Parks and Recollection - The Master Plan (S2E23)

Episode Date: March 29, 2022

We've made it! Today Alan and Rob talk about an incredible turning point in the Parks and Recreation universe—the 23rd episode of season 2. In "The Master Plan" Everyone is excited about celebrating April's 21st birthday except Leslie, who is preoccupied with the prospect of her budget being cut by the state auditor's office. On today's episode you'll hear the secret to the Chris Traeger cadence, the origin of the "Ann Perkins!" tag line, and the classic Tom Cruise / Kenny G synthesis! Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: [e-mail] Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: [phone] Leslie excitedly prepares to present the parks department budget proposal, or "master plan". However, city manager Paul (Phil Reeves), announces due to Pawnee's huge budget deficit, all proposals will be postponed indefinitely. State auditors have been sent by the governor to solve the impasse, which makes Leslie fear severe cuts. Ron is delighted because he hates any government spending, which leads him to heated arguments with Leslie. Meanwhile, April is turning 21 and is having her birthday party at Tom's favorite nightclub, the Snakehole Lounge. Andy debates whether to ask April to be his girlfriend, but worries about the age difference because he is 29. Ann has broken up with Mark, and they meet for lunch to discuss the end of their relationship. Mark is confused as to why Ann has decided to break up with him because they never fought and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Ann explains that their lack of fighting was actually a bad thing because it meant their relationship had no passion.State auditors Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt soon arrive, and the extremely cheerful Chris paints an optimistic picture of how they will fix the budget, but leaves the details to the more serious Ben. When Ben explains they will need to slash the budget of every department by nearly 40 or 50 percent, Leslie angrily lashes out at Ben, who responds to her that the poorly managed government is to blame. Later, at April's party, Tom desperately tries to pick up women, but to no avail, while Leslie and Ann get extremely drunk together. Andy and April appear to be getting along, but when he goes to the bar to get a drink for April, a drunken Ann flirts with him. An upset April flirts with Tom's annoying friend Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) to make Andy jealous. Andy gets upset, believing he misread April's signals all along, and April later regrets what she did. Ben arrives at the party and tries to smooth things over with a drunken Leslie, but she again angrily lashes out at him.The next morning, Ann fears she made out with someone at the party but cannot remember who it could be. She eventually learns she made out with Chris, who shows a romantic interest in her. Tom returns to the Snakehole Lounge to close his tab, where he meets the bartender, Lucy (Natalie Morales), who makes fun of his efforts to pick up women. The two flirt and Lucy gives Tom her phone number.Back at the Parks Dept., Leslie decides to apologize to Ben, and he invites her out for a beer. As they finally start to get along, Leslie realizes Ben was the 18 year old mayor of a small town called Partridge, Minnesota which he promptly drove into the ground and that Ben became a state auditor to prove he can be responsible and restart his political career. Later, at the parks department budget meeting, Chris and Ben reveal Pawnee's budget crisis was far worse than previously thought and that the Pawnee government will shut down until further notice, horrifying Leslie and delighting Ron.

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 Welcome to Parks and Recollection. I am Rob Lowe, joined by the wonderful Alan Yang. How are you doing, Alan? I'm good. How are you, Rob Lowe? Well, I'm very excited about this episode, as you can imagine. Why is that?

It's been a long time coming, because today we are doing The Master Plan. The episode was written by Mike Schur himself and directed by the great Dean Holland. The original air date was Season 2, Episode 23, May 13, 2010. This is the episode where everyone is excited about celebrating April's 21st birthday, except Leslie, who is preoccupied with the prospects of her budget being cut by the state auditor's representatives. And who might those be? Who might they be? Representatives.

And who might those be? Who might they be? Well, if you could cast anybody, if you could cast any two people to come out of the bullpen at this point in the show's life, Adam Scott and John Stamos. Stamos, David Hasselhoff, you know, the options are endless. Adam Scott and Jason Bateman. Jason Patrick.

Adam Scott and Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. But no. Yeah, I have your answer for you, Rob, in our notes section, K-N-O-T-E-S. The master plan marked the first appearance of soon-to-become regulars Adam Scott and Rob Lowe. Yes. Rob's your first. Are you excited? It's your first appearance of the show, Rob.

We got there. We got there. We got there. I've been so waiting for this. Don't forget this. I also laugh at my credit in the episode, which is it says Adam Scott, and then it says, and introducing Rob Lowe. Yes, that's our second nope's note. If you see the credits, take note of that. It's a little in-joke, because Rob has done a few

shows and movies before this one, so introducing is not traditionally the credit for him, but that's what we did. It was a little in-joke for the audience. Yeah, new kid on the block you know you gotta you you you did me you did me a solid yeah credit welcome to the world welcome to the showbiz welcome to showbiz uh and two more notes notes andy refers to john ralphio as ralph macchio ralph had his breakout role in the outsiders 1983 alongside rob it's a meta shit that's a meta shit ralph macchio can currently be seen in cobra kai there he is um and then the final notes note in this episode six characters meet their eventual spouses they are anna chris leslie and ben and tom and lucy talk about a master plan

look at that look at that writing was that by you guys couldn't have known that no i think a little it's a little bit coincidental but it's also a little bit by design because we wanted you know we'll get into a little bit more in terms of the construction of the episode but certainly you know we had something in mind for leslie and ben and we felt like oh rob lowe's in the show it makes sense for him to have something maybe burning a little even hotter than that other one because that was a slow burning romance right we were playing the long game with that one so we're like oh it'd be fun if we you know hooked chris up with ann and that that didn't come about till later in the process i believe

