Ron and Diane (S5E9)
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The laughs, the passions, the little Sebastian's, the pets we fell into. On in a podcast, then we'll send it up into the sky. Parks and recollection, come on podcast, spread your wings and fly. Yeah.

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Parks and Recollection. Yes. Yes, I am Jim O'Hare, one of your hosts, the guy who played Jerry, Larry, Gary, Terry, and Barry on the show. And Barry. And Barry. And you are? It's Greg. Greg.

It's just Greg. It's Greg. Thank you. That's really all we need to hear. Okay. Yeah. Sorry. He's there. It's Greg Levine as a matter of fact. It's Greg Levine as a matter of fact. And I am happy to see him, my friend. I'm happy to be here. Yeah. I'm happy to talk about this show with you. And this episode in particular is...

One of my faves for many, many reasons. Yes, yeah. Yes, and people will hear as we go along why. Life is good before we get into the show. Thank you. Kids are good. Life is happening. Oh, my God. This is genuine. This is not on our outline. You actually want to know about me. I actually, well, I don't really want to know, but I feel like the audience might want to. And I feel obligated. You feel like every so often if I haven't done it, it's kind of like the colonoscopy of life. At some point, I should ask.

Yeah. Tell me about your polyps. Yeah. Yes. Yes. They're growing up and polyps are good. There you go. Yes. My kids right now are three and a half and one. So I'm very tired. Yes. But it's a good tired. You know, it's a good tired. Yeah. Life is good. I want to tell you that I was just going through my old hard drive from Parks and Rec to find stuff for these episodes we're talking about. And every so often I come across...

some fun pictures or nuggets of things. And I came across some pictures of you and I from the years together. Like, man, we looked so young. Life was ahead of us, really ahead of me. I used to say I had salt and pepper hair. It's all salt. We worked together a fair amount, not just because I wrote

on the show and you acted on the show. But when I, uh, was a, an assistant and a writer, I also handled some of the behind the scenes stuff for NBC.com. And you are one of our go-to people. You helped give tours of the set and of the, uh,

meetings with the crew members. And so I have a lot of media of you and I. Oh, I love that. Yeah, yeah. And I wanted to tell you about it before I deleted it. Because I never want to be reminded of it again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a great episode. This is very exciting. It's always fun to come in and talk about these. But every so often, it's especially that way because I think it's not just...

a great episode of a good TV show, but it's a much loved and remembered episode. Yes. Like in the Mount Rushmore of all the episodes. Of the episodes. Like in the Mount Rushmore, I think, of season five, Ron and Diane. Today's episode is up there and it was written by Ayesha Muhar and Megan Amram. We love them. It was directed by Dan Gore. We love him. Yeah.

We love him. I do love Dan. I hope you have as much love for it. Originally aired on December 6, 2012. 2012. Wait a minute. Does that mean we're heading toward the big part of the episode? The blurb? Yes. This is where the people are really riveted. Yeah. The blurbites really show up for this. They're like, boy, what's Jim's voice going to sound like? Yeah. Is he going to deep? Is he going to get in there real deep and just, you know what? That's what I'm going to do it. Okay, production, get ready. This one's going to be sexy.

Ron accepts a woodworking award for an exceptionally crafted chair, but the celebration is cut short when Tammy, too, crashes the ceremony. Meanwhile, Tom, April, and Andy discover Jerry has a surprisingly wonderful home life, and Chris continues his journey of self-growth.

Oh, come on, people. Okay, let me tell you something. I don't know if I'd describe it as sexy, but... Perhaps nauseating? Do you remember a time when movie trailers all had voiceover, right? Yes, and the one guy did them all. That is the essence of what I just experienced. I wasn't just like in an aroused state. I was in like an intrigued movie-going state. Okay, that's okay. Yeah. I'll take that. You'll take that? Yes, I'll take that. Okay.

You're like, hey, for me, that's sex. For me? That's as sexy as it gets. Okay, great. Love it. This is a silly one. I feel it. Let's talk about some notes. This is the first appearance of Jerry's wife getting...

Gail played by supermodel Christy Brinkley. Amazing. We'll get to her, the whole thing, how she came about in our show when we get to her scene. Christy Brinkley is nine years and two days older than Jim. Yeah. And I feel... There's no visual evidence to prove it. Right, right, right. It is a fact. Right, right. I feel weird. You know, I'm not trying to call out people's ages. Everybody gets whatever. But I think it's an interesting fact that...

in re the episode. It's a very interesting fact. We also have a reprisal of Tammy 2 played by the amazingly talented Megan Mullally. Yeah. And perhaps even greater on the list of cameos. There is a woodworking scene

superstar or two in this episode. Christian Bexford, seen standing alone before the ceremony starts. He is a woodworking superstar. He's now retired. He was a professional woodworker for 40 years and a fine woodworking magazine contributing editor for 25. And I think it's Aza Christiana who throws his napkin down and storms out when Ron wins. I probably pronounced that name wrong. I totally apologize. But

