Transcript of Favorite 'Parks and Rec' Memories

Unsere Empfehlung für deinen Podcast: Frisches Obst und Knackiges Gemüse von Aldi. Immer gut, immer günstig, immer vielfältig. Kurz gesagt: Frische für alle. Zum Aldi Preis: Diese Woche: Tafeltrauben, 650 Gramm für nur 2,99 Euro oder Kulturheidelbeeren, 125 Gramm für nur 1,39 Euro in deiner Aldi Nordfiliale. Und weiter geht's. Einfach lauschen und genießen. Aldi. Gutes für alle. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We are continuing our Clip Package episodes, and this is the second of three. So we will be back with new episodes and guests in just two weeks. But this week, we are putting together an amazing episode of all of the people from Parks and Recreation who have come into the studio and sat and talked to us. And it is a great list. It is Mike Sure, Rachida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Katherine Han, Paul Rudd, Arbury Plaza, Adam Scott. And please know, there are more coming. In fact, a little teaser, we do have nick Offerman joining us in season two of this podcast. If there are seasons in podcasts, we are insisting there are. And so you're going to hear from all of these people today. And the reason why we're doing these clip shows is because I am finishing up shooting a new show for Peacock called Dig with my buddy Mike Sure, who, as we all know, created Parks and Rec.

So let's kick off this episode by hearing from Mike Sure first. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Subaru. Some cars go the extra mile. Long-range Subaru hybrids take that to a whole new level with up to 597 miles per tank in the Crosstrek Hybrid, a car that I've given my family, and up to 581 miles per tank in the Forrester Hybrid, another car that I also enjoy. Subaru, love goes the extra mile. Visit subaru. Com/hybrid to learn more. Range based on EPA-estimated combined fuel economy and full tank of fuel. Actual mileage and range may vary. In the very, very beginning, the idea for the spinoff of The Office, or was it even an idea for spinoff was what?

Well, so Ben Silverman- What became Parks and Rags. Ben Silverman was running NBC, and he asked Greg to do a spinoff. And so Greg's response, typically thoughtful and considered, was, I would love to do another show. If the best idea that I have for a show is a spinoff, then I will do a spinoff. If the best idea I have is something else, I'll do something else. Greg is a real... One of the main things that he gave me in terms of how to do this job is best idea wins. It doesn't matter who it comes from, if it's staff writer or a 25-year veteran co-EP or a person who works in costumes or whatever, best idea wins. That's it. And there is no corollary to that. In every situation that you're in, creatively, best idea wins. And so that's what he said basically to Ben. And he was like, It's very important to me that you understand that if the best idea I have is not a spinoff of the office, then we're going to do something else. And Ben was like, Totally hear you, buddy. And the next day in the variety, he was like, Office spinoff is coming.

Ben just totally ignored him and just announced an office spinoff. Sure. Greg and I started meeting. Greg asked me to do it with him. We started meeting. We would go to Norm's Diner in the Valley, twice a week for breakfast, and we would of ideas, and we would talk about what interested us and what was going on, and we would inch down a little path and then hit a dead end and then inch back. We just met constantly over showing your work. We met all the time, forever. And eventually came up with the idea of like, and by the way, just to say it, some of the ideas we talked about were off the spinoffs. There were like, Craig Robinson and Rain Wilson and all these people on the show who could clearly be in their own show. So we talked about family shows with them or whatever. Greg was, I think, wary of taking assets away from a show that was very successful, in part because of its large, rich cast. We stumbled upon this idea of like, okay, Dunder Mifflin on The Office is a fake company, and it's a way to satirize the private sector.

What if we create a whole fake town and satirize the public sector? As we're having that idea, the world economy goes kablooey, and they're talking about massive government bailouts, and we start to realize that the government, obviously federal, really, but also state and local, was going to be very present in people's lives. People were going to be looking to the government for help. We started getting excited about that. I had this idea for an abandoned lot that would be turned into a park over the course of the entire run of the show. Very wire-y idea. I was obsessed with the wire, as were you.

Yeah, we share that.

