Think Local: A Parks and Recreation Retrospective

TV shows about government are typically high-stakes drama about International Affairs or policy that affects millions of people Parks and Recreation is not one of those shows if you're worried about swine flu use hand sanitizer I'm not worried about swine flu I already have the swine flu I'm worried about the turtle flu Turtle flu Turtle flu set in the fictional town of Pawnee Indiana Parks and Recreation follows the ambitious and energetic Leslie nope along with her friends as they try to make their Hometown a nicer place to live running for Seven Seasons it developed a strong and committed audience the revision of relationships and politics punctuated by positivity and hope for a better tomorrow Parks and Recreation or Parks and Rec for short came about following the success of the American version of the office NBC approached one of the developers of that show Craig Daniels about putting together a new series Daniels got in touch with Michael schur one of The Producers on the office and the two of them began working on a new project together NBC gave them free reign to come up with any idea for this new series it doesn't ever happen again in the history of television and they just literally said like whatever idea you guys want to do and this is what we wanted to do there's a common misconception that Parks and Recreation was originally meant to be a spin-off of the office but that's not exactly true we sat down to come up with ideas for the show some of them were office spin-offs um but uh then we came up and came up with this idea and um and Amy became available uh and liked this idea and we said this is we should do this and not do an office spin-off it was never narratively connected to these scranton-based sitcom that didn't stop certain people at NBC from trying to push the idea of an office spin-off NBC entertainment coach chairman Ben Silverman was later quoted in the office the untold story of the greatest sitcom of the 2000s a normal history saying I wanted it developed as a spin-off and I'm annoyed that my voice wasn't heard I was like government bureaucracy is not that great unless you make it a spin-off they wanted to do their own things I was like you're wrong they could have aired together back to back this would be like the biggest thing the idea of this series being a spin-off does seem to have been floated when attracting new Talent with writers and actors signing onto the project before the concept of the series had yet to be finalized while the office wasn't narratively connected to Parks and Recreation it did serve as a form of inspiration Mike Sure explains the office was about a fictionalized private sector and so what if we do fictionalized public sector the way we Greg and I I actually ended up pitching the show was a comedy version of The West Wing to research the series The Growing creative team looked into local politics around California sitting in on a variety of different meetings and they found two types of people in local government there's the people who are doing it because there's nothing else to do or because they fell backwards into it or whatever and then there are people who like at any government of any level are true believers who care very deeply about the town the place that they're representing and so we were like all right we're going to show one of those people and a bunch of the other people who do don't care that much being at that level allowed the team to avoid partisan Politics as political parties are not quite a Salient at the local level it also allowed them to delve into the political issues that impact people more in their daily lives you can read all the stuff about the world and you know that it's happening and it can concern you but ultimately when you wake up in the morning your life is not affected by those decisions in a tangible way that isn't to say the series never tackled big issues though only when it approached those topics it would do it from its own unique perspective it's both the idea of like bringing big Stakes to little things like a parking ticket or arguing over a soccer field and also finding a small Stakes way to do a big Stakes story at the heart of this is sure's idea that government is a necessary part of our daily lives he described it in an interview with the Huffington Post saying one of the themes of the show is to kind of celebrate the nobility of working really hard for your little tiny slice of America and doing as well as you can for that part of it in any way that tangibly helps people there is no pilot process for Parks and Recreation where one episode would be produced and evaluated before it was greenlit to become a series instead as a vote of confidence from the network Parks and Rec was offered a 13-episode run right out of the gate Amy polar was brought on to be the lead of this project because of her pregnancy shooting for the series had to be delayed and the season was shortened to six episodes it also lost a prime Premiere spot NBC was offering them right after the Super Bowl polar was so critical to the series that the creators gave all that up so she could be included polar would play the deputy director of the parks department Leslie Knope an enthusiastic idealist with a deep passion for parks and her hometown of Pawnee she's also a fiercely loyal friend and an avid fan of binders and Waffles one I go through these doors I need to be on like the White House Press Secretary are you ready yeah okay here we go it's locked Rashida Jones was cast early on for the role of Anne Perkins she'd worked with sure and Daniels on the office where she played Karen filipelli her being a completely new character was a clear indication that this show would have no connection to her previous series and is the calm Counterpoint to Leslie often serving as a straight woman to some of the more outlandish characters in Pawnee she also works as a nurse making her one of the few characters from outside of government employment I mean until now my only experience with government was trying to get a recycling bin wait did I ever get it Aziz Ansari was another early hire he would play the role of Tom Haverford and sorry was brought on under the basis that sometimes it's important to get someone who's really funny and build a character around them in a New York Times article he described how he was approached saying they were like it's either going to be a spin-off of the office or a totally separate thing it could have been like yeah it's about you and Vin Diesel running a daycare center together and then at night your Vigilantes and you fight crime Ansari was down no matter what they had pitched to him Tom is Leslie subordinate in the parks department he fancies himself something of a hip fashionable trendy guy who's using his job in government to network and eventually start his own business Empire your boyfriend fell down into this pit right yes and um this guy is a pretty serious you guys living together yes you have to take care of them you probably feel like you need to move on just become more adventurous in relationships with your body Nick Offerman plays Ron Swanson the head of the parks department Offerman was an early favorite for sure after an impressive audition for a guest role on the office Ron is a no-nonsense Libertarian deeply opposed to government in general in spite of working for the parks department oddly enough he is based on a real person they found a city official who was a Libertarian and who hated the government and and that was the impetus we said to this woman let us ask you a question like we have this design of a character who is in the government but is a Libertarian and literally wants to like bring the government like down to the ground is that insane is that too crazy and she was like no I'm a libertarian and and we said really and she went yeah I'm aware of the irony Ron is a man of many Mysteries though he is a very talented woodworker loves eating meat and appreciates strong women my dream is to have the park system privatized and run entirely for profit by corporations like Chuck E cheese they have an impeccable business model I would rather work for Chuck E cheese Aubry Plaza plays the role of April Ludgate a college intern at the parks department the part was written specifically for Plaza after one of the casting directors discovered her I'm Alison Jones who is along with Nancy Perkins was casting our show called me and said you got to meet this I just met this girl and she's the weirdest person I've ever met so then like like seemingly about 11 seconds later Aubry Plaza showed up in my office and for an hour made me more uncomfortable than I've ever been April is the Sullen disaffected young person who has little to no interest in any of the tasks assigned to her unless it involves making someone feel uncomfortable Natalie it's her sister pick me up or I'm gonna draw all over your jeans Chris Pratt plays Andy Dwyer and slacker boyfriend Mike Sure brought Pratt to audition after he was recommended by his wife who was writing for the OC when Pratt guest starred on an episode originally only intended to be a guest star which is how he's built in the first episode Pratt's charm won over the creative team and his role was expanded to make him a series regular Andy is a lovable goof whose missing brain bits have gone straight to his heart I have no idea why Ann is upset with me but I do know she's too nice to yell at me in front of all these people so I am not leaving this bar Paul Schneider plays Mark brendanowicz a city planner for Pani a straight man for the series mark would over time be revealed as having a prolific dating life including a brief encounter with Leslie that she hasn't quite gotten over he often offers a practical solution to some of Leslie's more enthusiastic goals since we're you know being involved I won't print any of it that's great thank you so much I wouldn't say romantically involved you know going forward oh my God although technically not a member of the principal cast until season 6 Retta playing Donna Meagle was a fixture in the series from its very first season her chill demeanor hit a surprisingly Rich personal life that involved money men and traveling the world your favorite kind of cake can't be birthday cake that's like saying your favorite kind of cereals breakfast cereal I love breakfast cereal much like Retta Jim O'Hare only joined the principal cast in season six but was also present from the first season developing over time into the office punching bag Jerry gergich Jerry also goes by Larry Terry Berry and sometimes even his real name Gary his bumbling Antics at the office have given him the reputation of being a klutz Jerry did you use permanent marker again I'm sorry guys okay forget it let's all pretend Jerry wasn't born as in most sitcoms many of these characters would develop over time we really had to play Things quite real being it like a documentary style so we I think there was a real combination of characters already on the page thought of and written and then whoever was kind of wearing the suit filled it out often this would take characters in unexpected directions such as Ron Swanson being able to play the saxophone much in the way Nick Offerman can so come see me come talk to me come love with me and maybe we can walk through fire together the actors were also given space to improvise lines leading to New Growth areas for characters and sometimes just really funny lines I typed your symptoms into the thing up here and it says you could have network connectivity problems in addition to the main Parks crew Pani was host to many memorable characters including Jay Jackson as pert hapley for a female perspective on this Scandal we turn to a woman Leslie Knope Sean Glasser as councilman Jam I'm gonna drop my liquids in here take my salads down the hall Deal No No Deal fine your loss and my personal favorite Ben Schwartz as Jean ralphio clubs girls dancing naked mom argument police fleeing the seed hiding in a dumpster coming here crashing on your couch for a week because technically I'm homeless the opening theme for the series was written by Gabby Moreno and Vincent Jones it's a fun bouncy number that captures the feel of the series which is a bit surprising considering how it was created with no theme less than a month before the premiere of the series neophonic a music supervision firm working with broadcast music a performance rights organization sent out a mass email asking for composers to send in their ideas for the theme with 7 500 being offered to the song selected effectively creating a contest to see who could come up with the Show's theme or contests like this or spec work as it's sometimes called are a deeply exploitative practice as many artists spend Untold number of hours producing music for a company that won't be compensating them for their time a more ethical practice would have been to hire a composer based on their existing portfolio and working with them to find the right theme for the series or perhaps reaching out to a number of different composers asking for ideas and then compensating them for their time and effort I don't know how aware of this practice The Producers for Parks and Recreation were as the call for the music came from outside the production company but it is important to denote that it happened none of this of course is to impugn the song itself which is a wonderful piece of music it's just a shame how it became part of the show with all these pieces in place Parks and Recreation was ready to introduce the world to the small town of Pawnee Indiana what I hear when I'm being yelled at is people caring loudly at me debuting on April 9 2009 Parks and Recreation began with an episode titled pilot it opens with Leslie Knope trying to convince a small child to fill out a survey and she's interrupted when she needs to help get a drunk out of a slide it's a great time to be a woman in politics Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin Nancy Pelosi we did it although the character of Leslie would change through the first season one thing the pilot does get across immediately is our enthusiasm for government work Leslie's co-workers and the citizens of Pani stand in contrast to that enthusiasm we meet early versions of Ron Tom Donna and Jerry the other characters would be fleshed out throughout the six episodes of season one I had a public meeting we are introduced to Ann Perkins who is asking the city to