He worked for Fine Woodworking Magazine for 15 years, eight of them as chief editor. And this must have been like one of the greatest moments in woodworking meets pop culture in all of time. For the record, I didn't know this was real.

until I read this. Oh, okay. This research. Really? Because I wasn't in those scenes. Right. So I never chatted with these people. Right. So you're telling me these are real people. Yes. Those weren't just actors who... No, we got them to play themselves. Wow. And by the way, for sure, a

Christian Bexford has some really funny moments in the episode. Yes. Yes, yes. It scares me. Just regular folks can do my job. Oh, we've known that for some time. Yes. Yeah, no surprise. So let's talk about the episode then. Let's go right into our synopsis. Ron has been nominated for an award from the Indiana Fine Woodworking Association, and no one is more excited to attend the ceremony than Ron's self-appointed emotional guardian, Leslie Knope.

Meanwhile, Tom, Donna, April, Andy are all deciding where they should go for their annual Jerry dinner, which sadly does not actually include Jerry.

And Ben and Chris decide to hang out for the first time in a long time. Good to see those boys back together. It is good to see them. Yes, yes. They started together and, you know, life has separated them a little. It was good to see them back together. And I remember when we were talking about when Ben and Chris are together in some previous episode and you realize how rarely you see just the two of them in a scene together. And, you know, not only did they start together,

on our show at the same time, but they came in as people who knew each other already, right? The characters knew each other. They had a relationship. They had a dynamic of Chris is the good news guy and Ben's the hammer who comes in and delivers the bad news. They had a rapport and they were a team.

And then they very quickly went off and did their things. And you don't see the two of them together that often. So it's fun watching this sea story, thinking about, especially how it starts. I mean, Ben comes in and he's like, hey, man. Hey, bud. It's like, oh, yeah, like, yeah, you guys are...

You guys have known each other. You have a rapport. They do know each other and they know, you know, the ins and outs and the quirks of each other. And that's what you can be. You can have friends in your life you don't see forever. The minute you're back together, you know what's going on. Right. I love that. Yes. Because I also love connecting with old friends and that feeling of like it was yesterday. Yeah. And that's what I feel like with these two.

But it begins, the episode begins with Leslie coming in. Yes. Dressed in some Christmassy outfit, singing Merry, Congratulate Christmas, which is half Merry Christmas and half congratulations. Yes, yes. Which, of course, Ron would hate. Everything about that and a little behind the scenes on this one. Please. We also did it. I jump in at the end to help her. Mm-hmm. And...

It starts, I come in, happy, whatever, whatever, with Amy, and then Ron immediately shuts it down. Yeah, yeah. And I just scamper off. Yes, yes. But that did not make the episode. No. I know. I'm sorry. Well, yeah, it's a big Jerry episode still. Yeah, no, I'm not complaining. This is a fun episode. I hope you feel okay. But I was in the opening, yeah, I was in the bit. Yes. Yes.

I love how Leslie says that she's had a Ron Swanson Google alert for seven years. And it finally paid off. And, you know, other episodes, you could have seen Ron asking about that and being horrified. Horrified. Right? We remember the scene where he throws his computer away. As if that's going to do a damn thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, that's just a little joke. It's great. And it's a very important opening scene because...

Leslie setting herself up as Ron's self-appointed emotional guardian, it will build to the necessary conflict that you need in the second act when Leslie and Diane have a conversation and Diane talks about how she feels about Leslie and Ron's life.

You kind of need this. This is the stakes. This is how Leslie views herself and why she's there, why she's there even though Ron now has a girlfriend and doesn't need to go to this alone. Although you can imagine Ron Swanson would have loved going to this alone. Yes. Anything. Yes. And just walk and stare at the different pieces of created woodwork. Yeah. Well, you know, Ron's low-key...

reaction to this woodworking entry and the possible award. It's perfect. It is so dry. It's like reading like a

Bad history textbook or something. Right. But for Ron, it's just like, that's exactly, I made a chair. I thought it was a good chair. I thought I'd see if other people thought it also. It's what happened. Yes. Yeah. Though he's thrilled to be honored. Right. Yeah. And you get that feeling, especially once he's there. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So Jim, can we talk about Jerry dinner? Oh, hurtful. I'll talk about it if I can, but I might get emotional.

Let me tell you, as a writer, what I love about Jerry Dinner. It's a very funny setup and premise.

that doesn't take too much explanation. And now that we know our characters in a character comedy, you're like, yes, of course. Of course they have Jerry Tinder. Of course they put a buck in this box every time Jerry does something. And it's so fitting. And it's a comedy game that it doesn't take much work, but we all get it. We're all on board. It's fun. Yeah.

