Two Parties (S5E10)
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Then we'll send it up into the sky.

I am happy to say that we are back for another episode of Parks and Recollection. Hello, everybody. I am one of your hosts, Jim O'Hare. I played Gary and Jerry and Larry and Terry and even Barry. And you, sir, are... Yes, hello, Jim. It's me. It's Greg Levine. Just...

I've been told I have a name that just people know me as Greg Levine. People say, Greg Levine. They don't say, oh, Greg. There's people you say both names. You say both names. And they say, Greg Levine.

Yeah. And it's interesting. I like my name. I don't think it rolls off the tongue that way. It's quick. Greg Levine, like that turn from Greg to Levine. Yeah. It's a tough, it's a tough one. When I was young and I was starting to get into this showbiz business, my mother said to me, maybe you should change your last name. I go, why? She goes, what if you're awful?

This is what she said to me. So change your last name for her. For her. And I said, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to change it to O'Keefe, which was her maiden name. I said, fine, I'm going to change it to O'Keefe. Yeah, no, I mean, I come from a very...

sarcastic, funny family. And yes, she said, but what if you're awful? Yeah. So change my name. But I did not, mom. No, I did not. No, no, no. Jim, let's talk about this great, great, great episode. And I say that because this is a great, great,

episode of Parks and Recreation. It really is. There is so much going on. There's travel involved. The cast, well, the men of the show got to do a little trip to Indianapolis. The women got to dig in a pit. Yeah, a lot went on this episode. I love Indianapolis.

This episode. Hey, if I were sick one day, I'm like, I want to watch Parks episodes to feel better and just to be cozy. One of the episodes I'm pulling up is today's episode. It's Two Parties. It's written by Dave King, directed by Dean Holland, and originally aired on January 17th, 2013.

Jim, please give us our blurb. Here we go. It's party time in Pawnee with Ben and Leslie celebrating their bachelor and bachelorette parties. And while Ben's get-together turns into an epic round-robin of stag nights, Leslie's gathering devolves into, well, a mission to stop Councilman Jam's latest attempt to gain control of Lot 48. You know, just how two bachelor and bachelorette parties should go. Just how they should go. This really was a special episode of

especially for the guys. And it is one of those rare episodes. I'm trying to think, other than at the very beginning, none of us interact. You know, Leslie and Anne are talking to Ben and Chris. Oh, they're very siloed stories. Totally separate stories. Right. And you often talk about how your favorite episodes are when everyone's just together. Yeah. This must have been, and we're going to get into it, this must have been

A lot of fun to shoot. A lot of fun. Because also, not only do we have fun, you know, doing the scenes, now we're traveling together. And it's fun. And I remember on this one, Nick had to meet us in Atlanta because somehow we were connecting in Atlanta to get to Indianapolis where we shot this. And it was so weird because at this point, people know who we are. Yeah.

And so we're hanging around and then people are like, oh my God, Ron Swanson is walking down that aisle. And I know it's wild. We have a lot of cameos. It's pretty much the entirety of our notes. And I'm going to call them out very quickly, but we're going to speak about each one when we get to them. Colts players, Reggie Wayne and Andrew Luck. Colts,

owner Jim Ursay, Pacers players Roy Hibbert and Miles Plumlee. Unexpected appearance by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Totally unexpected. We'll get to all of that as we jump right into our synopsis.

With the Nope Wyatt wedding quickly approaching, Chris and Anne have planned bachelor and bachelorette parties befitting each of their friends. Meanwhile, Leslie continues her campaign to turn Lot 48 into Pawnee Commons, working on an alliance with the leader of the Wama Poke tribe, Ken Hotate. Great call to open.

Greg Koldoven. Leslie and April are meeting with Ken Hotate about naming a Pawnee Commons playground in honor of the Wama Book People. And

I love the game that has evolved with the character of Ken Otate, right? Where he knows how to make white people uncomfortable. So uncomfortable. Right? Yeah. And that's Jonathan Joss, who also, he knew Greg Daniels because he did King of the Hill. Right. And he's perfect. There's a devilish...

smile yeah that jonathan plays with with ken and i mean we get to so many of these things but right out of the gate he's joking that ann is racist for asking if he wants water if he wants water right we're all majority water living yes it's a normal thing would you like water yeah what's the majority of you well unfortunately it's water we're all sacks of water and he's like she's like a

He's like, do you want some water? And he's like, that's racist. Well, he says like fire water. Yeah, yeah. Like, no, just water. Yes. Oh, God. And he says to her, that is racist and I do not appreciate it. Yes, yes. He is playing them like a fiddle. Yeah. And in this cold open and the whole setup for the Leslie storyline about the Pawnee Commons and the Wampum Poke is that we have

of our murals. The murals would tell a great, awful story in history of Pawnee. We have that the Wampapook are run over by a train labeled the Spirit of Pawnee. Their chief is tied to a tree and shot close range by a cannon. That was, I think, one of the first murals that was designed for our city hall. We have a pixelated murder scene that they keep covered up with just a piece of paper. And what's funny about that...

