(S7Ep6) Save JJ's!

On today's agenda: saving JJ's!, Tom and Donna in Beverly Hills, Tom finding romance, introducing Jonathan Karate!, and a brilliant ending to the question we've been waiting to have answered since the first episode of this season! When Leslie and Ron work together, with Ben as their paperwork extraordinaire, they can do anything! 

Thank you so much to Dalon J. Holland (Percy Cattube, the intern) for the incredible memories from the Gryzzlbox episode and thanks to Kamala Jones (Trish) for sharing what it was like to be on a rooftop bar shooting in Hollywood! 

Rest in Peace to the amazing JJ's Diner's own, Brent Briscoe and to Jen Oda, who played the lovely sushi waitress at Tom and Donna's Treat Yo Self Day. You are missed and you are remembered. 

https://momsdemandaction.org/

https://www.instagram.com/dalonjholland/

https://www.instagram.com/c2bizlab/

Transcript

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Holly (00:06.536)
Alright everyone, look alive. We've got Save JJ's coming up, and it's amazing. my gosh. Okay, so we wanted to start out though with Delon H. Holland who sent in some voice memos because he was actually in the a previous a a previous episode and I never he was one of the interns that April tries to dissuade from being in the parks department being an intern, and he's the one who said he grew up

Well, the character anyway said he grew up going to Ramset Park and he's super into it. And he was, I believe, the first intern that spoke. and we just didn't get a chance to get it before or for his actual episode. So, he sent us in some really cool voice memos and was super happy to do it. So let's go ahead and listen to that first one. Thank you so much for sending in.

Holly (01:47.381)
The r holiday he's talking to about slash referencing is the Fourth of July, 'cause I sent this around the Fourth of July time, just in case you care about how the sausage is made. And I don't really mind these episodes not being evergreen, like I don't really mind saying the time and date, so that's what that's about. All right, listen is listen to the first one.

Holly (04:45.768)
Yay. Yeah. I love hearing wha the changes from the audition to the actual day on set. It's always so interesting how they change the sides or how they cut a scene or whatever. I mean, that's n you're not the first person that that's happened to. But super cool that that was your first network thing. what a what a fun

amazing accomplishment to have Parks and Rec be your first one. I would have been so excited as well. And yeah, we have heard that, especially in this last season, they knew what they were doing. They got the guest stars in and out in like under two hours, at least from what I've been hearing. apart from maybe a random, you know, time that I wasn't aware of. But but yeah, okay, cool. Thanks. Let's listen to the next one.

Holly (10:05.3)
Yay, that's so cool. my gosh, yeah. 4 a.m. I hear is a lot is, you know, a common call time to get to set. So that's really funny that you had that. And of course I do that too, where the anxiety just makes you wake up earlier. my gosh, always wake up before the alarm. And the breakfast options, what a fun little tidbit anecdote because that's funny that, you know, you're like, I'm just gonna keep it casual. I know, I would have done the same thing, like toast and eggs at the end. You know what I mean? but that's funny that they were like, you can have it all.

And so that's funny. and yes, I didn't actually say this before, but this was the grizzle box episode. So just in case the listener is listening, being like, wait, which episode was it? It was the episode that we just reviewed. sometimes guest stars come on like a couple episodes after, but it was the grizzle box episode. So yeah, just heads up. Okay, let's listen to the next one.

Holly (13:27.407)
Yeah, same here. I hope that too. I love parks and yeah, I think as you get older you reali we've talked about this before that as you get older you realize how much of an impact parks and rec in your county had had an impact on you, how much of an impact it had as a kid.

you know, like public pools and parks that are free that your parents could take you to where they have all the kid activities and things like that. So yeah, I love that. Okay, cool. Cause for the listener, that was a question about like, did your your character really loved parks and grew up going to parks and seemed super stoked about it? Were you personally also feeling the same way? So love that answer. And yes, going to all the national parks. I hope that all of our parks can get some more funding and just stay alive

For the sake of the community and for the people that it serves. And yeah, I'm I forgot to mention in the last one, I really do love that you mentioned Amy Polar and how nice she was, how busy she was. I think it's always interesting to hear how a director is kind of running their ship. And also with it being Amy Polar, that was her last episode that she directed. What a gift. my gosh, amazing. Okay, let's move on.

Holly (17:43.798)
Fun story. I like that a lot. Yeah, because you yeah, you're right. You never know, especially if you didn't know the show. But even if maybe even more so if you did, you would wonder if Aubrey Plaza was being genuine or not. or just kind of being her normal deadpan self and joking around, improving, whatever. But that's nice. I have heard that before from everyone in the cast, but I think it's interesting, especially when Aubrey does it because she does have that kind of demeanor of you're not sure if she's gonna be nice or just like.

how she was in the show, especially in particular like being mean in that show or, you know, not professional, I guess. so you never know what it's what you're in for. but I have heard that that she c she's very welcoming to the guest stars, and everyone is, which is so sweet, because they definitely don't have to do that, but it's nice that they do and that they make everyone feel comfortable and welcomed in. and they like say hi and have a conversation. So that's always so nice. Love that.

and then the last question was whether Delon has anything to promote or what we can talk about for him. So let's go ahead and listen to that one.

Holly (21:31.979)
Awesome. Thank you so much, Delon, for sending that. I love hearing all the backstories and BTS. It's so fun. my gosh. So we'll definitely pu tag him and post him in the show notes and all that kind of stuff so you guys can follow him and make sure that we are keeping up. Cause yeah, I'd love to see what what comes next for him. and yeah, so fun. my gosh. Can't believe that we get to talk to all these people who have been on the show. And that's what I hear a lot from people that it's

A core memory, walk down memory lane that sometimes is forgotten because of you know, our brain can only hold so much. And then once you're asked about it, it just all comes flooding back and you remember things or you're asked a question that just triggers something. So it's always so nice to hear the memories. It's one of the best parts of this show. So thank you so much, Delon. Appreciate it so much. Yay. All right, people, let's move on to season seven, season.

Season seven season no season seven episode six save JJ's. Okay, people original air date, January twenty seventh, twenty fifteen. As a reminder, since they aired two episodes back to back when this was originally airing, this comes or this would have come right after the epic superhero type ending of Ron shooting down the grizzle box and coming to Leslie saying he wants to help her take them down. So we didn't have to wait too long.

To see where exactly that was gonna go, because it all aired on the same night. And if you're new here, that is a fun tidbit, don't you think? I think it is. All right, so this was written by Joe Mandy, the one who keeps interrupting Leslie, saying, I'm watching Iron Man on my phone right now. in a lot of other episodes, his character name is Morris, if you guys remember him. Friendly reminder, he was also in if you listened to last episode, we played a deleted scene saying his search history had Leslie Nope feet.

L O L. Because he was saying full transparency is fine and he doesn't think Grizzle's doing anything wrong. He had a counterpoint to that city council meeting where Leslie called everyone together to be against Grizzle.

Holly (23:35.919)
And of course also Joe Mandy was on Modern Family, Dating Alex. He also was on the casting crew for hacks, like lots of cool things. So this was written by him. This was directed by Ken Whittingham, who, my gosh, favorite d director alert. I did a whole breakdown on him in his first episode. He's directed so many of Parks, a lot of episodes. but he's also directed so many of our favorite comedy shows, just in general. Thirty Rock, Parks, The Office, Abbott Elementary, St. Dennis Medical, Scrubs, both the

original and the revival. So I mean, name a show and I bet he's been a part of it somehow. So amazing crew here for writer and director. So good. my gosh. All right. So this is typically where I p play a summary from Maddie or well, if or she'll if she's live, she'll, you know, read the summary, but she is clearly not here today. so I'm just gonna go ahead and move on. I mean it's in the name of the show, save JJ's

But anyhow, so if she does send a summary, I'll go ahead and play the summary now from Maddie. Alright, so we start this episode with Tom sharing six different cakes from the top restaurants in Pawnee for Joe and Donna. And for some reason, Jerry Larry Terry. They're there doing wedding cake tasting. And Joe's favorite is actually the vanilla one with lemon cream. But Craig says that that was a joke cake to weed out weak palettes, which is hilarious.

