(S6Ep15) The Wall!

Today's agenda! 

-Amazing voice memos from Josh Breeding (our vegan restaurant store owner from the Anniversaries episode)

- Amber Friendly (our reporter who has Mike Schur's favorite character name)

- Requirements for state parks vs national parks

-We discuss how in the heck Leslie could leave the Parks department behind! 

-The origin of Tom's Bistro! 

Sources:

Jen Statsky interview: https://ministryofpopculture.substack.com/p/hacks-co-creator-jen-statsky-on-getting

State Parks Vs National Parks:

https://vamonosoutside.org/es/whats-the-difference-between-a-national-forest-and-state-park/

https://www.publiclands.com/blog/a/americas-next-national-parks#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20few%20different,leveled%2Dup%20via%20Congressional%20vote.

Mike Schur's fav character name: 

https://variety.com/2015/tv/spotlight/mike-schurs-10-favorite-parks-and-recreation-character-names-1201403320/

Good Hang w/Amy Poehler: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-hang-with-amy-poehler/id1795483480

Dig - New Mike Schur and Amy Poehler Show: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36843594/

Loved One by Aisha Muharrar: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/loved-one-aisha-muharrar/1146546133

Lauren Shaw Stunt Lady! https://www.instagram.com/iamlaurenshaw/?hl=en

Josh Breeding's Band The Megas! https://www.youtube.com/user/theMegas

Transcript

Holly Constant (01:32.032)
All right, hi everyone, welcome on in. We are doing The Wall today. Such a great episode, my gosh, and really just proves that we're getting so close to the Unity concert, which is one of our faves. Okay, so I do have a bit of a follow-up from the last episode. There are a couple people that reached out that I wanted to just share. So we talked to Ali Mouji, who played the, and I hope I pronounced that right. I did ask for the correct pronunciation, so I hope I pronounced that correctly.

Anyhow, Ali played the IT guy, Rajiv, think, was his name, and he came back and I had, this was in the previous episode, this was the one that found the IP address for April leaving a bad review for Donna, and Donna's like, my gosh, who did this? So anyway, he came back and it was super fun, so I asked him if he remembered anything specific about coming back for this episode.

because if you'll remember he was on the doppelgangers episode which was a couple episodes ago which is so cool that they brought him back. But anyway, so I'm just gonna read his email and like I said I just asked him if he had any specific memories. So he responded saying, episodes were so long ago and I so rarely think about them so it's fun to have an opportunity to travel back to that time in my life. You know getting called back for another episode on PNR was a total surprise.

Rajiv was only originally written for the doppelgangers episode, but the writers really liked Rajiv's sassiness so much that they wrote him into the anniversaries episode, which was written by Megan Amram. And for the listener, Megan Amram is one half of the, well, first of all, she's a writer, which is great, of course, but she's also one half of the hipster couple that wants to buy Ron's cabin. So that's Megan.

Anyway, the email continues saying, was shooting the first season of Silicon Valley at the time and I seem to remember Megan telling me she was friends with Josh Brenner who played Nelson Bighead Baguette, I think that's how you pronounce it, on the show. I always get nervous on set so when I find I have something in common with people I'm working with, it helps calm my nerves. So it was really nice to form that connection. Funnily enough, Megan would become a co-producer on Silicon Valley a few years later. The other thing that stands out to me from being on set there was Reda's voice.

Holly Constant (03:44.205)
She's got an incredible voice and I'm not sure if it was when I shot the Anniversaries or Doppelgangers episode, but she sang the Happy Birthday song and I was just blown away by her voice. Everyone cast and crew gathered around for her to sing it and broke into cheers and applause afterwards. It felt like a family. I unfortunately can't remember whose birthday it was. Maybe someone on the crew? But I remember her singing. LOL.

I just remembered one more thing. When I was moving to LA from NYC, a friend connected me to this lovely and talented writer-director, Arun Veer, which again, I hope I'm pronouncing that right. She was so generous and kind and we ended up working together on a couple of her projects. Her husband, Willie Dawkins, worked in the industry and also had a hand in the project, so I got to know him as well. And it turned out he was a gaffer on Parks and Recreation. So it was funny to be on set with him for both my episodes almost a decade after working with him and Arun on their other projects.

and that too helped calm my nerves. It helped me feel like I belonged there. So I'm so grateful for the opportunities and also to the people who I connected with and who unknowingly helped calm my nerves so I could do my job. That is so nice. Yes, it was long, but I loved every minute of it. And yes, you definitely want to feel comfortable when you're on set. So to have people that you're like,

you know, know that you know already and also to hear Donna slash Reda sing. my gosh, that would be so lovely and so cool. You definitely would feel like you're in the in crowd with that. my God, obsessed. So thank you, Ali, for that. I really, really appreciate it. Hope you're doing well. And my gosh, so exciting that you got to come back for this. OK, the second follow up was Josh Breeding, who played the owner of the vegan store that Ron writes a bad review of.

Slash nails it on the door also in the anniversaries episode message me back with some voice notes So let's go ahead and take a listen to that

Holly Constant (05:36.462)
Ahem.

Holly Constant (06:44.788)
my gosh, that is so crazy because yeah, I mean nowadays, I don't know if they do, then maybe they did. But nowadays they'll ask you like, are you willing to shave and or grow facial hair or whatever? So that's really hilarious and great that you still got it even though you had the mustache. Because I feel like casting directors can't imagine you in the role unless you're like, you know.

exactly like how they pictured. So that's nice that they asked you to shave. But I feel like a vegan restaurant owner would have a mustache too. So either could have worked. But yes, love that very much. my gosh, great. And also so cool to hear your voice. This is probably a comment, but I feel like as the vegan restaurant owner, you're very like...

calm and but well maybe not calm but like you know just shy and timid and Turns out that your voice is not low the whole time So I like hearing your real voice as a person and not just as the vegan restaurant owner Okay, let's listen to the next one

Holly Constant (08:55.534)
That's so cool. Yeah. I'm so glad that Megan seemed to be so nice to everyone. I really want to get her on the show sometime. We just talked about her with Ali and the guy who was her other half of the couple that wants to buy Ron's cabin also said really nice things about her as well. So to hear that again is truly great, especially when the writers don't always have a hand in talking to the cast and stuff. So I'm really glad that you got a chance to kind of make that connection.

That's awesome. Good to know. And yes, great question. I would have asked the same thing actually if you were vegan. So good to know.

Holly Constant (10:06.414)
you

Holly Constant (12:15.407)
my gosh, what a crazy interaction and by crazy I mean so exciting. my gosh saying that you look amazing giving you nose That's nice that he was so friendly asking you where you're from This is again something that we hear from many of the guest stars who interact with Nick But also cool that you got to have the interaction with both of them with both Nick and Megan. That is so cool my gosh, and yeah, very helpful notes and my gosh I don't know what I would have I think I would have just laughed out loud if he was like, sorry I was just so in it, but obviously if he was intense I would have been like, yeah

Of course, me too. Me too. Me too. No big deal. But so glad that it worked out and that you got some good notes. my gosh, love that so much. Thank you for sharing that. my god. Love it.

Holly Constant (14:25.743)
Oh my gosh, that is amazing because you never know how they're gonna react or whatnot. But of course in this setting, hopefully, as an outsider, you think that they're all gonna be really funny and nice and friendly, which it sounds like they were, but you just never know how people are going to react. So I'm so glad that you showed him that and I could absolutely see him responding that way. Would you look at that? And then bringing you over Morgan Sackett, who directed this episode, which is also really cool that Nick Hoffman felt like he could give you a little bit more of some guidance, not quite direction,

necessarily, but that was cool that he didn't actually direct this episode, as a scene partner was maybe trying to guide you a little. That's nice. Flying Swansons. You'll have to send me a picture of that. I'd love to see it if you've got it or if your friend still has it. my gosh, that's perfect. I can't believe that.

