Alison Becker: Women in Garbage (S5E11)
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Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Parks and Recollection. I am one of your hosts, Jim O'Hare, Gary, Larry, Jerry, Terry, and Barry. And I'm here with...

Your other house. Every time it's the same. But do you do that a lot? Do you have to remind yourself you're all those people? No, but when people meet me, that is how they will do it. People like to have fun. Like, oh, who are you today? Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. All the time. And then they'll say, which one is your favorite? And I have an obvious answer for me.

I was hired as Jerry. Yeah. I think it was Jerry on the contract. Like, however it was. Yeah, yeah. It was Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. So for me, Jerry Dergish. Yes. That is the name. Well, we are very lucky to have a very special guest with us who on our show is also known for several names. Yes. We have...

Shauna Mulway-Tweep herself. Alison Becker is here, everybody. Thanks for having me. Thank you for being here. You are infamous on the show as Shauna Mulway-Tweep. I mean, it's just true. It's just true. Do you hear it? Do you get it on the street? Do you hear it from people? Yeah, I get a lot of just like, Tweet! Hi!

Yeah, yeah. Which I love. And so many people asked me like how they came up with that name. And it was Dan Gore, 100%. He came up with Sean Amalway Tweet. I don't know where or how in his brain it manifested, but it did. Well, you know, we have some weird names on the show. But I think the first, after you accept the fact that Leslie Knope is your main character. Right. There's a person whose last name is Knope.

Shana Mulweep is the first new person, really, we really get to spend some time with who has a slightly insane name. But it's the kind of thing that the more you say it, the more you're like, oh, that's actually, that's just a normal human name. It just feels, the writers, you, the writers, were so good at

It's just so specific that it sounds like it has to be real. It can't be a made-up name. And I think that's why everyone's like, where is it from? Whose name is it? And it's like, no, they're just that good. Well, I will also say, and thank you for that, there was another thing where we constantly would come up with character names that would not pass our legal clearances department. Oh my gosh, please tell me all of them. Legally meaning...

Meaning that in order for clearances, because no one wants to be sued, they would go through and see how many people have this name. And if there's a certain number, then it's like, oh, it's probably large enough that no one thinks they're being written about on the show. And if there's maybe one, two or three, are we risking someone saying, you're writing this about me? I've heard this from another show. And there is like a number.

I think it's like, I don't know if it's five or six, but if it's like over six people, then you can use it. Yeah, so we would come up with names and they constantly wouldn't be cleared. And so the game, I think, just became, oh, we should just have very strange names.

Yeah. It will not be in his shoe. Yeah. You take a normal person's first name and attach a very strange last name. It's great. Say it once and you're fine. But this is so exciting to have. It is like you're one of the faves. And just not one of our own faves, one of the fan faves. Yes. And I'm sure you know that. And the fans are the best. And the fans are the best. Now, I have to ask you because, you know, we do our research around here. Yeah.

It says here, and it's weird because I've never seen you at the meetings, but it says you're a member of Mensa. I am a member of Mensa. I have never seen you at the meetings. Are you going to the right meetings? I don't know. I mean, technically, I'm not allowed in. Okay. I'm in Dumsah. Just Dumbassah. No, but truly, you're a Mensa member? I am, yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, I just took the test for fun one day.

Oh, wait a minute. Online that I could take? Or no, the legit mental test? I went in and took the legit test. First, I tried the online one. And then I went in and took the one. And they have like a proctor there. You actually take two tests and you only have to pass one of them. But I took two. One is very short and one is very long. Are they incredibly hard? It's a lot of like... I mean, listen, you know, saying that someone has a higher than...

than normal intelligence is such a, it's a subjective thing, I think. Because, you know, like a musician who can like kick ass on the trumpet or something might not have passed that test. But I think that that person is a genius in a different way. So it's very problematic. But it's problematic. But proudly I'm a member of it. But I'm a member. And only a highly intelligent person could say that.

I didn't even think of that. It's not, but like, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Probably because I passed, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be because it's like, it's not anything knowledge-based. It's like spatial recognition and memory and they try their best to make it as

you know, as, as I don't know what the word I'm looking for is. I'm a genius. I just can't think of words, guys. Too many are coming into your head. It's just so many. Too many words. I'm the beautiful mind meme right now. It's happening in real time. You need to do Celebrity Jeopardy. Oh, I would love to do it. But see, that's trivia. Yeah.

Oh, is trivia different then? Trivia's different. But don't you want to do regular Jeopardy? Because I think if you had the choice between celebrity Jeopardy. They also dumbed down. They dumbed down. No, no, no. I know. I was asked about celebrity Jeopardy. Oh, no, no. Just people sitting at home going, he's as dumb as I thought he was. Holy crap. Or who thought he could be dumber than I thought he was? No, I don't need that.

No, I think it would be great because they're either like, yeah, that's him. That's who I saw. Or they'll be like, oh, he's very smart. Yeah, well, oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. There's a way to spin it. There is a way to spin it. But no, I think that's amazing. And you also got out of high school, I saw, at 16 years old. That is a lie that somebody wrote online. Really? Yeah.

Go with it. It's online. I actually still need to get my degree. Greg, is this close to the GED, right? I'll get it one day. You've taken it four times. He's close. Once I'm allowed back in the high school. He's super close. Oh, but really, so it just made the internet. Do you have anything online about you that's a lie? Or that you have had trouble? Because I also had, I've never been married. And for like a decade, it said that I had a spouse. His name, their name was Cameron something. And I was like, I don't know who.

with this on there. But this sounds like the beginning of like a meet cute romantic comedy for you. I just want everyone to know I am single. You got to find Cameron. She is ready to mingle. If you have Googled me by any chance, I am not there. And if your name is Cameron, a lot of the work has already been done for you. Let's get this going. I finally got it taken down.

Okay. And so just to connect us back to the show here, you did UCB shows, like the Amy stuff. Yeah. Did you work with Amy? I mean, I knew her. I mean, if I work with you, you mean like idolized her? Well, we all did. Yes. But I knew Amy from UCB, you know, the theater she started. And...