that came up after the table read and then tom and lucy you know i think we we're at a point we're like let's stop making tom so pathetic and let's start, you know, working on his character arc. And so he meets Lucy, played by the wonderful Natalie Morales, very talented actor and director as well. Directed two movies in the last year, I think. I thought she was so funny in this. Shall we get into this episode? It's so exciting. We have a lot to talk about. We have a lot to talk about. So Leslie excitedly prepares to present the Parks Department's budget proposal or master plan. This is a real thing, by the way. The master plan is a real thing. However, the city manager announces that due to Pawnee's huge budget deficit, all proposals will be postponed indefinitely. State auditors are on their way on orders from the governor to solve the impasse. Leslie has sheer terror over the likelihood of severe cuts, while Ron is as delighted as Ron gets.

So, you know, we kind of talked about the genesis of the episode in the writer's room a lot. And, you know, at the time, it was kind of ripped from the headlines because a number of states were shutting down schools, parks, and other services due to the global recession. For those of you old enough, you know uh the government was always kind of on the verge of shutting down it was like it was it was a real thing to save money i remember there you know i don't know if you remember that rob but sometimes there would be almost like a congressional shutdown like a national government shutdown so this was kind of inspired by that in some ways yeah every uh it seems yeah it's a story that happens in cycles

you know shutting down governments and uh yeah and it's and it's funny because um the notion that two bean counters would show up and shut everything down is uh it only in Pawnee right yeah it's so funny because it's like it's like on paper it's like the most boring setup possible but it just it just works right that's sometimes the ethos of the show it's like let's take something that shouldn't work it's the most boring setup possible, but it just works. That's sometimes the ethos of the show. It's like, let's take something that shouldn't work. Instead of two cops coming in or two FBI agents, it's like, what if they're auditors? That shouldn't work, but there's something about that makes it funnier than it it was going to be you guys, I think it was like, should it be one person or two people? I think all of that kind of got discussed. And we really, Mike really shaped the characters around who we cast. And so that's kind of how that came about. Rob, do you remember coming in and meeting the writers and meeting the staff of the show? meeting the writers and meeting the staff of the show yeah so it it's a sort of interesting long story which i'll make brief um i had just finished doing um a show called brothers and sisters which is successful ran for like seven seasons or whatever the hell it did and it was super super fun but it was a like a like it was like a version of this Is Us, like super straight, super like, you know, overwrought family stuff and not a laugh to be found anywhere. And I really was like, I needed to move as far away from that as I possibly could.

And there was a minute where there was talk that I was going to come on to 30 Rock and do something as Alec Baldwin's nemesis, brother, whatever the hell it would be. And that very quickly did not happen. But the network said, would I be interested in coming on to Parks and Rec? And, you know, there's always two sides to every story. and you know there's always two sides to every story i'm sure what was going on in the network talking to mike and mike talking to the network was probably a different iteration of it but on my end of it that's how it all played out and i was like oh i love parks and rec i would that could be really cool so um we had a get to know you meeting and i came in and i met with mike and i remember amy was uh made a surprise appearance which was awesome i'd never met her and she was super sweet and just you know delightful and

mike there was no character there was no idea what i would be nothing it was like would you come on do we want you to come on what what do you think what What do you, like, it was sort of for Mike and I both to decide how we felt about it, but there wasn't an idea at all. I'm sure Mike had an idea. And somehow we started talking about Tom Cruise. I don't know how we started talking about Tom Cruise, but we did. And I did an impersonation of Tom,

who's super enthusiastic super positive and super specific and super focused and i did this thing of him a bit i do of him but it's based on him actually doing it one time on the set of the outsiders and he was a kid this isn't even tom movie star powerful guy this is tom first movie and he was ordering a water at a restaurant and he was like the waiter came up he's like like a water i'd like it in a glass and i'd like with a lemon i'm like cold and like but like super focused. And Mike loved that so much. And that was the beginning of Chris Traeger. Then later on, I threw in elements of Kenny G of all people.

You got to tell more of that. You got to talk more about that. What elements of Kenny G? Kenny G is a longtime family friend. And Kenny is the most positive person i know and and and only really interested in what goes on within six inches of outside of his own body so he's he's very very he's very he's very excited about everything he's like oh like um i remember at one point i did i had a line about raisins in the show and I said, it was raisins, nature's candy. And I was like, that's, that would be what Kenny G would say. Like, like he's that kind of guy. He's excited about it. Oh, raisins. I like raisins. Oh, um, oh, it's sunny out today. Hello. It's sunny. I like that. And that's, so I just used that little bit of Kenny, that little bit of Tom Cruise, you know, and layered it over what Mike wrote as Traeger. I love that. The classic Tom Cruise, Kenny G synthesis. You know, it's that old thing. The thing you do, as you do with your two close friends.

Well, you know, the most famous synthesis story, just quickly ever, was they anthony hopkins was asked how he came up with hannibal lecter you know what his my synthesis was tom cruise kenny g you know what his synthesis was for hannibal lecter the computer how from 2001 with katherine hepburn with olivier as the entertainer that's insane that's like it's like, it's crazy. It's crazy. Like if you know those references, you go, oh yeah, I actually get that. You can do the math. And that impression,

I love to do the impression of you doing the impression of Tom Cruise because it's this cadence and it really is the Traeger cadence, man. It really is. And it's so funny to hear you talk about it from your point of view as the actor, right? As the performer and how you shape the character and how you're pulling from your personal experience. Because that's always the best stuff, right?