Because I read these kids' stories to my kids all the time and they have all these lift-the-flap books to keep them entertained. So I'm like, it's just a piece of paper. Aren't people just walking by lifting the flap to look? Yeah.

It's very easy to see an awful atrocity. So Ken Otate is there and he, instead of a playground, he pitches a large neon sign in Bonnie Commons with their casino's new slogan, our slots are downright filthy. Yeah.

And of course, April, I think that is a slam dunk. I see it. I think we're done here. Meeting over. We have figured this out. So we have two bachelor and bachelorette parties, right? We have Leslie's bachelorette, which is, let's just say it,

It's a major penis party. It is nothing but a penis party. Right? Anne's like, I built this around the concept of the penis. She's got dancing, jello shots, private karaoke, penis-shaped everything, which definitely comes into play multiple times in the episode. But Anne is cracking under the pressure of planning the perfect party. Imagine planning a party for Leslie. Because you know the party she's going to plan for you will be...

Beyond anything you ever imagined. And now you've got to plan it for her. That very thing about Anne planning parties. We were discussing that when we discussed Ben's parents. That was your episode, right? That was my episode. Thank you very much for saying that. Appreciate that. Where Anne is like planning this engagement party. And for a second you think, oh, we could have a whole episode about how stressful it must be to throw Leslie Knope a party. Yeah.

And at the time, the story of Ben's parents was the more important story to tell. Right? This is the fun and games of that. The fun of Anne planning Leslie Knope's bachelorette party. And she does both a great job. I mean, we'll talk about it, but there's going to be an Abe Lincoln stripper. Right? There's all this fun stuff, but she's also cracking under the pressure. And I love she's stress eating gummy penises. Yeah.

I didn't even know that was a thing. Yes. And they show her eating them in her talking head. Yeah. And she's just, just, just stumbling him into her mouth. Like it's like a kid who's been like, all right, fine. Eat these. All right, fine. Um,

It's the first of many blurred out penis objects of the episode. Yes. So we've got these pixelated penises. And meanwhile, we have one of the sadder bachelor parties you've ever seen. Oh, it's sad. It's beer and board games for Ben. Chris makes it a point from the beginning that it's Ben's night and he'll do whatever he wants, which is just playing Settlers of Catan with his friends at

Just like an undecorated house. And we're going to get to it. It ends early enough that he thinks people are going to go home after a single game of Southerners of Catan and be like, maybe for your bachelor party, it should be more than just an hour's worth of food. But he was loving it. Yeah. Ben was loving it. I mean, if you're going to give him the bachelor party he wants, he was given that. But then it got to be like, come on, this is not enough for anybody. Yeah.

And we show him why. Yeah. Who is at Ben Wyatt's actual bachelor party? His co-workers? That's it. Not a friend? And a few of them. Like, does he not interact with any other department? It's Chris Straker. It's Jerry. Which he literally said, somehow Jerry. And somehow Jerry. They don't even know how Jerry got in there. Yes, yes.

No, but it's great. It's a really great setup. And let's talk about in our synopsis where it goes from there. While getting ready for her bachelorette party, Leslie is stopped dead in her tracks when she sees Councilman Jam has broken ground on Lot 48. Meanwhile, Ben's party is already underway and underwhelming, leading the gang to call a bachelor party audible and head to Eagleton's new Molecular Mixology Club for some excitement.

Okay, let's start it off. Jam is the worst. Jam, he's awful. He's awful. He's pretty bad. He is totally. They had an agreement. They were all going to hold off to figure out what was going to happen. And he went behind her back with one of the reps.

From Ponce Burger. Right. And they're just going to go ahead. Right, right, right. They got crew. They're just going to make it happen. Yes. I mean, that is so against everything. They had a deal. Yeah. Oh, he's awful. No, he's pretty bad. He's not a good guy. Jam is in his classic windbreaker, Jam Orthodontics.

Brace yourself. You want it, don't you? I do. That's so smart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know, recently I was out and about and I had my Rent-A-Swag jacket on and people called it. They're like, oh my God, that's Rent-A-Swag. Oh, that's great. Yeah, that was cool. Yeah, still fits people. Just so you know, still fits. Well, when they are out, you know, looking at the site of Future Punch Burger, we get a Lurpus sighting. That's Mike Mitchell playing Bjorn Lurpus.