It is fun. You know, it doesn't take a lot of explanation to jump off and start the story. Yeah. And imagine that they ended up with over $500. I mean, what goes on with Jerry all day long? Like, what constitutes a dollar? Like, is it a trip? Is it a spill? I would think a spill for sure. Well, the fact that the fund kept going up by a buck...

a few times during just during the head tells you that it can be a lot of things. Yeah. I remember shooting that because they got to show his talking head. They have to see me in the background. And they were basically like, just do some screwed up stuff. So they brought me some lunch. And so I was eating a lunch and then I spilled some soup. Don't you drop the phone into the soup? At the end, I dropped because I have the phone on my shoulder. Yes. I'm trying to talk

with it on my shoulder and then I turn and it falls into the soup. You know. That kind of stuff must be so fun to do. It is. I love stuff like that. That is my absolute favorite, especially when they're just like, just do stuff.

You know, and then they would pitch ideas, but I'm just saying it was just like, okay, go have some fun while he's talking. Yeah. You know, and then we would do it. And then, of course, they come and clean me up in between takes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I've soiled myself or, you know, because again, as we always say, the greatest crew in the world. Yeah, but I love doing stuff like that. I love it. Let's forge on, sir, in our synopsis. At the awards ceremony, Leslie is happy to finally meet Diane, giving her two thumbs up.

Meanwhile, feeling guilty about celebrating Jerry's foibles, Donna turns the car around to pick Jerry up to invite him to the annual Jerry dinner. But when they pull up to Jerry's household, they realize a Christmas party is well underway and none of them have been invited. That's what you get. That's what you get. So we have to remember at the very beginning, Ann Perkins is talking to them and they're like, hey, do you want to go to Jerry dinner? What's that? And they explain what it is. And she is like, oh,

Oh, first of all, the way Rashida played it, like, oh, my goodness, that's a terrible idea. The way she does it was just great. But it is, she's like, no, this is hurtful. This is not good. So they've all been a little reprimanded up front. And it got through to Donna. It must have got through to Donna because then when they're in the car later, cut to Donna, she's like, no, no, no, no, this isn't right. This isn't right. So I think Anne gave her the little nudge.

Right. Planted the seed of this isn't right. Planted the seed of this is not so great. And then Donna took off. So off to the Gurgich's. Yes, yes. And so let's keep going with the Gurgich's. So we get there. A beautiful, lovely house. It had like a, you know, a father of the bride house in Pawnee kind of vibe. Oh, yeah. And it's such a great choice, I think, to show up. He's got this party going on. They haven't been invited. But then to peek in and see Ben, Chris,

And Ann were, right? There's this amazing spread. It looks like a great holiday party. It's a great holiday party. Yes. Turkey, ham, all the fixings. Yes, yes, yes. And also when they first pull up, they're like, oh, it's just Jerry, like,

it's just whatever local, whatever. And then they realize that Jerry is hugging Ann. He's greeting Ann with a hug and then receive Ben and Chris. And that's when it just guts them. I think that's when like, what the hell is this? And then of course they're offended. Yeah.

Even though they have no right to be offended, they are offended. Now, what I love about this, it has one of my favorite jokes this moment. When they see it going on, they realize Jerry Filter. And there's this great moment where one is like, Jerry Filter, Jerry Filter. And it's Tom and April saying that. And then Andy goes, who's Jerry Filter? Exactly. Yeah.

That line was one of the lines in the writer's room that cracked everybody up. And then you hear Chris Pratt doing it at the table reading that cracks everybody up. Jerry Felter. Jerry Felter. Because it also kind of sounds like saying Felter. I think that's what... Yes, it has a little name to it. Jerry Felter a little bit. And I think that was the genesis of the joke. Who's Jerry Felter?

is so stupid and funny, but the way Pratt delivers it, it is my favorite joke of the episode. Ah, so good. And also, shout out to the art department. They had snow on the ground. They had lights on the house. It was so funny.

They had, I mean, it was really amazing. Yeah. And let's not forget that when we shoot a Christmas episode, we're in Los Angeles. Right. You know, you're generally a couple months ahead of your production. September, October are some of the hottest months of the year in Los Angeles at this point.

it's really hot out. It is. And these are episodes where you got your winter coats on and the fake sweaters. And I remember showing up at set for these and I'd love to go to the location and you'd see, it's just like, Oh, it looks like Christmas. Yeah.

But it really doesn't feel like Christmas. Yeah. Yeah, it is just wild that they can make it look like we are in the Midwest and it is the idyllic house for the holidays as far as I'm concerned. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, but we can't just do about Jerry's party. We also got... No, you're right. You're right. We got Leslie and Diane. They have their first meet and greet. And you can tell immediately Leslie is...

Thinking, oh my goodness. This guy hit the jackpot. This guy hit the jackpot. This gal is pretty great. Yeah, yeah. And what did she say? Smart, funny, independent, and sexy? Diane Lewis?