Holly Constant (15:54.126)
my gosh, how cool and interesting and different, the Megas. Okay, I will definitely post that in the show notes and if you're on the social medias, I will tag you and your individual account as well. my gosh, how interesting to have a band that's based solely on video game characters and plot lines and video games. That's so cool. Okay, cool. So I'll definitely post that.

And yes, I had asked if there was anything. So for the listener, I had asked if there was anything. I always ask this to our guests if there's anything that they like to promote or tell us about. So I will absolutely tag you and everything. And that is so cool. OK, I love all of these stories. So thank you so much for sending those. Like I said, I don't when I send these, I know that some people only had one line, maybe two lines, maybe even just like a couple of words, honestly. And I always ask for stories just because I think it's.

So cool to hear how the day on set went and it just gives us an added bonus of like what it was like to be in this world of Parks and Recs. So that, and you never know what you're gonna hear. Just like hearing the flying swansons. I never would have known that, hello? And I never would have known that he told you to give a little bit of a pause. So I just, I know I'm a broken record, but I am very excited that people do message me back and we do hear these awesome stories. So thank you so much Josh for that. And yes, everyone follow them.

Okay, next up on my follow up list following up on the last episode. I just couldn't find more information on the voices on the radio for when Leslie's talking about merging the town. I don't know who those were. I'm going to say they were writers. And I also couldn't find more information on the Game of Thrones throne. Like who made that? I'm guessing it's just the props department. I would have loved for there to been like an exciting story that I found or something or how long it took or something like that. So I did reach out to a couple of my producer people that I know on the show, but I just haven't heard anything back. So

You know, if you guys know, keep me posted. But I just wanted to give that little bit of an update. And then new section for this episode, our little current event moment. I just wanted to say that congratulations to Amy Poehler, who won the Golden Globe for Good Hang. If you have not listened to Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the podcast, please listen to that. It's so exciting that she won and it's such a good podcast. It really is. It's a very light and but also can get deep in a way. And it's just

Holly Constant (18:11.46)
Amy's so good at interviewing and it's a highlight in my podcast listening. So congratulations on winning the best podcast, which by the way, they just added that category this year. love that for her trailblazer. Dig, the new show by Mike Schurr. She is Amy Poehler and Mike Schurr are shooting that now. I don't know when that's going to come out. I don't know if they've got a release date scheduled, but I did post about this a while back because they had released that they were doing it.

It was like a press release or whatever the hell that they were doing it, but now they're actually shooting it. She was interviewed saying that the day after the Golden Globe, she was starting work on that show. So yes, very excited about that. And you know, I'll be posting about when it comes out. So let's look forward to that. Lastly, Aisha Muhar, our writer friend lady, my gosh, has a book out. I went to the library. Wait, let me actually grab it because I...

Holly Constant (19:09.36)
She has a book out now called Loved One. I have not read it yet, but I went to the library and this was in one of the displays. And I was like, my God, I know that name. And I was like, there's no way that that's a coincidence. So I opened it up and her picture's in there. So it's absolutely her. And I'm really excited to start reading it. Look, there she is. OK, you can't see it, but maybe I'll post this on social media. But my God. So go check out that book when you can get a chance to do so. It's called Loved One, a novel by Aisha.

And again, because I say this every f-ing time that she comes on because it's my new favorite or not new favorite. It's my long old favorite thing to do. She is our baby store worker that says when Anne is saying, I've never seen a bib without Dale and Hurt Jr's face on them. She is the one that's like, really? Love that for us. my gosh. So anyway, those are our current events. And you know what? I think this came out a while ago. Let's look and see what year it was because I don't think it's like super mega recent.

Yes it is, 2025!

Okay, well, the universe is really looking out for me to know this and to be, because I did not look this up. I just spotted it at the library. my God, I love the library. Anyways, so congratulations Aisha for releasing this book and I will make sure that everyone knows about it. Okay, great. So now we are at the wall episode, season six, episode 15, original air date, March 6th.

2014. was directed by Ken Whittingham, who we've seen 100 million times, not only in parks, but he's so good. Truly any show you could think of, he has directed at least once. I mean, so many. So well done to Ken. He directed quite a bit of Scrubs as well, which I love, which also is having a reboot. I think that comes out next month. So we'll see how that goes. This was written by Jen Stotsky, who I think this is her first time writing on parks, but she is the co-creator of Hacks.

Holly Constant (21:07.184)
And oh my God, which is one of my favorite shows on TV right now, also produced by Mike Schur and many of the Schurverse people. I believe Morgan Sackett is also a producer and probably has directed a couple as well, but how exciting. And social media slash the internet that I found says that she was picked out of a crowd via Twitter by Mike Schur. And I was like, WTF, but that's also how Billy Eichner got his job as Craig. That's also how Megan Amram got her job. They both tweeted.

And Mike Schurr, it was like one of those things back when Twitter was like kind of cool and had comedy, you know, banter back and forth between people making jokes and stuff like that. And I think Mike Schurr saw one of her jokes. But anyway, or well, multiple jokes, because she was also writing on Fallon at the time, which was wild. But she also ends up being a co-producer and story editor on Parks, which is a huge deal. I'd love to talk to her. So I'll reach out. Well, I'll try to get her.

Anyway, she also wrote on The Good Place and Broad City, which is also where Paul Downs and her work together, because Paul Downs is also a co-creator of Hacks. There is a really great substack article is called Ministry of Pop Culture. And she was interviewed about how she got her job on Parks and what it was like being on Parks. And it's just a really good interview. And yeah, like I said, she was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She was a monologue writer there.

And yeah, they followed each other and they had a natural rapport on Twitter. And then I just wanted to read, the interviewer says, it seems like he was out there recruiting on Twitter at least those last couple seasons, which was Mike Schurr, who this interviewer is talking about. she said, Jen Stosky said, yeah, Megan Amram and I, he found us both through Twitter.

And I think that's a testament to Mike and what Twitter used to be. It really democratized the process of comedy writing because it allowed people who were just funny to have their jokes seen on the internet in the same way making sketch videos now does. Sher believes a good idea can come from anywhere and anyone. And he knows that a good comedy writer and comedy mind can come from anywhere. And it doesn't need to come from the same three agencies who are going to send you scripts from people. And that's, as a showrunner now, how I hire. It's perfectly valid to read scripts from agents that you get sent. But at the same time,

Holly Constant (23:24.1)
Those are people who are already in the pipeline and you always want to be conscious of trying to find people who are outside of the system because they're really wonderful, unique voices out there. Which is so cool! my god. And she, yeah, she said that while she was on Fallon, Parks and Rec was one of her favorite shows. and then 30 Rock, which we can all relate to that, or at least I can. And I know some of you guys can, so that is so fun. So yeah, please read this whole interview. I'll post it in the show notes. It's so, so cool. I love that. Okay.

So this is where our summary will go and I'll go ahead and get that for Maddie. From Maddie I should say.

Holly Constant (25:33.561)
Uh-uh.

Holly Constant (27:34.501)
Yay, yeah, I agree about so many things. I totally had that note too, that Leslie not knowing when the baby was born or whatever was like so not her, but I mean, at the same time she had 9,000 things going on with this merger. So obviously we can give her a break, but it was just so funny to me that, like, what? This was a long time ago. And even when I was first watching it, I don't watch the episodes.