fill in a pit near her home after her boyfriend Andy fell into it breaking both his legs Leslie vows to fill the pit setting up a project that will occupy the rest of the season when Mark tries to convince Leslie to give up on the park her enthusiasm eventually convinces him to support her and get the project moving also we find out that Leslie is nursing a crush on him after they slept together a few years ago we slept together Leslie [Music] oh my God you know what yeah we did like five years ago and thanks to Ann getting involved the pit filling project seems like it has a fighting chance I usually say that democracy or whatever only works when people get involved well I'm getting involved although many of the pieces are present the pilot episode was still very much about Parks and Recreation discovering its voice it was a show about local government in a town where not many people care about it Leslie is presented as well-meaning but naive and her Ambitions to improve her Town only gain momentum when someone else in government Mark and some number of people in Pawnee and give her the direction and resources to channel that enthusiasm this reflects how government functions when it's fueled by Collective action and that ultimately the only real power for change is when different people work together towards a common goal the concept of people working together to make a change is consistent throughout the series and a theme I'll be coming back to several times here in the first season the impression is of Leslie being the main driver in spite of her limited capacity to get things done stylistically the show was very much like the office using a mockumentary Cinema verite Blend any 2011 interview with the AV club Mike Sure said we wanted this to be a mockumentary show because in the world of government the difference between what goes on behind closed doors and what people present to the public is a huge issue plus the single camera format can be alienating and the Talking Heads help us relate directly to the audience and provide breaks in the action parks and rec differentiated Itself by more often following the characters outside of their workplace and into their personal lives although perhaps strongest in the first season the mockumentary style faded as the seasons progressed and in some episodes vanish completely when we would see the show jump years sometimes decades into the future the first season of parks and rec is often derided by the audience and critics as being a misstep for the show writed itself in its second season and while the second season certainly improved upon the first the first season still had a number of bright spots and important building blocks and in some ways the first season could be seen as an extended pilot in it we can see the burgeoning friendship between Anne and Leslie I don't know she's a little doofy but she's sweet we also get a glimpse of Leslie and Ron's friendship Leslie has never broken a rule in her life to the point that it's annoying if you want to slap around the wrist go ahead if you want to do anything more serious you're gonna have to go through me and Andy who initially came off as a jerk shows he can beat sweets sometimes too what do you think Andy this is so sweet overshadowing these early steps was the depiction of Leslie which was hampered slightly by the misconception for the series as originally having been a spin-off of the office here's an article about the series from The New York Times ahead of its debut ask almost anyone at Parks and Recreation with the new series is about and the answer first and foremost is that it's not a spin-off of the office but the similarities are pervasive like Steve Carell's character Michael Scott on the office Miss polar's Leslie Knope is a clueless if well-intentioned middle manager who undermines her own Ambitions and misuses street slang the early episodes didn't help when we see her helplessly admitting to being a product of nepotisms of the press I was qualified it's not like it was nepotism crap on the stick okay technically yes it was nepotism and it also didn't help when she would sometimes make racially insensitive remarks Tom Haverford boy Genius smooth like milk chocolate so weird way to describe me a major turning point for the character was in the fourth episode with an improvised line from Amy Poehler I feel like I'm already in the boys club I mean look at those [ __ ] clean up after me speaking in a Reddit ask me anything Mike Sure describe this line saying it was obviously way funnier than what we had written but also a light bulb went off for us when we realized in that moment we had been writing her character wrong that she should be more fun and loose and not so uptight and politician-y change the course of the show with that one line this isn't to say Leslie's character was completely changed rather the way people reacted to her was changed the character was quite formed when it came to me I mean Leslie Knope was already there and we tweaked a little bit not so much really what who Leslie was but how the rest of the world kind of responded to her we had people be impressed by her work ethic instead of sort of going like Ugh why do I have to work on this thing that you want to work on yeah and that I think largely changed the perception interestingly this does mimic how women are often perceived differently within media had Leslie been a man one taking charge of projects and being eager to help everyone perhaps that would have been more Salient than her screw-ups but people only saw her failures and that coupled with the style of the show immediately made people think of Michael Scott and while Michael Scott was great at selling paper part of the Crux of the office in its early years was how hopeless he was as a boss Leslie on the other's hand inspires people to do better in the very first episode and is never hopeless the indifference from her subordinates came from their lack of enthusiasm towards government not from her being a bad boss the final episode of the first season Rock show is often described as where the series really started coming together in it we see Anne finally ending things with Andy and Leslie seems to be moving beyond her crush on Mark Leslie's turn in particular being disenchanted by Mark when he drunkenly tries to make a move on her and that not matching what she imagined in her head for the two of them speaks to her idealism this isn't the way I want this to happen again it's not that big a deal I think you should go homework throughout the season Leslie was constantly being confronted by the reality of Mark being less the Romantic ideal and more a guy who enjoys the company of a lot of women hence why he forgot he and Leslie even hooked up in that moment Leslie has the chance to see him for who he is and accept that but instead she holds on to her idealism coming to the conclusion that perhaps that Marcus and that guy and if he isn't that guy she needs to learn to move on something that will take her through season two Leslie's idealism will also play a major role in how she never settles in later Seasons constantly driven to demand the best from herself and getting rid of Andy is doing something similar seeing him for the slacker he is who spent several extra weeks in a cast so Anne would keep taking care of him the relationship ends because she'd want something better for herself too of course Andy isn't an awful guy but at this point in the series he still has some growing up he needs to do both Leslie and Anne's Arc throughout the season and on helpful note even if the Romantic aspirations are both dashed what's more important than them finding love is that they found each other and form a friendship that will last throughout the rest of the series and it reveals that this opening season was not about how these two women found love but how they found their best friend why don't we just go back in there and talk about the park oh yeah you're so sweet and innocent and pretty the friendship between Anne and Leslie doesn't change much throughout the series because it's pretty close to perfect the way it is and it was a depiction of a female friendship that spoke truly to what that kind of friendship would look like in the real world most girls have friends that are like that's awesome you're great like how can I help you how can I support your life and make you a better person or what can we talk about to you know to make you feel better about your own life so I I was so that to me like that's that that was something that I was so happy to play because there's really not that much opportunity to to do that I couldn't cover everything in this video and luckily I have t1j here to help fill in some of the blanks hi I'm t1j I'm a huge fan of Parks and Recreation and I've also made a video about the show that you can check out in my video I decided to take a closer look at the awkward but in my opinion underrated first season of parks and rec and the character of Leslie Knope in particular who was noticeably different in the first season compared to the rest of the show if that sounds interesting to you feel free to come check out my video once you're done with Jose's in addition to changing how people were reacting to Leslie several other changes arrived in the show in its second season for one thing the running plot of needing to fill in the pit near Anne's house was resolved by the sixth episode of the Season titled Kaboom I can't believe it ow oh sorry usually in these situations a person says pinch me in an interview with the AV club Mike Sure explained why this symbol for slow-moving government was removed the conception of this show was to use that project as a way to bring everyone together my favorite TV show of all time is the wire which has the feeling of a project-based show you drawn people from disparate parts of the world and they have to work together to achieve a goal the idea was to follow these people over the years and the series finale would be the ribbon cutting ceremony we probably went too heavy on stories about the pit in the first season people felt like this whole show is going to be about filling in the pit which wasn't Our intention we had to signal to the audience that it wasn't going to be all about this one thing so accelerated it the first season did the work of introducing the cast while the second started building the small world of Pawnee as the characters changed to appreciate Leslie rather than despise her the show had to be restructured instead of a Park's Department in conflict with the ambitious Leslie it would be Leslie and her friends in conflict with the rest of the world stories started getting more topical such as Leslie creating a minor star when she marries two penguins at the zoo not realizing they're a gay couple tucks and flipper are both boys so you should have pronounced some husband and husband technically that's awesome in this episode we also get a clear reflection of what's going on in the real world at this time the presidency of Barack Obama and the question over whether or not gay marriage should be made legal in the United States there's a very consistent connection to the Obama presidency throughout this series when Leslie refuses to annul the marriage she takes the Penguins to Iowa so they can stay gay married the struggle throughout this episode reflects an interesting question about public servants and how they're expected to stay neutral but when the rights of people become a political talking point that neutrality can seem immoral like keeping these two penguins from levied in wedded bliss Leslie it could be said at least did something by taking the Penguins out of the system but how will she try to change things from within or is the only option to work outside the system because her job is to perpetuate it as it exists it'd be silly for Leslie to resign over two penguins but what if it was someone close to her a family member whose marriage came into conflict with her job it raises some interesting questions but the low stakes of the series generally stay away from those tough ones another plot taken from news stories of the day is in the very next episode The Stakeout where an insecure Leslie spies on Anne and Mark who are going on a date although Leslie set them up she's still not sure how she feels about their pairing she dressed Tom into helping her stake them out and when she leaves him on his own he's racially profiled by a police officer nice job Paul Blart why don't you head back to the mall make sure nobody's breaking into Lady Foot Locker hey I'm very close right now to placing you under arrest for disorderly conduct step out of the van I'll step out of your mama's van [Music] come on in a deleted scene for the episode you really get a sense of how the cop here only sees Tom as non-white I'm Mexican or Indian or a blend of Chinese and Canadian headed Northbound on Sullivan the story was inspired by an incident where Professor Henry Louis Gates who in July of 2009 a few months before this episode aired was arrested for trying to enter his own home after his front door had jammed shut in the same way a witness called the police on Professor Gates assuming it was a burglary Mark called the cops on Tom the episode is one of the few that makes a commentary on Race including a scene where Tom Reveals His Old name my birth name is Darwish zabir Ishmael ghani and I changed it to Tom Haverford because you know brown guys with funny sounding Muslim names don't make it really far in politics what about Barack Obama okay yeah fine Barack Obama if I knew a dude named Barack Obama was going to be elected president yeah maybe I would have changed it the dialogue Spoken Here was actually from a deleted scene in the first season with a joke being that the success of Barack Obama meant that American politics was now accepting of people with non-anglo names A variation on the idea that the Obama presidency meant racism was over and obviously neither of those things are true even in this show a few episodes later we see everyone tease Tom by saying his Jedi costume make him look like he's in the Taliban hey Tom nice Taliban rooms those aren't Taliban robes that's from Halloween 10 years ago I was dressed like a Jedi I'm sure that the voters would be able to tell the difference looks to me like you're in the Taliban these early episodes and their embrasive topics of the day helped shape an understanding of this Show's politics and these are politics that are heavily