More like Diane Sawyer. And you know, she's thinking she's got such a great line. She nailed it. More like Diane Sawyer. There's a very like SNL Amy, I think in that, you know, that the way to deliver a joke. Yeah. Yeah. And she gives him the two thumbs up. Not one thumb. Yeah. Two. Two thumbs. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Not that Ron cares, but she does. But then, you know,

She can't help herself. And she shows how much she knows Ron, how close they are. And you start to get this energy of like, okay, how forceful is Leslie going to be about her relationship and friendship with Ron? And we've seen episodes where Leslie can perhaps overstep in that relationship. And so you're watching this and you're like, oh, is that what's going to be happening here? But do you feel like Leslie is doing it

to be like, hey, just so you know, I know him well. I know him better than anybody, blah, blah, blah. Or it's just Leslie being Leslie. I think it's Leslie being Leslie. I do too. I don't think it's like the kind of person that's like, let me prove to you why. Yes, yeah. It's like I think about with Bachelor or Bachelorette parties, like you generally gather your best people, your closest people, and there's kind of like a secret competition. Yeah.

Always to be like, but I actually were the closest. We have the most inside jokes. But then the person who planned it, who gets chosen to be the best man or maid of honor, and they plan it, and it's ultimately like, yeah, but secretly it's me because I know the person well enough. They trusted me with their bachelor or bachelorette party. Yeah, I don't think she's doing that. All of that is to say, that's not what this is. Yeah, I agree. I don't think that's what she's doing.

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And, you know, we talked about it earlier. We get some great cameos here. And the cameos are especially worth it for Ron Swanson slash Nick Offerman's reactions. He's starstruck. It's as if, like for me, if I was in a room and this has happened to me and it's an embarrassing story, I won't tell. But the first, the only time I ever met Mary Tyler Moore was

This is what Ron's reaction was. Like this to him was like my moment of meeting her. It was, didn't make sense. How could this be happening? Why is this person here? And yeah, I think that was his response. Because there's nothing that makes me happier than a giddy Ron Swanson. Yeah, yeah. Just so perfect. I think when Ron either laughs or runs...

out of excitement. Right? We've seen him run in a stressed out way. Oh, yeah. When he runs, one of the first episodes with Ben and Chris. Right, at the end of Freddy's Spaghetti. And he's trying to get to the event before them. And that fall was not planned for those watching. I was there. That was a fall, but it was perfect. Perfect. And of course, the camera guys caught it perfectly. But that's not what this runs. He's excited. He moves with glee. Yeah.

Let's move on with our synopsis then, sir. With the awards ceremony about to begin, a sexual hurricane blows through the banquet hall in the form of Tammy 2, and Leslie takes it upon herself to try and keep her at bay. Meanwhile, April, Tom, Andy, and Donna realize how amazing Jerry's party is and try to crash it. Unfortunately for Diane...

She is now about to witness the nightmare. Yes. That is Tammy. Yes. There's such care, I think, in the first Ron and Tammy episode to introduce this character. She's a human too, but she has this relationship with Ron. We see her be like, you know, government gals, I think they call it, with Leslie. And you're lulling, it's like a siren, you know, like a Greek mythology, like lulling you in with the siren song. Well, this is who she really is.

At this point, there is no other Tammy. She is just pure sexual chaos. Yeah. Yeah. And she has an agenda. She's getting Ron back. She's obviously heard that Diana's in his life or some woman's in his life. She doesn't know who it is. And she has done her, what is it, recon to find out what's going on. She knows where he's going to be and she's going to blow it up. Yeah. But she forgot about one thing.

Leslie Knope. Right. What's fun about a character like Tammy is that you get to write a type of silly that you don't get to too often on a Shirley Parks and Rec. Um,

The silly you get are in jokes like talking about Punchburger or Jeremy Jam is the type of silly. But nothing like this. And so you get lines like when they're sitting at the table, she says, what a quinky dink. Look, we're sitting at the same table. A guy traded me his seat for a peek and a squeeze. That's my boob and my butt respectively. Remember that, Ron? Yeah.

Like there's so many different. Well, when she walks in, she goes, look at this room. So much wood ready to be worked. Oh my God. And then the other one, I have a little something I need to get drilled. And of course, staring right at Ron. Yeah. She's doing it. Oh, she's nasty. Oh, she's nasty. And she is. And she is. She loves Ron in a very dark, dark way. Yes. And,

And we get another library dig. It's always nice to, you know, listen, libraries are great. My kid loves going to the library. I've actually had to kind of defend us because when I'm out and about in the world, like at appearances, whatever, yeah, sometimes people do want me places. People will say, you know, I work at a library. I don't know why you guys are always so mean to us. It's just kind of like a bit for the show. Yeah. I don't know. I don't think any one of us have anything against the library in real life. Well, I think that's the fun of it is that this –

this thing that exists. There's a pureness about a library. And so what's so funny about the Parks and Rec world is that the

the much hated department, in fact, you tip a little bit that other departments also don't like the library, is the library. The thing that is clearly one of the greats. Yes, I agree. But it's funny. And that's all that matters. And it's funny. Okay, so we have Tammy there. She's doing her best to destroy Ron Swanson. And meanwhile, we have this sweet...

lovely man in Jerry Gurevich. Yes. Throwing his lovely holiday party and our friends are trying to get in. And also, Jerry, just let's give Jerry and his family their props. They are obviously loved throughout their neighborhood because that party is packed. Yeah. It is, they are. Although, although,

No offense. Oh, don't be cutting Jerry now. But like if I were living in that neighborhood or whatever, or I was in Jerry's orbit and I knew that the greatest holiday party I will go to every year is going to be thrown. You might just have to just like swallow the bitter pill and just know it's Jerry. It's Jerry Gergich. Yeah. And you think, okay, I'll deal with him because I love the wife and the girls.