I also knew Aubrey and Aziz as well. And you know, when I got cast, I mean, obviously when you got cast, but when I got cast, what it said on my pay stub was the Amy Poehler Project. Yes. That's what it was called. Yeah. When I was first, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Actually, the untitled Amy Poehler Project. Yeah, exactly. It didn't officially, we didn't officially decide on the Parks and Rec title until right before, I think, it aired. There were times it was going to be called Public Service, maybe. There were all these different things. And I think Greg Daniels was,

I was worried that it would be called Parks and Rec, but it wouldn't do well. And then someone would say Parks and Rec, W-R-E-C-K. And then all this stuff, like, are we just giving them an opportunity? I was like, I think we're overthinking this. Overthinking it. I think we're overthinking this. It's a good title. But is it still like a brain fart when you see in LA, like anything that says recreation and parks? Absolutely. I hate it. Makes you crazy. I think about it way too often when I see it. And I...

I look around and there's no one to talk to about that. There is nobody. To appreciate it in the way that I appreciate it. I have typed parks and recreation so many times in my life. And said it and heard it. Yeah. And then when you see recreation and parks, you're like, stop it. It's incorrect. It also makes me think, what were they thinking? Don't they know it sounds better? Yes. Parks, even if there wasn't a show called Parks and Recreation. Unfortunately, other cities don't.

Having a department called Parks and Recreation just sounds better than Recreation and Parks. But that's not their forte. It is not. Oh, you think recreation is the forte? Well, no, I'm just saying making things that sound fluid is not their forte. That's your forte. I don't know how you'd be at designing a park.

Pretty bad. Yeah, yeah. I know trees and grass are involved. More waterfall. Yeah, yeah. So I wanted to ask, you did a show called Main Street with John Glazer, Ben Schwartz, and Aubrey Plaza. Like some of our heavy hitters.

And this was years before Parks, right? Yeah, this was a show for ESPN with sports. I don't know what the Venn diagram of sports fans and Parks and Rec fans is, but there was an ESPN commentator named Kenny Main. I'm still good friends with them. And they did like a Curb Your Enthusiasm style show about the behind the scenes of Kenny Main. And I played his producer and Aubrey and Ben played my like evil bosses. Yeah.

Aubrey playing an evil boss? I say no. And John Glazer played a hilarious character named Cowboy. And he just was the camera guy. And it was the most fun. One of the most fun things I've ever worked on. Was it improv or was it scripted? It was loosely scripted. But we just had a blast. And for years, Kenny Maine has been trying to bring the show back.

As like a real network show. I just love reading that you had worked with so many of us before you ever showed up there. So, and the casting process for you was what? Was it an audition? Was it just, hey, we love her, we're bringing her in? It was an audition, but you know, you just reminded me of something that I haven't thought of. When we were one time in a car service being driven to set for that Kenny Mayne show, Aubrey got the phone call that she booked from Allison Jones, who cast the pilot that she booked, which we didn't know what it was called at the time. But I remember we

were like this is huge oh my god wow yeah um and then i see again so smart already forgot your other question what was it like for you being cast no i auditioned for allison or for um allison jones yeah and i had auditioned that same week for ellie kemper's part in the office wow and i

I remember I had just moved to LA and I was in my apartment and it was like really, it was an unusually cold day in Los Angeles. And I like didn't have my furniture yet. And I was just like sitting on the floor with like a blanket. It was, it's a very cinematic scene. And I got the call that I didn't book the office and I started to cry. And then I got a call like five minutes later and they were like, you booked the roller show. And I was like, what?

You're in Hollywood. This is how it works. But I've always said this, and it's true. Things can be going so terrible. Yeah. And it takes one, like you said, you're sitting at home, maybe crying or whatever, and you go, hello? What? Really? Yeah, it's literally like life changing calls.

And it changes overnight. So it's a weird business. It's also coupled with you get it. You're so excited and immediately you're like, okay, well, how many days am I working? What's my rate? What am I going to do? And then all this. I think Aziz said, and this is true about acting. He said the most exciting day about your new project is when it's announced on deadline. Because half the time they never even go further than what's announced on deadline. And for actors, that call is so exciting. And then 10 minutes later, you start panicking.

oh God, okay, am I going to be able to pull it off? Like, we're just the worst. It really, we're just. It's the cockiness married with the just imposter syndrome. Yes, the security. Because you see, like sometimes I'll see things on, you know, watch things. I was like, I could do that. I can do that.

I could have played that. I auditioned for that role or whatever. Not the Ellie Kemper one, by the way, because she nailed it. But then inevitably, whenever I'm on set, I'm like, I don't belong here. They're all so much better than me. What am I doing? I'm out of my range. Actors are nuts. We really are. We really are.

And that's the other thing, Parks, everyone was so welcoming and so lovely. And it just, it is like, you know, you have that feeling. It goes back to like being in the school cafeteria holding your lunch tray and you're like, who am I going to sit with? Yes. And when people are like, literally, come sit with me, it just feels great. Really? They never said come sit with them? Oh, you must have missed. Never mind. It's fine. The other cast members said you could have lunch with them? It's fine.

It's best saved for another topic. Another time, Jim. Here's what I love about Sean. Here's what I love about Sean on Malway Tweet is that we first meet her in The Reporter, right? Yep. So I think it's episode two, three. And it

It's both as a reporter, but in this romantic storyline as well with Mark. And so character is already not just this plot device in the sense of we need a reporter here, but is part of like the drama element.

Because I step right in Leslie's way. Yeah. But because of that, it became fun to always bring Shauna back, not just because you were delivering, but because it felt like you were a different type of recurring character. You know what I mean? Yes. And so some of the things that I really love develop with you, your character and with Leslie is whenever Leslie would have a headline sheet to make up and Shauna's reactions were sometimes like,

We're often like, I'm going to decide what I'm going to put in. Well, plus, Leslie's headlines were 50 words. Right. I mean, they were run-on sentences. Right. But that comedy game has been so fun to be doing that type of, like, you know, conflict-laden comedy. Oh, it was great. And of course, you know, when you have Amy Poehler setting you up, you really can't fail. But I love listening to her headlines and she would riff and make ones up and it was just, it was delightful. And you also, over the series, you...

you end up, think about this, dating Mark, hitting on Andy, Ben and Chris. Like, Sean is looking for it. Yeah. Sean is looking hard. And winds up with Newport, right? Newport, yeah. If you see the extended version of the series finale, yeah, I wind up with Bobby Newport, which is so fun. That is so great. And Mike Schur was like, he was very clear. He was like, I don't want that to be a joke. He's like, I want you to genuinely, like,

find happiness. And they kind of work together. Yes, yes, yes. True. This episode, I'm so excited to talk about. It is called Women in Garbage. It was written by Harris Whittles, directed by Norm Hiscock, originally aired on January 24th, 2013.