But Donna agrees, and this is so cute that she's being very lovey dovey and precious with Joe. And she agrees with him and his cake palette, if you will. and you know, they got this from the grocery store. Craig got this from the grocery store. So you it's not really real, but that's the one they like, and I think that's precious that they can agree on that, and what a fun little thing, because weddings can really bring out the disagreements and

the conflict. So I like that they are being cute together and it's so precious. And I love Keegan so much. I do. I think anything he's in, I'm always so happy to see him. And side note, you guys should look it up. There there's this funny video circulating where Keegan is re like reviving his character on Key and Peel where he pronounces everyone's names wrong but he's pronouncing the names of soccer players in the World Cup.

Holly (25:57.388)
And he's mispronouncing them because he's the roll call substitute or it's the substitute teacher where he does roll call. It's so funny. A Aaron. It's so good. So look that up. Let's see. So Tom says that there's one more cake that Donna has not tried yet. And my gosh, this is the best thing ever. so we learn that Donna said Tom is the butler of honor, which to BH

Is TBH is so cute and I think a great idea for a title in a wedding, even though he said he made it up. I think Butler of Honor is fantastic. Somebody should do that. and maybe they have, they probably have, but yeah, I love that. but then they roll up DJ Blunt's treat yourself, comes back. It's so sweet. And I just love that this is a bit of a surprise. Like it's not in the title of the show like we or the episode like we've seen prior.

friendly reminder that DJ Blunts is played by the same dude that's in all the episodes where he's DJ Blunts. His name is Adrian Ziegler. When I messaged him back in 2023, he said there really wasn't that much to share. but I did find the email just to refresh myself. And he said, I will share. It was great working with the Zansari and Retta. They were kind, professional, and friendly. They're naturally funny, charismatic, and have personality. Exclamation point. So I love that. So cute.

And thank you, Adrienne, for sending that email two years ago. No, three years ago now. my gosh, wild. Treat yourself two thousand seventeen. Love it. So good. Ugh, you guys, you g I highly recommend a treat yourself day. And it doesn't even have to be that insane like Beverly Hills, but it does spoiler alert. But it's so fun. I've done it with a friend of mine and it's just so fun and making videos about it and just go out to eat, go to a rooftop bar, get a drink, get a pedicure. I don't know.

Maybe it's only one thing. You don't have to do multiple things like they do, but treat yourself whenever you can. Joe is so confused. This is the first time that he's seeing treat yourself. He doesn't understand Donna and Tom's dynamic here. So he's like, What the hell is going on? And what's happening? Terry knows it though, which is hilarious. And again, just kind of a reminder of like, wait, why is he here? Why is he trying the cakes with him? But you know, he's not really in this episode actually, apart from that. So he didn't have much going on.

Holly (28:19.401)
in this episode, so that's nice that they gave him this of like knowing exactly what's going on because he's been in the background for when Tom brings in the cupcakes and for Treat Yourself in previous years. So that's fun. Best day of the year. I love that. Love that this final season had a treat yourself. We had to bring it back. So so good. And I love that Joe is learning a new layer of t of Tom and Donna's relationship. And hopefully, I mean hopefully actually not hopefully. I was gonna say hopefully he'll understand, but

That doesn't need to be hopeful because I know he will. but he'll never be invited. I don't think he'll ever be invited. So, Joe, that's what I meant. What I that's when I was thinking, hopefully, that you'll understand that you're not gonna be invited. This is not your thing, but I do he will support them in that. So that's cute. Poor Joe. I still don't get it. That's not an answer. Treat yourself. It's it is cute that Terry knows what's up.

So now we're on a show called Trodcast, which is this Larry King type situation. And but it's funny because, you know, now these podcasts and like these bro podcasts, it's just like so reminiscent of what we're seeing nowadays with interviews and you know that kind of news article or sorry, news interview show. I did message Alan McLoyd, who what he plays this is the second appearance of Trod, Trodcast.

He was actually the interviewer in the wall episode between Pawnee and Eagleton where they're trying to tear down the wall because they've now joined. And he's the one that w when they were doing a city council meeting or a press conference

or whatnot. she was like, No, you can go check it. It wasn't a prank. And he was like, Yeah, nice prank or nice try prank queen. I bet there's bees in there. And it was so funny. I'm butchering that reading of the line, but it was so funny. anyhow, so he comes back and I asked him if he remembered or had any memories of that day on set, because I still follow him and I'll have to tag him in the show notes as well. But he said, you know, I just remember being so flattered they brought Trod back for the time, for the time jump.

Holly (30:25.875)
Rather, and now he has a Charlie Rose style talk show. Yorma was super cool and fun and the whole set was happy vibes. I remember my hair looking like a Beetle and wondering if it was like a future haircut. Question mark. Anyway, good times and congrats on making it to the final season. That's so nice. my gosh. That is kind of funny. When you go back and look, it does look like he's like a Paul McCartney haircut. So maybe the Beetle hairdo was making a comeback in twenty seventeen when this was based.

So he's asking Roscoe, Troud is asking Roscoe about the allegations and the serious implications of data mining. And I just love this commentary of data mining, like they didn't think they did anything wrong, but then they checked everyone's emails and texts and personal information, and they did think it was wrong. So yeah, I guess we did do something bad. And I just like how Roscoe is genuine about this. He has a facial expression. Yorma does such a good job of like

Yeah, I guess we did do something bad that after I repeatedly violated all of your privacy. and so Traud asks, you know, how will Grizzle win back our trust? Which is a little bit of a foreshadowing w with what Leslie says at the end of this episode. but they got them tickets to a concert. Grizzle got everyone in Pony tickets to a concert with Beyonce and you two. And I was like, Okay, yeah, Beyonce would never.

And so they put the tickets on the phone. They're already on all your Grizzle devices. And it's so funny because I put this together before I saw IMDB, because you how I read IMDB for the trivia and things like that, and I do my research and whatnot. But I had written, like, I do wonder if this is a joke about YouTube being on everyone's Apple Music slash iPhones without being asked, which and then apparently everybody on IMDB definitely noticed that as well. So that is actually hilarious, and I'm sure that was not coincidental.

Because there's no way to get that song off of your iPhone if that's not what you're into. So now you're gonna get to see them live against your will. No shade to you two. We do like you two. It's just funny. But again, Beyonce would never. So Leslie is with everyone at this point in her office, and she's saying, Wow, this is good because Grizzle is scrambling. They're vulnerable, and we're gonna capitalize on it.

Holly (32:38.963)
And so Parks people's new plan is to ask Grizzle to split the land. So Grizzle can have their campus, their little tech moment campus, and the rest, they are going to ask Grizzle to donate to the national park, which I think is a great compromise and a great plan on the Parks people's part. You know, for good PR, good trust back to the community. Since Grizzle messed up so bad, they might go for it and they need good publicity. So then we get the kind of

backstory I guess or like inside baseball moment where Ron says they are dead set on having the entire parcel. He says I'm not a spy and I wouldn't claim to be one. He says that on every point and because Adam Scott Ben is like, do you have to say that every time? But anyhow, Ben or Ron says that they're dead set on having the entire parcel. So he doesn't know if that's gonna work. And because they're probably not gonna split it. Well at least in Ron's head.

But then Leslie and Ron are back together and this is so cute. Ron or Leslie is just like, it doesn't matter. Something is gonna work. She's so positive, so optimistic. Like something's gonna work because when we're together, we can do anything. And this is such a cute bit, just like Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, we are in sync. But they are not in sync at all because with the head pats and the handshakes, and yeah, they just can't get it together with their little secret handshake moment. But essentially, emotionally.

they are in sync, which is true. So everyone gets a notification on their phone and Newport Trust is making an announcement, which is kind of cool that everyone gets a notification and you can just turn it on. But I mean, I will say we have that for like weather and emergency situations and like news notifications, but we don't always get like a a video that is just broadcast to our phones, which honestly I'm kind of grateful for. I don't I feel like that might be a bridge too far, but that's what's happening here.