It's coincidentally Mike Mitchell has co-hosted the popular Doughboys podcast since 2015, which reviews chain restaurants and snack foods. Well, look at that. Yes, look at that. I did not know that. It's always good to see Bjorn Lurpus. Oh, love the Lurpus family. Or any member of the Spawn Lurpuses. Any of the Lurpuses, I'm on board. Yes. And also, I love that on the sign for Fatburger, it just says, start drooling, fatties. Yes.

That's so awful. All right. Well, let's hop across the border to Eagleton to Essence Nightclub. You know, this is going to become, as we know, Tom's bachelor party now. As they start to realize that each of the gentlemen here have been married and never had a bachelor party. Except for, obviously, Chris will get to. Yeah. This club is huge. It's huge. And we shot it. I believe it was in Hollywood somewhere. And they...

what they dressed that place up with. They had, you know, people, as you can see in the episode, going up and down the big ropes, the spinning and everything. It was a whole thing. Yeah, that was a big day. It's funny because it creates this, just this little comedy scene that's going to, you know, spawn the rest of our episode storyline. But it's this really pretentious club that sells and offers really pretentious cocktails to the point that right,

Ron's is just like lotion, right? Yes. First of all, Ron, he begins by saying there's no wrong way to drink. Right. Basically, he's saying there's no wrong way to consume alcohol. To consume alcohol. Except this. This is the wrong way to consume alcohol. Because he sees Tom inhaling vapors from his drink. This place is so obnoxious and so pretentious, the only one who belongs there is Tom. Right. And which worked out perfect because

It turns out to be his bachelor party. Let's remind everyone about the bar menu here. There's a Bud Light, which is a glass filled with blue cotton candy. The scotch is infused hand lotion. There's the Nimbus Martini, which has an aroma sphere. And there's vodka served in the form of a flash of light. That's nuts. It's nuts. It's nuts.

Were you in the room when this was all being created? Because that's got to be fun to pitch stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, it's fun. I don't remember specifically whatever, but I know that when you think of the fun of a very pretentious bar menu, I think this was also at a time, I think, when...

I think the craft cocktail was having like a new type of explosion. Mixologists were a big thing. Mixologists were a big thing. And, you know, we get this great game of each of our guys getting toasted for their bachelor parties. We didn't mention it, but Chris toasts Ben earlier to say, to our new Lord of Catan, Ben Wyatt, a great friend and a wonderful man. May you and Leslie find eternal peace.

happiness together. How sweet is that? It's so sweet. And you wear the hat. When it's your time, you get to wear the hat. They decide where you wear the hat Ben was wearing when it becomes your bachelor party. And he gives his second toast of the episode to say, held in a white airplane hangar from the ice planet Hoth repletes with dangling airless

To Tom Haverford. I love that when they toast in this, they all have their drinks there. And if you catch it, Ron toasts with his hand because

I didn't catch that. His hand has the scotch. That makes sense. So they all toast and his hand is empty. And Nick plays it. He just looks at it. And he like kind of just puts the fingers up his nose and smells a little bit. But it's kind of disappointed by it. Oh, I bet he's disappointed. Oh, I got to go back and see it. It's worth a rewatch for you who's already rewatching it. I know, but I'll do it again.

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Well, let's sit down for a show. Let's do it, my friend. Back at Anne's house, Leslie's bachelorette party has begun. But with Lot 48 only feet away, Leslie can't shake the thought that her park project might be dead in the water. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. That is until she has an idea. Quick on her feet, Leslie sneaks back to City Hall, gathering Womapook artifacts from the afternoon's meeting and spreading them out over Jam's construction site.

Meanwhile, Ben's bachelor party is gaining steam. And like we said, when the guys realize that none of them have had a proper bachelor party of their own, Chris suggests they turn the night on its head and have a mini bachelor party for each person. Okay, so yes, we are going to do...

new bachelor parties for our guys because we also learned about the disappointing bachelor parties that each person had on their journey of marriage, right? Tom's marriage to Wendy was a green card marriage. And so he said he watched the threesome scene from Wild Things a couple of times, but that was it. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. And Jerry said two weeks before marrying Gail, Jerry had an emergency. Of course. And for Ron, Tammy one forbade Ron from any type of celebration. And Tammy to Colton, a bomb threat to the steakhouse. She's a nasty one.

And for Andy, it's not Andy Napier got married with no warning. He didn't even have time to take a shower before the ceremony or for a week and a half after it. Yeah. Just he's a busy man. He's a busy guy. Yeah. Too busy to shower. Okay. So like we talked about across town, we have Leslie's bachelorette party happening and she is going to do what we said. She is going to put these Womapook artifacts all over the construction site. But meanwhile, Anna's planned a party.