Jim will read a blurb. Okay, the blurb, Allison, is what people show up for. It's really important. So, fed up with the lack of female representation in Pawnee's local government, Leslie and April spend the day working with the sanitation department to prove that women are just as capable as men when it comes to hard labor. Meanwhile, with Diane Sitter out of town, Ron is left to take care of her two kids. And Andy and Ben help Tom level up his basketball skills. Well, they kind of help him.

Kind of. They kind of help them. Kind of, yes. I fucking love this episode. Me too. I love it. I remember in the story generation, I was like, this is going to be good. Seeing the first cut, this is great. I love this episode. I love it because I think the A story, it just works. It's a perfect elevator pitch of an idea. And it comes up with, you have great comedy. Okay, I just have to jump, elevator pitch meaning, I don't know, I've never heard that term.

Well, an elevator is this... No, I haven't. I'm not a writer. So this is... I learn new things every day, Allison. I love this. An elevator pitch is kind of that thing where you often have, what, 10, 20 seconds in an elevator with someone. And so if you're caught in an elevator and you have to pitch your... With Steven Spielberg. Yes, you got 20 seconds. Or it's another industry and you're caught in an elevator with Steve Jobs. All the Steves. All the Steves. Any Steve who's achieved a high esteem

Right. Stephen Hawkins. Thank you. Wow. Just keep going. If you get a Steve in an elevator, don't fuck it up. You got 20 seconds to pitch them your idea, your business, your book, your movie idea, whatever. And if you can't do it in that amount of time, you...

I kind of haven't figured it out yet. You don't know how to sell it. Never heard the term, love it. So the elevator pitch of this is great. Leslie Napel spent the day working with the sanitation department to prove that women are just as capable as men.

when it comes to hard labor. And from that, you can, even if you're not a writer, whatever, if you don't know the show, you can kind of start to see where comedy would come from. And so it's almost hard to decide what gets into the episode because so many fun things can come from it. I just really love this episode. I'm so excited to talk about it. And you get to see such a different side of Ron, which I love. Such a sweet, sweet side and also the frustrated side. Yeah, it's a good episode.

Well, this episode in our notes, notes. See what we did there, Allison? I got it. Notes, notes. Yeah. This episode winks, winks at the 2012 Congressional Committee hearing on birth control, which featured an all-male panel. Isn't that hilarious? Isn't that just funny? Isn't that just

So funny. Isn't it funny they did that? It's just so funny. We also have in our notes that Mike Schur decided to insert this episode, Women in Garbage, earlier into the schedule, even though it was produced as part of the season's back nine. I had forgotten about that. Do you think he did it because of the news cycle? Or why do you think he did that?

I really don't know. But it's an interesting little tidbit. But when you're in the room, are you guys like, he's doing what? Like, does that screw things up? Sometimes. I mean, I could tell you that your first episode, The Reporter, was supposed to be the second episode of this series. Yeah, I know. When I was shooting it, they said it was the second one. Yeah, but then canvassing wound up coming next. I think at the end of the day, it was the feeling that

Often on TV shows in the beginning, especially network shows at the time that were out weekly, you had to kind of repilot

the pilot's episode introduced you to everything. He spent about five or six episodes kind of reintroducing everybody to that. And the second episode of canvassing did probably a better job of reintroducing the world of parks and recreation and the whole setting than the reporter did. But I don't know why he did that. I wonder if it had to do with Anne and Chris's relationship and where that was coming down the pipeline.

I don't know. That's just a thought. I don't know. I don't know. It's a thought. I don't know. It's a men's thought. I know that. We also get an appearance from Emmy Award winning actress Bonnie Bartlett as the first female city council member. That's a

Paula Hork. I know. But it feels like you could know a Paula Hork. Exactly. Yes, that one you could know. So specific. Yes, yes. I love it. Oh, I go to Dr. Hork. Yeah. Dr. Paula Hork. Oh, Paula. Yes. Oh, the Horkinator.

But Bonnie Bartlett is best known for her role as Ellen Craig on the series St. Elsewhere. And her husband, also from St. Elsewhere, William Daniels, who as much as people know him from St. Elsewhere, they know him from Boy Meets World. That's right. Principal Daniels. That ran for years and years and years. And I have actually seen him at like the Comic-Cons and stuff. And God bless him because I don't know exactly, but I think he's...

hard into his 90s. Wow. And he is just seems like he's having a great time. What is someone who's hard into their 90s? Where do they land in that decade? I don't know what that like you're in there. You're not 90-ish, 91. It's not questionable. I think you're in. Okay. Yeah. You couldn't fake being in your 80s at that point. You couldn't.

But anyway, I love that. And they have worked a lot over the years. But her character at the top of this episode is just so funny. Oh, so funny. Oh, and she has been abused over the years by these council members. But it winds up being very important. We'll get into that. Yes, we'll get into it. Because you kind of have to set up that not much has changed, unfortunately. Let's talk about our episode and our synopsis.

And

And at the same time, Tom enlists Ben and Andy to teach him about basketball in order to cater to Rent Swag's athletic tween consumers. Yes, this is wrong to say, but I love Pawnee's terrible history.

Because it is terrible. I mean, we've done some, as if I own Pawnee. We have done some terrible things. We have done some terrible things. We've said terrible things, but we're calling ourselves out on it. I mean, Leslie, again and again, is like, this was terrible. This was bad. She's trying to make it better. But some of the things that went on here, is that we can talk about, is Leslie technically was not allowed to reserve the conference room without her husband or her father's signature. Ha ha!