influenced by optimism this optimism was a sign of another inspiration for the series The West Wing so there were all of the kind of stuff that I had at one point imagined being West wingy about the show a lot of it kind of fell away what was left was that was what you're talking about was the optimism and the sense that like it stinks and it's hard and you make mistakes and the when you make mistakes people get hurt and all that sort of stuff but when you do something good it's worth it tempering that optimism Parks and Recreation does reserve some cynicism when it comes to how big business impacts the political system as the largest employers in Pawnee The swedum's Confectionary Corporation casts a long Shadow over the town we can see mentions of them in earlier season 2 episodes such as the sister city episode a bottle of high fructose corn syrup made right here in pawnee's own swedums Factory sweetums if you can't beat them swedums it's not until the episode titled sweetums where we really get a sense of the impact this Corporation has on Pawnee in this episode we find out that swedums has made a deal with the parks department to sell their Nutri yums snacks and Pawnee Parks we're gonna sell these in the park now they're healthy holy God no they're not they're terrible for you no they're not there's a picture of Lance Armstrong on there yeah look at the ingredients high fructose corn syrup corn syrup which is only eight grams of fat yeah per serving a bar is four serving when Anne urges Leslie to help her get these unhealthy snacks out of parks we get a nice example of Ron's politics when he disapproves of their plot the point of this country is if you want to eat garbage balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43. you man you're free to do so to me that's beautiful but more broadly we see the impact this company has on the people of Pawnee selling them unhealthy treats and using bribery to manipulate the people we should let the people be the judge Denver and the people of Pawnee vote to keep the unhealthy snacks later in the season we see the family's matriarch Jessica Wicks played by Susan yeagley try to tear down a historic gazebo 100 interracial couple was married here and then slaughtered by their own families it's one of the most beautiful stories in pawnee's history why are you trying to destroy it Leslie can't even fight with the media since the New Ports own the local newspaper I'm gonna stop you right there Nick Newport senior is the former CEO of sweetums so sweetums owns the pondy journal job we would see more of sweetums than the new ports in the future but their early appearances here reflects how the show views big business as an obstacle to the flourishing of the people of Pawnee it also gives shape to the apathy that grips some of the residents of Pani hampered by their failing health and how wealth is used to undermine the institutions that are supposed to help them as the season moved on characters began to move around Andy went from living in the pit to getting a job shining shoes at City Hall and April graduated from being an intern to Ron's assistant I'll make sure you don't have to go to any meetings comes to see to see you you're hired and we also had the chaotic edition of Tammy too Ron's ex-wife played by Nick offerman's real world wife Megan Mullally what is your problem nothing although the recurring guest stars would life enough the world of punny a bigger change for the series would come from the departure of one cast member and the addition of two others throughout the second season Mark became less of a presence on the show he had started dating Anne trying to change his ways and begin a long-term relationship but he seems to be increasingly lost in the shuffle among the much more vibrant cast of characters though Mark had been a straight man for the wackier characters in the series and was just as capable of filling that role and because of her friendship with Leslie and was often a better fit for most stories particularly with Leslie moving on from her feelings for Mark Mark was such a small part of the show we didn't even see his breakup with Anne instead we see Anne tell Leslie that she's planning to break up with him need to break up with Mark as the second season came to a close it was decided that Mark would be written off the show and Paul Schneider would exit the series the last appearance of Mark would be the season 2 finale Freddie spaghetti where we see him bid a farewell to Leslie and Pawnee as he leaves dig a job in the private sector recently I had been thinking about maybe leaving this job but I felt like I needed a sign and then Anne broke up with me the week that I was going to propose the government got shut down and yesterday one of those pigeons took on me and I was indoors so although he has a nice goodbye offering some words of support to Leslie he's giving her a plan for a future park that is never mentioned again reflects his presence on the show going forward in a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times Mike Sure explained Mark was based on a real person who got frustrated with government work this person went to work in the private sector then becoming disaffected with that went back to work into the government and then becoming disaffected again repeating the cycle a couple of times this was part of the original plan with Mark when Schneider was cast in the movie bright star it seemed like the right time for the character to make an exit the plan was to bring mark back in Future Seasons we really wanted to try to get him back this season and then when we got moved to mid-season we did fewer episodes than we thought we were going to and we didn't get a chance to do everything we wanted to do but we would love to have him come back we have like uh where the writers who've had this idea for a for a for him a way for him to come back and do like a some number of episodes and we're gonna hopefully be able to do that but this wood never really come to fruition and much like the plans for Park he gave Leslie Mark is never mentioned on the show again in a 2014 interview Schneider expressed how the world of sitcoms were never the best fit for him and when he was asked about common sure had made Schneider said no I'm not interested in going back and that's very generous of him but I've never been contacted about that nor have I any interest in going back Mark's exit from the series did open the door for the addition of two new characters though ones that were related to the government shutdown Mark mentioned when he was quitting Adam Scott was brought in to play Ben Wyatt and Rob Lowe would be playing Chris Trager inspired by the financial crisis in the real world Pani similarly faced its own financial crisis Ben and Chris arrive as Indiana State Auditors bringing with them a series of cuts to get the town's budget under control but Chris said that you just had to you know Tinker with things yeah he said that because that sounds a lot better than we're going to gut it with a machete the original plan was to bring in Adam Scott as a lone auditor and potential romantic interest for Leslie his backstory of being a former teenage mayor was originally Leslie's in fact one of the original ideas for Leslie Knope was that she was that person that she had been the mayor and had dug herself a hole and had was trying to climb back and we eventually abandoned that because we thought it was too limiting for like the main character of a show to build around but I was like oh wait here's the guy I ran for mayor of my small town and won a little bit of anti-establishment voter Rebellion I guess here's the thing though about 18 year olds they're idiots so I pretty much ran the place into the ground after two months and got impeached and now I'm balancing budget so I can show people I'm responsible so I can run for office again someday and not be laughed at now I mean you want to run for office someday right yeah how do you know that moment not only reveals Ben's backstory but also how quickly he understands Leslie and suggests the two of them are cut from a similar cloth and while they have an adversarial relationship at first that would change in coming episodes Chris Traeger was brought into the show not to fill any specific role aside from Parks and Rec having a Rob Lowe deficiency then now recall this and said we heard Rob Lowe might be available and I loved Adam so much but also Rob Lowe is Rob Lowe and so we we decided to kind of shoot the moon and or try to and bring on two characters the character Chris only began to take shape after Mike Sure spoke with Rob Lowe about being on the show when I met with him to talk about him coming on the show and he would he said uh he said I'll tell you the story I was literally on a yacht in Cyprus my mind went blank and then after that that was what Chris Traeger was according to low Chris is based on a combination of Tom Cruise and Kenny G blending enthusiasm and kindness and a deep commitment to his physical health scientists believe that the first human being who will live 150 years has already been born I believe I am that human being the addition of the two characters led to an immediate jump in the radiance and the Chris and Ben era of the show is widely regarded as when Parks and Recreation started to really find its footing although the series has been re-christened as a comeback Story by critics the change wasn't quite so dramatic in the minds of the cast there was some great stuff in those first six episodes too though oh yeah I mean it's like it's like someone's saying like your baby used to be ugly but now it's cute in an interview with the guardian Mike Sure said at the beginning it was rough I had a recurring stress nightmare that I was going to ruin Amy's career my happiness was based on whether the actors were better or worse off than if they had never done the show there was a moment late in season two when I felt like everyone was now better off I could finally relax the end of the second season of Parks and Recreation signaled that the best was yet to come and in the very next season it started reaching those new heights hey I love you dude shut up that is awesome sauce the first two seasons of Parks and Recreation did a lot of the important work of establishing who these characters are and the town they lived in starting in the third the series took all those pieces and began telling bigger stories the main crisis affecting everyone at the opening of the season is the financial crunch facing Pani refusing to see the government be slashed to Pieces Leslie starts working on an idea to generate some revenue for the city she bets big on bringing back an old Pawnee annual tradition this town was historically known for two things widespread obesity and the annual Pawnee Harvest Festival as the parks department works to put on the festival Ben's attitude towards the town and Leslie begins to soften the relationship between them grows into what might be one of the best depictions of romance a couple in a sitcom and it would easily be the best relationship on any other show but there's another couple I want to talk about first and one that might be nearly as powerful as Leslie and Ben April and Andy were never meant to be together at first Andy was and slacker boyfriend who only stuck around because of Chris Pratt's Charisma so once Ann kicked him out he spent much of the second season trying to win her back April's love interests were a match for her strange personality she had an boyfriend Derek who was also dating a guy named Ben they weren't quite a polyamorous relationship since April hated Ben though part of what I imagine April appreciated about the dynamic was how confusing it was the first hint that there was any Affinity between these two characters is in the finale to season 1 in the episode Rock Show well again I don't really like to Define it so undefinable rock you know again the term Rock I think defines it I totally know what you mean in an interview Mike Sure talked about that moment and that it was a line improvised by Aubry Plaza he said at the time it was this little nothing throwaway thing but when we watched it we thought there might be something there he was trying to explain what kind of music his band played and everyone was like I don't get it and I was like I bet April would like kind of think he's cute and get it so I was like I get it in the season 2 episode hunting trip with the rest of the cast in the wilderness April and Andy are left to their own devices and we get our first real look at their chemistry do another one okay I'm pregnant with Josh Groban's baby that's good you doing okay I've lived in Pawnee my whole life that is a fact the fact about me there is some tension between them because of their age Gap April being 20 and Auntie b29 though their first real stumbling block is Andy's lingering feelings for Anne but in spite of any of that throughout season 2 Andy in April managed to get closer through a series of cute moments but Dwyer had some help catching the possum I wouldn't have been able to do it without an early morning caffeine Boost from The Amazing April Ed gate she gave me the liquid courage I needed to wrestle that Beast to the ground April's relationship represents her maturing past her more cynical Beginnings as it disaffected 19 year old the more time she spends with Andy the more she appreciates the world around her that's especially clear when we see her end things with Derek God why does everything we do have to be cloaked in like 15 layers of irony there's something unironic ever since you've been hanging out with that Meathead you've become completely lame you know what we're breaking up fine then you can't make out with me when you're drunk anymore fine then I'll make out with Ben pass no he's my boyfriend you can either make out with both of us or none of us fine none of the interview and April shows her maturity when she and Andy share their feelings for one another I like you in a no romantical kind of way you do yes do you like me yes shall we go out this evening no it's because whenever I see you talk to Ann or talk about Anne I feel like you still have feelings for her after kissing Andy Anne has to convince April to give Andy a chance I get that you're mad that I kissed Andy okay but it was a moment of confusion and it was a mistake and I'm very sorry you want to hate me forever okay fine you know what I don't care but you shouldn't take it out on Andy because he really