It's like, you know these people. You know, you know how they see the world and how they phrase things and their rhythm and their cadence, like we said. And then from the writer's perspective, what we're introducing and what we're incorporating into the part, and always it builds, like you said, like you're putting Tom and Kenny together and we're putting together, you know, things from our lives, right? So I remember, you know, it's funny that I say I impersonate your impersonation because sometimes at the table reads, if you weren't able to do it, I would read Chris Traeger at the table reads.

And there was an element also early on where Mike was like, oh, I think Chris should be a health nut. He's very positive, all this stuff. And I had brought in a pull-up bar into the writer's room office. And I had it, my office adjoined the writer's room where everyone met. And so I had this pull-up bar and I put it up in my doorway and just do pull-ups all day because it was like, you're in register room for you know 12 hours a day you're not exercising so i would do pull-ups while people i'm sure this was so annoying people were pitching and people were talking about the story and i'd just be doing pull-ups and so we gave that uh trait to chris trager as well so it literally you know his first episode in this episode he's doing pull-ups in the background while Leslie's talking to Ben. It was kismet because I, at the time, was training for the cover of Men's Fitness.

Yeah, so you could do those pull-ups. He's really doing the pull-ups. Every guy knows when they were in their most peak shape of their lives, particularly when they get to be in the mid-50s. That was it. I'll never forget it was this episode this episode is me at my absolute peak i was 47 i was training for the cover men's fitness which i did while we were shooting this and it just so happened that you wrote a scene where i'd do continuous pull-ups in the background because otherwise i wouldn't have been able to do

it you're doing them so effortlessly it's's like, it looks like it's CGI. It looks like someone is lifting you up because I was like, literally in the background, like I still do pull-ups by the way, Rob, I still do pull-ups every day. I try to do like a hundred pull-ups a day, but you're doing them really effortlessly. I do, I do sets of 20. It's not that impressive because I, I'm not a super heavy guy, but yeah, it's, it's, yeah, it's really great. And, and I don't know, we have a lot more to talk about this episode.

Let's keep going with the synopsis and we can talk about you and Adam and all that. Go ahead, Greg. Yeah, guys, before we move on, I have to tell you, Rob, you talking about your first time in the room inspired me just now to open up my notes from that first time you came in to see what we talked about. And not just that, but before when we knew you were going to join the show, what your character could have been if it wasn't an auditor for the state budget office. Lay it on us.

How do we bring two people in at the same time was a big question, right? Because it's not you coming in one time and Adam another time. So that was a big thing. How do we bring the two of you in? And one of the things for your character was potentially Adam would come in from the state, but you could have been the mayor or a new city manager. My favorite one that got a lot of traction was that you potentially were going to be the director of the library department, where you and Tammy Swanson had like a history together. where you and Tammy Swanson had like a history together. And all the library people are going to move into the parks offices. But then what was great is I get to see my notes. And what really settled on at the time is that you come in and you are just a good person. And one of the things that people are going to say is, you know, your character would say, I'm here to do this job. It's not personal, but I have to do this.

And I think from there is when most of the notes then spawned. Like, that was the genesis for so many people in the room. How do we then build a character around that notion of, like, I'm a good guy who has to do a job? And so, I then get to look at my notes from when you came into the room to meet with us. And the day before someone pitched that the character is a can-do positive tom cruise like and then you went and you did that uh the ordering of a glass of water bit um and you came up with by the way that your character should live to 150 and you said my genetic age is nothing close to my actual age which i think is incredible wow i love that you have those no i know that's like christmas morning it really is a great presence rob have you ever heard any of this information like i

know this is amazing to hear for me because a because you think of what might have been like what would if like if there was well anything other than chris trager as we know him is heartbreaking because we all love i mean including me i love chris trager as we know him is heartbreaking because we all love i mean including me i love chris trager so the notion of of some guy from the library go but that means there's no chris trager is sad but it's also like super like what would i have done with that i wonder what i would have come up with wouldn't have been kenny g and tom cruise i can tell you that yeah yeah or you you being tammy swanson's ex or you being the mayor or you being the city manager i mean the city manager is like know, it's a whole different job.

It's just a whole different, yeah. I'm going to give you one last bit just to put a bow on that, Rob, because you said there could have been no Chris Traeger. I have here what your name was decided to be. And for the longest time, your name was supposed to be Chris Melm. M-E-H-L-M. Chris Melm. M-E-H-L-M. Chris Melm? What?

And it's a classic Mike Schur. It's a classic Mike Schur moment. So, there you go, bud. Well, I remember getting a script where it was Chris Jaeger. Yes, it was Melm and then Jaeger. And then Jaeger didn't clear, I believe, legally. Yes. You know, for those of you out there,eger. And then Jaeger didn't clear, I believe, legally. Yes.