And who shows up, Jim? We got a stripper and it's Abraham Lincoln. It's Abraham Lincoln. It's number 16. Of course. And it turns out that she has had a sexual fantasy about this whole situation right here. Yes, yes, yes. And so he comes in and they're going to do what? A lap dance. And Donna says, all right, 16, emancipate them abs. In a way that only Retta could. Exactly. I've said it every episode probably.

If Reddit doesn't have a ton of dialogue, it doesn't matter because she is going to nail some damn bit. Yeah. Whether it's a one line, a couple of lines, or a look. Yeah. Or just something about her bangs. Yes, yes, yes. She is going to nail it. But this whole setup of Abe Lincoln doing a lap dance gets us these great lines from our actor who says, who's the lucky Mary Todd? It's so terrible. Yes.

Yes. It looks like it's time for the Gettysburg Undress. Yes, but it's worth it. And if Leslie were in a better mood, this would be

It really would be like her sex dream. I think, yes. She would be apoplectic. Yes. And Leslie did something, you know, without thinking. She was upset about something. Right. And she did something she shouldn't have done. But like a lot of us, we make the move like, just do it. I mean, this is how this is going to fix it. All will be good. And then she got back. She had time to think. And she's Leslie because after she does it and you can see she's doing it out of rage. In her talking head, she realizes it was a mistake. And she's all about what's right. Right. She is all about right from wrong. Right.

But she's human and she... And it's Jam. It's Jam who is the worst. Not a human. Not a human. Right. Yeah. So, yeah, she couldn't enjoy this. I mean, because you're right. In the real world without the Jam situation, this would have been the party to end all parties for Liz and Elf. Mm-hmm.

Absolutely. She feels awful. Leslie feels awful. And she very quickly tries to right the wrong. And what does that mean? It means her bachelorette party is no longer Abe Lincoln lap dancing. It's now at the pit.

Filthy pit. It's a Pony Commons. The future site, the Pony Commons. It's just, yes, it's a construction site. And they're on their knees and they're digging around looking for these things that she's thrown about. And she also threw the penises and everything like that. There's that great moment where April was kind of like having a blast doing it. She's like, you got to use the penises. Dig with them. Dig with them.

But, you know, it's awful. And you juxtapose this with our guys are now... Where have we taken... Where's Jerry taking us? To Sherm's Ice Cream Shop where he and Gail first met.

And you have an ice cream. It's sweet. It's Jerry. Jerry just wants some ice cream. That whole scene is sweet. All of the guys sitting there were just eating ice cream. We're just telling the story. How did you get to even know Gail? And of course, Jerry, well, she wasn't even my type. I mean, this beautiful blonde. Slender, blonde hair, big breasts, long hair. Not my type at all.

my type at all, which questions what is Jerry's type and also what is wrong with him. But it's all very sweet. And then, you know, and they cut to each one of us with our little moments as we're eating our ice cream. And then there's there's Ron Swanson. And I thought this was unlike Ron Swanson. His mustache is covered in ice cream. Right. That's a that's a fun choice. It is a fun choice. But did you feel like that's a Ron thing?

I don't know, for me, with character comedy, you think you know your character, but apparently when he has ice cream, he's just kind of like a kid who gets it all over his face. It is a character choice. It was Nick going, I think this is how this would be. Yeah. But when I watched it, I thought, oh boy, I think, I feel Ron would be all napkin-y. Yeah, yeah. You know, he'd be up in that napkin. I like the fact that he just is so into the experience of having one of our great foods, ice cream. Yes, and it is one of our great foods. How about the fact that Sherm has an extra ice cream?

Ready to go. Right? And calls Jerry by his real name, Gary. Gary, I love that moment. Yeah. I also love Ben trying to figure out how Jerry ended up with Gail. Through this whole series, Ben is trying to figure out how did this happen. Did your father witness her father committing a crime? Yeah.

Was she temporarily blind? Okay, that's just hurtful. That one is just hurtful. Or was she ill? What, did I give her a kidney or something? All right, and we get Traeger toast number three, we'll call it. As all-time best man, I suggest we raise a cone to Jerry Gergich. It is so funny about that toast is that Ben and Tom so far have been very specific, and Jerry's is like, hey, let's raise a cone.

I got nothing else to say. Let's raise a cone to Jerry and let's call it a day. But I'll tell you, I think it meant the world to Jerry. He was part of this crowd. He does love these guys. He really does. And that they included him and they gave him his special day. Yeah. I thought it was sweet. And let's go right into Andy's because that's the very next scene. Andy's bachelor party is on Lucas Oil Stadium with the

The owner of the Colts with members of the Colts. You gotta like just go with it. I mean, they're in the Pawnee area. All of a sudden, they're in Indianapolis, which we've talked about is a bit of an hour or so drive. Yeah. At

You just buy the fact in the talking head that Chris knows Jim Irsay. And Jim Irsay was able to not just get himself there, but get the lights on to get several of the players there all able to be there. And it's all worth it because, you know,

While Leslie and her crew's bachelorette party, they're down in the dirt. Literally. Literally. Ben and his team are on a crazy rumspring kind of thing. They're so different that you kind of buy into all the disbelief. I didn't question it at all. You didn't. I thought it was a bit magical.