It's a great joke. Honey, I need the conference room. Could you sign off on this? Yes, it's awful. It's just so awful. Of course, then we do hear because Paula tells us some of the stuff that went on, bra snapping and this and that. And Donna is very into it. I know.

She has a hilarious reaction. Oh, Donna. She likes her pervy stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I love about this? And we get this energy from April early on that we'll see throughout the episode. She plays this great devil's advocate here that winds up turning, right? Well, first she says, you know what? I think men are better than women. They provide for us and we must obey them because they are our masters. Leslie, you'll never land a bow with that domineering tone. I

I love it because it's both a great comedy game, but it's so important because very soon, April's going to be fully on board with this women garbage. She loves garbage, but I think she also wants to prove Leslie right that women can do this. And,

And she loves being contrary. And she loves being contrary, yes. But from a writing point of view, it's a brilliant way to do it because you're getting a joke out of it and you're setting it up later. Absolutely. And a few episodes prior to this was an episode called Leslie versus April. And so it's nice to see that what?

four or five episodes later, they're fully aligned on this quest. It's really nice to see. Okay. Then the other story, of course, is Ron. His beautiful girlfriend at the time, Diane, is in a bit of a pickle, so she has to leave her kids with Ron. Well, she asks if she can. And of course, Ron says yes, and then

It goes to hell pretty fast. Yes. Pretty fast. Yes. I mean, that office is destroyed. And I used to think that that was just very extreme. And then I looked at my house every night after my daughter would be asleep. And it's... That's it. It's crazy. Yes, yes. I clean up at home a human adult kitchen where food is made. And I clean up a kid's play kitchen. Wow.

That's great. No, but his office is destroyed. And it's funny for Ron, right? Who we would think would hate something like this. Yeah. But he feels strongly for Diane. So he's trying to save the day. There's also a moment where, again, performance wise. And so Nick Offerman, of course, who's brilliant. So when Diane does come back later and says, how was it really? And Ron says, couldn't be better. We had a wonderful time. And the way he said it. Yeah. He meant it. I know he.

He did. He's so good at it. It was such a sweet, lovely moment, even though that is so not Ron. But this character development is so important because like any of us, if we are who we are in season one and we're still the same in season seven, a lot didn't happen. Yeah. We didn't learn. We didn't grow. And in life, you can't do that. Well, Jim, tell us about a Jerry moment then because Jerry comes in. He's so warm with the girls and the girls immediately, like everyone else, shut him down immediately. I love that.

That's so hard. That's hurtful. Yes. Jerry, as we know, is a pretty sweet man. And the thing about it, Jerry raised three girls. Right. So this is his wheelhouse. He's probably the most qualified person. Qualified to help this situation. And so in Jerry's mind, well, I can certainly nail this. And he walks in, well, hey, girls. And that little girl, I don't know her name. I'm so sorry. She just, there's a turn, a look.

Almost like a, that didn't physically look me up and down, but kind of that feel. And then, no. Just one syllable. It's like something out of like The Omen or something, right? It had like a horror movie vibe. Just like a little girl who has just like the calmness. No. No, no. This is not happening. You are not entering this room. And Jerry, okay. Yeah. Smile on his face and he walks off. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But it is true. Jerry would have been if those girls had responded to him and they probably normally would have. These were demon children. Now that I think about it, they're demons. You know, when you discover a new binge worthy show or a song that you bump on repeat and you have to share it with your friends so they can experience just how awesome it is. That's kind of what it feels like when you discover that Mint Mobile offers premium wireless for $15 a month when you purchase a three month plan. It's

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Before we move on, we have to talk about, I mean, Shauna. We learned that Chris and Shauna's relationship has become a casual dating situation, right? And there's a great game of Chris trying to figure out what's going on with them. I love how he describes the group hang. You know, it's a nod to the generational gap between them. It also sounds like how an older guy now would describe using dating apps. Right, exactly. Right, right.

Tell us about now. So you are now playing Rob Lowe's Chris Traeger's love. I mean, come on, y'all. When they said to me, Christie Brinkley was going to be my wife. It's like, what are you talking about? Same feeling. I was just going to say, did you have the same feeling? Yeah, I did. I was like very nervous. And obviously, Rob was lovely, you know. But my dad, who's very straight, was like, I mean, he's really good looking guy.

Really? And I was like, yeah. I mean, he's really good looking. I'm like, dad, I got it. No matter who, straight, gay, whatever you identify as, that's a good looking man. Oh, yeah. He's very handsome. So it is what it is. And hysterical. Yeah.

and hysterical and a perfect I think a perfect comedy game with Shauna oh my gosh yes and there's something also about the scenes that I'm not in when the characters are talking about me because he says in that scene I think something about like oh I love her dimples and like they wrote that because I the actor have dimples I never noticed that makes me like so giddy when it's like oh I don't know it just it makes me happier than I hate watching myself on camera I hate watching do you like watching yourself

I rarely do. And people say I'm lying. I rarely do. I just. Sometimes you have to because you're in a situation. Agreed. A screening or whatever. No. No, thank you. No. Same. No. Just like the little girl. No. It's just like, you know, people say they don't like hearing their voice. It's like that times a million. So I just really don't enjoy watching myself. But I do like when I see characters talking about my character. It makes me feel so, I don't know.

Yeah. Well, you also have the greatest dimples in the world. Thank you. So that's a given. We all know that. I'll take that. That's a great one. Yes. We have to also, I mean, this episode has so many fun things to talk about. Ben and Andy as Tom's basketball coaches. Tom lures Ben and Andy in with Michael Stipe potentially being in office and Andy with the bag of Skittles. Oh, he got his thing.

Yeah. And Ben is so sure it's a lie, but he just can't risk it. Yeah. He can't risk it. What if? What if? You would hate yourself for the rest of your life. But why would he think Tom got, I mean, it makes no sense, but he couldn't risk it. Who would be yours? If somebody said so-and-so's in the next room, you have to go check. Oh, wow.

Wow. Boy, that's a good... Who would yours be? Jon Bon Jovi. Oh. Oh, boy, that came right off your tongue. Yeah, I didn't have to think about it. Who's yours? You have to have somebody. Oh, my God. Well, I can tell you, I've met... Like, I would have said Carol Burnett, but I have since met her. Listen, I've met Jon Bon Jovi. It's still Jon Bon Jovi. Oh, okay. I thought we were doing music now because it was Michael Stipe and you said Jon Bon Jovi. Anybody. I'm going to say Carol, then I'm going to go Carol Burnett again. That's it.