You know, for those of you out there, if you name a character on a TV show, you have to go through a whole legal process. You just can't make up a name and bingo, it goes on TV. So we ended up with Chris Traeger. But man, Chris Melm, you lucked out, man. Chris Traeger is much more the character, in my opinion. It could have been Chris Melm, the head of the library. Yes, exactly. Instead instead we got chris trager who is going to live to be 150 years old yes april's turning 21 and is having her birthday

party at tom's favorite nightclub the snakehole lounge andounge. Andy debates whether to ask April to be his girlfriend, but worries about the age difference because he's 29. Ann has broken up with Mark, and they meet for lunch to discuss the end of their relationship. Mark is confused as to why Ann has decided to break up with him, because they never fought and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Ann explains their lack of fighting was actually a bad thing, because it meant their relationship had no passion. We can talk a little bit more about how Mark actually, this is insane, Adam Scott originally

auditioned to play Mark. So, he had been on Greg and Mike's radar for a while. And that's another fascinating thing where we got to watch some of these auditions. And like, for instance, for the Ronon swanson character mike o'malley who's a great actor auditioned to play to play ron and and we watched offerman's audition and and mike o'malley's audition they were both great but of course they ended up casting nick and and you know as similarly adam auditioned to play mark and they ended up casting paul schneider but what a what a crazy you know if if if adam got cast as mark we'd never have been wyatt and it would have been totally different you know, if Adam got cast as Mark, we'd never have been Wyatt.

And it would have been totally different, you know? It just would have been a different show. I really like, it's so interesting watching this episode because Adam looks like such a baby. So, Adam, spoiler alert for this new show that I'm doing. I'm doing a new show with Maya Rudolph for Apple. And Adam's in that show. So, I've been editing Adam. And it's like, man, he just looks like a little kid in this one.

His hair is so funny. You look the same's like man he just looks like a little kid in this one his hair is so funny you look the same rob but adam adam looks like a baby adam adam just like he's got that like bed head and like he's just adorable in this i i found his i found when you guys walk in it just it's just it's just a great moment in the show you know it's like it's you guys are just it feels like you guys know the characters already and it's it's so early on you know it's so funny you say that uh having i just watched the show before we came into the studio to record this and what i was struck by is those care not so much ben is it's not that his character isn't formed because he's given an actual turn you guys write a turn for him but trager is fully formed like he walks in he's like oh there's fucking chris trager his first line is is like it's it's it's a it's an iconic line he's saying

people's names it's the first thing he does it's pretty crazy and then he's super positive right in the first scene well the point the point was a tom cruise thing interesting as we so as the character developed we moved away from the Tom Cruise of it all. The, the super like gnarly intensity we, that kind of went away. It was, it's funny as actors, sometimes you, what the key that gets you into a character is not what you need to sustain a character. And that helped me find it. But in the end, it wasn't the most interesting thing to play. So the pointing thing, which makes me laugh, it really made me laugh.

I am pointing in the background of a talking head in it, which makes me laugh in this episode. We moved away from that pretty quick, but it was a great way to introduce the character. It was a good physical bit. Yeah. And let's just get into that scene. It's in the conference, not the conference. It's in this sort of bullpen area. State auditors, Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt arrive. They're finally in the show. The extremely cheerful Chris paints an optimistic picture of how they'll fix the budget, but leaves the details to the more

serious Ben. When Ben explains they'll need to slash the budget of every department by nearly 40 to 50 percent, Leslie angrily lashes out at ben who responds to her that it's their poorly managed government that is to blame and you know you're exactly right when you guys walk in it's like you have that tom cruise intensity and over time it felt like that kenny g positivity took over a lot of it and a lot of our jokes were just like about how how you could spin everything in a positive way and mean it and be genuine and then i love i almost forgot about the the sort of element that you're so positive because you have this uh you know you had this heart condition and and that i felt like really humanized the character and and so you know that comes down the road but man it's it feels like it's all kind of you know falling into place

already in this episode adam is so funny and dry in this like i go where i look up okay and i am gonna bolt fail and then you cut immediately to me okay so we're gonna talk about how we're gonna cut it i i got physical agita watching him i feel like i've been in that i've lived in that moment whether it's you know sitting down with the studio executive who doesn't like the script i've written or whatever or you're like oh this is not gonna go well yeah adam is so funny he's so dry and so like we all know that guy yes in a meeting right and and it's to me it's it's a it's a testament to adam you know his range has how small he can be and be funny at the same time and then you see him in stepbrothers and he's super douchey and broad and big and hilarious and then you can play a super

you know dry dry character who's also funny in in ben and and and man it's it's a treat to watch and i think again kudos to mike you know a lot of credit has to go to mike because the way he built these two characters in opposition to each other using two very talented and very different performers in you and adam that that all takes forethought, you know, that sort of the way it all sort of coagulates and coalesces and you two coming in, it's really effective. And as you said, we'll get to the turn later in the episode for Ben, but man, you don't see it coming. And then he also gives you great stuff with Rashida later on. So it's really like, you know, really, really kudos to Mike for that. Because I remember, you know, Greg's notes were wonderful. And I also remember being in that like, you know, really, really kudos to Mike for that. Because I remember, you know, Greg's notes were wonderful.