likes you and he did nothing wrong just for the record I'm starting to hate you too it's the most I've ever liked Dan with an assist from Ron April admits her feelings to Andy better be the only person you kissed today damn I'm positive that you are Ron and and having a hand in the two of them getting together two people you might not immediately expect to be invested in this particular relationship is symbolic of what Andy in April as a couple mean and it ties into one of the show's major themes I think we just really got along and and it was like this this cat in a dog kind of fall in love type of a relationship on paper it doesn't make sense but when you see this chemistry in front of you it makes all the sense in the world and being Andy's ex and Ron generally not caring for people and their personal problems should mean neither of them would want to help this relationship happen but in the context of the show it makes sense that they would want their friends to be happy people coming together to improve their own lives and the lives of others is one of the central themes of Parks and Recreation particularly different people who have different conflicting views of the world the government is the vessel through which that happens on a social level but we see that in the relationship between the characters as well April and Andy weren't hopelessly lost without one another but their attraction and eventual relationship makes them both better people April shows a surprising amount of maturity wanting to be with Andy but only if he's not still conflicted about his feelings for Anne her attraction to Andy has made April a more conscientious person and that leads to her taking a more active role in the Parks Department for Andy April provides a sense of drive and direction for him instead of being content to mooch off his girlfriend like he did with Anne Andy finds himself wanting to achieve more in his life and we see him move up in the world Beyond being a shoe shine boy at City Hall the Harvest Festival something created by very different people is in many ways the perfect backdrop the scene April and Andy come together I do love you you do yeah you know makes the sauce so awesome one of the nice things about April and Andy being together is that they never lose sight of who they are as individuals so rather than being defined by being a couple there are two people who just happen to get along really well so well that they end up throwing a very memorable dinner party just past the halfway point in season three in the episode Andy and April's fancy party you are not actually at a dinner party you're at our wedding and now pronounce you husband and wife through the rest of the series we see the two of them support each other in a number of lovely ways but they consistently remain very weird yes we're gonna get a dish rack and shower curtains and a cutting board but if you think for one second I'm not also going to get that marshmallow shooter so that I can shoot you in the face with marshmallows when you're asleep then you're the dumbest woman I know I'm gonna make them cry also it would be criminal not to mention that April and Andy adopt a three-legged dog named Champion played by a dog named Lucy his name is champion because he's the dog world champion the only thing I have to say about Champion is that this dog is perfect in every way you Pani made it illegal for people to quote dance or smell like a Native American why are you telling me all this let's talk about some mystery in the very first episode of the series we get a brief introduction to the history of Pani we have a lot of children visits so often we have to cover up the more gruesome Parts with a poster the symbolism of an ugly history literally being papered over isn't too subtle I can't think of many sitcoms that even attempt to reference the bloody history of America never mind one like Parks and Rec that does it repeatedly the mural that normally resides here is called the spirit of Pawnee and it's very controversial we throw acid OS someone tried to stab it once we really need better security here we also need better less offensive history most of pawnee's dark history is captured in a series of murals at City Hall one fun fact about these murals not seen on the show but mentioned in the book by the show's writers Pawnee the Greatest Town in America is that many of these murals were planted by a man named Arvid berlinson the book tells us that he was a socialist who spit in the face of Nelson Rockefeller in 1932 and was then punished by being said to Pani surprisingly while these murals seem far-fetched on their face they aren't quite the stretch you might imagine Bill Hader from SNL after our pilot aired they got married in a in like a in a courthouse or a public a public building a city hall in her town and their murals were so like violent and offensive that they had they requested that they be covered with curtains and he was like I can't believe you guys you know and again we were like I thought I thought I made that up but apparently it isn't until season three in the Harvest Festival episode that we meet Ken hotate an elder from the woman poke tribe played by Jonathan Joss he visits Leslie to talk about how the festival is taking place over a burial site I'm gonna need to formally ask you to uh move the carnival I'm sorry what's going on the carnival is on the site of the battle of Indian Hill which was an epic seven-day battle that the wama poke lost due to the fact that they didn't have any weapons this is the only place in town that's big enough to house the carnival rides plus you know with pawnee's history it's very difficult to not be offensive this is a map of all the atrocities the Pawnee settlers inflicted upon the wamapo Indians the atrocities are in blue Ken is an interesting character as the only member of the woman poke tribe we meet he's our only glimpse into these people he's doing rather well for himself albeit with the stereotype of owning the casino though he does have fun playing with the sensitivities of the people of Pawnee I just hope that the souls of my ancestors don't put a curse on this Festival there are two things I know about white people they love Rachel Ray and they are terrified of curses because the people of Pani are convinced the curse is real and because she needs a generator Leslie eventually makes a concession to Ken I am prepared to put the wamapo history exhibit inside the carnival grounds right past the entrance Turn Style so that you have to look at it before you start having fun now that's interesting hey doobie doobie do with that secret ceremony Obama Pope curse has been lifted in an interview with Joss he described how the showrunners tried a little harder than most in their depiction of the character the scene where I've got the Doobie Dooby Doo and I'm doing a little stuff nice I guess prop assistant comes up to me and hands me this fake shell and hands it to me and says the prop Master told me to tell you his cookie dough mix and I'm like oh man tell him thank you so very much in reality you know Sage Sweetgrass there's different things that we burn in in essence of respect and these things like a Bible you don't use a Bible on stage you don't use these items when doing a mock type of ceremony mock tribe but not mock disrespect full respect what makes characters like Ken better than others Joss has brought to life throughout his career aside from being able to wear more clothing is the chance to be in on the joke rather than being the butt of the joke and also not having to serve solely as lesson on the horrors of colonialism the history of Pani is universally bad from the first Jewish resident being put in a zoo to the town law that bans black people from using the sidewalk the wama folks tribe's history there is no different in that respect while this representation is a far cry for making a statement on land back at the very least it invites everyone to be in on the joke and that joke is that America's history includes a lot of Darkness does he do something what does he do yeah he does being a mini horse and he does it better than anyone before leaving the Harvest Festival behind entirely it would be an absolute crime not to mention its biggest star the world famous little Sebastian ladies and gentlemen the world famous little Sebastian what yes oh my God the joy of Lil Sebastian comes from the idea of a local hero small or medium-sized towns often have like Heroes and and very often that hero Is Not a Human Being it's like you know the the the Bulldog that's like the mascot of the high school football team or something little Sebastian's presence was like a bright shining light for the episode tragically though by the end of the third season something awful happens I have some very important news about our favorite mini horse little Sebastian he died last night no little Sebastian's passing did inspire a tribute song from Andy Andy I need you to write a memorial song something like Candle in the Wind but five thousand times better Easy Five Thousand Candles in the wind has pretty much become The Unofficial theme for the series and Remains the most moving tribute to a fictional mini horse that has ever been recorded we do see little Sebastian a few seasons later albeit in hologram form [Applause] and to address anyone's fears the mini horse who played Little Sebastian Gideon did not pass away in the most recent article I could find from October of 2022 Gideon is reported to still be alive and well although his trainer Morgan Bateman clarified that the mini horse seen briefly in the good place also created by Mike sure was not Gideon although Bateman was approached about including Gideon in the episode they weren't able to agree on the mini horses compensation here's what I know love you and I like you I love you and I like you Ben and Leslie's love story has a wonderful beginning the sky is really beautiful it's pollution from the Sweden's Factory it's gorgeous but is it worth the asthma no what if the festival was like a high point for me and I never do anything better than that then you wouldn't be Leslie Knope Ben and Leslie recognize the strength each of them have and their common commitment to making the world a better place through government their budding relationship places an early roadblock when Ben takes a job in pawnee's municipal government effectively becoming Leslie's boss that ethical violation would get them both fired but their attraction to one another is just too strong oh as their secret relationship becomes increasingly difficult to hide things get even more complicated when Leslie is approached about running for city council is there a scandal out there is there anything at all you need to tell us about your life nope the expression they share instantly communicating that something is wrong reveals the connection the two of them already have Leslie realizes she has to end things with Ben if she wants to run for office and chase her dreams she tries to have a tough conversation with him but he beats her to the punch wow you knew I figured it out a while ago I'm sorry I should have told you I knew but I just I wanted this to last as long as possible we have to break up Leslie and Ben's relationship without any knowledge of how it developed would appear unethical and even understanding it the conflict of interest and power dynamics seems like it would make for a relationship that couldn't possibly work it's why workplace romances are so heavily discouraged when the two people aren't in equal standing that we were able to see how good these two fit together makes it easier to ignore that dilemma because it's hard not to root for Leslie and Ben this isn't a typical will they or won't they situation where people can't just seem to get on the same page with one another this is two people who want to be together but can't because of their careers this might have been an ideal spot for the relationship to end entirely and it would have been a very easy way to stick to the original plan for Leslie the original idea was that Leslie would have a series of relationships with different kinds of dudes over many years and then we brought Adam Scott in and it was just kind of like Adam we can't break them up for God's sakes look at them like they're so good together after Leslie announces her campaign in the beginning of season four it's seven episodes later where we see Leslie and Ben get back together in the episode smallest park you know how I feel and I want to be with you this is how I feel how do you feel this moment really establishes from the jump that these two people are Partners Ben is still technically Leslie's boss at work and they stopped messing around for the sake of Leslie's campaign but then being together is about subverting these power dynamics to make them equals part of the show's ethos is working together to make the world a better place and it can be easier to work together without a rigid hierarchy getting in the way of that if Leslie wants to live the life she dreams of she knows that it could never be with someone who saw her as anything other than equal and that that personal relationship and vision of equality supersedes any social structures that say otherwise of course these two do live in a society that has rules so there are still consequences for their actions in the episode The Trial of Leslie Knope Leslie and Ben face the consequences of going public with their relationship Leslie is suspended from the parks department for two weeks while Ben faces a harsher consequence Ben asked for a private meeting with the committee and he took full responsibility for the bribe and resigned effective immediately what the meeting that Ben and I had it's on the record you should take a look at the last page of the transcript can I ask you one more question was all of this all the the sneaking around the Scandal losing your job was was worth it yes it was because I love Leslie I want to be with her and I don't want to hide the way I feel about her anymore so yeah it was worth it because I'm in love with Leslie no Ben was right to take the fall as Leslie's boss he was smart fault than she was and by taking that fall he demonstrates how much he loves her it also cements the couple on the minds of viewers because when Leslie tells Ben she loves him via Court stenographer Ethel beavers played by Helen sladen Hughes you can't imagine these two ever breaking up Let the record state Ben Wyatt I love him with all of