In real life, Rob knows Jim Irsay. Right. And that's how I think that all came to happen, which was really sweet. And no, but as far as storyline goes, I don't care. I just know that the lights turn on and we walk through that tunnel and we are on that field.

And I will tell you this, the only one of us who successfully kicked a field goal, you know, and it's in the thing, was Chris Pratt. Yes. The rest of us couldn't do it. None of us could do it. And I'm talking crew, you know, crew got, everybody was trying. Mine literally just did a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was a mess. But Pratt did it. And Pratt took a throw. Yeah. From Reggie Wayne and from Luck. I mean, also, I just want to bring in, so we don't forget, when Jerry got to meet,

you know, Andrew Luck. He was so excited because everyone's excited. Everyone's being pleasant and everything. And Jerry says to Andrew, oh my God, I'm a big fan, Mr. Luck. And of course, because it's Jerry, Andrew Luck. Okay, guy, settle down. I mean, all I said was I'm a big fan. Okay, guy. Okay, guy. Settle down. Now, Andy is just pontificated about what the team means to him and everyone is loving it. I just say I'm a big fan. Settle down, guy. Yeah.

Yeah, no, Andy's like going to pass out, right? Yes, he is. This is it. He's, I can't look at you, Reggie Wayne. I got married in your jersey. That's no joke. And with, I'm dead. I'm dead. And this is what heaven is like. I knew it. Yeah, that's Andy. That's Andy. And Jerry's just being a nice man. Just being nice and he's cut down. Thanks, Andrew Luck.

who, by the way, he and Reggie and some of the other players when we were there on Another Time were so gracious and so they really seemed to be enjoying themselves. You know, their world is different than the television world. I mean, they're in front of cameras all the time, but

But this is different. And now we're giving them lines and we're asking them to do things and they nailed it. And they always seemed eager and happy. And it never felt like we were imposing. It always felt like they were happy we were there. It was crazy fun. It was crazy fun. Plus, we're in Indianapolis, so we're going to dinners together. Of course, we were at, you know, San Elmo's, which is a real place. We went there for dinner, you know, when we weren't shooting. Yeah.

And they treated us so well. They gave us... They have this special salad and the whole thing was just great. So, again, those are some of the greatest memories of the seven seasons because you're with people you enjoy off camera. So...

it's still great. It's not like, oh, okay, well, I'm going to be shooting with them today and then I'll go do my own thing at night. No, we were out to dinner at night. Yeah. So it was just a special time. So, okay, so we're at St. Elmo's and we're here for Ron's bachelor party and Newt Gingrich is there. And it was a spur of the moment thing, right? Yeah, that was not planned. Right. It's not like we called him and said, would you like to do this bit on the show? Right, Newt Gingrich, the

former GOP presidential candidate, House Speaker. He was walking into the steakhouse while you guys were filming on location at the restaurant. Yeah.

And somehow you just see this and you get him and he, you know, he. I don't think there's a camera he's never liked. So I don't think it was a battle to get him. Sure. Sure. He's a politician. Jerry, sorry. I thought you said the Gurgich party. And we said, no, I said the Gingrich party. And and I love the way you played this like Gingrich, Gurgich, you think maybe where.

And what does it say? I don't think so, Jerry. Just very quick. Okay. Okay. Okie dokie. But the one who was most horrified was Tom because Tom was mortified that I had picked the wrong table. Yes. Because Tom is all about him. Cool. Yeah. All that kind of thing. Yeah.

But my understanding is that Mike and them just shot off and wrote a scene. Yeah, yeah. Like, that scene certainly wasn't in the mix because how could it be? We didn't know he would be there. Right. Yeah, you guys are something. No, the writers. I've said it a thousand times. The writing is just amazing. Well, let's add cameo to cameo. I mean, in this scene, we also have Roy Hibbert is there. Miles Plumlee is there. And when Roy Hibbert, hey, Tom, right? I'm not paying for that guy. He owes me a lot of money.

Tom, it's true. It's true. He does. Yes. Oh, he screwed him over. Yeah. Entertainment 720. Oh, yeah. And also a shout out to a guy named Joe Faust. And you're going to say, why? Who's Joe Faust? He played the waiter.

