our engineer, Joe Samuel.

Thank you to our... Joe! Joe! Joe! Sean Doherty, our producer. John! Jim O'Hare,

the guy who they somehow brought in to sit across from me. Jim. Who doesn't really know what's going on. Jim. Yay. Jim.

I'm glad they got the ankle bracelet off you for this. Well, it's going back on. We had an incident over the weekend. Go ahead. Jim, this is our second episode together. Wow. There's going to be so more. Oh, my God.

I know. Well, from all of us here at Parks and Rec Collection, goodbye from Pawnee. Bye. This has been a Team Coco production.