my heart did you get that Ethel beavers yes I got it Ben falling for Leslie is also the story of him falling for Pawnee ever since leaving partridge in disgrace Ben has been traveling across Indiana with Chris working as a tool of austerity in an attempt to prove himself worthy of government service by making a home for himself in Pani he's freed from that empty life and being with Leslie brings him real Joy him being welcomed into Pawnee also demonstrates another example of how the lovely group of different people we meet in the first two seasons of this series can welcome in an outsider even if Ben doesn't entirely get why Lil Sebastian is so great [Music] Ben and Leslie's relationship speaks to the importance of equality in any sort of partnership and if in her professional life Leslie is all about making the world a better place her personal life with Ben is about making her a better version of herself and the same is just as true of Ben they just make each other better which allows them to make the world better from here going forward Leslie and Ben are an ironclad couple the sort of couple that really seemed like a life goal for anyone looking to find a partner and a partner is what Leslie needs more than anything heading into the very messy world of electoral politics hi I'm Leslie Knope I love Pony and I want to make it even better better schools safer streets and a more progressive tax and Residential Properties although Leslie is first approached by political experts to run for city council she finds a much better fit for a campaign team closer to home guys it's so much work I can't ask you to put your lives on hold find one person here who you haven't helped by putting your life on hold Leslie is going to run for office with her friends it's a very Rosy perspective of politics where the advisors are dropped for a ragtag bunch of people who all believe in Leslie it's all very sweet and fanciful and it's the type of passion you don't often see in real world Politics on television and the only reason it's even close to believable is because it's about local politics in an interview Amy poeller said passion in politics is interesting and fun to play because you can take big swings and you can make big mistakes people see the Slow Time release of presidential politics and it's a lot of manufactured passion but it's very controlled in small low-level politics people really like to talk about their feelings reality comes crashing hard when their first campaign event is a disaster I'm holding the dog he's peeing he's now peeing and putting him down they only get back on track when Leslie asks Ben to be your campaign manager although he really only has experience becoming a mayor at 18 it's still one more election than anyone else has won this team has a lot of heart and zero know-how you're the only one that can save us please be my campaign manager amen oh don't make out it's making Champions sad and it turns out he's pretty good at it with Leslie's friends also backing her up and her new partner it once again speaks to how these people are organizing together to take on the outside world when the parks department United before to create the Harvest Festival it was facing a threat with the city facing Financial ruin or when they were filling in the pit it was in response to a public need now they're uniting as a proactive attempt to make pany a better place to live Leslie's campaign for cedon city council is also when the group comes into contact with another group who thinks they should have more of a say in bettering that Community Leslie's main opposition for this City Council seat is Bobby Newport of the Sweden's Newports played by Paul Rudd it will be so cool of you if you just quit then I can win the election and I'll have a big party and I'll put you both on the guest list plus one I'm gonna have a man who does magic he's really good not like cheesy magic like good magic Bobby is not a complicated man but how he got in this position is a bit more sophisticated than he is Bobby is a rich boy and since his family is incredibly wealthy he has a sense of entitlement towards that sedon City Council come on give me a give me it give me it come on give me it just give me the election I'm sorry please please Bobby's family using their wealth to run ads for him reflect how the wealthy used their money to purchase political power and more than Ronnie adds they hire him a high-level Washington DC campaign manager Jennifer Barkley played by Catherine Hahn you stole my idea and yours won't even work ramps are more practical and they're less expensive than lifts my idea is better oh I don't doubt it the fact is I don't care ramps lifts your plant my plant I don't actually care about any of this I'm just trying to win one of the less inspiring parts of the campaign is how effective the subterfuge Works Bobby acting more folksy or using nonsense to confuse voters you know one time a guy stole some downhill skis out of my Jeep and I was so mad I punched a mailbox I'm against Crime and I'm not ashamed to admit it Ben he's winning how is he winning everything he's saying is nonsense and he's fooling them political campaigns are less about issues and more about perceptions a depressing fact that anyone who follows politics will tell you and how these perceptions are formed is built on narratives about the candidates Leslie being a smart competent and enthusiastic civil servant is her narrative Bobby being a humble straightforward every man is his the fact that Bobby's is a lie matters less than how effectively that illusion can be created when Bobby threadsden sweetums out of Pawnee taking with it the jobs of half the town it gives Leslie an opening to create a new narrative corporations are not allowed to dictate what a city needs that power belongs to the people Bobby Newport and his daddy would like you to think it belongs to them this is my home you are my family and I promise you I'm not going anywhere holy let's see that was awesome [Applause] it's a lovely image with the sweeping camera and stirring speech as if a powerful speech will change everything and with the vote count being within a few dozen the winner is you won Leslie you won by 21 votes it's confirmed it's over you won honestly I've never been more relieved in my entire life of course Leslie won this show could only be this show if Leslie won an interesting bit of trivia is that two versions of the election's outcome were filmed though the one where Leslie lost was never seriously going to be used it was created to prevent spoilers for the finale from coming out and Leslie ends the season on a lovely message I want of every day to make Pani a better place to live because I love this city let's embark on a new journey together and see where it takes us the Triumph of Hope over fear should sound familiar particularly since this aired in 2012 ahead of Barack Obama running for re-election Leslie is borrowing quite a bit from his campaign messaging from the 2008 election while it might be tempting to say this story was almost prophetic ahead of the 2016 election where a career politician was up against a businessman with a questionable cognitive capacity but this story was actually inspired by the 2000 election which saw George W bush take on Al Gore to me that was more about Gore Bush it was like this incredibly wonky slightly uptight guy who knew the material Insider now and had every possible qualification you would ever want in a president versus a guy who's like hey guys what's up you're wearing a hat I'm going to call you hat guy whether it's gorvey Bush or Clinton V Trump the fact remains that both of these elections ended differently than Leslie's her representing Obama almost seems like a liberal fantasy where the 2000 election could have been rerun with Obama in charge or in retrospect like the 2060 one for that matter the idea that with the right candidate the better side so to speak can get an office well that's sometimes true it also speaks to the weakness of an electoral system where it takes a passionate person like Leslie with capable loved ones who are supporting her the whole time to barely beat the clueless doofus whose father is trying to buy him a political seat a more just system would never let that latter person get nearly as close to a position of power if Bobby Newport had been just a little bit smarter or if Leslie's team had been a little less capable or one of dozens of other variables were just slightly different this election would have swung the other way since this show is fueled on hope for a better tomorrow Leslie had to win but what happens when that tomorrow isn't quite so great if the campaign represented the hopeful vision of politics in the show The Fifth Season where Leslie is serving her time in office represents the opposite Leslie is immediately challenged by councilman Jam who becomes a thorn in her side you lied to me you just got jammed I hate when he says that it's here the show drifts back into something more familiar special interests influencing government often through the corrupt councilman gem to advance their pro-business agenda stymie and Leslie's attempts to improve Pani for its citizens the post-election experience for Ben isn't much better after running such an effect of a campaign Jennifer brings him to Washington to work on a Congressional Campaign although it pains her to see him go Leslie gives him her blessing you have to go to Washington while in DC Ben sees firsthand how interns get their jobs through family connections and how candidates are often just Blank Slate saying what they need to to get elected this morning staring Straight Ahead doing nothing he's a robot he's not a robot he's just thinking he's got a lot on his mind yeah like one one zero one must eat babies for fuel it raises the question of who politics is for and what can even be accomplished when someone good gets elected so much corruption is embedded into the system itself that positive change seems next to Impossible even looking at the modest changes Leslie wants to make like a soda tax it's as though there's just no room to make a better world with so many interests invested in keeping it the same one bright spot in season five or Ben and Leslie does happen in their personal lives though doing oh my God what are you doing I'm thinking about my future Leslie Knope yes a few episodes later they have a very fast impromptu wedding in the parks department in the episode titled Leslie and Ben You're All I Need I love you and I like you thank you I love you and I like you and now with the power vested in Me by the state of Indiana I Now pronounce you husband and wife you may now kiss them the enthusiasm between Leslie and Ben is unmistakable and part of it comes from the actors being so happy for this moment to come and then I said Adam good unless you're getting married and at the end of season five we get a brief rundown of Leslie's accomplishments in her first year in office obesity decreased people can now suddenly feel safe in our Parks grocery stores and hospitals I am very proud of what we've accomplished it seems like some level of positive change is possible but the downside is it's not enough to keep Leslie in office when citizens upset she banned a giant soda get her removed from office with a recall election of course I should mention these are citizens who are being manipulated by the swedums corporation the glory of the campaign is contrasted with the pain of servant in public office and the only clean victory for Leslie is in her personal life and it's in that space she can find the Solace to keep fighting for a better Pawnee but her election and marriage reveal how little influence she can exert over a system that has been captured by powerful interests you get the impression that if Leslie had her way everything would be so much better for Pawnee but she can only get a small sliver of that agenda through although there is an idealized vision of a lot of parts of politics in this show and in the real world sadly it's big business that has captured the government in ways that go beyond financing elections although in Pawnee the business world isn't entirely under the thumb of the Sweden's Corporation so what's a new company we specialize in making stacks on stacks on stacks on Stacks right pass Tom Haverford fences himself something of a mover and Shaker although being a low-level government employee his entrepreneurial side didn't have much of a chance to show itself also his ideas were terrible make a baby tuxedo clothing line a department store with a guest list white fur earmuffs for men a new brand of bottled water called H2O contact lenses that display text messages embed a phone that smells good at the end of the third season Tom realizes he can't fulfill his business dreams working in government so he makes a change starting now when life gives me lemons I'm going to slice them up into wedges and throw them into vodka tonics which I will then sip in a burlesque nightclub that I co-own with actor Tay Diggs and two of The Pussycat Dolls his first attempt is not the most encouraging partnering with jean-ralphio to start a company called entertainment 720. Sean Rafael came into some seed money after he was hit by Alexis why do we call it entertainment 720 because you're willing to go around the world twice for your clients their office is pretty dope what does this business do again it's a multimedia entertainment production conglomerate they go out of business very quickly he gets another shot at making his business dreams come true when he actually has a good idea high-end Clothes rentals for teens tweens and everything in betweens this is a great idea he grows so fast I never want to buy him anything nice what's the rent is swag this business works out but when Tom refuses to sell his company to a mysterious buyer capitalism comes for Tom my client will be moving on to plan B opening his own store directly across the street from yours it's called capitalism Mr Haverford and you are about to get a free lesson only this free lesson is going to cost you so it's not free you're right that was confusing this lesson will cost you good day the competition blue saberstein Sean ralthea's father played by Henry Winkler has a personal grudge against Tom he mistakenly believes Tom stole his rental idea from jean-ralphio tomlers throw with punches though and gets a deal rather than just going out of business Ron said there's nothing more valuable than my name but he's