I thought the way the wire portrayed calcified systems and how slow gears grind and stuff was fascinating to me. I thought it would be really funny if you did a show that ideally lasts for a long time, and in the pilot, it's like, We're going to do this, and then it literally doesn't get done until the very end of nine years later. That was the idea that I really like. Greg then was like, What if it's not a lot? What if there's a giant hole in the ground? What if it's a pit? I was like, That's so much better. That idea of all the 73 ideas we had started to fizzy up. It obviously is not a spinoff of The Office. Greg, true to his word, was like, This is what we want to do. At some point, we called you because we heard you were leaving, and you were like, I'm theoretically interested in this. Let me know. The show was given a guaranteed 13-episode order, which now is very commonplace at the time was insane. The Office was going to be on after the Super Bowl that year, and this This show was going to launch after The Office.

Then you called us back and said, Actually, sorry, prego. That's exactly what you said. Yeah, I said prego. You said prego.

I sent you a telegraph. I said, Prego, stop. Shows off, stop.

It was like, Well, you're going to give birth the week we have to shoot this, so no go. Then I remember very clearly, two weeks later, I went into Greg's office and I was like, We were working on the show at that point pretty strenuously, and I was just like, I just don't think there's anyone but Polar who can do this. And he was like, I had the same thought last night. And very quickly, we made a phone call to NBC and said, If we can get Amy for this, we will give up seven of the 13 guaranteed episodes because we'd only be able to make six and give up the Super Bowl slot.

Well, you guys were... I'm so appreciative you did that.

The thing was, it was actually a very simple decision because we were like, getting Amy Poehler on your show is a long term decision. Decision. That's a decision you make for what you hope will be a very long chunk of time. The Super Bowl slot is a short term decision. It's like, yeah, you'll get this frisson of energy, but it doesn't last. No one ever... Very rarely does that determine the fate of a TV show. And so we then called you back and said, what if you could start shooting three months after you give birth? And then we made the show.

And it proved to be the most satisfying creative experience I've ever had. More than this podcast? No, this is my number one. So it's number two. I mean, besides this. Now, one of the ways, very concrete ways, that is, I feel like an example of what I'm talking about, which is the joy in the details, is the way you like to name characters. I think you allowed me to use this in my book, actually. But you gave me a list of possible names instead of Leslie, the character I played on Parks of Right. You gave me a bunch of different alternative names. But you also love to name characters left and right. What is fun about names for you and naming?

Okay, so it's two things. The first is, growing up, first major comedic influence, Monty Python. Monty Python, experts at silly, stupid names. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. You can go look them up in their sketches. But the actual The actual thing that's going on here is different. I would go to actor's IMDb pages to see what they had been in when we were casting them in the early days of the show. You would see woman number two or man in crowd or guy with sandwich. It really bummed me out. That person auditioned for this and booked this gig and drove all the way across town and put on fake clothes and put on makeup and whatever and had to stand in a certain place, follow a million instructions, say a line or two, and then they yelled, Cut. And then that person drove all the way home, and they got paid $600 for a week's worth of work. And there should be something better than Man Number Two or Man and Crowd. And so I decided at that moment This is early in season one, I think of Parks and Rec, that every character who appeared on the show was going to have a first and last name.

So when you saw, instead of... If it says Man and Crowd, you're like, oh, well, it doesn't really count as an acting gig. But if you see Marv Veevma, which is a name I gave a character once. You're like, who the hell is Marv Veevma? What was Marv Veevma up to? So I... And it has been... It started with that intention and has become one of the great, truly one of the great joys of my life is to give every... Because here's the other thing. Sorry, you can cut all this out. But the other thing is if you name a character Jack Smith, you can get away with it because there are 10 trillion Jack Smiths. But if Can you name a character, anything even mildly interesting, like Winona Cooper, there's going to be four Winona Cooper's in the state that you're setting the show in. And then the legal comes back and says, you can't name your character that.

A lot of people don't know that. You have to get names cleared.

You have to be cleared. And there have to be either none or so many that not any one of them could think that you're saying anything about them. So I go for none. None. Yeah. I go for the weirdest names. We had a character recently on the show on a man on the inside named Ophelio Pippipepi. There's no Affelio Pippipepis anywhere in the continent of the United States, so you get to use that name. That has been my goal is to have the Google search come up empty with every name of every character.

Okay, with that in mind, will you please read some of these names that you have invented? Yeah. Just a few here on the bottom of this page. Okay.

Mona Lisa Saperstein. Yes. Jenny Slate's character. Yes.

Do you remember all these?

Do you think? Amazing. Yeah. Trod Frankensteip.

Okay, tell us about Trot.