And I also remember being in that room, you know, what do we do? You know, it's introducing two new characters in the show is not trivial. And we really thought about it a lot. And there was a lot of spirited debates. You know, I remember, you know, because man, it's a huge thing for a show. It's a huge thing for a show. And, you know, and i would defy anyone to say it didn't work because it works so and it just worked really well and it was almost like you

guys this is this is we talked about it before but it's almost like this is this this is the version of the show everyone kind of remembers and loves right yeah exactly it's you guys coming in you know and there are there are other shows in out there in tv where you remember specific years i mean i think i think look if you look at er you remember the years george clooney was on new york and then you know the show ran forever without him but when you think of er you think of those times and and it's like this this team was the team this was this was this was this was and i think it's for a lot of reasons not the least of which is when you guys had really

had the time to learn what show you were making you know i mean we've done a bunch of these episodes and if you you guys listeners you've been with us to the beginning you remember these the initial episodes my comments were it felt like you like a like a richard link ladder movie it didn't feel anything like parks and recreationreation to me. And now it's Parks and Rec. Yes. And I would say, you know, I love a lot of the season two episodes. I think the show's really hitting its stride.

And then we hit this run where you guys come in near the end of season two. And this run from Master Plan until the Harvest Festival episode in season three, like that run is to me, probably the show peaking, right? The show just kind of every firing and all cylinders and it starts, it kicks off with this episode, essentially. I mean, this starts that story arc. And then we, then again, we banged our heads against the wall trying to figure out how it resolves, man, I can't wait to talk about those episodes too. But, but you know, this run the end of season two, in the beginning of season three, that includes flu season, it includes, you know, the Harvest Festival includes Go Big or Go Home, all these episodes, you know, that felt like the show clicking on all cylinders to me. Question for you, Rob, how long was the process from the offer on the, I wanted to be on the show. And I think Mike knew that he wanted to have me on the show. So there was no hesitation, I don't think, on either part. But what we all did do was, because as you say, it's a huge thing. I mean, you hope, and you just don't know.

And it's a really cohesive team. Everybody's been working great together. And then you bring in, you know, people, you just don't know what the effect is. So they made a deal where I would do six episodes. And at the end of the six episodes, we would all sort of, you know, sit down and go, how do we like it? And we sort of could mutually go, eh, or whatever. And, um, I know I'm getting ahead in the episodes but um there was a moment in flu season which is coming up where i knew and mike knew i was staying and it was way before the sixth episode

yeah and i'm not i'm not even joking that's it's fascinating to hear i remember that sixth episode kind of whatever trial run on both sides you want to call it i literally i just had lunch with uh two of my college friends who i hadn't seen in 10 years or something and i mentioned that i was going to record with you later today and they were like when you get into the stop pooping episode because i say it to my kids like when everyone's pooping in our house when everyone's sick when anyone you know it's like they're like remember the stop pooping episode it's like yeah so so it's definitely a moment that that uh you know it kind of all it all came together the pooping moment it all came together but yeah i mean yeah and kudos to you and and adam both for really coming in and you know aside from the the jobs you guys did in the show you know you're right you didn't fuck up the chemistry

in the show because it was it's a good vibe so it's a good vibe set know, you've been the lead of shows. Adam had, you know, had a great career and it's like, you guys both came in and, and, and really it was seamless. It felt like to us and you guys were, you know, on your best behavior and, and, and just really, really killed it. So there's, I, I think it's super important for all actors to know what instrument they're playing in the orchestra is like is and what what the music is and you know i'm like you said i i you know i can be a lead in a show i can be supporting in a show it doesn't matter to me as long as the the the work is good and um but there are different we talked earlier in the last episode about amy poehler and and how she sets an example because

she's number one on the call sheet right right? And Chris Traeger's not. And so it's a different job. Like Amy's job, you know, is different than Chris's. My job now on 911 Lone Star is different than Chris's because I'm number one on that. And I like to be able to do both of them. And they both are equally satisfying, but they could not be more different yeah they're both fun i mean and i think from my side it's like there's a difference between being the showrunner and being on the staff being part of the team you know it's like

it's they're vastly and they're both fun you know they're both really enjoyable so um let's press on with the episode because it's a great one at april's party tom desperately tries to pick up women but to no avail meanwhile leslie and ann get extremely drunk together and extremely drunk extremely one of the great extremely yes a great trend in parks and rec episodes is people getting drunk and this is kind of a harbinger of things to come um andy and april appear to be getting along but when he goes to the bar to get a drink for April, a drunken Anne flirts with him. Upset and eager to make Andy jealous, April flirts with over-the-top and annoying Jean-Ralphio. It works, and Andy's bummed, believing he misread April's signals all along. Of course, April later regrets what she did, then arrives at the party and tries to smooth

things over with a drunken Leslie, but she again angrily lashes out at him. The next morning, Anne fears she made out with someone at the party, but can't remember who it would be. Anne eventually learns it was Chris, who shows romantic interest in her. Anne Perkins, he says. Tom returns to the snake hole lounge to close his tab where he meets Lucy, the bartender played by Natalie Morales. When Lucy makes fun of his efforts to pick up women, it's evidence these two have a flirty chemistry and tom gets her phone number i realized watching it this is the first time i said in ann perkins i go how did that become a thing how did ann perkins become a thing and i realized it's because of that scene um where you know we're not she's trying to figure out who she might have made out with and i come in and give her the finger guns and say ann perkins and it has a story purpose yeah has a story purpose it's a revelation

and it's the performance it's got a little tom cruise it's got the cadence you know there's a reason things become things don't come to me it's like things don't really become popular by accident you know i mean it's like it's because it hits it hits the first time we're re-watching this episode like yeah it hit that's why it's like that's why i. It hits the first time. We're re-watching this episode. Like, yeah, it hit. That's why. It's like, that's why I treat yourself hit or whatever. It's like, it still holds up. It's like, yeah, that's catchy. It's like, there's something fun about it.