Like I don't re-watch the episodes unless I am reviewing it. I haven't watched Parks and Rec just had it on in the background since we started this, which is crazy. That is actually insane to say. So when I say how I feel, it's because I feel like I'm watching it for the first time almost because I like am really going episode by episode. And this one I was like, wait, we haven't talked about.

her baby in 900 years? Hasn't she, wouldn't she have already had it or how is she like, is this just TV magic that they're like saying that she hasn't had the baby yet? And then they turn around the baby's there and I'm like, that's great writing. That's really good. So totally agree with that. Yeah. When did you get a fish is such a good line and it's so perfect. And the shock on her face is so good.

And then yeah, the Kool-Aid line of, you know, when Andy tries to bust into the wall is really good too. So, highly agree with everything you said there. So good. So let's get started. We already talked about it a little bit, but yeah, we start this episode with Leslie coming into Ron's office planning for Diane's baby shower. Like I said, we haven't talked about Diane's baby in a hot minute. We haven't seen Diane in a hot minute. And...

We found that out at the end of one of the seasons. Remember when Andy has his GIF that is really famous now with him gasping and in smile face or whatever. So I was like, wait, what? That's crazy. I love that she has a binder, of course, for this baby shower.

Holly Constant (29:23.28)
I love the baby onesie decorations, baby bingo, baby food tasting. I had it in my notes to ask Maddie what exactly she played and if she had a favorite baby game, so I will make sure to ask her that next time. And I would love to hear what your guys' games are. So I think it's mostly the same. A lot of people play the same type of stuff, but I'm wondering if there's anything interesting that people really enjoyed. So let me know.

Ron says they already have a stroller because Leslie's thinking of getting them a stroller and he turns around and points to the stroller and inside of the stroller is a real live baby. A real human living breathing baby. yeah, that's where I had in my notes that I literally was wondering how in the hell have you not already had the baby? And how did Leslie not know? But yeah, like Maddie said, it was a very in character for Ron to not tell anyone and to just randomly show up with this baby. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that he even brought

the baby to the office anyway in general, not just because he didn't want people like fawning over the baby and you're like, well, hello, like it's a baby, it's cute. But also because why would you want people to know what your baby's face looks like if you're wrong? You know what I'm saying? Very privacy dude. So, but they deserve to see him, especially Leslie. think Leslie would be a great, like, I don't know if she's gonna be the godmother or what, which yes, my gosh, that's a lie. We did talk about that.

how she will be once those two old people die that he was talking about in his will. But anyhow, yeah, crazy that Ron has a child now. And to think of where we came from in the first season of Ron probably never having a child or a mate that is healthy to see him have a family is so beautiful. I love that she asks, whose baby is that?

Like it's not Ron's, it's just some rando baby that's in the office. Love that. And I love that she shouts to everyone else like, get in here, Ron has a baby, my God. And it's just like panic alert, we are at code red, what the F is happening. I love John middle name redacted Swanson.

Holly Constant (31:31.31)
And I love John Swanson. That is so perfect. Especially because, and I know that a lot of families do this where everybody's kid starts with one letter or rhymes or whatever. And that's what I kind of feel like is happening here. We have John and Ron, which to be honest, might be kind of annoying because I could imagine Diane like once John gets older, like shouting for John and then Ron thinking he heard his name. That'd be kind of annoying. But John Swanson is great. Love it so much. Like that kid's going to go far.

Like with a name like that, only success is coming to you. And Leslie is panicking. And I love that we get this little insight into Leslie's brain, which we knew was there. But I love to be reminded of this, where she hasn't sent Diane a gift. And she's like, oh my god, she's just wandering around, wondering why I haven't gotten her a gift. And she is just thinking so much about how everyone else is going to perceive her as not giving a gift.

And just like the idea, I wonder if how many people, how many times a day she does that of like, my God, I didn't get them a gift for like, you know, getting a new mailbox. Holy shit. They hate me. Like she is just not in the right place. You know what I mean? So I think that's a really funny moment to great work on the Leslie writing. Jerry is really sweet and is like, you know, just let us know if we can do anything else for you. Like.

now that you have a baby, let us know how we can help." And Ron is like, okay, can someone go to the pet store to get fish food? And yeah, like Maddie said, Leslie makes me laugh so much in this. It's so funny, the shock of, why did you get a fish? I think that is hilarious. Her facial expression there is just so good and turning around immediately and like, what the fuck? Also, yeah, Ron, why do you have a fish? Why do have a pet fish? You have a pet fish and a dog now.

Okay, and also like that's just not a vibe that I would get from Ron to have a pet fish. Okay, I feel like he's like Dwight in the office. We're like fish don't provide milk or what is it milk or butter or whatever. So why would you get a cat? You know what I mean? Same thing for Ron and fish, honestly. Dogs maybe a little bit more so I could see Ron having just because it's like he's a farm dude and dogs are like a staple in like, you know.

Holly Constant (33:45.859)
I don't know, rural farm town land, whatever, running around with him doing all of his chores. could see that. Anyhow, so yeah, hilarious. Great cold open here. Okay, so now the youth committee is meeting again about the Unity concert and we now have posters of the concert itself. They look fantastic. They look so good and colorful. Love it. Leslie asks for an update and Madison says 12 bands have already said yes. 12.

bands. That's so many. That is amazing. Great process from week to week. I mean, amazing. Town Anthem Contest. That's a fantastic idea. What a great way to get people involved and like be involved in self pride and town pride. my gosh. So good. And then 14 local artists have signed up for the Art Tense. my god. I mean, this is really taking off and people are getting really involved. And again, I think we needed to see how many

people were wanting to get involved when it hasn't even been that long in the planning to show us that people really want this, people wanna be involved in the community. It's gonna be so good. my God, they're doing such a good job. And then Leslie says, if she can pull this off, the town might tolerate slash ignore her. And yeah, she's right. That is the best case scenario because especially for all that she's been through and with all the attention that she doesn't want.

this would be great if she could just not be in the public eye for anything bad or just have people be like, there she is, instead of throwing things at her or trying to recall her or yelling at her on the radio or whatever it is. So Leslie booked a meeting with Grant Larson, but no one knows who that is. And he thinks that it's Elton John's, like, I don't know, doppelganger name, maybe like alias name. Hilarious.

but Grant Larson is the director of the Midwest branch of the park service. And she talks about Liam Bonneville. This is our first mention of Liam Bonneville. He's the department of, or no, wait, maybe it's the, no, I think, I think we talked about this when she did her river cleanup, but anyhow, he's the department of interior's resident bad boy, which side note department of the interior is the branch of government that oversees the parks. So just FYI, I don't think a lot of people really know the name of that. So I just wanted to give that information out.

Holly Constant (36:08.846)
But I do want to also mention that Liam Bonneville is not a real Department of Interior employee. I kind of thought that they might bring up some executive or I don't know, branch head to make this a reality kind of vibe. But no, that's a fake made up name. Grant Larson and Liam Bonneville are not real Department of Interior people. We do meet him as a fictional character, of course, later when we go to DC. But I did want to mention that.

So she asks Grant to declare Eagleton Hills a national park after the Unity concert as kind of a grand finale. A national park is a huge deal. I was thinking maybe a state park, maybe. But a national park for the Eagleton Hills compared to like the Grand Canyon and the Tetons and Yosemite and all these other national parks, I'm like, I don't know if we're in the same caliber.

However, I did look it up and looked up what it takes to become a national park because that seems insane. And usually, not only the cultural significance, which it does have to have, but the massive, like, hugeness of our national park currently. I don't think Eagleton Hills is that big. And so I just wouldn't believe the Eagleton Park to be as big as those. So that's another reason why I was thinking, like, are we sure it's a national park?