So Trot Frankensteip was a local reporter, or he had a, almost like a little show like this in Pawnee, where he would interview political people like Leslie Nope. A great way to come up with a name that doesn't exist is to take a normal name like Todd and then just stick another letter in there somewhere. Trod. And then Frankensteip is just Frankenstein with a P at the end. Thierryon Fonsorelli. Thierryon Fonsorelli, obviously a combination of two characters from TV history, Thierryon Lannister and Arthur Fonsorelli. This name goes to Matt Murray. Matt Murray did this. Panther. Yeah, Panther. Thierryon Fonsorelli was-A writer on Partion Reck, among other things. Was a guy in a jewelry store who was buying an engagement ring for his to be betrothed when Anne and Chris Trager were shopping for rings. Great. Leslie Nope, who Gretsky Susan Pellegrino. Okay. This... So... Gretsky Susan Pellegrino was the fourth in a series of names that, for some reason, all involved the last name of the greatest hockey player who ever lived, Wayne Gretsky. I don't offhand remember who Gretsky Susan Pellegrino is. Also, it should be noted, Hyphens, huge part of my naming process.

Yeah, so exciting.

It's a way to get another name in there.

Another name, and also there's no way that someone's going to have this name.

No one's first name is Gretsky Susan. Gretsky Hyphens Susan. Typhoon Montalban.

Oh, I love Typhoon.

Typhoon was Donna's hairdresser. Yeah. Typhoon also Matt Murray, I believe, named, gave Typhoon the first name Typhoon. We needed a last name. Where do you go for the last name? Ricardo Montalban. Typhoon Montalban. Sesandra Sesasnorp. Okay. Sesandra Sesasnorp was, I believe, I could have this wrong, was just it was like Sandra Snorp. Okay. And then the legal was like, We didn't clear. We found a Sandra Snorp somewhere. We found a Sandra Snorp. So guess what you do? You add five more s's. Now you're good. A Sandra. A Sandra's a s-norp. Summerole crack and frog-frog. Okay. This is a Monty Python ripoff. Straight up.

Okay.

Ola, O-L-E with an accent. And I guess just that part. There's a Monty Python sketch called, I think, Election Night Special, where they're just going through election results in local elections all over the country. And there's a silly party and a sensible party. So all the people in the sensible party have names like John Smith, and all the people in the silly party have very crazy names. And there's also a very silly party and a slightly silly party. If you want names, go watch that sketch. It'll say to you. Summer, Ola, crack and frog-frog. That's a good one. Frogfrog is a great last name. Great one. Yeah.

Okay, so do you think some of your best acting was in Parks and Rec when you had to pretend that you didn't know who Genuine was?

It's still one of my biggest complaints. I remember we did the table read for that, and I was like, No, no. No one's going to buy it because I don't buy it, okay? Pick anybody else on this cast to try to play that in an honest way. It is so unfair that you're making me do this. It really, yeah, it still hurts.

Because how familiar are you with Genuine?

We were married. I mean, I live in '90s RnB. That's where my heart is. It's not here. I mean, it is with you, but for the most part, it's not present. It's in '90s R&B. So he's a very important figure. Yeah.

I feel like we've had some hard ass laughs. I was trying to think the other day, places that we've laughed, it's just deep laughs. And it really does add years to my life. I know that. And I wonder if you could tell the story about when we were on parks, and it was because we talked about it. We've talked about it before. When we were on Parks, and it was the first season, it was the hunting episode, and just set up, we were shooting that whole week way far away somewhere in California. I don't even remember where. And we had to do a scene with nick Offerman. I think about it sometimes the way that laugh came, it was like- Giggles. It was Giggle, Giggle, Orgasm City. Don't worry, we'll cut that. But what do you remember about it?

What do you- Well, I remember he maybe ate something weird, and we were trying to give him Ipacac.

Is that what it was? Nick Offerman playing Ron Swanson ate something. Yeah, I don't remember actually what happened in the show.

Isn't that funny? I was determined as a nurse. I was like, You have to throw up. You can't. You're going to get sick. He's like, I'm fine. We were trying to get this liquid in his mouth. It's Hollywood, so things that happen on camera don't actually happen in real life. It was written that we hold him down, and he's resisting us, and we give him this thing. But you don't know how small you are because I think both of us, I'm always like, I'm a tall person, right? I ask people if I feel tall. Yeah, I feel like a tall person, but I'm not. And I'm not. How tall are you? Five, three and a half?

