Podcast
Parks and Recollection
Hosted by Team Coco and Stitcher · EN
Treat yo’ self! Join Jim O’Heir - a.k.a. Jerry Gergich - and writer Greg Levine as they *literally* break down every episode of Parks and Recreation. From Ron Swanson’s love of various meats to Leslie Knope’s unwavering commitment to the people of Pawnee (and waffles), each week Jim and Greg relive their municipal glory days with exclusive behind-the scenes stories from the set and writers’ room. And along the way, they’re joined by cast members, writers, and friends of the show - people like Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Aisha Muharrar, and Jon Glaser. Whether this is your first time watching or you feel like a Parks Department regular, grab your favorite Sweetums snack and let DJ Roomba drop the beat!
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Episodes
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Harvest Festival (S3E7)
May 24, 2022Tap to summarizeIt's a festival of massive proportion on today's episode, when Rob Lowe and Alan Yang recap S3E7 of Parks and Recreation. In "Harvest Festival" the day before the fest, a local Native American leader places a "curse" on the event because Leslie refuses to give in to his demands. On today's episode find out what happens when the entire town of Pawnee comes together, the origin of Li'l Sebastian, we get to the bottom of the Matchbox 20 / Rachel Ray mystery, and why a drone shot was necessary for worldbuilding. Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992 With the Harvest Festival days away, Leslie surprises everyone by booking Li’l Sebastian, a miniature horse and legendary Pawnee celebrity. Everyone is thrilled except Ben, who doesn't understand the fascination. The chief of the local Wamapoke tribe, Ken Hotate (Jonathan Joss), visits the Parks department and requests the Harvest Festival be moved, as it is built upon the site of a Wamapoke massacre. When Leslie explains it is too late, Ken warns them the festival may become cursed, although he privately tells the documentary crew that he knows white people are terrified of curses. Ann works the Harvest Festival first aid tent, where she confides in Donna that she has not taken the break-up with Chris well. April tells Andy that she loves him, but grows angry when he replies, "Dude, shut up! That is awesomesauce!" Joan Callamezzo arrives to report on the festival and is determined to find a negative story, although she does show excitement over Li'l Sebastian. She initially fails to find a scandal, but then overhears Leslie and Ben discussing the curse. It becomes the focus of her story, especially after Tom tells Leslie that Li'l Sebastian escaped his pen. Tom blames Jerry, although it was entirely Tom's fault. The Pawnee media swarms the festival to cover the curse, endangering its opening the next day with the bad press, with one reporter likening Ben's past as a failed teen mayor with the curse. Now believing himself to be the curse, Ben leaves the festival. As Leslie reassures the reporters there is no curse, the power generator blows out, leaving the festival dark and stranding most of the parks department on a Ferris wheel. Using the blackout as an excuse, Ann takes Donna's advice to make out with Kiley (Joey Russo), her dumb but attractive patient. On the Ferris wheel, with April and Andy arguing below him and Tom and Jerry arguing above him, an annoyed Ron clears the air by announcing the obvious: April is mad at Andy for not telling her that he loves her back, and the missing Li'l Sebastian is Tom's fault. Andy tells April that he clearly loves her and they hug, and Tom apologizes to Jerry. Later, everyone spots Li'l Sebastian in the corn maze and they recover him. Leslie learns the power outage was due to television crews plugging into the grid and overloading it. The only replacement generator in Pawnee is at the Wamapoke casino, and Leslie humbly asks Ken to loan it to her in exchange for placing a Wamapoke cultural exhibit near the Harvest Festival entrance. Ken agrees, and during the festival opening the next morning, he performs a meaningless ceremony to remove the fake curse. People begin to swarm into the festival, and Leslie cheerfully greets them. Ben returns to apologize to Leslie for leaving, admitting that he is not over his past. She reassures him the festival is as much his accomplishment as hers, and even has Ken break Ben's "curse", although Ken's gesture is also completely meaningless. At the end, Ben appears to have been won over by Li'l Sebastian, but admits to the camera crew that he still fails to see the appeal and remains as baffled as ever.