And now I will say you can, you know, obviously like get a link and then go to the news article and then click on the link to watch the video, obviously. and YouTube has that notification system now where if someone that you like i is posting something or someone that you subscribe to is posting something, you can figure it out. But yeah, it's interesting that this is just kind of like in your face.

Holly (34:54.473)
But anyhow, apparently, side note, the chime sound that comes up when the Newport Trust is making their notification is identical to the chime sound in the series Shark Tank, which as a show that started in two thousand nine. And I went back and listened to it and it totally is. It sounds exactly the same. This if you watch Shark Tank, this is the time when it gets really tense. It's not the theme song, but it's like when it gets really tense and weird and they want to kind of give you you know.

that emotional feeling. So I'm just gonna play really quickly the Shark Tank chime on Parks and then the Shark Tank chime that's actually on the Shark Tank show. So this is Parks.

Holly (35:37.179)
And then here's the actual shark tank.

Holly (35:45.292)
It is literally the same thing. I could not I mean it wa it took so long to find that actual Shark Tank thing on YouTube sound on YouTube, but no, those are two different things, two different audios. One was from I literally held it up to the speakers when I was watching parks, and one was from Shark Tank, so that's interesting, that's cool. And I don't know if that was like they got permission to do that or what, but that's that's really fascinating. And it is tense and weird. So anyway.

That's a fun, fun little moment. All right. So the announcement from Newport Trust with Jessica Wicks at first gives us hope because she says, you know, we don't want to do with a business, a company with a business. we don't want to work with a business that is going to have our privacy taken and, you know, invades our livelihoods. But then they said that Grizzle upped their offer to $125 million and they took it.

And she said she got really horny and and that's why she wants to repeat it. And I'm like, I know this is funny and she does such a great job. my gosh, Susan Yeagley who plays this is freaking fantastic and it's so funny. but as an audience member, I was like, No, come on, can't we do something? And Jessica Wigs, why? But I mean $125 million to a greedy woman, there's nothing you can't fight that, you know? Or can they? So

Anyhow, Leslie says her and Ron are the dynamic duo. so they can figure something out. They'll do it. But there's a deleted scene here where Leslie actually explains her friendship name slash dynamics with everyone, and I just think it's so cute. I'm gonna play it for you. I love this.

Holly (37:37.779)
Do I have it?

Holly (37:47.129)
I must have deleted it. Or maybe I didn't.

Holly (38:29.677)
my gosh, I love that. All the names for the people she works with, slash is friends with, love a gruesome toosome moment. And the also the people that she d has never met. Never met sees besties. my God, so good. And yeah, so fun. I would have loved to see a brisket con, but just to know that it happened is enough, honestly. So good.

All right, so Ron suggests drowning their sorrows in some waffles because they're really sad about the Newport announcement. which is, you know, really sad but nice to offer because that's we love seeing them eat breakfast food together. It's a really important staple and pillar of their relationship. And then we get to Tom's Bistro. Lucy is asking Tom to sign some checks before she leaves, or before he leaves, rather, to, you know, go on his treat yourself day. And that way she gets paid. And she says it like that. And it's so

Tom coded and it's so them. It's really lovely to see how they are have so much in common and can really get along and you know speak to each other in that way. And he asks how post-breakup life is, and she says, you know, it's terrible because post-breakup life sucks. And Donna invites her to the wedding. And Tom just kind of spits out like word vomits before he can even think about it that they should go together to Donna's wedding. And he tries to backtrack.

Saying, like, maybe we should just go as co-workers, like literally boss slash employee. You know you should do? You should just come in and do paperwork. gosh, Tom. It's okay. Take a deep breath. but a and him saying, like, I literally couldn't care less because he's just so nervous and anxious and is trying to make it seem like he doesn't care at all, which obviously never works. Tom. dear. But

I get it, bro. It's nerve wracking to accidentally say something that you had no thought come out. So then they just leave it and it's awkward. but then they get into the limo and it's even better. It's amazing. I want this so badly. I think it's super fun when I I I think I've only been in a limo once in Vegas for a Bachelorette. and it was I would like to go another time when it's just like maybe two or three people and it it just seems so intimate and fun. Like this Tom and Donna moment just seems so lavish and immense

Holly (40:38.223)
like expensive, amazing. You know what mean? so I love that. And then, you know, Donna tries to go back and talk about the disastrous interaction with Lucy and Tom. And and Tom is like, no, no. Today is about treating yourself. And this is my favorite Tom thing. well maybe not favorite, but one of my things that I always remember about Tom is the things, Donna. Things. Because that's what he says every treat yourself day. It's not about feelings. It's not about emotions. It's about things and we're treating ourselves to things.

So he doesn't want to talk about it, which again shows how how bad he's got it. But then we get this amazing bombshell that Blunts is not taking us to the mall like we usually do for Treat Yourself. He's actually taking us somewhere we've talked about and dreamed about.

Forever and we're finally doing it because this is not the way to the mall. This is the way to the airport for Beverly Hills. my gosh, love. All caps love love this so much. They're going to Beverly Hills for Treat Yourself Day. And it is kind of funny too because they're talking about going to the airport when this was actually filmed in LA. So Beverly Hills is not that far away from them. However, from Studio City slash Universal

It could be upwards of two hours depending on traffic, but for them it was probably like an hour. So that's amazing. Maybe 45 minutes depending on when they went, you know what I'm saying? So that's kind of cool and ironic and fun. April, and everybody is at JJ's now. She's saying that voodoo is still an option to get Grizzle to bow down to them or at least compromise with them.

And Leslie is telling us, you know, everything's changing in Pawnee. This town is gonna be unrecognizable in ten years. And we learn, sadly, that JJ's is disappearing. She kind of just throws that out there. And we didn't even know that. It was such a, you know, under the table, like off the cuff remark. And I was like, what? JJ's, no. We need to like talk about this fully, which we do. That's what the whole episode is about. But it is funny that it we just kind of

Holly (42:35.123)
or thrown that in this scene. And she talks about the changes that have been made in Pawnee. You know, she likes some of it. The standard of living is up. They have a press juice bar, multiple actually. She says plural press juice bars, yoga, a pet hotel, all those kinds of things. But some of the changes are not so great or that she doesn't really like. There's too much kale everywhere. that's so real. That really happened. And you know what?

I feel like so many vegetables make have a little appearance, have a little comeback at some point. I think cauliflower had their little moment as well. At this point it was kale. I'm sure it'll be something different next time. It's crazy. Big kale is everywhere. And then she basically cries when they when she says they offered kale in her milkshake.

Like they asked if she wanted kale in her milkshake, which yikes. However, avocado apparently is really good in smoothies, and at first I was like really freaked out about it, but I did have it one time either in a smoothie or something else, I can't remember. And it wasn't it wasn't that bad because the taste wasn't like an avocado, it was just like for the for the creaminess. but still, but still, if that's not what you want, it's it's an affront to Leslie's sweet tooth. You know what I'm saying? How am I gonna put kale in there?

But anyhow, so we learn that it's not even really a failure, as Ron says. Ron has a kind of a brief harsh truth slash mean moment where he thinks that he failed as a business person and that's why he i that's why JJ is his disappearing and he's saying this to JJ, the business owner. but JJ is saying that the person who bought the property didn't even give him a chance to re up the lease. So there's no way that he could have even tried to keep this business open.

And Leslie sa she just needs a win. She uses this as her hill to die on and she vows to save JJ's. After the Grizzle loss, she really needs something to hold to hold on to to hang her hat on right now. side note, I do need to mention here that JJ is played by the late great Brent Briscoe. I did a breakdown on him when JJ first appeared, but as a side note, he was such a great small town you know, small town diner owner. He played that role so well.