Yeah, I'm 5'2.

And nick is solid.

He's a solid dude. Yeah, he's like a Midwestern corn-fed dude.

Dense and muscular. We were trying to hold him down, and he was whipping us around with such ease. Actually, the both of us could not hold him down. He was like, literally, he just go, beep, and we would just fly off the bed in each direction. We could not stop laughing.

We each had one arm, and it felt like just the flick of a wrist. Because he was being gentle.

He was being gentle.

Yeah, he wasn't really... He wasn't fighting for his life.

Yeah, no.

We could not get him to stay down. Could not. I remember that feeling. Also, I think there's something It's so fun about wrestling. There is. It's so good. It's so good. Being thrown around is so fun. Yes. He was throwing us around. I feel like if I was to picture it in my mind, you were just like, weee. I could just see you going past me and your hair going, what? Then your legs going, Wee. And me. And I just remember like, Rochita. I did never see you flying by, which can't be true.

I feel like we were tumbling all over the floor. Every time we got back on the bed, we were like… We were both trying to be on top of him and then just flipping over really quickly.

I think, too, because nick is such a lovely, gentle guy in general, we knew there was something about us that knew we weren't going to get hurt. It was safe. It was safe, yeah. But he was making like grunting bear sounds. It was really, really, really- It was really fun. That was a really… I'm trying to think of… There were so many good crack-up moments. Crackup moments. I'm 100 years What a crackup. But I'm just like, I was- There's that spot in Andy and April's house, remember, where we could never get a scene done?

Just that one, that living room. There was a dead spot.

Yeah, it was haunted.

Yeah. And then I remember there was one time you were like, Was she? Because I could not get through it. But it felt like haunted. It did not feel like it was my fault.

Yeah, I'm sorry I said that. No, it was late. A couple of times I would see bloopers for the show and I'd be like, Amy.

No, but those days were so long. They were. They were It was long, and it was fun until it wasn't. You're like, Oh, my God, it's 10: 00 PM.

We just want to go home. I know. There was a scene for people that care. There was a spot on that set where anyone who stood there couldn't get their lines. And then, of course, it became self-fulfilling prophecy in many ways. But there was just a lot of deep laughs and deep laughs off camera. One of the things I treasure, and there's so many things I treasure about my friendship with you, was that we would be talking like this, and we'd be just talking and talking and just talking about our day and talking about life. And then they would just go, action. And then we would just talk like Leslie and Anne. And we'd do our scene and be like, I'll speak for myself, knew it, didn't. And then they'd cut, they'd work on it, and we would just go back to talking. It was like a dream job.

We filmed in between our conversations. Also, I think I remember very clearly in the pilot because we had already been friends for years when we shot the pilot, and they were doing one of those spy shots, and we were in your office and we were talking. It was like, other people were like, Oh, this is great. This is a thing that really works. Their friendship, we're really going to be able to sell it.

We're like, Duh. Duh. No kidding. What do you mean? I mean, they really did base the entire show at the end of the day on the fact that Leslie and Anne were each other's number one. Yeah. Yeah.

Not hard to do.

No. We've talked about this before, but when we first started the show, I think it was like we were trying to figure out who was going to play what part and who was going to come on board. And the beginnings of that show were, I'll say a little clumsy.

Crunchy. Can we talk about it? Yeah, I'd love to. Oh, my God.

Yeah, it was crunchy. Because I think for... I don't think a lot of people know this. For the beginning, I think we both were worried that we had taken each other's part.

Yes. I had been on hold for this untitled thing that Greg and Mike were going to write. I had done a year on the office, and they let me go, which made sense. It made sense.

You had such a tough job there because everybody Jim and Pam. Then guess who shows up a very likable, cool, and everyone was like, Oh, no, wait.

I love Karen. It did not feel that way. People did not like me. Fans were not about it, but they had to create tension for the relationship to be earned later. I was the third point in the triangle. It's fine. I accept it. But anyway, so Mike was like, We're working on this other show. I'll put you on hold. We don't know what it is yet. Remember, people thought it was a spinoff of the office for a second. But anyway, so they They kept changing the main characters of the show. When they pitch it to me, the boss was a guy, and they didn't know if they were going to cast me or not. But I remember you were extremely pregnant. We had just gotten back from Italy.

You and I were in Italy? Yeah.