That's a really good one. Yes, if she's in the room, I want to be in the room. I would do that. And she turned out to be as amazing as I wanted her to be, which means I would even more want to be in the room. Yeah. I'd say Mel Brooks. Oh, that's a good one. Also because I feel like it's on borrowed time right now. No offense to Mel Brooks, but I got to see it, right? It's okay. He can't hear you. No, he can't hear you. So sorry. Yeah. He's a hard 90. He's a hard 90. I used to go see Crosby, Stills, and Nash anytime they were in LA. I had to see him also because I felt like

this might be one of my last opportunities. Yeah. Period. And now, unfortunately, it is. It was. That's a sad note to end this on, but we're going to because now it's time to move on. But also we should say Andy got his, which was the Skittles and he just, it works. It works. He just like cookie monsters them. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Let's forge on friends.

After attending the all-male commission meeting, Leslie and April decide to face Pawnee's misogyny head-on by spending the day working alongside the department with the worst representation of women, the sanitation department. Meanwhile, outmatched by Diane's girls, Ron recruits Anne to help keep them entertained. Yeah, that commission meeting is a sausage fest. There is not one woman in that meeting.

That's funny. Yeah. That's America. Well, you're right. No, you're probably right. Yeah. I'd like to think it's getting better, but yeah, I think you're right. I think history has shown it's not. Yes. And then Councilman Milton, who we just love. Oh my God, he's so funny. He's so funny. He goes, round of applause for the girl. She has to leave to get more snacks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so wrong. And he takes that calendar out at the end to like, why are you acting? Oh, it's not that time yet. Yeah.

Do you remember watching this in the episode when Councilman Milton mistakes Chris as a woman? Oh, yeah. That's just a beautiful man. Oh, no, wait. It's just a very beautiful man. Just a beautiful man. And just the look that Rob gives, his little smile. He just can't. He's like, thank you. Yeah, yeah. He can't let a compliment go unnoticed. It's so funny. Yeah.

Those are the things that really just make you laugh out loud. Those little, just like subtle reactions. So great. Well, those have been some of my most fun moments in re-watching this. Exactly. I've seen these episodes many times now from having worked on them and whatever. But now watching them again...

to notice these little things that almost they sneak by. And it also shows you that no real estate was wasted to tell a joke. Exactly. If it's the background of a scene, if it's a newspaper headline, whatever, it's just how can we squeeze as much comedy into this 20-minute experience? And amazing, there's a lot more that has to get cut because sadly, just the nature of the biz. How many minutes did we shoot per episode roughly? We always had extra stuff. They were ranging between 35 to 40 minutes.

And

the episodes had to be 20 and a half minutes long at the end. That ain't much. No. So you're going to, you're not just getting rid of little things. You're getting rid of whole scenes. Yeah. Whole ideas. And then how do you make sure the story still makes sense? And I know every once in a while they had to, they actually sped it up, right? To jam it in, to fit it in. Yeah. I mean, a lot of shows do that. Yeah. But it is tough when you are, there's a scene you love as an actor and it's just gone. I know. Oh, that hurts. We've all been there. That's,

But I will say that in one of Chris Traeger's earlier episodes, he,

I had some scenes and I don't remember what it was, but I was in the episode that we shot. And then evidently I was edited out. And Mike Schur, because he's the nicest person in Hollywood, emailed me and was like, hey, I just wanted you to know that we unfortunately had to cut your scenes from that episode because we were introducing Rob Lowe's character, just in case you told any friends or family to watch. Oh my God. Is that the sweetest? And that shit does not happen in Hollywood. It does not. And we've all done it. We're like, hey, everybody, check me out. I'm going to be on ABC show. Exactly.

And then you're gone. You're gone. Or you get a, there's a walk by. You're there for seconds. I'm like, I saw you. You feel like an idiot. That is lovely. He's lovely. He's great. I want to tell you. You're like, I was the one who said to me. I told him to tell you. I have a story about myself that is the opposite of that. I'm not an actor, but for Arrested Development, it was for the Netflix season. And I didn't tell any of my friends I was in it.

And then a friend was like, let's, we all love the show. So let's all get together to watch it. So I said, that's great. And I was just praying I was still going to be in it. And I had nobody knew. And so there were like 20 of us gathered for like a dinner and whatever to watch. And all of a sudden I'm on screen and everyone's reaction like, what the fuck? Yeah.

That would be crazy. That's great. That's the cool way to play it. Yeah, yeah. But that's great. Your friends must have really been crazy. Yeah, totally. Especially when it's a show you love. You know, like, wow. And you're just like, oh, sorry, am I on television? Yeah. I also didn't plan this. I didn't say, hey, let's all watch the rest of it. I know, that's amazing. It was great. Why were you on there? Like, were you... It was because of...

Allison Jones. I owe my career to Allison Jones. We all do. I worked for Allison for a few months and she's become a great friend. And... I just saw her at a coffee shop the other day. She is lovely. She is. She did a whole thing for my book. I mean, she is...

And I said to her, do you understand what you've done for people? And by people, I don't just mean the parks, but the office people and other shows that she's... Yeah, she cast me in Curb Your Enthusiasm, which was huge too. Right. I mean, she has made such an impact on people's lives. She goes, well, I just want to do a good job. I go, oh, you're nailing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you are. Exactly. And she also knows...

She knows what to look for. She knows, like with Mike and Greg, because I talked to both of them, and the trust they have in her is incredible. And she brings them what she thinks they're going to need. And she will push people that she believes have something special going on. Casting is its own specific art. Absolutely. Yeah, I am. Oh, my God. I love Alison. I said to her, I said, yes, I was always a very busy journeyman actor. I was very blessed. But Parks changed everything.

And I will be forever grateful because had she said, eh, I don't see him. I don't see him in this. That would have been that. And who knows, maybe something else would have come along. I mean, who knows about any of it, but this is what came along. And it's, as I always say, it's the gift that keeps on giving, you know, Parks and Rec. Not recreation and parks. No. Parks and Recreation. Thank you. Let's clear that up. Not public servants for service or whatever you want to call it.