Holly (44:48.403)
And you know, talking to Leslie, being really comfortable knowing everyone's name and orders and all that kind of stuff. It's just amazing. Also, Brent Briscoe, for me personally, I remember him from the Disney Channel original movie where he's the dad of the merman boy. So silly. Thirteenth year. The thirteenth year is the movie, and the mom is a mermaid. And yeah, y'all, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go watch all the Disney Channel original movies.

stat in the 13th year should be in your top five. Okay. So anyhow, but of course, most people, not most people, but a lot of people. I think more people would know him from his famous work on Twin Peaks. And so he's done so many things. He was also in Brooklyn 99. I mean, it's amazing. but well done, JJ. We love. He was in five episodes total and this was his last one. Well done, sir. We salute you. So iconic JJ. And I I will say I feel like we talked about a couple

episodes ago that well, this whole season really, that a lot of this season is everyone's lasts. Last episode was Amy Polar's last time directing. This is JJ slash Brent Briscoe's last time being on parks. I mean, we're really rounding things out. And I'm just really glad that we are bringing back JJ's 'cause it's been such a staple, such a pillar of the show and of Leslie's work in the town community. So ugh love it. I mean, and this is where a lot of stuff happened. You know what I mean? It's perfect.

So anyway, Ben asks who the new landlord is to JJ because we want to find out if there's any way we can beat him. And Andy says, was it Putin? Voldemort Putin? Yikes. Yikes. But that is funny. the company name is called Figap, this new landlord, owner Dennis Feinstein, the perfume bastard.

my gosh, I was wondering when he was gonna come back. There was a like a couple episodes ago we were like, where was Feinstein? Why didn't he come in here? Because he's awful. But here he is doing something awful again. Mmm. So Leslie says they're gonna do an old fashioned public rally, and she asks April to get the word out using whatever it is young people use, which is now to April, tiny rolled up scrolls delivered by trained foxes. Yeah, sure, I'll do that. That would be so cute and hilarious.

Holly (47:07.439)
but they're gonna have a public rally to save JJ's, and that is the crux of this episode. So Andy thinks it's blimp time because Leslie's like, you thinking what I'm thinking? And this is, you know, a callback to when he said that if we get one blimp and then have another blimp, and he keeps suggesting blimps, but unfortunately that is not the case for Andy. Leslie says that this is a job for Jonathan Karate.

There is a funny scene, deleted scene here, and it's super short, but Ben says he has to break out his C D binder and I'll I'll just play that and it goes into Andy talking about his memories of JJ's and it's really funny. Hang on, I'll play it.

Holly (48:08.299)
So much in that 20 seconds. my god. Ben has to get his REM CD so that they can get revved up. And Andy lost his virginity in the JJ's diner bathroom. And he has continuously yelled it. And to the point where JJ has to remind him all the time to not say that or yell that. I should be more specific. my god, so good. Alright, so then we get Leslie patting Ron's belly because they can't get their handshake right, and so similar to Ron patting

Leslie's head, she is patting his belly, and that is their end sync moment for this time. I do think it's fun to see this checkout area with the cash register and the pies and stuff. I think that might be the first time we see it. Usually we're just seeing the booths and like the area where the diners are. So this is cool. I like seeing where they check out. So we have this huge rally happening with the waffles. These shirts are great. Save JJ's. Ben's shirt says Karma Police, which I love.

and I love that Leslie is building the narrative, aka lying that this man, JJ, built this place from the ground up. I love JJ slash Brent Briscoe's performance here. That's not true. And his kind of like he has kind of like a nasally high pitched voice that's like very calm and like demure in a way, but not like

Not bad not in a bad way, but you know what I mean? Like very like that's not like honest. Very honest and that's just not true. I didn't do that. It's called constructing a narrative, okay? And she is trying to help it. She's doing it for the good. So I guess that's the I'll I'll allow it. Ron speaks now, into the megaphone and he says he doesn't want anything to change. And at least Ron is honest as as usual. You know what I mean? He says, I don't like rallies or you guys.

But I love JJ's. And that's really the thesis. That's really the bottom line of what's important here. So well done, Ron Swanson. And I like that he signs off like he's writing a letter. Yeah, he at as he finishes his speech, he's like, Ron Swanson. So now we're at Dennis Feinstein's office with Jonathan Karate and his ninjas. This is so precious. I've I've kind of forgot about the kids. That's so cute. my god. And the receptionist here says, I don't see a Jonathan karate anywhere, like on the appointment books.

Holly (50:21.775)
And this is a really fun writing, like ninja vibes of him being like, exactly. And then he goes, they sneak down and where you can clearly see them as if they've disappeared and now they're invisible. So funny, I love it. And I like the the receptionist kind of like peering over the desk like, I mean you're still in here. But she clearly doesn't do anything, which is hilarious. but this talking head is precious. He becomes Jonathan Karate w karate, karate, as Ross would say on Friends.

But he becomes Jonathan Karate when they deal with real issues like bullying, peer pressure, holding in farts, all of those things have the same value. And there is a deleted scene actually that I thought was really funny where a guy is littering and it shows more of what Johnny Karate does. I could not find the person who played this littering character, but worth mentioning because it got cut. And if you're new here or if you're not new here, whatever, I like to play all of the ones that got cut, especially if you're an actor. I know how hard you worked.

to audition for that role, to be asked to play that role, to come to set at four AM or whatever time it was. So I like to play all of them and usually I do a little breakdown on the actor. But I again I could not find who played this. Usually they're listening on IMDb, even if it got cut, but so maybe this was a crew member. I don't really know. But regardless, here is the deleted scene.

Holly (52:06.924)
So when he says the world would look like this, they knock over the trash can and then ironically litter goes everywhere and they don't clean it up. And then he just yells smoke grenade, which I really like as far as imagination goes, that there's just a smoke grenade that explodes and makes them disappear, or like makes them have enough time to disappear because the person is so distracted by the snow smoke grenade. my gosh, it's hard to explain it. I wish I could show you the video, but it's so funny.

Anyhow, the receptionist, by the way, at Dennis Feinstein's is played by Darcy Donovan, who's been in a lot of things, looks like, and she's also from Nashville, and she goes back and forth, it sounds like. She was actually in the Nashville TV show, if you're familiar with Hayden Panateer and Modern Family, Anchorman, a lot more. So that's cool. Jonathan is the older brother of Johnny, by the way, for Jonathan Karate and Johnny Karate, which by the way, I don't know that I've ever

really clocked that. I feel like I just always thought it was Johnny Karate, but the way he explains it, I was like, they are supposed to be two different people. And I love that they're both named some form of John. You know what I mean? Like the mom named them both Jonathan. Or maybe on their birth certificate, one is Jonathan and one is Johnny. And that's really funny to me. But anyhow, so Dennis Feinstein is gross and I hate him. He's on this virtual reality situation saying, you know, like baby that feels amazing. So he's doing doing some sort of porn situation.

Gross, loser, whatever. But he said he has he has to make it quick, whatever virtual reality thing he's doing because he has to go pull the plug on his dad in ten minutes. Ew, hate him so much and

Jason Manzucas does a fantastic job of of this. And he always has. He has always been such a good Dennis Feinstein. And I love seeing bloopers. You guys, if you haven't seen bloopers of Dennis Feinstein slash, you know, Jason Manzucas with everybody and with the Z's. It's so, so good. It's so funny. Because they also improvise a lot, as you know, could be guessed. so yeah, look that up. Or if you have the DVDs, go ahead and get the DVDs and watch them. It's so funny. Anyhow,

Holly (54:11.927)
I was gonna say there's a mo there's another deleted scene here where they had a lot of J Jonathan karate deleted scenes here. And I'll just go ahead and play this. It's actually this kinda this might have been improvised to be honest, but I I don't know. So it could have been scripted too, but here it is.

Holly (55:00.667)
That's so funny. I just feel like it's such a natural chemistry energy that they have between them. So again, that because it's written slash acted so well, it absolutely could have been improvised, but I can neither confirm nor deny that. But it's just so funny. I love that. Because you said, you know what I mean? my god. Perfect. I love those like crime shows when it always not crime shows, but the comedy crime genre where it's just everything goes wrong. It's and yeah. Comedy.