not a businessman I am and now I have seed money for my next venture I sold out baby Tom's next venture is one he's passionate about Tom's Bistro an old-fashioned old world Italian restaurant classy authentic Ambiance in a small town setting this idea sticks throughout the rest of the series although Tom would be seen moving on to other things as well Tom's desire for riches is in some parts successful but it is paved with failure something core to his character and something that speaks to the idea of always being able to pick yourself up and keep going but all of Tom's successes depend on the actions of his friends friends who invest in his company help him create his storefronts and support him at his lowest periods although he does come up with the odd good idea Tom is often held back by his own Brash personality Tom is a revised version of the concept of a self-made band you can't deny his effort and hard work in getting him where he is though he had no chance of getting there without the support of his friends one of the three times we see Tom managed to do something mostly on his own is find Lucy played by Natalie Morales although the relationship has some ups and downs eventually the two of them end up together look I'm all in that's all I meant I didn't want anything I was crazy or jumping the gun and I know he just got out of relationship so I don't expect you to feel the same way but that's how I feel well I'm only dating you for the free dresses so I'm fine with that this is a pattern that develops for a lot of characters in the show a happy ending often means meeting someone to love we see a similar Arc for the enigmatic Donna although Tom's friends in the parks department sometimes feel like an odd fit his pairing with Donna always makes sense especially with their own made-up holiday once a year Donna and I spend a day treating ourselves what do we treat ourselves to clothes treat yourself fragrances treat yourself massage it treat yourself mimosas treat yourself fine leather goods treat yourself it's the best day of the year the best day of the year while Donna shares Tom's Love of the high life she differs in some important ways she has a wild personal life filled with sex and wealth that Tom wishes he had also her cousin is genuine why do you have a photo of you place the genuine is your cousin Donna also has a soft spot for others even towards the office loser Jerry my favorite Jerry moment was when he ate a bowl of glue oh my favorite Jerry moment is when you switch down his potato soup with glue and he didn't know you're so cute when you're bullying babe you know what Emma's right this is mean we are going to pick up Jerry what no it's Christmas time don't you want to be good people when Donna meets her match Joe played by Keegan Michael Key her life finally slows down at least long enough to make Joe a part of it sometimes I disappear for a day or two because I'm fly fishing or I'm at a Seattle Sounders game I promise not to cheat on you if you promise not to try to pin me down too fast I have no problem with that although she is a cipher Donna still somehow fits into the group there's a great moment in the season six episode fluoride where April realizes that she doesn't know the first thing about Dada we don't hang out that much it's not like you know a ton about me you're beautiful yet cold and aloof you pride yourself on being a loner you do not obey you choose to cooperate and when you stop bearing your fangs to pick a mate it's for life and you're fiercely loyal to your pack which makes you a rare black Siberian Husky they're playing a game where they assign each other's personalities to different dog breeds even six seasons in the viewer is in the same position as April who is Donna you're right I'll never guess what kind of dog you are because you're not a dog you're a cat you're temperamental you're unpredictable complex and hard to read you make people work before you let them in but if they put the time in and prove that they care then you open yourself up to them April could be describing herself with some of that explanation and maybe that's what made them friends whether they knew it or not they're very different people in some ways and similar in others a theme of this series is different people coming together in friendship and Community bonded by their similarities instead of being separated by their differences Alpha those similarities are of basic kindness and appreciation for one another not in the terms you would like them to be but in how they choose to express themselves Tom and Donna are not always the best fit in their group of friends but they're loved and accepted for those differences while also being appreciated for their similarities they're loved and supported because they offer love and support in return their presence reveal that love and support are crucial to making any group dynamic work especially a group that's trying to make the world a better place that idea is literally the greatest idea I have ever heard in my life when Chris Trager first arrived at Pawnee and had recently ended things with Mark and was trying to figure things out for herself by the season 3 premiere episode go big or go home she took a chance and tried moving on with Chris albeit after some cajoling from Leslie I like you a lot let's go out again Perkins it only lasts a few episodes and when it ended and didn't even realize it was over when he broke up with her she just didn't realize it it's kind of understandable although it does kind of make you wonder how good of a nurse she is Chris is probably the most unflinchingly positive character in the series which makes them an interesting choice to be hit with a serious case of depression I don't think it's appropriate for people to be getting wet with sound who's gonna do it then I will I certainly have no other plans for Valentine's Day because I am completely alone all right I'll see you later Chris Chris does the exact wrong thing by trying to get back together with Anne thinking it'll fix him luckily she turns him down and instead Chris goes into therapy every time something tiny goes wrong you spiral like crazy maybe you should see a therapist I hope I'm not out of line oh contraire mon frere you are as inline as a person can be seeing Chris improve over the coming episodes while feeling slightly worried for how his therapist coped with twice daily sessions was a nice affirmation of the importance of mental health to see someone's take steps to improve their own and having to be treated as a normal sensible thing to do especially for a man men usually experience more stigma inside and out seeking that kind of emotional support Chris's experience with therapy is a lovely way to help push back on that stigma Ann's journey is more self-guided as her biggest issue is figuring out what she wants for herself eventually settling on the realization that she wants to become a mother and decides that she wants Chris to be the father of her child and it makes all the sense in the world for them to get back together if there is a hypothetical chance that we could provide a home with two parents who are high pathetically together then that could be even better hypothetically but of course we should discuss and consider all the possibilities the most important thing for me and I think for you is that we have a child and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that do you want to make out I really do Chris and Anne eventually get married in a relationship that seems completely out of order them dating didn't work so instead they decide to have a kid together and eventually to marry as well the crucial missing steps from the early part of the relationship are seen in the episodes where Chris is working on himself learning how not to be so utterly committed to positivity on the time and and moving beyond thinking she needs the ideal man to realize what she really wants as a family this relationship is not the usual Whirlwind romance you might expect from a TV show but rather two people who are definitely attracted to one another but not ready to enter to a relationship until they're in the proper headspace to make it all fit together Earth likes this idea that to find true happiness first you have to know yourself and both Chris and Anne were living with too little self-reflection to find that happiness the greatest Misfortune to befall Chris and Anne happens to be that as a couple they are inevitably going to be compared to the other couples on the series and that's a real problem when it's a show that has April and Andy and Leslie and Ben two extremely powerful pairings in that comparison though we can appreciate the journeys Chris and Anne took Leslie Ben Andy and April all know themselves but Chris and Ann didn't that's why the relationship doesn't immediately pop the way the other ones do when Tom and Donna eventually find love they similarly have to look inwards as well and experience personal growth and in Chris as a couple also served as an exit strategy for Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe in the sixth season when they both left the series Leslie doesn't take it well we need to talk I'm sorry Ann I can't understand you you've developed some accent from that new town you might move to in the season 6 episode titled Ann and Chris we say goodbye I love you I love you too the lifting of the camera creates the impression of this being the end of an era and meeting Leslie is what this series began with and their friendship was a major part of it throughout its run but with Anne leaving it's hard to imagine Parks and Recreation will be the same again although Anne does come back a few episodes later for a brief visit with her baby Oliver Perkins Traeger meet your aunt Leslie hey oh he's so beautiful and you're so beautiful I mean you're always beautiful but right now you are the most beautiful glowing Sun Goddess ever but she was definitely gone after that my marbles are full of mouth today Jerry gergich is another member of the parks department I would sooner visit Europe than I have something romantic happen between us Leslie and Ron's friendship you know what maybe that last section was a little too quick I I'm gonna go back my marbles are full of mouth today Jerry is something of a punching bag for the parks department he's not the most elegant of people you know what has anybody seen my glasses I don't even think I can Jerry much like Donna was not a major player in the early episodes of the series there was a key moment in season two that really established his character this is from the episode Practice State where all the characters were digging up dirt on one another your adopted mother was arrested for marijuana possession what you didn't know that huh I didn't know I was adopted it's hard not to feel some sympathy for Jerry especially when he has a heart attack and Tom just wants to turn it into a joke oh I think he might be having a heart attack what are you serious oh so much stuff is happening right now is there a term for having a heart attack while releasing so much gas not really gastrointestinal distress is common during a cardiac event I just want to hear the doctor say that Jerry had a fart attack is that too much to ask in later Seasons we learned that while Jerry has been struggling at the office he has a delightful home life Welcome everybody to another gergich Christmas now sadly one of our three beautiful angels Millicent couldn't be here tonight but our other two beauties Miriam and Gladys are going to help Galen me play a little tune what makes Jerry truly inspiring is that his priorities are great he isn't like Leslie living for her career rather his life is in his home for me the best part about working at the parks department was that I got to be home every night with my family at five o'clock and to me that's What mattered most part of the joke here and most jokes about Jerry is that he wouldn't expect the guy who looks like him to have such a beautiful beautiful wife Jerry is a heavyset guy and while he is an exclusively teased for his weight it's definitely part of the jokes that are made about him throughout the series there are numerous references to the citizens of Pani being obese used in a similar way for easy punch lines and the sting may be less acute because there's no face to go along with most of these jokes that this imagined person isn't shown on the TV series doesn't remove the implication that they do exist and that we are in a way laughing at them it's a very clever way of making a very old joke about someone's weight it masks what is basically bullying people who are constantly being bullied because of their appearance and Jerry is the closest we get to seeing what these jokes actually look like when they have a real Target obesity on the show is also treated like a political problem and while the government absolutely owes protection from unhealthy foods and predatory corporations like swedums to the people of Pani it does have the echo of people who think mockery is important so people will realize being overweight may include Health complications but but everyone knows this we don't need a choke to remind people and it's unfortunate that this is the guys the show often uses to make some very cheap fat jokes it should be said though that at the very least Donna is a nice Counterpoint as someone with a body type that is unlike the other female characters on the show she is consistently presented as desirable Dynamic and intriguing though she really is the exception to the role that generally if someone has a certain body type on the show they are mocked we should feel some sympathy for jury as the victim of bullying especially when he's such a sweet guy and it reveals a weird streak even people as nice as Leslie have when they're otherwise so kind and thoughtful to their friends I was mugged twos or scars or anything if even one of them had a unique scar we got him think he had a good look damn it Jerry sorry you're the victim sorry sorry in one of the rare instances of someone reaching out to him Ben tries to befriend Larry in one episode he's going by Larry in this one because people can't be bothered to commit to a name for him oh man did I miss a Larry fart oh no uh we were yeah Tom yeah I I really ripped one didn't I Ben yeah yeah it was loud smells like a hippopotamus took a dump on a skunk it's in your best interest Gary is a real sweetheart and when Ben announces their friends it's a nice moment Larry