Well, let's keep chatting the episode. Leslie and April are killing it out on the garbage route and Chris's new love interest, Shana Moe Tweep, is along for the ride, covering it all in the press.

Meanwhile, Andy and Ben take Tom to a basketball court to teach him the basics and wind up getting destroyed by a group of preteens in a pickup game. And back at the parks department, Anne finds a way to connect with Diane's girls by letting them play with her nurse's kit. We cut right to the two girls, Leslie and April, in those outfits, and they are ready to do it. Yes. They are ready to do it. But this is what I'm saying. That shot...

Tells you so much about this episode. It's so fun. I wanted to see so much more time with them on their route. And I was jealous. I want to do shots where I'm hanging off of a...

They had a lot of fun with that. I remember them being like, wait, we get to actually ride the truck? You know, everything is so careful when you do anything. We got to get stunt people. We got to have you tethered. And I know it's all for insurance and I get it, but they were just having fun. They were just on that truck. I was so jealous. Like the time, there's an episode where I'm on the roof of a car. Oh, yeah, yeah. Remember? And we were all drunk off our asses. And I remember

they let me do that, which at first it was a big conversation and blah, blah, blah. They had a stunt guy try it out. I'm like, I'm just laying on the roof of a car. Let me have this. Let me have this. And they did. Yeah, yeah. That's cool. They did. So I'm sure they had a blast. I was really like, oh, damn, I wanted to do that. That was a fun shoot day too because, you know, obviously it was all on location, not in the studio. Right. So we just had, you know, the whole home base was just moving, you know, with everyone. So I remember, I even think I have pictures from that day of us like all hanging out on a trailer. Nice. Because we just having to keep

keep following the truck wherever it went. It must be fun to be on location. I mean, obviously it's a different type of experience, right? But like there's something about it's like, oh, we're just we're making something fun at this random space that we're turning into our TV show or

And there's more hang time because when you're at the studio, your trailers are right outside the soundstage. Whereas a lot of times when you're on location, it's a pain in the ass to get back to your trailer. So there's just a lot of hanging out in chairs and BSing and catching up. And I can do that all day. Yeah. Just hanging out. You can do that. You do. I do do that all day. You're doing this right now today. It's what I'm doing. It's what I'm doing. I love it. I love it.

We have a great little bit in our research that the Pawnee Department of Sanitation sign says, satisfaction guaranteed or you're trashed back. But this is what I'm saying. That's just, we didn't need to do it. Right. But it's there. It's funny. You see it on the 20th rewatch. Maybe. Maybe. Or I have to have notes on the podcast I host.

Remind me about it. And who's doing that? Is that a writer idea? Is that a... No, that's our crew. That's our department. That's the art department. That's Zed Deck. That's Props. That's those people. That's, you know, the fun, I think, of working also with the same people. We have a longevity in our crews. And so they built out Pawnee just like the writers and actors did. And so they're so...

many jokes. You just would discover them on set. Yeah. And this, you know, the sanitation department is the smelly glue that keeps the city together. That's true. That is true. They say that. They say it literally. I love the scene where April goes through the garbage of what, Stacy? Oh my gosh. Yeah. With the hair dye. Yes. Another great name, by the way. It's a great name. The hair dye, the prescription strength deodorant. It's great.

Which apparently is funny because Knobloch means garlic in German. Ah, see? Someone did the research. Not me. Very impressive. Yeah. But that would be fun, I think, to go through the garbage of someone you hate. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you find...

Incriminating. Something incriminating. Yeah. Like the hair dye, that's no big deal. Women dye their hair all the time. But the hardcore deodorant, that could be something. Yeah. Right. And especially for April, who just is so happy to find some detail about the mean girl from high school. Yeah. Or maybe April was also a mean girl in high school. It's hard to tell. Different kind, though. Different kind of mean.

The basketball scene. Let's talk about this basketball scene. Also, speaking of casting, to find kids who are not only can deliver the lines, but can actually play basketball because those kids were good. Those kids could actually play. They were playing. That wasn't... Exactly. Those were those kids. That's not easy to do. To find three kids who can act and play basketball. Yeah. And in a way, it's almost like...

Like, there's truth in comedy. Like, those actors probably thought it would be fun to play basketball or whatever. And then here are some kids who can easily beat you. And I love seeing how frustrated Andy gets. Right? When they're beating him. Well, because he thinks this is a no-brainer. We got these three little kids. This will be nothing. But I also think about, and I was watching it, those kids today...

you know they've told everybody, I played basketball with Star-Lord. Yes, of course. And they should say that. And they should say that. 100%. 100%. Yes. Star-Lord. Yeah. And they're thinking, not at the time, but today. And we won. And we won. Yeah. There is a great scene that made into our gag reel, not in the episode, that I highly recommend people watch on YouTube or wherever you get your gag reels.

of Andy and Ben trying to teach Tom basketball in the conference room at the Parks Department. Oh, I don't think I've seen that. Oh my God. And Pratt goes on this really funny run. You know, they have like a basketball court on a board and he draws like a, he winds up demonstrating how you have to play, but he winds up drawing just like a penis. I saw it. Now that you're saying it, I saw it. Yes, and of course. And you see that, you see Adam

like he's laughing but he wants to join in on the fun and he's having a hard time containing it and everyone and Pratt's so proud of the joke because it's so funny it's definitely one of my favorite gag reel moments and it's from this episode everyone

There you go. There were a lot of penis drawings all over that set over the years. It was the go-to drawing. Will Emery, remember Will? He was so good at it. I mean, he really drew. Everyone has their special skills. And he could draw a good-looking penis. Good to know. Yeah, good to know. Will, if you're out there, shout out to you and your penis skills, my friend. If anyone needs a good-looking penis, you know, to be drawn, you know where to go. To be drawn. That is the one thing to be said. I almost went on. Okay. Oh, yeah.

Speaking of going on, let's move on with our episode.