That's right. We were in Italy, and it was very hot. That's right. And a day later, you were like, Let's go to lunch. I need to talk to you about something.

Do you remember where we went? Pastis.

Pastis?

Yes, I do. New York City.

I Oh, God.

I said, Let's talk about something.

Yeah. And you said- Oh, dear.

No, no, no. I was like, I want you to raise this baby with me.

It's yours.

This baby is yours. I know that's impossible. And you need to accept it.

No, I actually hold This moment is like a gold standard of friendship and being able to take care of your oneself and the person that you love at the same time. I really do, Polos, because what you did and how you did it was very hard because you took me to lunch and said, I'm so sorry, but they offered me the part. Both of us thinking it was the same part I was on hold for being created by a friend of ours. And so I immediately started crying in pasties. You held my hand and you were so warm and you were so… There was something about it where you were like, I know. I'm sorry, buddy. But you also, you didn't do the thing that I sometimes do where I'm codependent, where I'm like, I know. I suck. I'm the worst person. I don't even deserve it. Whatever I would say to try to make the other person feel better, which doesn't work, you didn't do that. You held your space, and you also comforted me at the same time, which was a very beautiful thing.

I wonder what Sher's version of this is.

Let me tell you, because I left him a message Almost immediately because I'm not shy. I was like, Oh, I'm such an idiot for thinking I could even be on this show. Anybody wants me on this show? Of course, I didn't get this. Amy is like a comedy goddess.

Oh, my God, what a mean part of yourself to be.

Very mean. That's a person we're to not invite to the dinner party anymore. I called him. I was like, Hey, would love to talk to you. He was on a plane, and he landed. He was like, Uh. I was like, You want to tell me what's going on? Because it would have been really nice for you to tell me and not Amy to tell me that I wasn't getting this job. He's like, No, back up. We changed the boss. It's a woman, and Amy's playing the boss. I was like, Oh, my God. We might be working together?

Yeah, it went from, Oh, no, to, Oh, my God, we might be the two women on the show. Yes.

I still wasn't cast because I still had to do a bunch of chemistry reads after that. But that became this huge possibility of my life being the best, from the worst to the best.

God, I'm sweating even thinking about that.

They just hadn't decided things, and they were trying to build around you, I think is what happened, around that character. I think they had just done that. I think You wanted to tell me as soon as possible because we were so close, which was the right instinct. Mike decided to get on a plane, which was his instinct.

And he just flew for hours. He wasn't even going anywhere. He just went to different cities and he never got on a It's on the plane. And that's what execs do. That's what a powerful person does, is they get on the plane.

They just get on as many planes as possible. My phone was off.

This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, Airpods, and Apple Watch at Apple. Through this special referral offer, when you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at apple. Co/getdailycash. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch. Offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms of limitations apply. Your little zizi is all grown up. I know. My zizi is just an old man now. I know. If you watch, whenever I see old parks things, I was like, I didn't know that me and Aubrey did a show when we were little kids. It's really... How old were you when you started on the show? I was 13 in season one. Then when we finished, I just turned 18. I got my driver's license in the middle of the run. A lot of people don't know that you were 18 when you were playing Tom Haverford on Parks and Rec. It is true, though.

You looked like You were a baby. I didn't know anything. In the first season, I didn't know how to act or anything. I should not have been on television. Nbc should have been like, We got to get...

Is there any Indian guy that's done more acting?

A lot of people don't know you were the first person hired for Parks. Yeah, I met with them. What was that meeting like? Do you remember it? Well, it was so mysterious what they were up to. I had a meeting with them, and I told them, I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, that would be a dream job. This was when the office was on and Mike and Greg were both involved in that, and that was my favorite show like that on the air. I told them, Whatever you're up to, let me know. Then, of course, it all came together with you and Rachida and everything. Well, I'm learning. When I was talking to Plaza, when Plaza was here, she was talking about her meeting with them, too. Yeah, very famous stories. I know. It's funny. I forgot That the Avengers Assemble feeling of those guys going out and getting people and bringing them in and talking about, We're going to do something very cool. It didn't even feel like there was a ton of auditioning. It was more just them picking people that they thought was funny. Not only funny, and I feel like all of us, whenever we see each other, do interviews, say this stuff ad nauseam, but it's so true, but also just the best people I've ever met in my life.