Or they're kind of crazy. They're like too, not just shy of like a weird cult, but man, we'll get this spread. This spread, yeah. Right? And I'll see all the other people I like. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Hurtful, but go ahead. Okay. So, fine. Our friends here, Tom and Donna and Andy and April, are trying to go to Jerry Gergich's party.

That's just a funny thing to be building to. And we get great glimpses and moments inside because as we know, Anne and Chris and Ben are in there.

And because they're in there, we meet Jerry's wife. We've heard him refer to my Gail, as he says, right? And this is Gail. Now, Jim, you talk sometimes about when Morgan Sackett, our line producer, said to you in season two, you're getting an episode. You're about to have an episode. The A story is devoted to you. You've talked about how fun it has been to... From there, you had Jerry's painting and we've had a fart attack. Fun stuff. They tell you that

Christie Brinkley is going to play your wife. What's your reaction? Well, first of all, Mike said to me, you know, after a table read, you know, you hear what's going on. And he says, so here's what we're thinking. We're going to try to get a Christie Brinkley type. Type. Okay. Well, because that's what they do. They come, you know, like, and then the pie in the sky is you would ever get that person. Generally, you kind of don't, depending on what's going on. First of all, she lives in the Hamptons and all this kind of stuff. And I was like,

What? Like, what? Like, shock beyond shock in a really happy way. So then the word gets out that not only are we going to get a Christie Brinkley type, we are going to get Christie Brinkley. That is actually happening. And I'm like, what is going on? It's like you're in a fever dream or it's like a make a wish kind of thing. Yes. I had in my room the Christie Brinkley type.

one-piece bathing suit poster on the wall. I mean... At the time that she was cast? Yeah, at the time that she was cast. Yes, yes. Good God, sir. Isn't that odd? Yes, that is odd. No, but I had it when you're a kid.

So here now. They just give them out to kids? What do you mean I had one? You chose to have it. On the wall. Yeah, okay. So no, but anyway, so the poster's coming to life and she's going to play my wife. And the story behind this, just for those who don't know, I've told this many times, so maybe you've heard it. Christine knew nothing about our show.

But she mentioned it to her daughter, Sailor. And she knew the show. And Chrissy's like, they want me to play someone's wife. And Sailor was, she goes, I'm trying to figure out. Okay, well, he's got him. She was like in her head trying to figure out who it could be. And then she said, Jerry Gurgich's? And she goes, yes. And she goes, oh, my God, Mom, you've got to do it. Now, she had an ulterior motive. She wanted to go with Mom to set.

because she was a fan of the show and she wanted to meet all of us. So that is how it all played out. So I wonder if Saylor hadn't been so on board, I wonder if Christy would have been like, eh, because she's got a pretty crazy cool wife. She also has a vibe when we meet her and a look that you're like, she should be in Eagleton. Yeah. She's in Eagleton. Oh, gosh, visually. Yeah.

And I don't know if they... But just like she just walks on softer ground than the Pawnee ends do. And we'd have to ask someone in the camera department or somebody, but when she turns, when they see her, and Christy's going to introduce Ben to Jerry's wife. She's lit differently. She feels it. Yeah. It's a glow. Not that Christy doesn't bring her own glow, because she does. But there's a glow. And it's so perfect. And you got to act with her and be with her. And not just her...

But the Gurgich's, the family musical number. The girls. The girls. My girls, Jerry's girls. Yeah. I mean, Jerry's on the piano. You got these choreographed moves. They're matching sweaters. Christy Brinkley has a nose rub. I mean, just...

I know. I nose rubbed with Christie Brinkley. Not just that, but it's like that whole little bit, like you have like this, you know, beautiful little, I don't know, this idyllic. Yeah. I think when most people are like, what do I need?

What do I need for happiness? Yeah. Jerry Kirk, it's got it. But that's why it all works. Because Mike realized if we're going to keep doing this stuff to him at work, if he's going to be our punching bag, there's got to be something in his life. And wow, Jerry absolutely has the best life of any of them. Yeah. He just does.

And shooting those scenes were so much fun because, you know me, I love the scenes when we're all there. And we were mostly all there, even though some of us were outside during that one. But we were all there. And those are just, so on top of that, you got Christie Brinkley. And for me, it was, that was kind of a perfect day. Yes. Yeah.

Let's keep going, Jim, with our synopsis. At the awards ceremony, Leslie is shocked when Diane reveals that Leslie's close friendship with Ron feels like a larger threat than Tammy 2's entrancing sexual prowess. Meanwhile, back at the Gurgich Christmas party, Tom, April, and Andy have a change of heart and decide to give their Jerry dinner funds to Jerry, saying they've collected the money to help pay for his surgery and added a dollar every time they did something mean.