So I looked it up and to be eligible for favorable consideration as a unit of the National Park System, an area must possess nationally significant natural, cultural, or recreational resources. It has to be suitable and feasible addition to our system and by system the National Park Service and require direct NPS management instead of protection by some other governmental agency or by the private sector.

There's a lot more on this list to become a national park. I will absolutely post that in the show notes too, in case anyone's interested. But on that note, I thought about, you know, maybe is it easier to become a state park versus a national park because, I don't know, a lot of the times they're smaller and, you know, I would imagine there's a lot less red tape, even though there still is red tape. But anyhow, so it's...

Holly Constant (38:29.592)
The internet says anyway that it's generally easier, but not always. But the reason that it could be considered to be easier, it's because state parks are established by individual state laws with more flexible funding and land use rules, whereas national parks require an act of the US Congress, which makes a lot of sense. It also requires stricter federal preservation standards and a higher bar for national significance, making them harder to designate and protect from development.

So again, I will post this on and all the information and like the differences. Another thing about the national parks that I thought was really interesting, you know, how to get national park status, it has to have a national significance. So you've got to have unique ecosystems, important historical or cultural values that tell America's history, natural beauty, significant geological features, and all of those things are very similar to or not similar, but they're kind of indicative of what

Our national parks, when you think of a national park, has those things. And I don't think Eagleton would have them, especially the geological features and the scope and how large the land mass is. It also needs to be feasible to manage, which I think Eagleton could check that off. Many parks, it says, start as national monuments or national recreation areas, and then they're donated to the federal government.

So that is another piece of it that you could look into. Maybe Eagleton could do that as well. But I think the biggest thing is that this does require congressional action. yeah, that authorizes the land to be added to the national park system. And because it's a national park, and this is similar to state parks as well, they are protected areas. A lot of people can't hunt in there. Or if you do hunt, you have to have a very specific license. Even hiking.

or exploring the park itself with these national parks, you do need to pay for a permit. They need to track how many people are in there because they're really trying to protect the ecosystem, especially if it is endangered in some way. And yeah, a lot of people have really cool, the national park system is great. They have a little passport system where you can go and kind of, after you see each one, you can check it off your list. It's a little booklet. It's really cool for kids as well. So yeah.

Holly Constant (40:53.006)
I thought that was interesting. So thank you guys for listening to that tangent. And if there's any other information that you all want to share with me about that, please let me know. I'm still wanting to talk to an actual park ranger, park service member. So if anybody knows anybody, keep a girl posted. She made an ahead of schedule banner, which I love. And now we are trying to get sponsorships to fund the Unity concert because we need money and donations.

And Tom is doing what Tom does best, which I do love. He's kind of schmoozing and complimenting people. This brings me back to when he was giving his presentation for the lemonade stand instead of the stew, you know, complimenting the highlights. And at the lemonade thing, he was complimenting the ladies' pink outfit. Like, he knows how to get with people and to communicate and really make that connection. Connect with people, not get with people. You know what I'm saying.

But yeah, I agree with Maddie in her summary, you know, Tom's doing what he does really well. You look fly as hell, girl. Complimenting Tracy on her highlights. He calls Ben a Dorcasaurus, which I really don't like how Tom treats Ben in this episode. It's really sad and unfortunate. Yes, funny, but also sad, especially with how much Ben is helping him, like, and the fact that Ben's his boss, which I know that's the point, and that's the comedy, but.

Yeah. So Craig and Donna are loving on Ron's baby and Jerry comes in with a onesie that says property of Pawnee government. my God, Jerry, you should have known better. That is absolutely ridiculous and sacrilegious to give Ron's baby something that says property of the Pawnee government. Do you know Ron, but at all? I don't think so. So this is where I kind of understand in a way.

Ron loses his shit because he's like, nope, can't do it. So he takes Ron immediately, or John, Ron takes John, see, I'm already doing it, immediately out of the office. Also, yeah, I mean, I feel like even if Ron didn't hate the government, that's weird to have on a onesie. Like property of the Pawnee government for your baby, I don't know about that. It's not even like cute, but that's nice. It's a thought that counts, I guess, for Gail, but I'm not putting my baby in that.

Holly Constant (43:13.368)
Okay, so now we're at the park that separates Pawnee and Eagleton, and this is where they will make the announcement about the Unity concert. And April makes the point that this graffiti is a terrible backdrop for the announcement. There are slurs for both sides, and there is vulgar gestures and all the things. Leslie wants to knock down this wall because she's like, why are we even having this in here?

this is supposed to be about unity. We should be combining the towns anyway, so what are we doing here? And it's really beautiful because we are getting to see how we're going to combine the towns, not only with the unity concert mentally, but now we're getting to see it physically and tangibly. We are literally merging these parks or this part of the town. know what I mean? So Andy hurts himself by trying to knock it down himself.

just like Maddie Summary said, yes, that line was really funny. The Kool-Aid man made it look so much easier. So this is where Ron finds the third floor and it's empty slash has a toolbox. So he starts to fix everything in the building and it's beautiful to share with his son. And it is kind of crazy that he had no idea about this third floor. I don't know if anyone really would, because if you don't go up there then, or if you don't like work there, then why would you need to know that? But I think it's really cool and funny that he finds this just kind of randomly.

And yeah, I came at the perfect time to share with his son. So now we're back at the sponsorship meeting and they have 15 sponsorships, which is a lot. And then they meet Mitch Savner from Savner Bleaches and Chemicals, who is our 16th. So now we have 16 sponsorships. And I know that a lot of times with these kinds of concerts, you want to have like 30 or more, whatever. But I still think 16 is freaking fantastic, especially with how many people are.

saying they're opposed to this merger, to have all these bands, artists, vendors, and sponsors is a really, really good sign. So I love that. Mitch Savner from Savner Bleaches and Chemicals makes Pearlies for Girlies, which is a teeth whitening strip that Tom uses. But it's unisex, OK? The cartoon princess on the box says so. All right. Mitch Savner is played by Richard Portnow, and he'll end up being in three episodes of Parks.

Holly Constant (45:37.049)
He's great. He's been in The Sopranos for 13 episodes. He's now in a drama podcast called True Noir, The Assassination of Anton Cermak, Grey's Anatomy, Shameless, Trumbo. I mean, he's been in so many things. He definitely has that Sopranos businessman mogul vibe going for him. So I think that's really funny. I did exchange emails with him and I just thought that was really funny. The emails were really funny. So I'm just gonna share them with you.

Holly Constant (47:25.036)
OK. So yeah, it was really funny. I messaged his agents and everything, and he messaged back, and he was really funny and cute. He said, I love your name. It's too cool for school. However, I have to confess that I don't really remember the audition and not much of the episode either.

but he ends up being in quite a bit of episodes. So yeah, he just said he doesn't really remember the audition, which is, mean, that's fair. It was a long time ago, but I don't know if I should, if he wants me to share this part of it, of the email, but I don't care. I mean, I care, but I think he'd be fine with it. It's fine. But he wrote, I suppose that's because part of my acting tech.

is to ingest large amounts of happy dust combined with a few glasses of certain death vodka and a dozen gas X tablets this makes for steady sailing and lots of fun because I never know what I'm gonna say and then he said I'm really good at talking about my journey from background player just starring opposite Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock

And then I told him all the questions and he was like, I really can't answer any of those questions, but if you do want to like talk about how I became an actor and everything, let me know. So, I mean, I'm glad that he messaged back, but yeah, he didn't really know much about the episode itself. So that's okay. We'll move on. All right. So he says Mitch Savner, he says he's going to sponsor the concert, but he also wants to invest in other ventures. And how great for Tom. I mean, this is the thing that he has wanted all along. He asks for Tom to pitch him an idea.