It's so, you know, that Chris Traeger catchphrase is, that's one of them. And it holds up to me. I remember coming to this set. Why was I on the set on a scene that I wasn't shooting? All I remember is two memories of being on the set the first time. The first is after the meeting in the writer's room, Alan, you took me and showed me the set. And I'll never forget it because the set is spectacular. It's a spectacular set.

It's so real. It's so well done. It's so finely detailed. And I got to see the murals for the first time, which is, we know, make me laugh. And you were so great and so nice to me. And we, and I remember that really well, but then the first time I was ever on the set when they were working was at

snake hole on this episode. And I watched Rashida do her talking head where at the end of it, she's trying to get the straw into her mouth. You can't find the straw. And, um, I just will not, I'll never forget it. I'll just never forget her doing that. And't find the straw and um i just will not i'll never forget it i'll just

never forget her doing that and i just remember also how many takes they gave her to do it and like gave her you know to try new things and i thought oh this is going to be super fun yeah i mean you know these these actors get to play yes because because now having worked on parks and then going on to direct and all this stuff it's like we're not doing dolly shots we're not doing inserts we're not you know it's it's just we're just shooting people right it's handheld we're shooting people and that's why you can get 10 takes of a scene instead of two you know what i mean that's and that's when you get some gold too you get people improvising you get people being loose and having fun and you know

rashida adding the you know her trying to find the straw and the glass or whatever um but yeah i remember i think mike assigned me to give you a tour of the set because he's like yeah this guy's a writer but he's not scared of talking to people so he could go talk to rob and he won't be intimidated but i was like yeah that's cool man it's just like a a fun thing he's like this is the dude in wayne's world i was like i remember all this stuff right it's like but but yeah it it, it was really fun. And, you know, I'm seeing here in the notes, this is actually interesting. You know, Rob Lowe's kissing scene, this is the information, Rob Lowe's kissing scene with Rashida Jones took place on March 17th, which was his first day of shooting and also his birthday. Do you remember that? I do. I do.

I do. Because I remember it was, you know, it's always fun to have your birthday. And Amy said, Oh my God, it's your birthday and you're shooting. Isn't that amazing?

Have you ever? And she goes, have you ever shot on your birthday before? And I was like, yeah. 50 times. And he was like, Amy immediately did the math.

She's like, Oh fucking, of course he has yeah which made me so sweet yes i remember 200 credits on his imdb he's probably shot before she was so sweet that's and it was in like um and i remember oh i know the other thing is i kiss rashida i'll never forget this well first of all the first time you kiss rashida jones you're going to remember it a and b we it was a nighttime exterior and i was still getting used to how you shoot parks and rec and sometimes you didn't even know where the cameras were and i'm coming from a traditional tv show brothers and sister but that that camera's right up in your mug yes dolly i

mean you or these these amazing the camera work on parks is so amazing because it's like a documentary people are everywhere and i did not know where the camera was there was a camera down the street there was a camera in the back of the cab there were cameras everywhere and yet nowhere and i thought this is insane these people are nuts and so i just remember kissing rashida out in the street and going, are they filming this? Where's the camera? That's fantastic. And like, that is the ethos of the show, right? And the camera ops in this case, you know, I believe this season was probably Tom McGill as the A-cam and Shauna Hagen as the B-cam.

You know, they become like DPs. They become cinematographers because they're making a lot of creative choices. And I think of the best scenes, like the cameras aren't up in your face. You know, it's like you're playing it like a documentary because it's a mockumentary and and you want the the actors to feel like they're actually in it so i think that's actually a boon to the actors you know um you know a little background about why chris and ann even started getting together you know after the first table read we had of this episode it was clear that amy and adam had some chemistry and

we kind of had a plan in mind for a long-term arc romantic storyline between the two of them. But we also knew that that was going to be a slow burn and it wasn't going to, you know, ignite immediately. So, in the rewrite leading up to the shooting draft, we developed the romantic storyline between Chris and Anne. And it was another way, by the way, of tying you into the show and just having more spokes on the wheel and having us have the ability to have Chris' storylines and Chris and Anne's storylines because, you know, again, you just want to tie people in the show as much as possible

and have there be a reason why people are together. So I thought that was a smart decision to make. For sure. Back to the synopsis. Back at the parks department leslie apologizes to ben who in turn invites her out for a beer i want to talk about this because i think this is a great piece of acting on his part truly talk about a guy who can do it all i mean that look i know i'm not supposed to stop at the middle synopsis but you know what i'm gonna do it i'm taking control um he his look where he goes you want to go for a beer is that's people won't talk about acting that's amazing acting yeah he's the math that he does in his head to come up with the fact that

he's gonna do ask her this question out of nowhere it's it's one of adam's best moments it's i love every time i watch this episode i'm i'm always struck with that that moment it's phenomenal and i'm glad you brought up that moment i'm gonna interrupt the synopsis as well fuck it we're doing it let's go we're getting crazy but but i i it's so funny that you flagged that moment because i also noticed it and it's super relevant i just directed adam in a scene and he asked me a question. He's like, does the character, am I thinking, am I remembering this in the moment or do I know it before? And I was like, let's try one where you remember in the moment.