A perfect resolution. It is a perfect resolution. And I know we mentioned that they had a Jerry filter, so all his invites and everything went to spam, basically. But they also list some of them. Jerry is the sweetest man in the world. They've been invited to everything over the years. They've never not been invited. Right. There's even, you know, when Andy and April get married, I'm wishing you kids the best of luck. Like, he's just so damn sweet. Yeah. Of course, they've never seen any of it.

Because in their minds, we don't want to hear from them. No, I know. I know. It's awful. Yeah. Okay. So we're in the Gurgage house and we haven't talked about them in a bit, but Chris is in this journey of this episode where Ben is really nervous, right? If Leslie is the emotional guardian and cheerleader for Ron, then Ben is like the nervous wreck around Chris, right? Because he's just worried that like Chris is

frail psychological state because the man sees his therapist, Dr. Richard Nygaard, what, 15 times a week? 15 times a week. Right. So he's like, there's a gray hair when Gail says, oh, someone's a silver fox. Silver fox. Or he ate the full fat eggnog instead of the low fat. Chris needs it known that

He says to Ben, did you know that things with fat taste better than things without fat? Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. That says everybody knows that. Everybody in the world knows that. He pretty much built society around that fact. The fact that, yes. Yes. I have lived my life enjoying things. Yes. The point being is that Millicent Girkic's new boyfriend, Carl, comes in. First of all, purposely, I think looking a bit like Rob Lowe. A bit like Rob Lowe.

you know, the chisel, the whole thing. And of course, not a gray hair on his head. And Chris is like, how did you guys get together? And there's this great line, well, he was the, pretty much the instructor, all the girls went, and I was the instructor, all the guys went, and we're like, ah, should we just? It's so cute, and you just, yikes. Yeah, if everybody wants us, should we want each other, is what they're saying. And you think that

this is going to be the one. This is going to be what breaks Chris. And he says, if therapy has taught me anything, it's that I need to face my fears, even when my fears are engaged to a man with the chiseled jawline of a young me. Yeah.

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So let's return back to our woodworking awards, right? Because here we are. Tammy does pretty much like a full basic instinct. Oh, full basic instinct. Yeah. She's throwing Ron off. Yeah, Ron goes out there to accept the award. Right. And she's going to not make this easy. He can't speak, whatever. And you think, oh, God. And so Leslie goes over to Diane and she's like, listen, I'll handle it. I know this thing. And she's like, actually, I'm worried about you. And it's an interesting, unexpected little twist. Yeah.

I didn't see it coming. Yeah. I'll be honest. I did not see that coming. And that's what I love. That's my favorite thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think it humanizes the Ron and Diane relationship. It makes it matter all of a sudden that his girlfriend has a unique, informed, particular issue. It was something in Ron's life. It's interesting.

It's not just something surface level. It's real. So it's helpful there in the progression of their relationship. It's fun because it also creates a scene where Leslie realizes, do you know what? I'm going to not take care of Ron the way I thought I would. I don't need to be by his side.

I'm now going to deal with Tammy. Yeah. Right? I'm going to make sure that Tammy is away from these two people who need to be together. I don't need to be with Ron right now. It's a maturity. And I also love when Tammy was doing the basic instinct moves,

The pixelating is so funny. And they have to do it a whole bunch of times in this episode because Tammy is not wearing underwear. And so there's things come up, battles come up, fights come up, people being flung over things. And every time the pixelation kills me. Yes. There are these insane fights. Insane! Between Leslie and Tammy. They're silly. They're jumping into crutches.

cars and they're like wrestling in the dumpster to the point that like it's so much that you have a great joke where Tammy's like I'm turned on right now. I'm never right. He was turned on. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, Leslie will throw it down because let's jump back to the episode with Parker Posey.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They also, in a big pile of garbage, went at it. Leslie will throw down. Sure. I love that. And I think back to a previous Tammy episode where Tammy is going for Tom, right? It's like in season three or whatever. And, you know, Tom is like thrown against the wall by Tammy. And there's physical fights. There's physicality. Yeah. In all of its forms when Tammy shows up. Right.

Well, Jim, that brings us to really the last little bit in the story, which is such a sweet little moment. It's Ron revealing himself as Duke Silver to his true duchess, Diane. That is his, in my opinion, Ron going, I got to show her something. I got to prove to her something.

Leslie doesn't know everything. Right. I have some secrets and I'm willing to give them up for you. Right. That's a big moment. And what's important that we had to clarify because April knows about Duke. I think someone else knows about Duke, but Duke is not just this secret that Ron has and that April have. And so, um,

he's careful to say, I'm going to show you something that not even Leslie Knope knows. Right. He's making it sound like some people know, but not even Leslie Knope. The important thing is Leslie doesn't know about this. And I know you're worried about her, but that's not us.

let me show you something that pretty much she's like, I don't ever need to have her know about. And it's Duke Silver. And so I want to call out the fact that there's the women who kind of lean forward and talk to Diane when she's listening to Duke. And one of them at the end is like, I'm going to,

Isn't it I'm Gonna Kill You? It's one of the writers, Alexander Rushfield. It's Ali Rushfield, our great writer. She just leaves over. It's a great reading. And I actually looked her up after this to see if she has other acting credits.