Feeling shown up by Leslie and April, the sanitation guys give them the impossible task of moving an enormous refrigerator. Meanwhile, back at the Parks Department, Diane's girls have locked themselves in Ron's office and start cutting each other's hair as Ron and Anne look on in horror. Anne still unsure of exactly where he and Shauna stand. Chris awaits a relationship status disclaimer. Shauna plans to attach to our article about Leslie.

I completely forgot about that joke and that scene. And I was cracking up watching it last night.

and prep the two of you together and he's trying to figure it out and again you're inviting him to something and here are all the extra people who are going to be there that scene is actually on my reel on my demo oh that's great oh it's so funny yeah because shauna's just so close like what why is that bad yeah this is how we go out yeah my family my friends yeah my ex-boyfriend right but where what are you thinking do you think i mean it's shauna at that point what are you thinking

Relationship wise. I think she's just like, we're just hanging out. But he doesn't know what that means. Yeah. I mean, even now I would say that, you know, like, well, we're not dating, but we're hanging out. Right. Is that clear? I want people to understand that. Yes. Well, first of all, it takes a lot of pressure off. If we're just hanging out. Right. That's different than, oh, we're on a date. Yeah. Totally different. And certainly if there's other people there.

Right. Totally takes the pressure off. Right. But Shauna, unlike me, is very clueless about dating all around. Starbucks Iced Apple Crisp Oat Milk Shaken Espresso. Made with blonde espresso, creamy oat milk, and spiced apple flavors. It's an icy crisp sip you can enjoy all autumn long. Order ahead on the Starbucks app.

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The fun, I think, in visiting characters more and more is that you do flesh them out. Exactly. And Shauna is both this really confident reporter, right? So confident that she's willing just to talk back and be snarky with the people she's interviewing. Yeah.

And can be so naive about so many other things. And that, I think, is the genius of it. Yeah. It must have been so fun to play. So fun. And as we, I say we meaning me and the writers and everyone, like figured out more and more of who she was, it became more and more fun. I remember in one of the Galentine's Day episodes, I was like,

Amy says, has a line like, well, you should, you know, reach out to a therapist. And Shauna says something along the lines of, oh, well, I read in a book once that a woman should never make the first move. I don't think that applies to therapy, but just so clueless. So clueless. So clueless.

And then when she does find love, finally, it just becomes, it's so satisfying because she's so clueless about it. Okay. Well, why don't we talk a little bit about what's happening in Ron's office with Diane's girls. When the girls are about to cut their hair, I got so nervous watching it now. Right? Yeah. Because you're a parent now. Because I was a parent now. I really did. That's so funny. I can't explain. I was watching it. I was like, oh my God. Like this is, I mean,

I love the turn that when Diane sees it, she's fine with it. And this is kids being kids and she just laughs it off. And it's all worth it. It was all worth it for my being uncomfortable and everything for the admission of love we get from Ron and the way he says it, like, it's like, and I love this woman. Right. And I'm like, there's a pause. Yes. Yes. And Rashida and the girls and they play it out. They have fun with it. But because it's done in this way, this heated way,

you fully believe it, right? Oh, totally. You fully believe it. And then he let it slip out. He let it slip because you're all worked up and that's when that kind of thing slips out. And then even when he's running out the door to say, no, I loved, let's get back to the Jerry character, what we're all here for. Thank you. The giggle that comes out of Jerry. Yes. Oh my God. Because you know, there's this great giggle that Ron does in a couple of episodes. Oh my God. Like when he hears about Little Sip.

or something like that. It's just so whatever. And I did love the Jerry giggle. But before we even got to that, Jerry, I do believe, is not great under pressure. Oh, the keys. The keys. And at first he walks in like, well, I have keys, not knowing exactly what's going on. So at first, I think... Another shout out to the art department, too, the props. Yeah, absolutely. Because like, come on. That key ring is hilarious. It's like a warden's ring. Yes. He walks in like, oh, then, okay, I got these keys. And then he realizes what's going on. Yes.

And then it's just not good. You know, he'd be flop sweating. Oh, yeah. And yeah. But he did finally open that door too late. Too late? But he did open that door. Yeah. Rescuer. Yeah. All right. Let's let's synopsis a little more.

Realizing that she and April have been set up for failure by the sanitation guys, Leslie hatches a plan to move the giant refrigerator. Meanwhile, after a lukewarm and nondescriptive disclaimer about his and Shauna's relationship, Chris realizes he needs to relax and just see where things go between them. And back at the parks department, Ron is relieved when Diane's laid-back reaction to her daughter's haircutting debacle and the two of them exchange three little words.

I love you. Oh, such a sweet moment. So, but to get to the big story, what happens, they put a big refrigerator in front of April and Lizzie. And I don't mean like a big refrigerator you might have in your house. I'm talking industrial from a restaurant. It can hold- Almost a walk-in. Almost a walk-in. It could probably hold three cows worth of meat. Impossible. Impossible.

Is that how you just measure everything? How big is this room that we're in? How much cow meat can I get in there? How many cow meat can we fit in this room? Screw square footage. We need to start measuring things in cow meat. Hey, HGTV, show idea. Jim O'Hare, Mary Holmes. How many cow meats? It's like a house hunter's like, well, do you have a fridge that holds three cow's meats?

How dare you all? She wants to live near the downtown. And he wants a fridge for three calories. I think we've learned we all watch House Hunters. Yeah. Anyway, but this thing is massive and there's no way. Men couldn't move this thing, let alone women. Two humans cannot move it. In fact, men tried to move it. Men tried. Well, we don't know this at first. We don't know this, but at this point, they've learned that they...

They got screwed. They got screwed. Because the sanitation department saw what was happening. And what was happening was they were doing the job better than the men. They were ahead of schedule more than the men. So they had to stick it to them. It's all about pride. But here's what was interesting about this to me. Leslie kind of wants to give up.