Transcribe →The Camel (S2E9)
Dec 21, 2021Tap to summarizeCome one come all to Pawnee! Today Rob and Alan congregate to watch the ninth episode of season 2! In “The Camel” Leslie and the Parks Department compete to come up with a new mural design. On today’s episode you’ll hear about the unearned confidence of Sewage Joe, the difference between bottle-episodes and a story-driven arc, and how the B story came about from a delirious night of writing!Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992 The Pawnee council decides it will replace the town hall's "Spirit of Pawnee" mural, due to its racist overtones. When each Pawnee department is asked to propose a new mural, Leslie becomes determined for the parks department to win. Everyone in the parks department is told to come up with a possible mural, and they each vote for their own artwork. As a compromise, Leslie creates a mural using pieces of everybody's artwork, but the result is a confusing mess. While all of this is happening Ron starts visiting Andy who is now the Pawnee shoe-shiner. Ron is impressed when Andy eases the pain from his bunion, and after a couple visits, makes an involuntary sexual moan. They both decide to pretend it never happened. Mark draws a boring sketch of an old man feeding pigeons in the park—knowing it will have mass appeal. Nobody in the parks department likes it except Ron, but Leslie insists on entering it so they will win. Leslie sees how much fun other departments had in making their mural, and she decides to enter the parks department's original mural after all. The town decides not to spend any money on a new mural and simply renames the old one "The Diversity Express". The parks department, proud of their work, hang their mural in the conference room; and Ron hangs Mark's sketch in his office.
Transcribe →Director Dean Holland: Greg Pikitis (S2E7)
Dec 7, 2021Tap to summarizeDirections to Pawnee are simple! Today Rob Lowe and Alan Yang are visited by director Dean Holland as they review S2E7 (Dean's first episode!) On "Greg Pikitis" Leslie tries to stop a high school kid who vandalizes the park every Halloween, while Ann's party is a dud until Tom as T-Pain saves the day. Find out about behind the scenes Halloween parades, who was in the dinosaur costume, the Ron Swanson 1-10 scale, and what makes the funniest script—all on today's amazing episode! Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: ParksandRecollectionTownHall@gmail.com Or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992 The episode opens with Leslie confronting her peach-eating arch nemesis, teenaged Greg Pikitis, in the high school hallway about his past Halloween hi-jinx. Leslie enlists the help of her boyfriend PO Sanderson to tail Pikitis to make sure he doesn’t vandalize the Statue of Mayor Percy once again. Meanwhile, Ann reminds the Parks Dept. about her Halloween party and is disappointed to find out that in spite of her efforts to not invite Tom, Jerry has spilled the beans and Tom will attend. Ann’s party is off to a boring and awkward start until Tom arrives dressed as T-pain and turns the living room into a dance floor. A possible spark between Ron and Wendy is kindled when Wendy tells Ron her Green Card marriage could soon come to an end. Meanwhile, Leslie and PO Sanderson’s tailing of Pikitis turns up nothing and the two decide to go to Ann’s Halloween party. However, while stopping by Leslie’s office to pick up her Halloween costume, the two discover that the Parks Dept. has been TP’ed and vandalized, with the coup de grace being a peach pit left atop a pile of whip cream on Leslie’s desk.Despite the fact they’ve watched Pikitis all night, Leslie is sure Pikitis is the perpetrator. Leslie convinces PO Sanderson to bring in Greg for questioning and after getting no where with him, Leslie decides to have Andy take a crack at him. Andy goes in hot with the FBI persona Burt Macklin, but Pikitis is so mean to him, Andy ends up crying. The scene ends with Pikitis’ mom showing up and threatening to sue Leslie, PO Sanderson, and the FBI for holding a minor against his will. Andy helps Leslie clean up the Parks Dept. offices and after a few beers, the two decide to TP Greg Pikitis’ house. PO Sanderson shows up saying he’s been called and an unfamiliar woman opens the front door and points to Leslie saying she’s the reason the police were called. Leslie fears she has the wrong house until it’s revealed that Greg goes on Craigslist to hire fake moms to get him out of trouble and the woman standing in front of them is actually Greg’s real mom. When Leslie realizes Greg’s not at home, she rushes to the statue of Mayor Percy and catches Pikitis in the act of vandalizing the statue.The episode ends with Leslie wondering how Greg could have gotten into the Parks Dept. to vandalize it and a flashback showing Greg pretending to be a janitor, hiding in the dumpster until everyone had left, and vandalizing the office.
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