It was so... I am going to kill you. I mean, the way she said it was great. It was really great. But she doesn't have any other acting credits. One and done. Get out there, baby. Yeah, when you've hit a home run. Yeah. Hey, take it and run. Well, Jim, we've come to the end of our episode of Parks and Rec, but not the end of our podcast. Do you have some crap we didn't get to? Well, we did. There's actually a number of things here and then...

Maybe it'll be all too much. When they all show up to go to Jerry's to pick him up for dinner and they see what's going on, they're horrified. They see Ann walk in and Andy goes, I didn't know she even knew Jerry. Is that an Andy line? I didn't know she knew Jerry.

Silly, silly, silly. Also, when they're peeking through the window, because they are like, what is going on in that house? First of all, Andy sees Santa and he is physically distraught. Oh, there's Santa. Oh, and his body. He does that thing. But also Donna.

played by our amazing Reda, she's peeking and she goes, ooh, look at that gingerbread man. And Tom goes, I don't see any gingerbread cookies. Donna, I am talking about that jacked up light-skinned dude. Looks like Blake Griffin. I mean, Donna is all about her boys. She is all about her boys. And then, I also love the moment when

April's going to force her way in the house and she's pushing. And Anne's like, what is this? You have no strength. And April goes, because you have man strength. Man Perkins. Such a great line. Such a great line. I could go on and on, you guys. I have others, but that's enough. I'm getting the that's enough from Lisa. Yes. She's like, it was enough after the first one. Well, Jim, give us your final thoughts on the episode, then.

Well, I'm a little biased on this episode because we get to meet my beautiful wife. So, you know, played by Christy. And also, I love that they get to see there is more to Jerry than what they're seeing at the office with his fumbling and bumbling. And I love any time Megan Mullally is playing Tammy. This episode for me had it all. And I really, Lucy Lawless,

It's such a nice person. It was fun to work with her. In this episode, I don't get with her so much, but I got to hang with her a lot. And she was amazing. So for me, this was really a special episode. Yeah, yeah. No, it's great. And we have this new era of friendship for Leslie and Ron, right? You know, I told you the story once where Greg Daniels came in and pitched, Leslie and Ron kiss. And the reaction was like, what? No. And he did it just to like see and just to, you should say stuff and just play it out because you never know what's going to come from a pitch.

But I think this episode is proof that it has always been the right move that the two of them should not get together. I agree. I couldn't handle Tom and Anne getting together. Imagine me with Ron and Leslie. No, you'd be in a medically induced coma. I would have to be sedated. Yeah, no, like I said, going into it, it's on the Mount Rushmore of season five episodes, in my opinion. And we just talked about why. Gifts, parties, and jobs. Tom gives Jerry the Jerry dinner money.

The Gherkits Christmas party. That's a party. The Woodworking Awards ceremony. That's party life. Lots of parties. And Leslie quits the emotional job of being Ron's emotional guardian. We got a gift, a party, a job. That's gift, parties, and jobs.

And we have an oops moment here. Yeah, I noticed this oops too. Oops. It's an uncomfortable oops. Oopsie doopsie while Jerry is playing the piano during the Gurgage Christmas party. And that caroling scene, various camera angles show his hands are stationary. Jim, as an actor,

Would you say to, let's say, an acting student, would you say that's the right thing to do? I would say to the camera department, don't focus on the hands that aren't moving. Okay. I believe that's what I would say. Devo much? That's you, Tom McGill. I'm yelling out at you, my friend.

Anyway, it's a great oops. It's a classic. It's as funny as the oops of like, you know, I think the funnier version of that sometimes is someone's playing the piano and something and they're just, their hands are moving all around, whatever, up and down the keys, and it clearly doesn't match whatever's being played. Yeah. But in this case, nothing's being played. It's a ghost

piano playing ghost music. We've had a pretty good Jerry playing piano in the telethon. Yes, we know he can't do it. So it's just the actor who can't do it. It is true. It is the actor who cannot do it. You are such a mean son of a bitch. Well, let me tee you up then. I'm just trying to bring you back down and humble you because I'm going to ask you for our episode MVP.

Oh, wow, wow. Everyone had some great, great moments in this one. I really think they did. I know this is just because of performance. I'm going to go with Megan Mullally. I know as a guest star, maybe we shouldn't include her in MVPs. I think we should open. It doesn't have to be our series regulars. Come on. I just think. And plus, she's.

She's a part of the show. Tammy is. Yeah, yeah. It's not like a one-off. She was there a number of times. And her physical bits, the fighting and the running, and Amy in the, you know, at the end, Amy is stuck in a trunk of a car.