And that really isn't Leslie. Right. At least the Leslie we know. Yeah. But April. Yeah, the student becomes the master here. The student becomes the master. No, no, no. No, no, no. We can do this. Yeah. Look how far she's come. Yeah. And she's learned from the master, from Leslie. She's giving her the medicine that Leslie would have given her in earlier seasons. Yeah. Well, meanwhile, in the

basketball story, Ben is the sage of that storyline, right? Where he puts this post-game interview of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and say, okay, this is Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook after a bad loss. Even the greats get beat, but they get back out there the next day and they fight. So let's hit the gym again tomorrow. And then Tom's like, actually, no, I have a different idea. And it's a really good idea. It's a great idea. It's a really smart, cute, frankly, idea. But it's also, I don't know why I'm watching this

And seeing Ben, our nerdy, pop-cultury Ben, the guy who likes Star Wars and will make cones of Dunshire and have strong opinions of Game of Thrones and everything, to be like,

A knowledgeable basketball person is quite shocking. Well, yeah. I mean, he sets it up earlier or Aziz sets it up. Tom sets it up earlier by saying you're a stats guy. Right. So I... Yeah. That's why it's believable to me. Exactly. Because I'm like, he's going to go... He's going to nerd out about even the unnerdy things. Right. But it still lives in a little bit of that uncanny valley we have set up for Ben's character. Yeah. So much so that when he's on court in the earlier scene...

you know, Andy looks like just a guy who's going to come to play basketball and Ben's got the goggles. Exactly. Right? It's like a guy who's like, I'm going to work out and I'm going to spend an entire month researching what I need to wear, what kind of, what's the right weight to buy. To shoot around. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When Ron and Diane exchange I love you's, it's so sweet. It is. When characters on the show fall in love, it is really delightful. It is delightful. It is really delightful. And I love when they don't drag things out and Parks really didn't do that when

When people fell in love, they got to fall in love. There was a little at the beginning with Ben and Leslie, of course, because of her job. But that proposal, I cried. Right. I mean, there's so many, so many amazing, amazing moments. And I love that. And even with Ron and Diane, they're in. I mean, no spoiler alerts, but they love each other. There are very few relationships on this show that once they get together, they break up. Yeah. Right. I mean, Leslie, a few upfront. Unfortunately, Shauna might have been involved in the most of that. All the ones that broke up.

for me. A lot of them were you. Well, guys, we have come to this end

episodes end, but it's not the end of our podcast episode. We have stuff to talk about, especially Jim's crap. It's the stuff, the crap we didn't get to. Jim, flush us some of your crap. One of my favorites is a Shauna Moway tweet piece of crap. And that is, boy, that did sound terrible, didn't it? It did. Yeah. Because that's not how I mean it. Because I'm just saying things that didn't make it into the episode. When you're watching Leslie, you know, you're going to be doing a story for this whole garbage thing.

And for some reason, she's posing. And you say to her, are you posing? I don't have a camera with me. And Leslie goes, Google Earth, always taking pictures. And she looks up.

I will say that was improvised. Really? That was not in the script. And I remember she posed and I just said that. And then she said the Google Earth thing back. And it was so hard not to laugh because she just, I mean, there was no hesitation. Yeah. No hesitation. Wait, Amy was able to come up with a quick response? Shocking. Now that is shocking. It must be really hard to not laugh. It's so hard. At a joke that you don't know is coming that's really funny. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. Yeah. Especially because then you probably did it a couple more times. Was that during a fun run that that happened or? I don't remember, but I do remember that I just said that line and then she just said that back and I was like, what? Wow. It was great. I also loved when Tom thinks he has figured it out and he goes, did I do basketball? Yes. He has no concept of what basketball is. Yeah. And then another great moment, and this is so typical, our lovely Ron Swanson. He has known Ann for years.

for years. And Perkins. And Perkins. And he has to find her to have her help him with Diane and the girls. And he goes, well, here you are. I had to search the directory for quite a while. I thought your last name was Hanson for some reason. That is so wrong. And he'll do it again later, right? Yes. And in many episodes, he calls her a nurse. Yes. Yes. Anyway, so that's some of my crap. That's amazing crap.

Yay, crap. Yay, crap. I love talking about our gifts, parties, and jobs. April gives Leslie a box of garbage at the end. And we have a job. Leslie and April work as sanitation workers for the day. Yeah. Let's do our episode MVP. It's our most valuable Pawnean. It's the character moment in this episode that sticks out the most to you and why. I'll throw it to our awesome guest, Alison Becker, first. I mean, for me, it was that one word, one syllable, no. No.

No. From the little girl. She just nailed it. Wow. I love that. She nailed it. That's great. Interesting. Yeah, it's pretty intense, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And it got a hard, hearty laugh from me. Oh, good, good. But she nailed it. Jim? I loved...

Ron expressing his love and also his love for that family. Even before he said, I love her. I did love him when she said, how did it really go? And he goes, it went fine. And I, I don't know. That got me in the fields. Yeah. So I'm going to have to give it to our lovely Ron Swanson.

Listen, you know I love this episode. I love all three storylines in this episode. I think they have some of the funniest comedy stuff in this season from all of our characters. But in looking back, April...

cracked me up. So funny. From the opening take of, you know, being the devil's advocate in the meeting to then being all aboard with the garbage to that talking head outside of, you know, the kid from school's house, everything. And giving the great advice, I think is a superb April Ludgate episode. It's valid. It's a valid comment. Well, listeners, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Team Coco Podcasts.

or by using the hashtag, hashtag Parks and Recollection. We actually have come to the end of our episode. Allison, thank you so much. Thank you. So much fun, Allison. It was a joy to have you here. And I know people because I know me and I love to hear from people who were really, you were such a special part of the show. You weren't just here and there. You were, you're Sean and Malway. Thank you. And it's been fun to relive a lot of this. Yes, isn't that fun? That's my favorite part too. Yeah. Lots of good memories. Thank you so much.

Well, thank you all for listening. Text this episode to your group chat. Start group chats. Make friends. It's really nice to have a group chat. And then give us five-star reviews wherever you're listening. From all of us here at Parks and Recollection, goodbye from Pondy. Bye-bye. Bye.

Parks and Recollection is produced by me, Lisa Berm, and engineered by Joanna Samuel. The podcast is executive produced by Jeff Ross, Adam Sachs, Colin Anderson, and Nick Liao. Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Brit Kahn are our talent bookers, along with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Our theme song is by Mouse Rat, a.k.a. Mark Rivers, with additional tracks composed by John Danek. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Parks and Recollection.

On Parks and Recollection. This has been a Team Coco production.

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