And Tom wanted this government job to lead him to the next entrepreneurial thing. So it's really interesting that if you just, he's in the universe and he was asked to do this. And I don't think that this is out of the realm of reality here. I think a lot of people have had this type of experience where you're in there for one thing and then they ask you to do another because they see your passion. So I think that was really good writing, honestly. And I'm happy for Tom. I still don't think that it's nice of him to say that.

Holly Constant (49:24.748)
This might be the last time he ever has to speak to Ben. Why is he so mean?

So Leslie gives Jam beef jerky because now we're at the announcement for the Unity concert and Jam says he was told there would be a barbecue buffet. Just take this and hush. So this is going to be a new Founders Day because remember there was a Founders Day with Ted and everything. So now we're calling it New Founders Day which is an official beginning to our new town. And Leslie says it's time to tear down this wall much like the burl-

Berlin Wall speech by Reagan in 1987, which is what I believe is, you know, what this episode is based on for sure. We're divided and now we're together. I mean, but, you know, in many situations where there's a wall, there's a lot of logistics and things that we need to figure out, which we're trying to do now in this episode. So she gives Eagletonians the first strike, which really is a good idea as far as unity goes, but oh my gosh, bees are in the wall.

and they come out, there's chaos, they start singing everybody, everybody's running, it's just mayhem. There's an Eagletonian who gets stung in the eyeball. So terrible, that's like his literal line of, you know, I got stung in the eyeball. This is played by David C. Scott. His character name is just Eagletonian Smith, which I think is really funny and generic and vague.

According to his IMDB, he's an army veteran trained at the groundlings and has been in quite a few things. The Mentalist, Castle, Physical, which is a newer TV show that I didn't know about, so check that out. Days of Our Lives, a lot of stuff. Jam is such a dumbass. He is filming this thinking he won't get caught in the crossfire too. mean, he's just filming the Eagletonians and making fun of them and then he ends up getting stung too, so karma.

Holly Constant (51:23.756)
Andy thinks he's immune because he's been stung once, so a bee sting will do nothing to him. my god. Andy. That's cute though that you're protecting April. We do love that. So now we're at the press conference regarding this debacle, and a reporter is asking how Leslie pulled off the fact that most of the people stung were in fact from Eagleton, insinuating this was on purpose and that she was basically setting them up.

This reporter, this first reporter is played by Amber Friendly. And my gosh, her character name is out of this world. I love it so much. Summer Olay Kraken Frong Frong. That is not a joke, that is real. And I did get in touch with Amber and she actually said that in her email that Mike Schur did an interview saying that this character name was his favorite character name. And so I'll post that in the show notes. And thank you so much, Amber, for sending that. And let's take a listen to your voice memo.

Holly Constant (59:17.328)
Yay, that is so exciting. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for sharing all of that Yes, I love when people dig through their emails first of all So thank you so much for digging through your emails and going through your archived messages probably to find all this information This did come out in 2014. So I don't know. Maybe you filmed it in 2013 It didn't come out till 14, but either way. Yeah, it was it was a while ago So I do appreciate you working hard to get through all of that to find the information

Yes, that's so funny that you always remember the parking at the auditions, especially with these ones that take, my gosh, like 50, 100 minutes to find parking. And then you're like, my God, am I going to make it in time? So I love that you remember that. It's like a trauma response, I feel, to have that memory.

So glad that you knew how to do improv both in the audition and in the scene because yeah, like you said, they all know each other. They're all professionals. So like to be asked to improvise with Amy or with these people that know each other seems like.

kind of insane. I'm so glad that you held your own with that. And yeah, having your name on IMDB slash actors access as that name is hilarious. I love that so much. And if you haven't yet, Amber, you should really listen to a good hang with Amy Poehler because Mike Schur's podcast episode with Amy talks about how like you were saying, actors love working with actors. Mike Schur loves actors and he wanted people to have

actual names on their resumes slash IMDB instead of just like reporter number one or you know townsperson number two like he really wanted them to have an actual thing and I like an actual name a character name because it makes more it gives you more clout but then I think once he like that's how it started I think and then he I think he just started fucking with it and was like my god what other crazy ass name can I make

Holly Constant (01:01:08.496)
So that's really exciting that your name was one of his favorites or was his actual favorite. So exciting. But yeah, my gosh, what a crazy memory to have to improvise with Amy. So I really appreciate all those backstories. my gosh. And the reporters are always one of the funniest parts, I feel, because they're kind of setting up Leslie for this failure in a way that she had no intention of doing.

So yeah, we'll definitely check out the morning show on Apple TV Plus. That's really cool. And I did also write, I went ahead and played your voice memos beforehand. I usually write down like what the guest stars have been in before in case anyone recognizes you from that. But it looks like we've got a bunch of stuff that Amber has done. Morning Show is the most current one, 9-1-1, How to Get Away with Murder. Looks like she's working on a short film right now. You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong, Amber.

So we'll check that out too. Bosch, so many cool things. And yes, I had written down that your Instagram says that you're from Chicago. So that's really fun and cool to know about the improvising. So well done and yay! So exciting to hear from you. Thank you Amber so much for sending that in. Yay! Okay, and then we've got our second reporter, Trod. Trod is back. That's the character name, which I think is so funny. I've never heard that name in real life, so please let me know if you guys have.

We got voice memos from him the last time he was on. Alan McCloyd is his name, so funny. He thinks, I mean, like all of the reporters, he thinks that she did this on purpose and that it was a prank. And he's kind of sad that it wasn't a prank. Nice try, prank queen. Probably bees in there, because she says to, you know, this is actually a PSA. know, everyone should check their walls for bees, because you never know.

I actually reached out to Alan as well just to see if he had any specific memories from this episode, you know, because he did send in voice memos for the previous one. But, know, sometimes when you're on multiple episodes, it kind of blends together. So I always like to ask if there was anything different. And he wrote back, gosh, you know, I think I've jumbled all the memories now and it's hard to differentiate between my little appearances on the show, but I don't recall any improv from Amy during that.

Holly Constant (01:03:24.24)
scene. So I think that you guys were improvising probably but I don't I don't know what they cut or what they didn't cut or whatever but most of it was scripted and then I asked him like you know how was it to get called back and everything and he said when they called me back it just came through my theatrical agent and it was very surprising and exciting to get asked back for sure and then I told him about the prank queen line I was like that was so funny you did a great job and he was like my gosh haha I forgot that line so thanks for messaging me

Thanks to everybody for messaging me. This reporter scene is hilarious. All right, so Jerry says that Grant Larson is on the phone. no. But Leslie is trying to fix her beehole disaster. No, but don't tell him that. Don't tell him about my beehole. I love that April's just in the background, steeping her tea, like, just watching this all unfold about her beehole.

So Ron is now teaching his baby John how to fix the radiator on the third floor, which is very cute. And we see some contractors come in and they say they're actually fixing the whole floor and no one is supposed to be up here because they are supposed to be on it. The man in this contractor group is played by Benjamin Byron Davis and he's been in so many things and is super cool. Does a lot of voiceover with video games, animation.

The video game right now that is on his IMDB is Red Dead Redemption, which I know is a lot of people's, like, they're fans of that, so definitely check for his voice. He also does this show called Fright Crew, which is a peacock show that's an animation for voiceover that he does. He was also in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, so that's a fun crossover with Pratt, and he's a writer and director, so well done, Benjamin. And then The Woman and the Crew is played by Carol Gutierrez.