But I think I'm going to go with Megan. Great. No, yeah, it's a great pick. Where are you headed? Yeah, you know, I think that I really love Ron in this episode. Yeah, it's a great Ron episode. Yeah, I really do. I mean, I think everybody gives something. You're right. The episodes where our parties or everyone's together, everybody has a great moment. I mean, Chris Pratt has great...

Physical comedy here, too, and great lines. And, you know, I even love the way Aziz played that Tom talking head when Jerry kept messing up. But Ron being both giddy and sweet...

And Duke Silver. Everyone had great moments in this episode. Yes. And also, we should call out when they do finally realize they're going to get into the party and Jerry realizes they're there. He's so happy to see them. Yeah, yeah. He's so happy. And then there's that great moment when they go inside and the door closes on them. Jerry's stuck outside. Yes, of course. Of course. Of course. Listeners, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Team Coco Podcast or by using the hashtag. Hashtag Parks and Rec.

Jim, let's do a town hall today. You got it. And let's set it in the cozy, beautiful Jerry Gergich Holiday Park. This comes from Madison, who says, Hi, Parks and Recollection gang. I just wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone at Parks and Recreation and this podcast for helping me through a very difficult battle with depression.

I have rewatched Parks and Rec more times than I can recall. This show brings me happiness and love whenever I need it most. Thanks to Parks and Rec, I am smiling and enjoying life again. That is lovely. That's lovely. I actually hear that a lot. People say they went through cancer treatments while watching our show just to try to help them mentally get through it. It means a lot to hear that. Yeah, when sometimes you need to have an escape or take a break from things that are getting you. Yeah, because life can... Yeah.

And to turn on, in a way, a group of friends. Yep, I agree. And then Madison says, now to my question. If there was a Pawnee-accessed television program that mimicked Survivor, with characters like Joan Calamezzo and Fred Happily and other Pawnee celebrities and townspeople, how do you think that would play out? Who would be the ultimate Pawnee?

Pawnee Survivor. Thanks again for making us all laugh, Madison. Well, Madison, thanks for your note and for a great question. That's a fun question. Jim, okay, so we have local access, Pawnee Television, a version of kind of like Survivor, but in Pawnee. You can imagine maybe the whole thing's at the pit when the pit was a pit. Why not? And we have our favorite people. Let's

Let's just jump to, who do you think is the ultimate survivor? Well, if we're including, you know, members of the Parks Department, Ron Swanson. Yeah. He could live through anything. Let's make it harder. Let's take away our 10. Let's take away them. Should we just say between Joan Pird and like, um, Sue, it's Joe and...

I mean, there's so many. We could go on forever. Yeah, yeah. I mean, like, listen, it's hard to imagine Jeremy Jam wins. Although you could see a situation where it's kind of like the season one of Survivor, right? Where it's like he winds up at the very end and you think, oh, the bad guy's going to win, but maybe it's not him. He would also steal people's food.

Right. You know he would do that. Yeah. I'm not saying he would do everything he needs to do to get to the final tribal council. Do you remember the one Survivor episode? And I can't think of the character's name. He wasn't a character. The man's name. And he had his visitor come.

And say his grandmother had died. Yes. That did not happen. That did not happen. That is a jam move. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So maybe jam. Well, you could see, I was just going to say, you could see jam getting close. It's hard to imagine Joan or Pert happily winning this thing. Joan would collapse quickly. I think Joan would collapse quickly. I think John Ralphia would show up and immediately get like helicoptered out of there. Yeah.

And imagine Mona Lisa. Yeah, yeah. No, they're not surviving. They're not going to survive. And Perg would be like, the story of this adventure is that I'm dead. Right. Yes, yes, yes. He's just done. Yeah. Maybe there's a version where everyone just doesn't survive. Yeah, that would be a fun episode, though. It's like Survivor. If Survivor came to Pawnee, it would become more like Squid Game. Ha ha ha.

I would love to see Squid Game. No one would survive. You know how Squid Game narrows people down? Yeah. And the first test, they would all be dead. Yeah. The end of the first episode is the end of the finale and it's just you watching the camera crew pack it up and be like, I guess we're not going to be a show.

We came to Pawnee and we killed everybody. I'm going to pitch this to Jeff Probst. This is going to go down the air. Madison, thank you. I'm not going to give you any of the proceeds when the show makes it for 10 seasons. Thank you, Madison. For all of you listening, if you have questions for us, please write us. Give us your town halls. We love to have thought-provoking, weird conversations about this world. And, you know, honestly, thank you all for listening. Right, Jim? Thank you all for listening.

listening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I say, what the heck was that? Thank you all for listening. Text this episode to your group chat. Give us five-star reviews wherever you are listening. And from all of us here at Parks and Recollection, goodbye from Pawnee. 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 book

This has been a Team Coco production.

Ross has huge savings on looks that are 100% you. So you can find all the styles that match your vibe. From stylish skorts to jersey tees. The trendiest looks of the season will have you saying, it's a yes for me. Plus, they've got shoes to make any fit pop. Be the best dress for less with your favorite picks of the season. Head to Ross and save 20-60% off other retailers' prices. Items and styles vary by store. L.

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