And you know how hard that is to say like, hey, I'd love to do that. Oh shit, wait, I'm supposed to be in Sweden. The line was something like that. Like I'm going to Sweden tomorrow, whatever it was. And he was able to do it totally effortlessly and sell you. Like seeing someone think of something, that is not easy. I challenge you, all you actors out there and non-actors alike, look in the mirror and convey that you just remembered something. It's not easy. It's not easy. So yeah, I love that. And it's all facial acting,

you know, it's all in the eyes. So kudos to Adam. So they go out for their beer and leslie realizes that she actually knows who ben is only by reputation because he was the 18 year old mayor of the small town partridge minnesota that he promptly drove into the ground so ben became a state auditor to prove that he can be responsible and restart his political career later at a meeting chris and ben revealed to leslie and ron that pawnee's budget crisis is worse than they previously thought and that effective immediately pawnee government will be shut down until further notice horrifying leslie and ron and creating a ginormous cliffhanger that will propel us through into the next season absolutely and and it's an amazing it's just just, again, I love the backstory for Adam's character,

you know, it's the town mayor. So funny. And I think that's credit to Mike. He was like, yeah, he was fascinated by kid mayors and like, what a funny backstory that he's kind of, it's a redemption story, right? He's like, he screwed up a town, his hometown, he was younger and now he's doing that. So, yeah, it's really great. I mean, your backstory with the heart condition and then Adam's backstory with this, it's just really rich. And I think we don't get to Chris's backstory for actually quite some time. And that you guys were able to organically get to a character's backstory slash subtext within three scenes of the guy making his appearance yes is really a some

serious writing sleight of hand and without it feeling gratuitous or exposition no not at all exactly that's the really tough thing is is you know when you when you learn to write or whatever when you're sort of taking you know classes or whatever like yeah get the get the backstory and it's not always about backstory that's actually an interesting point you make rob because for your characters like we kind of know who he is we get it we don't need the backstory in. And it's not always about backstory. That's actually an interesting point you make, Rob, because for your characters, like we kind of know who he is. We get it. We don't need the backstory immediately for Adam's character. It just happened that this, oh, this will, this will liven up his character a little bit. And so there's two different paths and I think they're both effective. And again, it, a lot of it is the writing. A lot of it is

the, is the performance, you know, it's just like, he seems like a real dude. He seems like a real dude. Yeah. It's, it's, this in particular seems super super performance driven it's like you know he's adam's doing it totally different it's almost like i mean the truth of it is i almost felt sometimes that that adam and i were in different shows because we're we're working in really different gears and and it it was a good lesson for me that that's okay yeah do you mean like there's there's a world in which I could look at Chris Traeger as one note. And there were days when, like when I was maybe not as confident as I would like to have been or tired rather like,

am I just playing is, am I just going to the same well over and over again with this character? And then the answer is no, you fucking idiot. Shut up. This is great. He's hilarious. Do your thing. and by the way it's fine because what i realize is there's only one choice for chris

positive literally let yeah there's not a seventh way to do it there's not shades to it and that's fine there's a time and place for those characters this is not it he's you're playing in a human exclamation point yeah yeah and and you're totally right like everyone serves a different purpose in the show and it's and chris trager is a pretty hard comedy character right it's a hard comedy character and that's how we wrote him and that's how you perform it and and that's what people loved about it you know and it's a different character from from from ben wyatt and that's a different character from ron you know it's a different character from Ron. You know, it's all different. And for me to play a hard comedy, because I usually get like the sort of romantic lead.

I get the Ben Wyatt. Yeah. Usually. Yeah. And then some gnarly comedy hitter would come in and crush as Chris Traeger. And so that's what I ended up being happy to do is just come in, get my laughs and leave. It was, it leave the romance to somebody else. I mean, that's super fun. It truly feels that way. I can't speak for you, but it feels like a lot of time leading men or guys who are good looking.

It's like, I want to do something, you know, it's like, I want to do something. I want to be known for something else. And it's like, how fun, how fun to, to come in and just be this comedy character. Like it's, it's, it's, and by the way, kudos to you for being able to do it. Because, you know, a lot of them, a lot of them good looking guys are not funny. So I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it at that. It's hard, man. That's the hardest thing to find in Hollywood is good looking and funny, right?

It's like, that's pretty hard. So kudos, kudos. You're only as good as your writing. And that is true. It's a good one. Well, we're pretty uh we're pretty done with the synopsis here any final thoughts on this episode rob yeah um watching this episode it just made me super um happy that i got to be a part of the show like just it just

like i'm just so glad that i that i got to be a part of this and um that people well you're listening to the podcast about it right now and it made enough time has gone by that i i can kind of look at and this sounds nuts and i hate when actors talk like this they talk about their characters and the third person is usually such bullshit and so pretentious but the fact the matter is like i love chris trager i love that character and um i haven't played the character in so is in so long and it's it becomes a thing that i can look at and go i i just like spending time with chris i'm glad he's in the show yeah i it brought a lot of nostalgia back to me as well and it to me like this is you know it's it's like revisiting a decade of your life.

You know, this is my 20s. And it's like, man, it's just so fun to see. Because they all become your friends, you know, yourself included. So, I was like, wow, this is the team coming together. This is the Avengers before the Avengers. And it's comedy Avengers. And it's like, so, man, this is a fun one. I can't wait to do more episodes that Chris is in.

You ready to move to the oops moment in the town hall? Yeah, what's our oops moment? And what do we got going on in oops for this episode? We got a couple. Party people, Ben says, when he was 18, he chose, whoop, there it is, to play at his inauguration ceremony as mayor of Partridge, Minnesota.