So anyhow, we see yeah, this is where he's gonna turn it into an elbow art salon. Dennis is gonna turn JJ's into an elbow art salon, which by the way is a fun foreshadowing to what Tom and Donna do. That's so my gosh, brilliant. And he sees the people outside his building and he seems sincere, but he's totally not saying

not like not saving it, so whatever. It but, you know, i at this point the audience thinks like, wow, maybe he changed his mind. Like this really could be bad for business. anyway, so the kids leave because the colognes ca apparently stunt human growth because Dennis is like you should really get these kids out of here. my gosh. And then we get to the Beverly Hills, treat yourself. my God. And I love that they incorporated the claps in this song, Hollywood.

my god, so good. Fantastic idea to pay people to be your paparazzi. I fucking love this. And I want someone to do this for maybe a birthday or if we do a treat yourself day. Fantastic. Or get your friends to do it. I don't know. but to pay like strangers to do that and to like shout your name. They were shouting Donna, Donna. I just ugh, so good. Then we're I think I don't know that we've done that before, at least that I've seen in Treat Yourself Day. And then we're on a Hollywood Star tour, which I have by the way have never done, like where you can

you know, see their houses and things, because I do find it to be a tiny bit creepy, but I don't know. this character name is Devin L. Tour Guide, by the way, the one who's giving the tour. And, you know, with a last name like that, how could you be anything else but a tour guide? he is played by the actor Michael Daniel Cassidy and he was in love. Doughboys, The Office, Drunk History, Brooklyn Nine Nine, a bunch of things. He's also a UC B actor, so I'm sure he had, you know, he probably knew some people from UCB.

Holly (57:15.615)
and, you know, the improvising world, so really fun. And apparently Christina Aguilera and Bruce Willis potentially are in the same house because he loops them in on the same one. Was that a two twenty seventeen prediction that they'd be together? Question mark, maybe on this tour? Who knows?

But then we're on a rooftop bar with a Hollywood sign in the background, which is so cute. I love this. And this is where we talk about the elbow bedazzling. And it starts at $250. It just starts at $250. Okay. And I could imagine that probably is like two of two little sticker things, two elbow bedazzling sticker things. my gosh. 

Okay, so I've always loved this wardrobe choice by the way, of this this gal who's taking the order for the elbow bedazzling. She's in this bright gold skirt and like, you know, little

you know whatever shirt that's showing your stomach what I don't know what that name is crop top I think my gosh how awful and old am I to not know what that is. Anyway, it I just thought it was so funny and like Hollywood cool, you know what I mean? so funny for the wardrobe. I'm sure if I was the actor I'd probably be like god I have to wear this like s skin tight thing but still fun obviously. So this character name is Trish as Donna calls her.

They are on a first name basis at this point. And she's played by Kamala Jones and her Instagram says retired actor, quote unquote. So that's amazing for her that she did it. She got she did the thing. She has a legend as Trish on Parks and Rec and many other things. And I'm really proud of her. She was also in The Office as well, nine two one the middle, a bunch of other things. So amazing work, Kamala. And s I I love I loved her so much as as this Hollywood chic person of like that would start it. You know, then LASIK fingernails, that kind of thing, like

Matter of factly, like this is how much it is. Do you want it? You know? And Kamala sent us in some voice memos. I'm so excited to hear from her. Okay, let's let's listen to the first one.

Holly (01:05:49.858)
my gosh, that was a fantastic voice memo. my gosh, I loved hearing everything. First of all, I have a couple corrections to make. Kamala, I said your name wrong and I'm very sorry about that. Please forgive me. I usually try to listen to these episodes before, but I don't always get a chance to, so and and it's nice sometimes because I like to react to the voice memos as if I'm really having a conversation kind of and can, you know, respond. But that's that's on me and my bad.

and then the other thing is that I I could have spoken out of turn that you are a quote retired actor because I think you still have your manager. So I'll talk to you about that a little bit before, but I'm just including the listener in my thought process. I'm so glad that you still have your I'm to be like updated or whatnot because I'm just so happy to hear these voice memos. my gosh, it's so exciting. First of all, yeah, when you said the waiting room thing, I was like, wait, there's no

That's crazy. because yeah, you're right. There's usually like twenty hundred people that look like you and you're just a little bit thrown not thrown off necessarily, but kind of thrown off because you're like in your head and this is existential, like everyone's wanting the same thing as me and blah blah blah. So you just try to do your best. So the idea that there wasn't really that many people in the waiting room and like you're right, the idea that there wasn't, you know, four people

for producers, one camera operator, one casting director reading, you know, the lines with you, that kind of thing. is really cool, very intimate, but also terrifying i I'm sure in some ways. I mean, obviously, maybe not to everyone. and it sounds like since you had some experience with the office, having already done the office, that might have helped as well. But being on both of them, my God, what an amazing

thing to say that you could that you did both. And yeah, that's so, so cool. I love that. And really cool. We've heard that from Dorian Frankel or people that have worked with Dorian in the auditions as well, that she is very, you know, and same thing with Allison Jones. But for this show in particular, Dorian is who was mostly casting the guest stars. And everyone said that she just made them feel so comfortable, number one, but number two, that the improvising was a huge part of the audition process for so many of the guest stars.

Holly (01:07:57.344)
Sometimes it was just scripted depending on the role. but that that could be scary too, to kind of go in and they start improvising and you're just like, I just want to do a good job and then, you know, you just have to have fun with it and kind of let go that this is a serious audition in a way. so I love hearing that. And yeah, you're right. The commitment slash confidence thing is a huge thing in improv. Like you have to just go with whatever is being said and just commit to the

hilarity, irregularity, all of it. So it sounds like you did a great job because you're here. So that's amazing. And by here I mean on Parks and Rec. Amazing. my God. And you did a great job. So they saw that too and that's love that. Okay, let's listen to this second one.

Holly (01:13:05.323)
That's so cool. I love that. my gosh. Okay. I've again I have so many things to say. Number one is that I'm pretty I'm pretty sure I had looked up where the hotel was that this was shot, and it had said online it was the Garland Hotel in Los Angeles, which is iconic, famous, kind of like a Spanish villa type of hotel situation, beautiful. but I wasn't quite sure, and so I looked up

pictures of both the W and the Garland as you were talking. And it the W does look way more familiar to the the scene. And I would I'm gonna trust you instead of the internet at this moment. but yeah the W does look correct as well because it has the foothills of the Hollywood sign in the back, I believe. so I'm gonna say that's that's right. but regardless, I I did see online also that the garland may have been where, if you guys remember the pawne soup, it was like

the Pawnee super sweets in the win, loser, draw episode, which was the season finale, where Leslie is waiting to see the election results and they call it the Jermaine Jackson Ballroom, which was actually the Garland ballroom. I think that that was correct, but on the website that I found said that it could have been the Garland for the rooftop as well for this episode. but I think it looks like the W. So I think I'm gonna have to just make a trip out to LA and

see for myself. Because either way, I do believe that Park shot in both of them. I'm just confused on which one. So I'll say that this is the W for sure because it just looks like it. So and you said it and you are my first source and that is true. but your name, if you are curious, Kamala was Trish. So close with the T name. yeah, that's funny. I wouldn't remember either. This was so long ago. And yes, we've heard a lot about the van stories. I love hearing when guest stars say that they

rode in the van to set from base camp to the actual shooting location. so that's funny. And yes, I've seen that too in interviews that I'm intrigued about. Both of them, I think, have I mean Donna slash Retta maybe a little bit more similar to like who sh who her character is. but I I agree that Aziz, I think, is a little bit more reserved than he comes off on camera. but he can tap into that so well, which is why people think that he is Tom in real life. But I've seen that in interviews where I'm like, you're like speaking like a

Holly (01:15:18.315)
professional, grounded human. And it's a little off putting sometimes because you're so familiar with him as Tom. but yes, my gosh, the wardrobe thing is so funny. I'm so glad you mentioned it. And that is the next qu listener, that is the next question that I ask her. So she wasn't just bringing that up, although I would have completely welcomed it because that is I absolutely how I felt. That's what I said. I was like, my gosh, if I was the actor, I'd be like, my God, this is so fun. But also like what? So let's go ahead and listen to the next one.