is my friend thank you Ben I mean that [Music] I got so startled I tooted come on man well it's a nice moment aside from the Larry part actor Jim o'hurd explained part of the reason scary sticks around and considers everyone his friend isn't just because he's a punching bag as much as they give him so much crap I truly and I could even they love Jerry and I know you'll be like now they know they're terrible to them they have his back when it counts every time it's counted they've had his back and at the very least Terry isn't Kyle I love the Umami flavor stop being so pretentious Kyle I would sooner visit Europe than I have something romantic happen between us although Leslie and Anne's friendship is evident right from the get-go and is beautiful on his own right it's the gradual reveal of Leslie and Ron's friendship that might be the most memorable and one that spoke to the heart of what this show was saying about community and politics Leslie and Ron's personalities and philosophies are completely at odds yet somehow they've managed to form a friendship perhaps in part due to Ron's love of strong women and Leslie's love of strong principles and they're willing to put themselves on the line for one another like when budget cutbacks threatened Leslie's job Ron stands up for her I strenuously object Well Ron we're moving on every Department's losing a Leslie Knope no Ben they are not no other department has one to begin with OR when Ron's ex-wife Tammy threatens to drag run away Leslie always fights to protect his freedom I'd do anything for Ron even spend a whole night fighting his crazy ex-wife I think I'm safe it's got to be tired right now hi and they can be incredibly sweet to one another listen to me very carefully so I am not getting married without you there to walk me down the aisle end of discussion Leslie is particularly supportive of Ron when he meets Diane played by Lucy Lawless and Ron finds his own happily married life to give a short speech if I may you have 10 seconds at first glance it may seem as though Ron Swanson and I have nothing in common but Webster's Dictionary defines friend thank you Leslie I could tell where you were going with that it was going to be beautiful I Now Pronounce You man and wife also as a quick side note Ron becoming a family man is incredibly sweet he is wonderful with his stepdaughters and you can see the joy in his face with his newborn son he now has that satisfied look that only comes with the pride of Labor or he pooped either way well done John Leslie and Ron's friendship does get tested throughout the series and in those tests we see one of the major tensions of the series if Parks and Recreation is about different people coming together in community what happens when different members of that Community have dramatically different concepts of how that Community should function Mike sure is very aware that this is an idealized version of government that doesn't reflect the reality of government when the show is produced and certainly that's still true today we just wanted to say like all right one guy can have one set of extremely fervent beliefs that run completely counter to the beliefs of his co-worker and they can still just get along and respect each other and admire each other and find things in common and they can sit down and have a glass of whiskey together at the end of a long night for this to happen there needs to be a baseline level of agreement between them for example they need to have similar values with regard to friendship and basic human interactions they both need to be free of any obvious prejudices towards different groups of people and they have to genuinely care for their Hometown watching parts some Recreation most modern political issues aren't tackled unless it's through a very comedy-friendly lens gay marriage is explored through two penguins the cost of Health Care only comes up when we see April and Andy finally get insurance and racial profiling is almost taken in stride as the thing that just happens by softening these issues the show avoids any deep political debates unless they and Ron never approach anything so volatile that it might end their friendship it also allows them to compromise more easily towards the end of the series as season six comes to a close we jump forward from 2014 to 2017. Leslie having been offered a job as Regional director of the Midwest National Park Service convinces them to move the offices from Chicago to Pawnee the most shocking part of the future is what became of Ron and Leslie hello Miss nope hello former strange person I used to friend has left public service to start his own business but that's not where the tension comes from at the heart of this disagreement is something only referred to in the first few episodes of season seven as Morningstar in the episode titled Leslie and Ron we find out that Morningstar was a development project taken on by Ron's construction company that would bulldoze several old homes to build an apartment building one of those houses belonged to Anne you knew that I would be furious and you didn't have the guts to tell me yourself enjoy your new job Judas you tear down Anne's house you spend the next two years cutting down trees and fighting zoning laws that I helped pass basically spitting on everything we did together at parks but that's just the story from Leslie's perspective and you took April I didn't want her to go as she had become one of my closest workplace acquaintances but your offer was too good to pass up so I didn't try to stop her and Tom left to run his business Donna left to run hers one day I looked up just didn't recognize anyone I was going to ask you for a job in the federal government saying it out loud feels dirty you missed your friends and you wanted to come up to the third floor and work with us again the rift between Leslie and Ron ultimately is a personal one Ron missed his friends and Leslie thought he didn't care about their time together while their friendship is sweet and good I think it's important to underline that as different as they may seem they ultimately are not far enough apart to be unable to co-exist if Ron and Leslie represent two sides of political thought as Mike Sure said earlier implicit in that is the belief that people might differ on some things but agree on ninety percent of everything else and the range of thought being explored here is within a narrow set of boundaries although he identifies more closely with someone like Leslie in interview sure described Ron saying I find that in my personal life when I've met people who have Iran's point of view who have a purely libertarian point of view many of them I'm like that person would be fine many of the Libertarians I know are extremely intelligent and extremely successful and extremely high functioning people and I totally get that they have the opinions that they do they are people who don't need the kinds of Social Services they are railing against of course as sure later notes not everyone is fortunate to lead a life that allows them to express their talents to the fullest and what's perhaps more crucial is that while a Libertarian like Ron might be a tolerable foil for Leslie other people on the right are less capable of getting along with her like members of the religious right who we see repeatedly attack Leslie throughout the series if we we allow this filth to be taught to our seniors the next thing you know it'll be in our high schools in our kindergartens and before you know we have babies and thong underwear is that what you want yes that's what I want and while Leslie maybe on the left she isn't so far left that she makes Rohan uncomfortable for example she's not a socialist capitalism is the only way Leslie it moves our country forward it's what makes America great and England okay and France terrible I like capitalism I love competition but what if Leslie were a socialist or Ron was on the religious right their friendship would seem less likely and that hypothetical reveals the limitations of friendship and Community when political differences come up the limitation here speaks deeply to the idealism of Parks and Recreation it creates a version of both political sides that are imagined as close enough to be friends completely at odds with the realities these people represent can you imagine a democratic politician being as competent as Leslie Knope you're the person who wrote this you read my proposal to clean up the Pawnee River I wrote this two years ago it's the most thoroughly researched and passionate Grant request I've ever seen or can you imagine a republican politician talking about their religion like Ron what religion am I well I'm a practicing none of your business this friendship works when these characters Hue close to the middle and falls apart when they represent different types of political thought that are further away from that Center I'm ready towards the end of the series Leslie was realizing her time in the Pawnee parks department was coming to an end as she sees her fellow employees thriving without her we both know you're not going to be here forever this is a way station on the road to bigger and better things whenever you do move on it should please you to know that God help me you've built a well-functioning government agency Leslie and Ben start a family ending up with triplets and she's offered a big job working for the federal government when we Flash Forward to 2017 she fights for Pani one more time taking on the tech company Grizzle or violating people's privacy while trying to buy land Leslie thinks would be better suited as a national park her solution after exposing bristles snooping is to sell them part of the city that has fallen into disrepair here over 5 entire square blocks of historic Pawnee the idea that we can work with big tech companies to make things better redirecting them to Serve the People comes off as a bit naive although Grizzle is publicly embarrassed by Leslie the only thing preventing Grizzle from doing stuff in the future is shame and do they have any can anyone count on a corporation to not do anything shameful in the future even if you embarrass them in the present that said it's an example of a small victory in the face of what would have been otherwise an overwhelming defeat in an interview Mike Sure said we put a detail in at the end of season five I think that the town was the fourth most obese town in America and we dropped in that it went from 4th to ninth that's not amazing but it's better and it's because everyone was trying really hard that's the engine of the show or the underlying message of the show it's better to try than to not try at all the people who are kind of Heroes in the show and who I think are heroes in society are the people who are like yeah it's pretty bleak gotta keep trying Parks and Rec tends to keep the cynicism in small gentle portions it does have a kind of vision of positive political change one that makes the world at least a little better even if it seems like there are stronger forces making it worse the light of hope we are offered in season seven though is that maybe things will get better if someone decent runs for office I think you should run yes our lives are Bonkers but if something is worth it and I think this is then you just make it work it's sweet that Leslie is taking her turn to support Ben and really speaks to how the relationship is built on them supporting one another in the penultimate episode of the series two funerals we finally meet mayor Gunderson if there's credit to take I will humbly take it and if there is blame it's your fault thank you and goodbye forever uh okay well that was really something one fun fact about this bit of casting is that Bill Murray was Amy Poehler's First Choice to be the mayor as far back as 2011 nearly four years before this episode aired my dream would Bill Murray to play the mayor of what this episode also highlights the changes hitting everyone Leslie is taking a job at the department of the Interior so she can be with Ben in Washington DC April and Andy are moving there with them Donna and Joe are moving to Seattle and band names Gary is the interim mayor of Pawnee operation day buddy he's Leslie this all leads us to the two-part finale One Last Ride airing on February 24th 2015. with most of the group leaving Pawnee there's no particularly Intense or dramatic plot for the final episode it's more like an extended goodbye to all the characters as they go on one last adventure together fixing a swing at one of the parks one neat detail from the finale included the character Jon the guy asking for the swings to be fixed played by John Daly was the drunk guy from the pilot episode apparently his life is completely turned around or at least he now only gets drunk and stuck in slides on weekends as the episode moves forward we see flashes of the various Fates for each character in some cases moving decades into the future it would take a while to describe every future for each of the characters and really it's worth watching yourself because there's a lot of fun stuff in there the important thing is everyone ends up happily even John ralphio has his own champagne label and the show makes a bold prediction about who will be in the White House 2025 and everyone gets together in 2025 to help Leslie and Ben decide which of them will run for governor you want to leave this to chance yes because whatever's next you and I are in it together so let's go tell everybody and they can participate and they can sign the coin and then you know the coin will eventually make its way into the Smithsonian Ben and I have an announcement Leslie's running for governor of Indiana what [Applause] Indiana native supremely qualified and she wrote that she wanted to be governor in her kindergarten dream journal this makes sense so I'm running for governor yeah yeah in the furthest glimpse into the future we see Ben and Leslie being flanked by Secret Service suggesting that one of them may be president though we never find out which one of them it is one of them could be president and one could be vice president for all we know the final line of the series is Leslie looking into the camera and saying I'm ready when the finale was originally broadcast the final image seen was text reading we love you Harris this was a tribute to Harris whittles a writer and producer for the series who passed away earlier that year viewers might recognize them from when he played the role Harris a member of