However, according to the newspaper article from February 18th, 1993, he was elected mayor on November 7th, 1992. Whoop, there it is, was not released until, 1993. He was elected mayor on November 7th, 1992. Woomp, there it is, was not released until May 1993 and became popular later that summer. How can you get over this gaffe? Maybe cancel the show. Cancel the podcast. That's a gaffe. That's a serious gaffe. I mean, if you can't remember the exact date of Woomp, there it is. You were not listening to the radio. Tag team. Tag team back again. And one more oops moment. The interior of JJ's Diner is different in this episode from when it's seen in Summer Catalog. And that is

also different when it's seen in The Reporter. So yes, in all three episodes, a different interior is used for JJ's Diner. By the way, how many town howls have we done at JJ's Diner not knowing that we could actually do three different JJ's Diners? Is it the reporter JJ's? Is it summer catalog JJ's? Or is it a master plan JJ's? It's really funny.

That's actually very funny. I feel like I've been to some of these diners. One of them is in Studio City. Oh, I pass it all the time. Yeah. All right. yeah all right now we have for our episode mvp most valuable pony and it's it's i think it's you got to give it co you know co co winners to chris and ben that's it man butch and sundance it really is the moment when they walk in you're like oh this is the show and like it's it's it's

well written and well performed it really is like when those two guys walk in you know first it's those uh those ghoulish looking people that that that leslie sees and then you guys walk in it's like oh it's rob and adam and and it's very rewarding because you know if you've rewatched if you're re-watching you know what it's about to come and it's like you just it's exciting to see them so that that's it man that's that that that's definitely the mvp greg levine message from producer greg he says runner-up mvp april for having the birthday party that sets up the whole rest of the episode so runner-up runner-up is, April, for having the birthday party. That sets up the whole rest of the episode. So runner-up, runner-up is April. It was my birthday when I shot it, and it was an episode about her 21st birthday. See, it's just kismet all around.

It's adorable. It really was. Shall we take a trip to the town hall slash town hall and and this i'm demanding that we do it in the third set for jj's diner Yeah, this is it. Master plan. This is the third JJ's. JJV3. It's like, there's so many.

It's like the number of Rocky movies. All right. The Town Howl comes to us from Natalie from England, from jolly old England. Hi, this is Natalie from Rotherham in England. Short time, first time. Thank you so much for making this podcast. This is literally one of the most exciting things to happen this whole year.

So thank you, Team Coco and Aled and Rob. My question is, were there any kind of initial ideas for romantic interests or for love interests or romantic storylines that kind of didn't then pan out as the characters evolved.

I'm just kind of wanting to know if the people that we know may have ended up with something else. Anyway, love the show. Love for everyone. Can't wait for the rest of the podcast. Bye. Great question,

Natalie. Thank you for listening over there in England. Very exciting. The, you know the one that we've talked about before is ron and leslie but you know i feel like at some point in the writer's room you've kind of jokingly or otherwise paired up literally every couple in the entire show so it's literally like, you know, it was like, what about literally, I remember Greg, Greg Daniels, the co-creator be like, should Tom and Ann get married? Like literally like, like just the crazy, like literally the craziest stuff. I guess they ultimately did date, but it's

like, it's, it's, it's, it feels like because you're talking about a show for seven years and, and romantic storylines are always fun and people like them you're just pairing up everybody greg do you remember any other ones i mean we did tom and answer that doesn't even technically answer the question but do you remember any weird wacky ones well i was going to say when you do a storyline a run where tom and ann do get together the answer i think is no you haven't left any on the floor they're all in there it's truly crazy it's it's truly crazy when you think oh ron and ann was another one did i feel like ron and ann got pitched at some way it's like no we don't want to do that wait did somebody just have a like a thing for like

wanting to see more sex with ron swanson because that's kind of what i'm picking up from my end i think it literally is like you you're just, you're just, you know, if you think about each episode having two to three storylines, at a certain point, you've done 300 storylines. So you just are like anything, man. Should Jerry date Donna? Like, you're just like,

you're just throwing anything at the wall. But yeah, Ron and Anna was a hilarious one. We never did that. God, I forget who pitched that, but that's like, yeah, let's not do that. It's bad. All right. Well, thank you.

Thank you for the town howl. And thank you all out there for listening. I hope you had a good, this was fun. We've been waiting a long time for this one and it's here and I'm happy about that. And so if you enjoyed it, please subscribe where you get your podcast. We would love a five-star review on Apple. And thank you to Schulte and Greg, the brain trust behind, in our ears,

telling us all the smart things to say. If it was dumb, we made it up. And if it was smart, you told us to say it. And I don't know about you, Alan, but I say, good day, sir, from Pawnee. Goodbye from Pawnee. Goodbye from Pawnee. Parks and Recollection is produced by Greg Levine and me, Rob Schulte. Our coordinating producer is Lisa Berm.

The podcast is executive produced by Alan Yang for Alan Yang Productions, Rob Lowe for Low Profile. Jeff Ross, Adam Sachs, and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco. And Colin Anderson at Stitcher. Gina Batista, Paula Davis, and Britt Kahn are our talent bookers. The theme song is by Mouse Rat, a.k.a. Mark Rivers, with additional tracks composed by John Danek. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Parks and Recollection.