Holly (01:18:46.655)
my gosh, that is hilarious. And no, girl, you looked fantastic. It was great. But I do love hearing A, that yeah, for you personally, I agree. I would not wear that either. But B, no shade to who ever wants to do that. And C, so sweet that the costume people were so nice and so accommodating and making you feel comfortable and, you know, warm and friendly. Because we talked to Kirsten Mann before. We ha we actually interviewed her and she's fantastic and so lovely and nice. And so

I think that's amazing that they were trying to talk to you and say, like, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to but because yeah, you're right, like that's not normally how it goes. Normally it's like, this is the thing that we've selected and if you don't want to wear it, you're fired. You know what I mean? which, you know, to some

to some people's to some crew's credit, I mean it has to be what it has to be a lot in a lot of ways. But that's what's so lovely about parks, I feel, is how collaborative it was and how human it was, you know. so that's really funny to hear. But yeah, my gosh. I'm so glad I asked you about that and so glad you were willing to share your story because that's so funny. Cause I agree. Yeah. For the character, great. For real life, meh, maybe maybe questionable.

But again, no shade to who does that. But that was a big deal. Like you said, it was the American apparel or mm I don't know who like it's like Wet Seal or whatever the hell. Is Wet Seal the makeup one? No. That's wet and wild. Anyway, it's like those express type vibes, Hollister vibes that was really big in like the aughts. You know what I mean? that might still be. I don't know if that's coming back or not, but anyhow, that's so funny. my gosh, thank you so much for sharing.

Okay, we've got two more. Let's listen to the next one.

Holly (01:21:50.284)
What a crazy day that must have been to like what a surreal experience and something that does not happen on every parks guest stars set. You know what I'm saying? my gosh, that's so cool. And yeah, like you said, I I mean that's just like quintessential LA. Like that's what people think of when they think of Hollywood glam. And a treat yourself day in particular to see Macy Gray while you are doing elbow bedazzling. my gosh, are you kidding me? Life imitating art and art imitating life is just

Unreal. That's amazing. I love that story. Whoa. So great.

Holly (01:23:48.136)
So sweet. That's nice of you to promote your agent's business and her consulting. Yeah, and you're right that it is so overwhelming sometimes. So even if I'll follow her too, because even if you're not new, I'm not new, but it's always nice to have information and resources. So that's really that's very sweet. And okay, I'm glad I didn't misspeak. and that I your Instagram bio was correct because yes, I do see that you are retired. and yeah, I love the way you speak about it. It's really lovely, and like I said, it's nice that you can be really grateful for your time and

And you know, talk to us about it and and love your experience, but kind of do what you want to do now. so that's exciting. And we'll definitely tag slash post the agents information in there. So yeah, love that. my gosh, thank you so much for the amazing voice memos. Those were so, so fun. I'm so glad we got to talk to you. What a treat. my gosh, a literal treat yourself day for me to get a couple of voice memos from two different actors on this one episode. Amazing, amazing.

Okay, thank you so so much. Okay, so moving on. I I wanted to say I love Tom and Donna's outfits as well. I thought they looked really great for Treaty Self Day, so that's worth mentioning. and then six hundred dollars for the elbow bedazzling that Donna wants, I think, where she says, I want

Two diamonds and then diamonds all around that. And Trish is like, Okay, that would fall under our premium package. Starts at 600. And she's Okay, great, do it. And then the LASIK for fingernails, Tom says he came up with that. I do remember that was one of his business ideas. And Tom is like, Yep, okay, go ahead. Laser my fingers off or my fingernails off or whatever. And it's for $275, $275. Wild. So that was a fun little moment. That's the end of our rooftop little section.

Back at the JJ's rally, Dennis starts to get nice. He comes out and then he fucks it up and I hate him because he says JJ can stay. But then he pulls a psych. Like what a douche to say like psychopathic rage baiting douche. You know what I mean? To say psych. How old are you, sir? Anyway, but again, like I said, great character to get us riled up. And then he says release the hounds, and it's not actual hounds, it's just an FDA rejected cologne that makes everything smell like wet dog.

Holly (01:26:05.024)
Side note, according to the internet, when he comes out to announce JJ's is staying, he says, Whoa whoa whoa, stop the clock. Apparently this is a reference to Howard Stern's head of security and limo driver, Ronnie Mund, who popularized that phrase. So that's fun. They do do a couple of Howard Stern's rec references, if you will, like when Ben says Baba Bui, that's from Howard Stern as well in the Snake Juice episode. Or the fight, I believe it's technically called.

And it's wild that they have that prepared. You know what I mean? Like it they're like snipers on the top of the roof, but instead of having guns, they have this security of the hound perfume. my gosh. Which I mean that makes sense. He's not a liked guy. He's a pretty hated guy, so he I'm sure he has to have some sort of security. Although they did get in there pretty easily. So it is Bonnie after all.

So Leslie says there's no way to keep JJ's where it is. And April has a stroke of genius, a brilliant stroke of genius, and says, Does JJ's have to stay where it is? Like there's a ton of buildings where her and Andy live, and they're all super cheap because they're empty and also disgusting. also why didn't JJ think of that, I wonder? Like not the April's suggestion necessarily as far as it being in that part of town, because I know JJ has discrepancy or you know

concern about it being in a bad part of town, but like why didn't JJ think of getting another building? Was it just too expensive, maybe? Question mark. But he said he wanted to re-up the lease. So I was like, interesting. Maybe he just kind of gave up because he was like, this is the place where it's always been and this is just the end for me kind of vibe. I don't know. So now we're at a sushi restaurant and no one says it online. I mean there are some Reddit threads that say it, but I don't believe that it's been

officially confirmed that this is Nobu the restaurant, the sushi restaurant, but I do believe one hundred percent that it was supposed to be modeled after Nobu, which is a famous, you know, like I said, a famous sushi restaurant that a lot of celebrities go to. It's very expensive. It's in Malibu, so I think the Kardashians are I think they might have made actually made it popular on the Kardashian show and just it's very, very well known. The biggest I think it's the largest

Holly (01:28:17.151)
like location is in the Malibu one, but they have other locations throughout LA. And I believe they I wanna say they have it somewhere else too. Like not just in LA. But regardless, it is famous and I'm pretty positive that's what it's supposed to be modeled after. Super swanky spot, lots of famous people. but the idea that all the fish is made from fish that were previously ordered slash owned by celebrities is not real. well, that I know of. I'm sure

You know, I wouldn't put anything past Hollywood, but as far as we know, that is not a thing. but that is something that they made up. And it's so perfect. It's such a great writing moment here. The waitress comes over to serve the Charlie's Therone's Yellowtail, Paul Riser's salmon, and Peter Bogdanovich Saltwater Eel. And I thought that was a really funny mix of actors to have. And

This actress who plays The Waitress was fantastic. And sadly, unfortunately, she actually passed away in 2015. Her name is Jen Oda, Jen for short, Jennifer's her full name. And in all online, it points to cause of death being gun violence. And, you know, out of respect, I'm not gonna mention any other details or anything like that. But she was 31 and she was fantastic. I mean, she was great in this. And I did some research and she was great in everything. She was in Star Trek, she was also a singer, she played guitar.

She looked so happy. She looked really involved with her friends. Everyone posted such nice things about her. She definitely left a leg legacy. And I'm I'm just so sorry to hear this and know that she's not with us anymore. But we're thinking about her. We are definitely a fan of hers because she was so good and just so like sweet and fun to play that role. and I'll be posting some resources as well because for those of you who don't know, gun violence is

A cause that I care deeply about. And I mean, if you've listened to this podcast or you follow me at all, you know that. so yeah, thanks to Jen Oda for playing this wonderful role. And I just I'm really sad to hear that. Tom is checking his phone every five minutes to see if Lucy texted him, and Donna points out that he has it bad and that he's very obsessed with Lucy.