the animal Control Department speaking to filming the finale Mike Sure said in an interview it was very emotional we arranged our schedules that the last scenes were with the entire cast and they were on our set and not a location we were able to be together for the last moments of the show it was very nice and felt very appropriate the cast was very sad and the producers were very sad everybody's really sad but sad in the best possible way and we kept reminding ourselves that the fact that we'd got to be this sad means that we had a really great run the idea of the series being about the drive for public service or a team being made up of lots of different people and the work being a reward speaks to a particular view of government one filled with a hopeful idealism even if reality can be very challenging to it it was emotional and straightforward in its message filled with hope and optimism considering the turn America took one year later it seems sweetly naive although the series never ignored some of the less glamorous parts of local government like Angry citizens screaming at people about the turtle flu and managed to hold on to that optimism that made it so Charming to watch and in some ways it represents the kind of optimism people need when things seem the toughest in a 10th anniversary reunion for the series hosted by the Paley Center for media the question of a reunion is raised the show had an argument to make and the argument was about teamwork and friendship and and positivity and being an optimist and not getting cynical and and believing that that people can do good in believing in the power of public service and believing that if you work hard and you put your head down and you have good people around you who are part of your team that that good things are possible and you'll achieve the things that you want to achieve and I I don't feel like we left anything on the table really like I you know I I feel like the show sort of made its argument and it turns out there would be a reunion a year later something going on I I have watched the news lately in 2020 there was this thing called the covid-19 pandemic you probably remember it with everyone quarantined themselves The Parks and Rec gang reunited for a special to raise funds for feeding America a non-profit that runs 200 food banks helping feed over 46 million people in the special the audience got the opportunity to spend time with the cast as they cope with a quarantine running a phone tree over video meetings to make sure everyone is okay well hello there [Music] number and said Renee Brown was giving an emergency Ted to offer Gary you're not brene brown some of the more memorable guest stars also show up including Sean ralphio it's your boy John ralphio and guess who just got run over by a Porsche this dude did not want to go to court so I am with cash and the episode closed with everyone singing 5 000 candles in the wind this is a long song shut up Ben the special raised at least three million dollars for feeding America the special was watched by just under 3.4 million people and it was the highest in the key demographic of Ages 18 to 49 for the entire season for NBC this brief return was like being wrapped in a warm blanket during a time when people really needed some comfort checking in on some old friends who had lost touch with spread your wings and Fire following Parks and Recreation Amy poeller starred in the movie's inside out and sisters she also co-starred with Nick Offerman in the crafting series making it for three seasons she also co-created and stars in the Animated Series Duncanville most recently she directed the movie Lucy and Desi above the lives of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz it was nominated for six Emmys including one for best Direction after leaving Parks and Recreation in its sixth season Rashida Jones went on to star in the series Angie Tribeca which ran for Four Seasons on TBS more recently she's been doing Voice work on Duncanville and she starred alongside Bill Murray in the movie on the rocks Aziz Ansari created a Netflix series pastor of none with former Parks and Rec writer and producer Alan Yang for his work in the role he won a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV series the first Asian actor Ever to do so in 2018 ansario receded from public life after he was accused of sexual misconduct a short while later he made a return to stand-up comedy and was set to make his directorial debut with an adaptation of the book being mortal but production on the movie was halted after a complaint of sexual misconduct was directed towards one of the movie stars Bill Murray in the season 2 DVD release Chris Pratt recorded a special feature where he made a fun joke man I just got a text message from Steven Spielberg God so annoying I'll have to get back to you later about Jurassic Park four boom in 2015 proud would star in Jurassic world the first of several movies rebooting the franchise he also starred in The Guardians of the Galaxy movies The Lego Movie movies and several other projects his next major work will be voicing Mario in the Super Mario Brothers movie Aubry Plaza has appeared on a number of different TV and film projects following the ending of Parks and Recreation including Legion the White Lotus and Emily the criminal she is set to appear in the upcoming series Agatha coven of chaos alongside former Parks and Rec guest star Catherine Hahn Nick Offerman went on to be in a number of different projects on TV and film including appearing in the founder Fargo and co-starring with Amy Poehler and making it most recently has received wide Acclaim for his appearance on the TV series The Last of Us after Parks and Rec ended Adam Scott appeared in several projects including my blind brother big little lies and another Mike Sure creation the good place most recently he is starring in the series Severance and a reboot of the short-lived comedy series party down Rob Lowe has continued his prolific career appearing in several movies and TV shows he also started his own podcast literally with Rob Lowe in 2019 he began starring in a spin-off of the 911 series 9-1-1 Lone Star which is currently entering its fourth season Retta went on to co-star in the series good girls alongside Christina Hendricks and Mae Whitman she's also appeared in girlfriend's guide to divorce and ugliest house in America in 2018 she released a book titled so close to being the [ __ ] y'all don't even know Jim O'Hare is appeared in dozens of TV and film projects since the end of parks and rec including middleman take me and perhaps most notably he won a Daytime Emmy for his appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful an article in Rolling Stone tried to identify which TV shows defined each era based on who was the president at the time Parks and Recreation reflecting the Obama presidency was just about the perfect choice in fact it was the reunion special that inspired the article to begin with a section on Parks and Rec reads the funny thing about Parks and Rec being so closely tied to Obama down to this fan made note posters inspired by the Obama campaign's hope ones is that the series wasn't created with him at all in mind Greg dinos and Michael sure wrote the pilot during the darkness of the 2008 financial crisis and their only thought was that government was going to have to get more involved in people's lives at least for a while to try to undo the damage that Banks and lacks regulations had created but a show inspired by one era wound up a perfect fit for another but it's proximity to the Obama Administration wasn't the only interesting case of timing for the show internet essay titled the cultural Forum Heather Hendershot describes the atomization of Television that was happening when Parks and Recreation aired in a 1983 essay by Horace Newcomb and Paul amhirsh which Hendershot is responding to they frame television not as a tool for the left or the right but rather a neutral platform or the left and right meet within its programming enter shot argues that the error of the major networks getting the Lion Share of the audience was becoming a thing of the past when Parks and Rec debuted in 2009 cable television had taken off in a big way and it signaled audiences drifting off in different directions no longer in having this communal meeting space something that's only become more true with the rise of streaming platforms the effect of this is that television a former meeting place for cultural issues no longer had a handful of shows where everyone would see those issues discussed together Parks and Recreation was appealing to that earlier version of Television attempting to create a world where different people are bound together by cultural context to learn how to coexist with one another and taking it a step further reflecting the type of politics that stress meeting others in conversation the Time Capsule episode is highlighted in particular where citizens of Pawnee all make their voice heard for what's to be put in the time capsule in the end Leslie's compromise is to instead place a recording of the town meeting a lot of people arguing assuming you still have electricity this veneration of discourse is highlighted by Hendershot in her essay when she writes it is conversation rational or not loud or soft that keeps democracy alive importantly she also notes that the publics who are being so open and level and punny where every voice is heard is sadly not an accurate reflection of reality Creator makes sure acknowledge another aspect of Parks and Recreation that I think gets too often overlooked at the local level it seems more plausible that people who live in the same town and have breakfast together and see each other at the same stores and whose kids go to the same schools would have to deal with each other it's just about mingling and having contact with other people who have different opinions when it's really abstract and there's so much power and money at stake the risk for a Republican senator right now to agree with a single thing the president does or that a Democratic senator does is too great we often get caught up in the big ideas of what politics mean on the federal level here on YouTube we feed into that discourse by creating content that appeals to a wide audience in other words stories that impact everyone and not just a local community Parks and Recreation emphasizes thinking local offering the lesson to be learned from the series is to create community and try your hardest to make your local space the best it can be when it gets extrapolated to National politics especially considered in recent history it may come across as naive and misguided but it's never sought being true that the place where a person could have the greatest impact is at the local level you sitting there watching this YouTube video can attend a meeting about a new park being built and have your voice be heard to get better accessibility options to fight for the inclusion of more local Flora or even if it's just to tell them to replace the water in the fountain with Scotch although they probably won't do that while it might have been nice to see the series address systemic problems for instance diving into the possibility of changing local politics to prevent corporate capture or reimagining electoralism as something other than a popularity contest but no show can be everything to everyone and since I'm not in a position to reboot the series it's better to take the good we can find with what we have of it Parks and Recreation tells us we can afford to have a little more passion about our communities to see the good in them while being committed to making them even better because you never know maybe you happen to live in the Greatest Town in the world or maybe one day you can make it that serving the goofballs in this town is an honor and a privilege and yes every town claims it's diners waffles are the best in the world but somewhere in some town there really are the best waffles in the world so delicious and Rich and golden brown that anyone who tasted them would decide never to leave that town somewhere those waffles exist why can't it be here when I first started this project I assumed Parks and Recreation hadn't aged well I'm not sure how that got into my head but when I sat down and watched it I was delightfully surprised that even the first season was a lot better than I remembered it granted some of the politics are a little ugh and it focuses a little too much on individual changes rather than systemic ones and yeah it very much feeds in this idea that people can just talk through their differences without grappling with more extreme political ideologies that are currently taking hold in our world right now but it is just a sitcom and I don't think we need to put on its shoulders the task of fixing Politics the local reminder I feel like was enough you there watching it might be thinking of writing a comment where you're like Jose you should do this show or that show next I would like to please encourage you to check out my playlist of the various retrospectives I've done a lot of people sometimes request a show not realizing I covered it like three years ago so check that out first before making a request what you shouldn't hesitate to do is to become a supporter of this channel like all the lovely names you see flying up the screen now they get early access to videos fun little extras like extended scenes or sometimes deleted scenes that don't make it to the public release and they get their names in the credits which is obviously the most fun if you'd like to support this channel in a non-monetary fashion you can like comment subscribe and hit the bell for notifications if you're wondering what to leave as a comment uh I don't know maybe write a review of a movie you've seen recently in fact I'm going to put some movie reviews at the end of this video just as a bit of fun thank you all so much for watching over to you purd I waited the whole film for him to talk but you never did see biscuit kids one star it's without a doubt the worst Dr Seuss adaptation ever made I am Sam gets one and a half Stars I usually love comedies about mistaken identity but the laughs just fell flat 12 Years a Slave gets two stars

Channel: José

Views: 662,349

Keywords: Parks and Recreation, Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Mike Schur

Id: 1Tn4YKRquNw

Length: 113min 30sec (6810 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 18 2023