And the reason I say that is because Joe and Nick Offerman are besties. They worked tons together in Chicago, and Nick made that all happen. Oh, wow. They brought Joe in from Chicago, and I knew Joe a little. Because one time when Nick and I were both in Chicago, we met Joe for lunch. I know it goes on and on, all those kind of stories. But it was so great. And I think Joe had a great time because there was a lot of, you know, when you're on a

That kind of location, what they normally do, because they don't have all of our trailers that we would normally have, that would travel with us in L.A. Like, if we're on location in L.A., our trailers end up where we're shooting. You still travel around with a trailer, right? I still have a trailer. You're going to Trader Joe's and your trailer's coming with you. You should see me parking in that parking lot with my trailer. Yeah, it's pretty tough. Pretty tough. So, anyway, but a lot of times in this type of situation, they would bring in this huge Winnebago-type situation. Yeah, yeah. And it was just all the guys sitting around...

you know, talking crap. And Joe said to me later, he goes, this was one of the greatest days of my life. I just love that because I was feeling that all the time. And so to have one of Nick's buddies be there and just to be a part of it, I thought was really great. You know, I think one of the reasons I love this episode is it captures very well

the natural energy and chemistry that developed amongst the actors. Becoming good friends, like to this day. To this day. Good friends. And so to picture these scenes from the silly set piece at the Eagleton bar to just an ice cream shop,

to a big stadium. Andrew Luck pretty much like throwing passes to anyone who wants them to just like a steakhouse scene. In a way, you guys had a great bachelor party. An amazing bachelor party if you look at it like that. We were going out to dinners. I'm not talking about the characters. The actors in this very meta way. You guys had

An amazing bachelor party together. And we were also with, you know, Mike was there and Morgan and Dean, people who we loved also. So it really was great. It really was great. I'm sorry it was so tough. Yeah. And we were all so upset you weren't there. Yeah, thank you. Well, Chris Traeger has another toast here. You know, we don't have a toast for Andy. I don't think we actually wrote one and it's because of a scene coming up. But another Traeger toast saying, there are so many things that I could say about Ron. Yeah.

But I think that the best man speech should represent the groom. So I will just say to Ron. How perfect. Yeah. Oh, that's so sweet and perfect. And you know that meant the world to Ron. Just the way Nick plays us. Yeah, that's it. Those are the kind of moments that give me the happy feels. They give me the feels.

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Let's forge on with our synopsis. After a night of sifting through dirt, a new day has dawned and Leslie realizes in dismay that her plan to stop Jam has actually worked. Local authorities have caught wind of potential Wama Poke artifacts in Lot 48, halting construction and forcing Leslie to come clean to Ken Hotate. Meanwhile, all the guys, except for Jerry, have returned home from an unforgettable night. And as a thank you to Chris, they present him with the Best Man trophy.

Okay, so let's wrap up this story, right? They realize that Chris has not had his bachelor party because he hasn't been married. And so they show up at his office and they give him this award. And this scene, this scene,

run from Andy Dwyer and the way Chris Pratt plays it is easily one of my favorite moments of the entire series in two ways. One, the actual scene I think is hysterical. It is such a funny comedy game. Chris is so funny doing it. Everyone's reactions, I just look at all of you being like,

It's a mixture of like, the characters are like, what is this guy doing? But the actors are kind of like, you must have been like, we cannot laugh. Well, because it's so great. No, I know. And if you laugh, it's going to, you got to redo it. Right. You can't laugh. And we're all in this tight shot together. We can't do it. The writing of this scene in the writer's room was one of the hardest I've ever laughed on the show.

Because it was one of those things where it just kept going and it got longer and longer and people kept adding to it. And it's this thing where you're writing, you're like, this isn't going to make it in. This is a waste of time.

There's a lot of real estate of this entire 20 and a half minute television show is devoted to this ridiculous run of Andy saying that Chris is going to wind up with April to take care of her because he dies. But really, he's not dead. He's training in a cave and all this craziness. And he's getting physically upset. Yes. With what's happening. Yes. I thought and then I thought you were my friend. I thought you were my friend.

That's where we got silly in the room. And if I remember correctly, we wrote that and it makes it in and it's funny at the table read and it's funny and it's funny. I think this is...

It is one of my favorite scenes. And if I had someone to be like, give me a few moments of why this is a funny show, it's this. Yeah, check that out. I couldn't remember if that was Pratt going off and doing his own thing, but you're telling me that was written. This is script. That was scripted. Yes. Maybe there's like, you know, like all of you guys, there's a little bit here and there. Yeah, we play around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is script. Oh, it was so great. And his anger and then his resolve to be like, well, okay, if it had to be anybody, it might as well be you and then take good care of her. He's just so sweet and stupid. Yeah.