Holly (01:30:28.463)
And Donna says that she got Tom something, but she didn't buy anything because Tom is like, You're not supposed to get me anything. I just have a piece of advice, says Donna. But Tom wanted the shoes that Jaden Smith wears in Hitch 2, son of a hitch. Which, by the way, is not a real thing, although that is brilliant. what a fantastic again, with these predictions for 2017. I think that before I was watching the show as an analyzer of the podcast, I didn't really like take

such notice of it, but especially now that I'm making notes and things, I was like, my god, this is so hilarious. with these predictions. And I think Tom has always been a fan of Hitch and has always talked about like sequels and things for the his fave movies. And also just the brilliance of Will Smith was in that movie and his literal son is Jaden Hitch and the movie name is Son of a Hitch. my God, I don't know. I just think that's funny and I like it a lot. I think it's brilliant.

It's thundering outside. I don't know if you can hear that. Okay, so you Donna says you have to be up front. That's my piece of advice. Tell Lucy how you feel. And Tom says it would be awkward because she works for him. What if she doesn't feel the same way? He's the only one that caught feelings. And you know, Donna just reaffirms him and says, like, yeah, okay, but you'll never know unless you ask. And when it comes to matters of the heart, treat yourself. Treat yourself. Love that. And

Almost forgot. She did get the shoes from Hitch 2. Yay. That's an even better gift. Love that. And those shoes are so Tom. my gosh. The little like slipper things. They're so good.

And then Josh Grobin. my gosh. All caps, Josh Grobin. Love. He had a soft shell crab at some point because that's what he orders. And I love that he was in both the office and parks. Like somebody the writers or somebody has to be either friends with him or just be huge fans of him because I'm not really sure that he auditioned for that. Okay. He was famous by that point. So somebody must have asked him. And that is just so hilarious. I love whenever he's in a TV show or acting. He's so good and so funny. And not what you'd expect from this, like

Holly (01:32:32.873)
Very serious operatic type singer. So I love that so much. and I love that Tom says it's a that's the most baller thing he's ever seen. Ugh. So good. dear. Okay, so now we're at Beachview Terrace with the abandoned vehicles, the famous raccoons everywhere that we've heard. We haven't heard from the Pawnee raccoons in a while. Okay, so it's nice that we're seeing them again. Well, nice is probably a strong word, but Leslie calls this area the sad, broken down armpit of Pawnee.

And I love the comment that they tried to clean it up and they sent a street cleaner out to try to clean the streets, but the raccoons ate the wheels right off of it. Wow. Those raccoons are amazing. And I love that they're paid actors. So we learn that Councilman Dexhart represents this district. I love this piece of knowledge here that we learn where he was representing his people. And I also love that we are learning why it's named Beachview Terrace, like when there's literally no beach, because that's kind of what I was

curious about when she says it at first, where he was going to clean it up and he had this whole that was like one of his main things that he ran on his platform to be able to clean this area up, but he just gave it a fancy name instead of actually cleaning it. Such a Dex art thing to do. my gosh. So good. So this realtor comes in to this building and she says, you know, sorry I'm late, but I thought this was a prank call because they've had this listing forever and no one's ever been interested. Seven years. Wow. That's that's no good.

This is played by Susan Isaacs, by the way, which fun and friendly reminder that she sold Leslie her house, the house that her and Ben are in. the one where Ben proposed, and Anne goes to visit with her and they play a song when she says, I want to buy this house, and it's just so cute. And she apparently was also in the episode Woman of the Year. So she's had three appearances, and this will be her last episode. And her name's Martha.

Because remember when she bought or when she sold Leslie her house, she was like, Well, and Leslie was about to back out because of, you know, everything that was going on and she was just like, Okay, Martha, because Martha kept saying, you know, I can't give you the lease back, the security deposit, move out, they blah. Okay, Martha. That's what I remember. But anyhow, that's cool they brought her back and that she's been all over the comedy world. She's been in a ton of things. but yeah, this will be her last episode again, season of blasts.

Holly (01:34:53.024)
So JJ says, like, even if we could fix this place up, you know, make it cute, like everything would have to magically change. Nobody lives in this part of town. It's not really safe to visit. And so everything around here would have to be different and you know, clean and c safe for people to come to, and people would need to eat out and spend money and the whole area would need to be refurbished, which is a huge undertaking. But then this is where Ron and Leslie really are in sync emotionally.

Maybe not physically with their little handshake things, but they have this beautiful moment where they don't even have to have full sentences to know what each other is thinking. and it's so, so lovely. She's like, You thinking what I'm thinking? PR, and we don't really know what is going on, but they do. And Leslie's like, Okay, look, we have five days to do three months of work, and they can literally accomplish everything they want. Who's in? And then Herman Lerpis comes in, you guys. Herman Lerpis, this fella. What are you doing here? Where did you come from?

Floor hole. I love this bit they give him, this like character knowledge or character thing about him where it's this attribute of Leslie asking where he comes from, and then it's somewhere random and weird, but so matter of fact. Like when he comes in, friendly reminder, he comes in to suggest Disneyland, he pronounces it that way, for the land for the Newport land to be sold and make it like a theme park. And he has this

drawing that looks like a child did it of all these, you know, Ferris wheels and rides and stuff like that. And she asks how he got in, and he says, broke a window, as if it's totally normal, because it is to him. And so we've got the broke a window and now he came in through a floor hole. So where else will he appear from next? reminder that this actor is played by Richard Birch, who I have not found any info on and maybe I'm just lacking, but I can't

Find his email or and I don't know if he maybe retired from acting as well because I haven't seen him in too many other things. But again, I feel like it's just so perfect in the canon of my head that he appears from floor holes and just disappears after in real life as well. Like I just I feel like he appeared from to this earth, did his role as Herman Lerpis and left. And it's just so funny because I would love to talk to him and ask him about his experience. so yes.

Holly (01:37:16.756)
Anyway, back at Tom's Bistro. Lucy asks how the trip was. Tom shows us his bedazzled elbow, and I gotta say, it's not as cute as I thought it would be. This whole bedazzling elbow thing sounded really kind of like interesting and weird and unnecessary, of course. But I kind of thought of it as like a henna tattoo or even a like a temporary tattoo, you know, that kind of thing. And it just does it look like you went to like a kid's birthday party and just stuck some stickers on your elbow, which maybe that's what it was supposed to be.

Definitely not worth $275. Although maybe they were real di maybe they're supposed to be like bits and pieces of real diamonds and that's why it's so expensive. But I doubt it. Anyway, she says things were uneventful, you know, back at home, back at Tom's bistro, and she brings up Donna's wedding, but before she can even say anything, Tom tells her and takes Donna's advice in saying that he wants Lucy to go with her with him as her his date. And he doesn't want her to feel weird because she's great at her job and he wants her

To work there forever as long as she wants to. And so he transfers all the day-to-day operations to Craig so there's no conflict of interest. And we could go together and not have any sort of weirdness. But as he's saying it, he backs out, just like he did at the beginning, where he it's like because he's so nervous, where he's like, you know what? Never mind. I wasn't even serious. You don't even have to go with me. It's not a big deal. I won't feel weird if you don't if you don't say yes. I'm not even like it's not even true. It doesn't matter if you because you've been hoaxed. And

I do feel like he could have waited to sign that paper until after she agreed or disagreed, but I do understand it was a good faith action. So I understand. But I do kind of maybe feel like since she said yes, which I buried the lead there, she says yes, she wants to go as his date. She was going to say that before he even had his old spiel. So that's a lovely little moment there. but I still feel like that maybe they should do sign that paper question mark.

I mean, because it is technically still a conflict of interest. However, this is the restaurant business and dude, everyone dates slash does everybody. So maybe it doesn't matter as much. If it was like a corporate thing, maybe it would matter more, like signing a release, if you will, or some sort of like acknowledgement question mark. But whatever. It doesn't matter. The point is that they are now going to go to Tom Donna's wedding as a date.