And she's been in a lot of stuff too. She's so cute. Hot in Cleveland was one of the bigger shows she was on. Breaking Bad, 9-1-1, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I believe she was in a few episodes of Hot in Cleveland, but super cool. She's also in How to Get Away with Murder, just like Amber was, our first reporter. So a lot of stuff. Her character name is Hilarious. my gosh. I posted this on my stories already when I was researching the episode. Her first name is Judy for the character name.

Holly Constant (01:05:45.647)
And then the last name honestly just looks like someone sat on the keyboard and typed a bunch of random letters. Like I have no idea how you would even begin to pronounce that. It's just like PPPPSSSZZZZ. It's just like hilarious. Again, going with Mike Schur's creation of all of these names. So he says, Ron says, know, my son is quite used to the sound of power tools because these people are warning him like, hey, there's going to be a lot of noise. So.

And Ron's like, listen, he's old enough. He knows what's what. You don't have to warn us. So now we're going over business ideas. Tom's going over his business ideas that he wants to pitch to Mitch Savner. LASIK for fingernails is one of his ideas. And to be honest, you guys, I have to be honest. I actually think depending on the price, I might do this, or at least be interested in it. And I would look into it, because I hate having long fingernails. I think they're so beautiful on so many people.

Actually, not so many people, just everybody. They're beautiful long fingernails, especially if you have cool designs and cool colors and stuff like that. But I hate the sensation of long fingernails. Like when I'm typing, and people are really good at it. They can type, they can do their phone, they can do everything. But when I have long fingernails, I can barely have the white part.

showing I have to cut it because I just I don't like the sensation of having my nails on anything else. It like gives me the creeps just thinking about it. So I might do this. I still like getting my nails painted or painting my nails and having designs on them. But I know it's harder without the longer nails. But I might look into this LASIK for fingernails. And I'm interested if anyone else would be too. Yeah, I want to be better at wearing long fingernails though, because they're so cool. Maybe I'll do it for events and stuff. Anyway.

Thank you so much for your time on that. He also have salt tweens, saltines for tweens or saltines for tweens. my God, I just said the same thing. Saltines for teens. Or is it for tweens? I don't remember what he said. Regardless, not necessary, says Ben. what? And then the LASIK thing is not really like logical because there's a lot of stuff that he would have to figure out for that.

Holly Constant (01:07:59.909)
Tom says his only idea that he's really fleshed out for realsies is this restaurant. And Ben is like, that's extremely risky, according to Accounting Magazine. And it's true. Like Maddie says, she's speaking from experience. But we've also heard many stories of restaurants not making it in the first year or even six months, because it's just a really hard business to break into. And that's true for even if you have experience in the restaurant business. You know what I mean? There's so many outside factors with a restaurant that

You know, if we've learned anything about the bear, we've learned that. Or if we've learned anything from the bear, I should say, we've learned that restaurants are tricky. Tricky, tricky. I was really curious if there are actual accounting magazines, and there are. There are many accounting magazines and journals, most prominently Accounting Today, which is a magazine, the Journal of Accountancy, and the CPA Journal, Catering to Practitioners with News Analysis.

regulatory updates, technology trends, and professional development content. Also, they have academic journals, which is there's one called Accounting Horizons, which is mostly for research, much like medical journals and things like that. So that's very intriguing. I will post that in the show notes as well if anyone is interested. Ben says he does have an idea for a business.

And it's airtight, but it's just not sexy. Like a restaurant is sexy, especially the way Tom sets it up later with, you know, the exposed brick and the leather couches and all the things. But Ben gets super serious and super secretive. Like, we can't tell anyone else about this, but you would be the middleman between dry cleaners and the company that sells chemicals to dry cleaners.

And then there's crickets from Tom. And it probably would give BuKoo bucks. I mean, it's a smart idea, because the investor they're meeting with is literally the head of a chemical brand or a chemical company. So Ben's not really off track, you know?

Holly Constant (01:10:08.184)
Okay, so now we're watching a show called The Mike Patterson Show, who's slamming Leslie. Of course Mike Patterson is an Eagletonian, when I'm watching him. But he does a great job. I love this actor. His name is Seth Morris, who is in so many amazing shows and who's written a bunch of things. He's a big improv UCB guy. He was also in Modern Family, if you guys watch that. He is the one who gives Phil and Mitchell pot gummies when they're in line for that sci-fi movie thing.

And that's really fun. And Phil and Mitchell don't know that, not Phil, yeah, yeah, yeah. Phil and Mitchell don't know that it's actually a pot and then comedy ensues when the pot starts to hit them. But Seth Morris is also in Big Mouth, Veep, Broad City, Comedy Bang Bang, a ton of awesome things. He's so funny. So this was really cute and great that they got him to do, especially this one. You gotta have the right caricature to do this reporter.

gotcha phase. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised he didn't have Joan in there, but this is a different gotcha moment. You know what I mean? This is more like Fox News gotcha, and Joan is more small town gotcha. OK, so April says to just lay low. This is to Leslie. Everything will blow over, but Leslie wants to go to the hospital to say sorry to the victims. And I love this moment because I feel like April's kind of stepping in for Anne when she says, OK, but don't do it in front of cameras.

And this is kind of where Anne would give this advice as well. Like you can't be giving them a target essentially to get you. You know what I mean? So I really love that. And I think Leslie is noticing that too. Obviously it's not a replacement for Anne, but I think that April is growing into the type of friend that can give advice to Leslie as well, which is really nice. So, my gosh, the construction crew really loves this little baby.

They're just kind of fawning over it and doing the little baby talk, which is really precious. Ron asks, what are you guys assigned to do? Like, what were you even doing here? And they say they're doing everything, the whole floor. And they say it'll take six to eight weeks. And Ron is like, OK, deal. I'll do it. I'll do it in the allotted time. You'll have a paid vacation. Just leave me alone. And they take him up on it. They leave. They leave all their stuff, and he gets straight to work, which is...

Holly Constant (01:12:31.94)
Kind of crazy. I really wish I had a Ron in my hometown. And I probably do, but I just haven't found him yet. I have so much housework I need to do, so it would be really nice if I could just call someone and be like, hey, can you either teach me this or just do it? You know what I mean? And give me a fair price, which I think Ron would do. So Ben is giving this speech now about chemicals. It's really boring to Tom. And Ben is like, look, like I said, I know it's not sexy, but it'll make you a lot of money. know, like this is a good business idea. And it's true.

Like it is in, you know, on paper. And yeah, this does look dull. Of course, it's a spreadsheet. I love that he's like, does this look dull? And it's just like, yeah, yeah, man, it does. I do feel like this is a nice little moment too. I don't know if anyone else had this thought, but this is where Ben and Leslie kind of overlap in their nerdiness and like.

what excites them slash like ignites them. Like Leslie wouldn't understand the spreadsheet necessarily or like the content of the spreadsheet potentially, but she'd understand the passion. And then once Ben started talking about it, I think she'd catch on and understand what exactly is in the spreadsheet. And then she would be really into it as well. So I just thought that was really cute. And I love seeing both of them in their own separate nerdiness. You know what I mean? Because we know Leslie loves the spreadsheet and binder.

Side note, when Ben shows Tom this spreadsheet, it's the same Eagleton budget spreadsheet from back before the town merger, but the title has changed to Dry Cleaning Chemical Transactional Holding Company. And there are entries such as HBO for residents, bottled water for city pools, personal shopper salaries, and other quote useless expenses. They are visible, which are all things that Eagleton was spending money on.