I love Andy. Yes. And, you know, Leslie comes out of it okay. She does. And she could have even come out of it better at first because it was all, it kind of all went away. But Leslie has to tell the truth. Right. So she can't just be like, okay, well, we kind of get away with that. Right. She's got to fess up. Right. Because she is an incredibly good person.

Yeah. And, you know, it's a testament, I think, to this relationship we've set up with between her and Ken Hotate. You know, she starts the scene with him by saying all the atrocities that have happened to his people. And he's like, why are you saying this to me? And she's like, I just want to remind you, you know, of the contact. What that monologue also does that little bit is it reminds us that she respects him.

I think she is incredibly respectful in his culture and his people. Right. She's like, I see you as more than, you know, these jokes up on the wall. And they're good allies. They've helped each other. Yes. We have the Harvest Festival. We needed Ken. I mean, they've gone through it together. Yeah. And they each benefit from their friendship and the relationship. And so it's fun now to see Ken Hotate playing Jeremy Jam. Yeah.

Right? Yeah, that's the best. That scene when he makes them wear the headpiece. And Leslie sets him up. She tees it up. She knows it too. She tees it up. Yeah, that to me is also like, it's like a reminder of like great improv comedy, which is like, oh, I'm going to get this guy to do something I know is hysterical and funny. And so he sets up, she sets up Ken Otate and then he runs with it and jam and the way Glazer played it, like, I feel like this is offensive, right? And he puts it on. Yeah, he knows it's wrong. And he's like very nervous that it's on him. And he's like,

He's there. And then Ken makes a joke like that's incredibly offensive. It's really, really, really, really good. It's really good. It's awesome. It's good. These are the reasons, right? These are the reasons this is a great episode. Jam, you know, played by the unbelievably talented John Glazer, is one of my just favorite characters to hate. You know, because he's just the slimiest. But...

He's such a great foil. Yeah. You know, he's there for a reason. Yeah. And Leslie says it perfectly about Ken. He really plays white people like a fiddle. It's amazing to watch. He does. He really does.

Well, Jim, we've come to the end of our episode. How is that possible? I know. Well, Jim, give us some of your crap. What's the crap we didn't get to? Wow, there is some crap. Let's see. So I did like when they were in the pit. And again, it's a because anything with Donna makes me laugh. The poor guy, you know, Babe Lincoln stripper. He

They're making him dig, and he's out digging, and he goes, can I take a break? My hands are tired. And Retta, uh-uh, we paid for an hour. You're going to dig for an hour. That would be Donna. You've been paid, buddy. Let's do this. I love that. And then a great moment. They're at the table for Ron's bachelor party, and Ben says, so, bachelor boy, how has it gone with Diane? And then the perfect Ron response, well, I'm going to be very candid with you all.

I like her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so perfect. It's so Ron. And that is all you're going to get. Leslie only knew her name. When she met her, she didn't know anything about her because that's just, that's our Ron. Another one, when it was, they were going to figure out that they were going to do these bachelor parties and that we were realizing not everybody had ever had one. Jerry starts telling his story, you know, about his surgery and everything. And Tom stands up, just hits Jerry on top of that and goes, boo!

That's me hitting the button. Don't talk again for 10 minutes. And then Jerry looks at his watch. He actually looks at his watch. Yes.

I don't know. That's some of the crap we didn't get to. No, that's great. And I just want to add something. You reminded me of a beat we didn't talk about, but is another favorite of mine, is when Chris and Ben are talking about Jerry's wife, Gail. And the way Rob delivered this line is so funny. It's like, I've thought about it a lot. It defies logic or something. Yeah, yeah. Because it does. Yes, yes. Like, don't think about it. I've tried my best. It's funny.

It's a conundrum. Unsolvable. Yeah. Final thoughts on the episode. I got to say that, you know, it's nice to see the growth from Chris. We didn't talk about it, but he gets set up with Shauna at the end. Well, because he describes the kind of woman he would like.

Right. And then there's a moment where Ben is talking to Sean and he's like, wait a minute. Right. This could be a connection. Right. And he mentions dimples. Yeah. Oh, she's got the dimples. Alison Becker. Oh my gosh. Alison Becker has the dimples. Dimples for days. Yeah. So yeah, we get this growth from Chris. We get kind of the classic, fun, silly, angsty,

A story, so to speak, with Leslie. I also really like this is a perfect two-hander. There really isn't an A story. I agree. It's a fun story. It's a fun bunch of moments with a bunch of people you really like. And my final thoughts on the episode of what I've been saying for the last hour, I just love this episode. I love the family feeling. I like that everybody has a chance to have a great moment. And I like that this...