Holly (01:39:35.366)
And I'm very excited for them to finally get there. Because last episode we talked about how they were talking about you know, we didn't we liked that it wasn't rushed. We liked that it wasn't e too immediate, but and that she didn't break up with her boyfriend immediately. and that they didn't immediately start making out after she broke up with her boyfriend. You know, it took a little bit of time, but not too long. It's nice that it was kind of just one episode after. So love that. Okay.

let's see here. Okay, it's five days later. Roscoe is meeting with the parks people in Beachview Terrace area. LOL at that name. which side note it is kind of sad to not see Tom and Donna there because it's all the parks people except for them, but I get it. They have their own thing now, and it's the right thing on the writer's end, but it's still weird to me. I'm not used to it. Anyhow, so it's 4 13, so Roscoe says you have seven minutes. And if you get that joke, there you go. I'm not gonna explain it.

So they say they just bought the land for their campus. so they're why would it be here? It's not here. and Ron is like, you'll spend even more though for plumbing, electrical, constructing the campus, but this place already has all that, it just needs a little fixing. And this is where they're suggesting that Roscoe slash Grizzle buys this area and fixes up this land and does everything for the town. Ben gives them a complete proposal, which is crazy.

That is like a lot of work to have a complete proposal in five days for this massive undertaking. And then Roscoe, I love I've always loved this line when Roscoe's like, is this paper super throwback? Like he doesn't use paper at all. At all? That's really funny. But also not completely, you know, misunderstandable. Misunderst yeah. You know, and not completely out of left field because we don't really use paper that often, but but to the idea that he doesn't use it at all is really funny to me because it's probably true.

so anyhow, this could be a bigger campus, says Ben. the campus comes pre graffitied, says April. So they and he says they wouldn't have to hire Banksy, which is so funny. I'm sure they're spending lots of money on Banksy because he is actually a famous graffiti artist, if you didn't know. He's very talented, has galleries in quite a few cities. So look him up if you might be in a city that has a gallery of his and you can take a look. So anyhow, but he I mean, all that to say that.

Holly (01:41:58.876)
He is expensive, so they would be spending more money on that. And this one already comes pre-graffied. And Roscoe is like, Well, what are we supposed to do with that forest? Or like that we already bought slash paid the Newport people for. Or in his words, they spent Hella skrilla on this trill forest. Lord. I remember Tom saying trill and I was like, Yikes, that's weird. But it is a true slash real slang word that apparently all the hip people say. So anyhow.

Leslie tries to like speak his language speaking of that and says, like, my god, well, here's a far out idea that came to the top of my brain. But she can't do it. She can't make it through speaking like that. So she says, Donate it to the national parks, donate that forest that you already bought from the Newport land to the national parks, get some tax breaks. and you need to build trust with the city. And he's like, Well, we could s build the land here and sell the land where

we already got and Ron is like, Yeah, you could, but this would help with your PR, like Leslie had talked about, which you desperately need. And Leslie is right. You do have to earn the people's trust. You have to invest here. You have to invest in the people. You have to show us that your word is good and valuable because right now they are in deep water. And let me tell you something from someone who lives in a small town, if you fuck up you and you don't repay

townspeople, we will remember it. And it's not just small towns, but in particular small towns, I think people care about this. and this is the way to do it. This is the way to build the trust with the town, make your word mean something, have it be valuable, have the economy grow, have people actually believe in you. It's really important. and it doesn't seem like it, but it is. And Roscoe's like, okay, well

I'll think about it. I'll take it to the board, the legal senior advisory team. And it's so funny because you start to think like, my gosh, Grizzle's actually way more professional than I thought. They have all of these, you know, professional boards in place and people that are on an advisory team and consulting and things like that. like what? But then he says they're shrimping hard at Coachella. So they're doing drugs. Well, you know, you can have it both ways, question mark. I don't know, can you? Maybe.

Holly (01:44:13.926)
So once they get back from shrimping, they will get into it. They'll talk to it. So then we've got the song Hits from a Bong coming on the his grizzle watch. And now it's 420, so he's gotta bounce. Andy has a meeting apparently as well, so he leaves. And it's TP time at Dennis Feinstein's office. Yes, Jonathan Karate, one way or another, he always gets his man. And do keep in mind that he did suggest TPing the office before.

It's so funny. This is okay, so I think this is why they cut the first deleted scene that I talked about where, you know, it's like he says us and they're it seemed like it was improvised and they're just kind of bantering back and forth. This is the part I think that they kept in, which I'm glad that they did, where the one of the ninjas disappears and we lost a buddy. We lost Gavin. Who was Gavin's buddy? Why do we even have a buddy system, you guys? You need to tell me if Gavin is pooping, okay? And it's so hilarious. And honestly, it just shows what a good

dad Andy would be, but also what a like messed up slash chaotic time, but also super fun that he would be as a dad. And, you know, he's like, Dennis, what a mess, 'cause it's not even Gavin that's missing. And Andy was the buddy for the person that's missing. Like for Hunter, Gavin, Caleb, whoever the hell it was. It's so funny. but and you know, I don't know if they did this on purpose, but

This is Andy talking when he asks where Gavin is, not Johnny Karate. And this is a lot like when the kid got lost at City Hall. And April points out that Johnny Karate actually made the kid feel very scared and made him uncomfortable. Whereas Andy is the one who comforted him and was the one who showed him the way, made him feel safe, found his mom and things like that. And I really like that he's not in character here.

when he is talking about like let's find the person who was the buddy when he's trying to be a helpful adult. You know what I'm saying? So I really love that. And I thought that was worth mentioning because like I said, I think as a dad we'll see little pieces of that character in him. so back at Very Good Building, which is, you know, Ron's business. Leslie says, you know, this might not work. They're drinking whiskey again, reminiscent of their Leslie and Ron times two episodes ago.

Holly (01:46:26.636)
And when they were making up and Ron is like, No, don't worry, it will work. It's gonna work. And at first you're like, You said that it might not work. At the beginning of the episode, you were not on board with this. It might not work. So you're like, Why are you being so optimistic? And it's because it's been a week and they haven't heard anything. And then we learn that, well, because Leslie says, How do you know? Why are you so optimistic? And he's like, Well, they called three hours ago and approved the plan. But first he says that, you know, like you said, we can do anything when we're together.

But three hours, that's way too much to let someone stew on this. Like they he should have told her immediately, or at least within the first hour. Not three hours. my God. But I love this moment though. It is very cute when she's like, You jerk, we did it. You jerk, we did it. And and she just can't decide which one she wants to land on because they're both equally true. and he hug she hugs him and he doesn't approve, but she doesn't care. And I think that's a really special way to end the episode of them.

the dynamic duo, getting it together, getting it done. And yes, it's just very optimistic, very exciting that this was the plan that they had to get them to not only come together, be because we've gotten two you know, endings to the questions that we had of like, are Ron and Leslie gonna be friends again? And B, you know, how is this Newportland gonna work out? Because she's literally going up against millions of dollars versus zero dollars.

and so it's I just I mean, I I say this every time, but this season is truly so brilliant from the writers and from the directors. I and and the actors as well. But the way that the writers really wrapped this up and made us believe in this team is so astounding and so beautiful. And as an audience member, it's so rewarding because they really did a good job of making us question what was gonna happen and then giving us that relief that

belief that we know and love from these characters that they when they work together, when they pull through, they can really do anything. It's truly beautiful. And I know that sounds really cheesy and I don't care because it's true. And that's what tell good television can do for us is make us believe in something. And I think that they ended this episode so well and to save JJ's in addition to saving the parks land.

Holly (01:48:48.436)
I and also compromising. I mean, it's just it's so nice and I know that it's fictional, but to see a win in the government is just

Ugh, beautiful. And I don't know. I don't know. I just I like it. I like seeing it. I like hearing it. I like watching it. And I know it's a fake land, but it could be real. And I'm gonna keep hoping for that. So anyway, thank you guys so much for listening. Thank you to Delon. Thank you to Kamala. Kamala, I'm sorry. I'm the worst. I'm not gonna edit that out because I need to edit myself. Okay. Anyway, thank you again so much. we are

moving right along. Please don't forget to rate, review, subscribe. Hopefully Maddie will be back with us next week. let me know if you have any questions or anyone else you'd like to talk to. And yeah, let's keep it going. Thank you so much and hope you have a good rest of your July. Can't believe it's almost the end of the summer, but we'll see you for the next one. Thanks everyone. Bye.