Holly Constant (01:15:30.384)
Okay, so now Leslie is visiting the hospital, bringing the victim's gift baskets. I love this line, I hope you look a lot less gross very soon. This victim is played by Robert W. Arbogast and his character name is Clervis Rosewater, which, my gosh, I love that. It's just like Augustine Clementine.

to have such an Eagletonian name. But he's been in quite a few things. Dynasty most recently, NCIS, The Prestige. Also it says he's from Virginia. So that's exciting, because I'm from Virginia, so I'd love to know where you're from. And he has some really cool pictures on his Instagram of travels to Italy and Scotland, and it looks super cool. So love all that background moments, those background moments.

Jam is there as well at the hospital because of course he got stung too and Leslie says the baskets are for innocent victims, not for jerks who are laughing at other people's pain, which is exactly what Jam was doing. Also Jam thinking that it's like nudie magazines. my gosh, Jam, get out of here. Also hilarious though, that juxtaposition that Jam still thinks that they're like friends. He has this skewed version of what their relationship is. So like we can just hang. Wanna come up?

And he pats the bed beside him as if she's going to come sit next to him and cuddle as friends. That was hilarious to me, actually. my gosh. So now Mike Patterson's news show is here, busting Leslie, quote unquote. Not really busting, because she's not doing anything wrong. But it just keeps snowballing, because they catch her with talking to Jams. So they think that she's just talking to the Eagleton people.

And Leslie's like, it doesn't matter who seceded from who. Jam says they should secede. Like, whose dumb ass idea was that? And Leslie was like, it was my idea. I did it. And Mike Patterson's line, my god, it's so funny. This is just exactly how this news propaganda goes, where it's like, self-proclaimed dumb ass Leslie Knope and Jam are spearheading a Pawnee secession movement. No, they aren't. my god. This is just so chaotic. like I said, it just keeps snowballing.

Holly Constant (01:17:43.025)
And then we get the other lady, the news lady saying, don't touch my camera, you Pawnee animal. And then Jam throws water on Mike Patterson. Oh my God. And then we've got the lady wanting to punch Jam, but then Jam ducks and hits Leslie. Oh my gosh. It's so good. And you can absolutely tell that she was a stunt lady. Oh my God. OK, first of all, her.

character name is Kim and she's played by Lauren Shaw and I knew even before I looked her up that she was a stunt lady. I was like she's so fit and coordinated and the choreography is like so good and she knows what she's doing like where to land the literal punches and being thrown around like over the bed like super professional for sure and she's done so much cool stunt work. She did stunts for Barbie, Nigh-Ad, A Quiet Place Part 2, The Morning Show so I wonder if her and Amber have met since they've both been on The Morning Show.

Maybe not, because I don't know how much stunts the morning show has. But either way, she's also a stunt coordinator. So she's not only a stunt performer, but she's a stunt coordinator, meaning she's a leader on set in a lot of these productions that have stunts. She just recently did a movie called Trap House. And yeah, I'm going to tag her or put her in the show notes too, because you guys should definitely look her up. She's super cool.

But yeah, it's just like such chaos and like redneck behavior, man. It's just like, get out of here with this mess. You guys are making such a big deal out of something that people just hate change, even when it's good for the town. And then Jam knocks over a nurse. No, no, no, absolutely not. They do not get paid enough to deal with this shit. my God. I know, I know. I'm very, very intense at this moment. I get it.

But I think it just goes with the chaos and the intensity that happens in this scene. It's so quick, but it's so good. And I'm really glad that they had this kind of, you know, dysfunction shown on the show. So the next day, Leslie is now wearing insane clothing and jewelry so that it distracts people from her black eyes. She's wearing a tie-dye shirt, this big chunky necklace, trying to draw people's attention to that instead of the black eye.

Holly Constant (01:19:57.445)
Jam is actually seriously introducing a secession bill. That is so annoying. And to be honest, as I was watching it, I was like, my God, duh, because he's still on fucking city council. She's the one that got recalled and he still has this power to introduce a secession bill. Are you kidding me? my gosh. And Leslie tries to make everything positive. And this is exactly what we've been discussing in the last couple of episodes and what Maddie said in her summary too. We're like, we try to be positive, but she's getting...

all of this shit from both sides. Like, she just cannot make this, like, a silver lining anymore. Everything backfires. She's just calling this spade a spade. Like, this sucks. This is not working. I don't know what to do here. And then Grant comes. great. She has to meet with him wearing this and wearing a black eye. God. Here we go. And I love this moment with Leslie, too, of her attitude. I have this attitude quite possibly...

90 % of the time. No, maybe 90 % is too high. Like 50 % of the time, like when things go wrong, the happy sarcasm, I call it. great, I can't wait to meet with him and have this professional meeting in my tie-dye and April goes along with it. But hey, you're also wearing a black eye, so great.

But I do like this, that April's being really great with trying to make her feel better. And she's right, as is the case with many things, that these people are just shouting louder than everyone else. Most people in the town actually do want this to work. And I mean, it makes sense, because I would think that if you were in a town, you would just want to live your life and try to go about your business as best you can. But these people are just being really loud. And that's all you can hear in the chaos. So annoying.

So now we're finally meeting Grant Larson, which is exciting, because he will end up playing a huge role in Leslie's career. Grant Larson is played by Brady Smith, and he's been in like 900 million things. This is his first episode of Parks, but he will end up being in four episodes. Like I said, his resume is crazy. He most recently was on Grey's Anatomy, but he's been in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Bones, Castle, CSI Miami, like so many cool things.

Holly Constant (01:22:15.544)
White Collar. Interestingly, he was a series regular called according in a show called According to Bex, which was a James Burroughs show, which is the director that made so many TV shows popular, most notably Friends, which James Burroughs, I think, directed a lot of that first season. And yeah, it's a big, big reason why Friends is as famous as it is. Sadly, it looks like it didn't get picked up. Not Friends, obviously.

but classic pilot story. And he's also a writer and director, Brady Smith is. And he was in two episodes of The Comeback with Lisa Kudrow. So that's a fun little connection, speaking of friends. So now with Tom and Ben, we are pitching the idea to this investor. And he starts off the meeting saying he hasn't seen anyone with this much passion in a really long time. And that's what makes businesses work. And you can see.

Tom is rethinking his idea to present because he's not passionate about what he's about to say, but he was just kind of doing it because this is going to make the money. So he changes his mind. And I don't love that he throws Ben under the bus saying, like, man, this is your fault. You brought the wrong thing. But I am glad that he went with his passion because that is something that you need to make businesses slash anything work.

I would not be doing this podcast if I was not passionate about it. There's no way because your brain just won't let you in a way. You know what I mean? I guess you can, but it's just miserable if you don't actually, because businesses take so much work. And so if you're just doing work to like not have a real purpose or passion behind it, you've got to have some sort of fuel behind it. And if the fuel isn't passion, it's going to short circuit. So I'm glad that Tom.

Tom goes with this. And it is really interesting for people who have watched the show to see the origin story of this. I think it's really interesting to think about the future and see how fantastic this restaurant ends up being. And I can't wait till we get to see Tom's Bistro. It's going to be so great. So he introduces Tom's Bistro, which will be an old-fashioned classic Italian restaurant in a small town setting. And it sounds fantastic. I love it.