I mean, when have you seen a storyline that's just the guys together? You don't. And that's not to belittle the storyline with Leslie and April and Anne and Donna. You know them. But there's something about the camaraderie and silliness and sweetness of...

the bachelor party guys together that really really gets they were all sweet and yet the moment of the lights turning on and us walking through that tunnel yeah you're gonna remember that forever as an actor as a person forever forever show related character related forever right

Well, we didn't talk about it, but gifts, parties, and jobs. Obviously, we have our bachelor and bachelorette parties. The guys give Chris a best man trophy. We got a gift. And Chris gives all the guys T-shirts that say Ben's bachelor party, board game madness. I have one of those T-shirts at home. Jim, your episode MVP, which character moment sticks out to you the most and why? Oh, these are always tough for me because this is another one of those episodes. Everybody has such great moments. I think I'm going to give it to our boy Rob Lowe.

I think he was so sweet in what he did for everybody and how he took care of everybody, even though I say the Jerry toast was a little lacking. Sure. Other than that, I think he took care of everything. And I thought it was sweet. And I thought...

His growth that we saw at the end of the episode about what he really thinks he needs now as opposed to what he might have thought, you know, just even a year or two earlier. Yeah, I'm going to go Rob Lowe. Yeah, I'm going to completely agree with you. Oh, good. So Chris Traeger for me. I mean, we've had Chris set up A stories. We've had him because him being the city manager or, you know, one of the people in the beginning of his run on the show coming in from Statehouse.

He has authority. He can set up a storyline. But in this case, he is setting up a fun friend storyline, right? It's not in the other role. And he... And getting nothing out of it. This is a friend taking care of friends. Yeah. Loved it. Yeah, and like you said, it has this great resolution at the end. In an episode with so many fun moments, one of my favorites, like I just said, is when he says to Ben, I've thought about it with Gail. Defies logic. Yeah.

Right. And listen, Chris Pratt nails that run in Chris's office. Nails it. I love it. But I will give it to Chris Dreger.

Listeners, let us know who your MVP is by tweeting at Team Coco Podcast or by using the hashtag, hashtag Parks and Rec Collection. All right, Jim, let's do a town hall and let's set it. Let's go to Lucas Oil Stadium. Lucas Oil. I like it there. It comes from Samantha in Indiana. How perfect. Hi, I live in Indiana and based on recent events, I feel that everyone involved in Parks and Rec really needs to know how much you nailed it.

Oh my God, that takes a turn. Ugh.

I really feel like I should have read that differently, but it's the truth. It comes unexpectedly. It probably came for them too. The deer went into a car this week and unfortunately had to be euthanized. Yuck.

This has set the townspeople into an absolute grief and rage-fueled frenzy. A memorial service has been organized with a public scattering of her ashes. There are talks of a statue. Countless photos, videos, and stories have been shared on Facebook. Now, the more humorous folks are suggesting a performance...

of 10,000 candles in the wind. That's so great. That's double 5,000. Yes. I did the math. They like the snow more than we like little Sebastian. Here are some examples of what has been shared. And we have images. We should try to post these. We have a service at First United Methodist Church posted by the Crown Point Neighbor Support Group. There's someone who made a comment. Most relevant comment.

My grandpa loved that deer. My grandpa loved that deer. That's heartbreaking. Crown Point Cares posted a picture of the deer in heaven, surrounded by clouds with light behind it. Rest in heaven, Snow. Oh, it's so pretty. Oh, Snow. Boy, that letter took a turn. They're doing a community memorial service like we talked about for Snow. She may be gone, but is not forgotten.

On Sunday, April 21st at 1 p.m., there will be a special service for Snow at the First United Methodist Church. Snow's ashes will be buried at the church memorial garden and a statue of Snow will be placed in the memorial garden. This will be followed by our pet blessing service at 2 p.m. Any donations will go towards nonprofit animal support groups. Okay, they are as nutty as Pawnee is. I mean, God bless. I am an animal person and I can be obsessed about things. That's a lot.

That's a lot. But doesn't it tell you there's truth in comedy? Yeah, I guess it does. Let's go back to Samantha who finishes her writing to say, God bless her. I have been a fan of the show since it aired and love Pawnee's obsession with Lil' Sebastian and have always thought Our Town's Love for Snow was hilariously similar. Oh, it is. Thank you for doing this podcast. It has been so fun hearing stories and reliving the show, not the snow.

Sorry. Too soon? Oh, God. Too soon! Oh, God. Too soon! Reliving the show with you guys, Samantha. We can't even follow. That's beautiful. Samantha, thank you. And to the people of Crown Point, Indiana, may Snow's memory be for a blessing. God bless. Thank you all for listening. Text this episode to your group chat. Give us five-star reviews wherever you're listening.

Find a friend. Hug them. And honestly, from all of us here at Parks and Recollection, we love you, Snow. We miss you every day. And goodbye from Bonnie.

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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