Holly Constant (01:24:36.408)
And I think it's something that Pawneeans would absolutely have. So we are now meeting with Grant Larson. And he says, they cannot do a national park, much like we thought. And Leslie continues with her happy sarcasm. And she's so sad. Thank you for coming by and plunging a dagger into my already bleeding corpse. And it truly is so sad to see Leslie feel this way.

because you've seen how much hard work she puts into this. You've seen the energy she's exerted. this is going on for a long time. I mean, we started with the recall of people not being obsessed with her. But that was at the beginning of the season. This whole season, I feel, has been a trajectory of what does Leslie do when

the people are not liking what she has to say and what do we as humans do when our purpose is kind of lost and when people aren't backing you or supporting you or they just keep you just keep getting knocked down and knocked down like what do we do from there and that's why I think now finally we are getting to this moment when not only is Jen Barkley saying that she's positive like she's a positive influence on the town but she can also

do so many other things. Now, Grant Larson of the regional Midwest Park Service is saying that she could run a freaking... Like, I can't even say it. But that she could be a leader in this is like a really big deal because now it's tangible. Jen saying that was an idea and it was something that...

she starts to, Leslie starts to think about. But to have it actually be presented to her is pretty big. It's really huge and so monumental for us. So anyhow, he says he came to meet her because he read her proposal to clean the Pawnee River. And I gasped. I was like, my gosh, that's great writing that we gave a flashback to that.

Holly Constant (01:26:44.76)
Like I said, I haven't watched any of the show since we've started reviewing. So it's almost like I'm watching it for the first time. And I totally forgot that that's the main reason why he comes. And he's so stunned and moved by her passion and detail and research. It was one of the most well-done research proposals. They do a flashback, which it's so exciting to see her on the steps of the Department of the Interior before any of this recall business was happening.

And he brings up Liam Bonneville, which this is her people. This is so exciting. Like the Parks people, as much as she loves them, they don't know who Liam Bonneville is. They don't know how important Parks are to her. It's so meaningful to make this like community connection in a way where she could really be with her peers in this new position if that's what she chooses to do. And again, it's like I'm watching it for the first time because my eyes were like bulging out of my head. My jaw dropped when he says he's opening a branch in Chicago. She could run it.

like would she like to run it? And she specials too!

Wow. Beautiful. So now we're back at the investment pitch. Bacon pillows, that's cute. Bacon pillows. Eggs so soft, it's a little pillow for your bacon. he says, Mitch says what Ben says, that restaurants are incredibly risky. Like, are you sure that you want to do this? And Ben steps in, which is so nice of him after how Tom has treated him.

But Ben says, you know, there's plenty of real estate. There is a massive demand for affordable dining that feels high end, and that's what sells it. And I think that that was really nice of Ben and also really smart of Ben to say those words. Then the investor thinks Tom is Ben's boss instead of the other way around. my gosh. He's like, Tom sure knows his stuff when Ben is literally the one that sealed the deal. lord.

Holly Constant (01:28:36.848)
It's okay. mean, if it wasn't for Tom's idea, Ben wouldn't have had to create this. So it was teamwork, but maybe not teamwork that was planned. So now Ron is getting back to work on this third floor and Leslie finds him. We learned that Leslie comes here to think some time. She's known about the third floor all along, of course, because she knows everything about City Hall and all of its intricacies.

Leslie and Ron have such a beautiful moment here. It's so profound and deep. Leslie says she can't walk away even though these people are awful to her and every time, you know, every time she tries to fix things, it just gets worse and people hate her and she's like, what's wrong with me that I can't leave? Like, is there something the matter that I just cannot walk away? And Ron has his classic parable metaphor story. And this time is about fixing the radiator, which is great. But the point being that

He loves fixing radiators and the story is boring to Leslie slash to anyone else about fixing the radiator, but his passion is fixing the radiator. So of course he likes it, which is to say that at the end of the day, the radiator is the city. She loves fixing the city and to everyone else it's boring and they hate her for it in a lot of ways, but she loves to struggle. She loves to challenge and otherwise, yeah, why would she say if she didn't love the challenge, the risk, the reward?

So that kind of sets her mindset up for maybe not positivity, but like more of a reality of like, okay, this is where I'm at right now. And that's important too. So then she's leaving and Ron lets the baby talk slip out, which is so darling. And I love Leslie's face of like, okay, yeah, I'll let it slide that you did not just talk baby talk to your son.

So Leslie's meeting with Grant again, and she says she can't think of one single reason not to take it, which is very misleading because she means that she can think of a lot of reasons not to take it. And I do respect her decision, especially once she explains, because at first I'm like, no, Leslie, this town is drowning here, and you might not be able to save them. And I don't know if there's anything left for you here. I don't know if there's any more growth.

Holly Constant (01:30:52.014)
which is one of the main reasons why sometimes you move on. But then when she explains that she can't leave the town until she knows it's gonna be okay, I think that makes sense because she knows the Parks Department is okay, but she doesn't really know the town is gonna be okay. And we've started something and she wants to finish it, which I can absolutely relate to. This Unity concert is kind of the, I don't wanna say deadline, but it's a timeline of when she can start to look outside of the town.

Once this Unity concert is finished and once we can kind of maybe see some tangible rewards and accomplishments for the town being blended together, maybe then we can start to think about leaving the town or leaving the town to its own devices because we know that it's going to be okay. And we've wrapped up that chapter. But I agree, this is a huge project you're in the middle of. And while you could leave, she could absolutely step out of the Unity concert and run the Chicago thing. She likes the struggle of...

Well, I don't know if struggle's the right word, but she likes the challenge of seeing this project through. So I respect that.

Okay, I do love also that it's not a closed book yet. Like she asks when he needs an answer and he says, you know, the gears of federal government are slow, but you know, we can't wait forever. So I do love that it's setting us up for, I'm not saying no yet. So it might be a yes, but I have to see this thing through first. So it's a timeline, not a deadline. And I like that a lot.

So now we're back with Tom and Ben, and rightfully so. Ben isn't super happy because he felt like he was thrown under the bus during that presentation. Ben says he'll be the second investor for Tom's Bistro and hands Tom a dollar bill as a symbolic gesture. And then Tom takes it seriously and is like, I know this is like a gesture, but my investor floor is $1,000, so right now you own zero shares. And I love that finally Ben gets strict and stern with Tom and that Tom pays attention.

Holly Constant (01:32:53.71)
Like go do work or I'll fire you. And Tom's like, yep, got it. I love that. Instead of, I'm so glad they wrote that because if Tom had said like, whatever dude, you're not going to fire me. would have been pissed after all this episode. So I'm glad that that worked out and that we finally kind of get to the dynamic that is their job titles. You know what I mean? So well done. And it is fun to see them together. Because I mean, I don't know.

how this, I guess, happened, but I like that we're building on, know, Ron was the first dude to talk about accounting for Entertainment 720 and, you know, for a rent-a-swag and things like that. Like, Ben has always been there during Tom's business ventures, so I think that it's really nice to see him do that again. So, we're back to Ron for our tag. He pulls up the carpet and finds pinewood floor.

and he is so excited and giddy. And yeah, I mean, I kind of agree. Why would you put carpet over that? I think that happens all the time. I think that happens all the time with renovations and governments and things like that. It's probably cheaper, whatever, than keeping the wood floor. But I love how excited he is. And I love that he says, most people in this world are assholes, I also love this kind of voiceover moment of, you know,

John now has that satisfied look that only comes with the pride of labor. Or he pooped. Either way, well done, John.

Yes, well done. Well, that's it for my notes on this one. Thank you guys so much for listening. Thank you to Ali Mouji, Josh Breeding, Amber Friendly, Alan McCloyde. I don't think I'm forgetting anyone else, but my gosh, having these conversations slash emails and voice memos from people that were actually working on the show is just, I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm just so grateful and it's so fun to hear. It really truly is. So I really appreciate all of the...

Holly Constant (01:34:56.004)
you know, gifts that I've been given with that friend. So we'll see you on the next one. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Don't forget to check out Good Hang with Amy Poehler. Not sponsored at all, but I'd love for you guys to listen because she does have a lot of reunions with Parks people, especially at the beginning of the series. So check that out. And don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, do all the things. And we will talk to you next time. Thank you, everyone. Bye.