Yeah. Really, I cannot believe it because we've all done other stuff and not everybody's... Look, we've all done other stuff. I don't talk about everything the way I talk about parks. You do something, and some people, it's just your energy. Not It's not really mean or bad, but just something like we all just clicked and there was a vibe that worked with all of us. Just to pay respect to you and Mike, when I did Masternone with Alan, and as I become a director, what I learned from you and Mike in terms of how to lead, I can't thank you enough. It was the best role model I could have ever had. Sees. Let me see if you can guess how many episodes of weeks you did? Would you know to guess? I would say between 7: 00 and 13: 00. Ten. Ten? Okay. Between 7: 00 and 13: 00. It's right between. That's what he's saying. But it was such a huge impact on my life. It's still the thing I get most recognized for. Really? Yes. And I just remember, well, first of all, you were the most incredible number one on a call sheet because you had dance parties at lunch every day.

And anybody that walked on that set just was filled with such confidence and such joy, which is I had the greatest time on that show. I have such I don't have the greatest memory. That's where we fell in love. But that's really, Katherine, where we, I think, actually met. Met. My first real memory is in the trailer of Parks and Rec. And we used to... Katherine is talking about dance parties, and we used to do a thing where just after lunch, we would play three songs. The best. The great Autumn Butler, our makeup artist, had great taste in music, and we would just dance around for two or three songs. Yeah, the best. I think for me, a way to honestly just keep my energy up. But it became a way to meet people in the trailer. And I remember two things I loved about you right away. How much you love to laugh. People that know you know that. If someone's going to break in a scene, it's this professional over here. Do you think you break- I have to be really serious in my mind. Because if it starts to happen, it is tears and mucus.

But I have seen you in bloopers, and you're You're hanging in. Yeah, I do hang in. You hang in. I do. Yeah. You, in fact, go in harder, I think. When people are about- I think I have to. I know it's a survival technique. I just have to dig in a little bit. I do. I go harder. I feel like every time I've done a scene with you, you are so good at improvising. In fact, a lot of your character on Parks and Rec, Jenn Barkley's moments were improvised. Were they really? Well, one of the favorites, one of TikTok andMemes and memes and gifs and gifs is Poncho. Yeah, Poncho was a very surreal- So let's talk about what happened. For people that have never seen that, tell us what that scene was. Well, I went to Ben and Leslie's house. I'm speaking as Jenn Barcly, my character. I'm first person. Well, for people that aren't watching, she just transformed. I just transformed. Her eyes turned dark, and she's a completely different person. A lot more hairspray. I went to their house. They have children. I am not into children at all. I wore a plastic poncho so that I wouldn't get any sticky fingers or crap all over me.

And at some point, the kids rush by with paint, nail me with the paint. And at some take, just to make you guys laugh, I don't even did not have any idea it was going to be any... I just swung my arms open. I went, poncho, poncho. And that really has me. It's like Batman's cape. I mean... That was the best. I just wanted to make you guys laugh and just having the energy is so loose. So it's funny you say that I'm improvising. Again, I can do it if I know who I am and the given circumstances. And that, I feel really free in that department, but Well, you know how we were on set a lot, and I would watch you work, and I would say the same thing about Adam, and I wonder, too, if it's because of both of your training. But I would watch the way you two worked. And You would have a moment where you'd say really, really loose. But just right before the scene, and I can think of a couple of scenes, the great scene where Jen Barkley is telling Leslie, no, basically, you have to start.

Oh, You have to start thinking bigger, which is a huge moment in the show. I love the writing in that scene. Oh my God, that scene. Mike Sure and the writer's like, I just love how they slowly took care of Leslie, and they sent people in to give her these messages is. And Jen Barkley is just this Gen-X ballbuster who sees something that Leslie doesn't. Anyway, in that moment, when you're giving that speech, I remember very clearly right before the scene, you just took a moment. And I think we joked about it later because it was like watching a real actor. Oh, God. You were on Parks and Rec. You only did five episodes. Do you know that?

I know.

But you played a character that stood the test of time. I mean, if only. If only we had Bobby Newport, just to A guy who wants to be liked. Yeah. I know, if only, right? Bobby, at the time-Mainswell just doesn't quite grasp any of it. He wants to go to the after-party. Bobby Newport, played by you, was the rich son of the Sweetam's family, the family, the Newports, that owned the big factory in the fictional town of Ponty, that Parks and Rec took place, and Bobby Newport ran against Leslie. It was like what Bobby had that Leslie could never get was that, Gee, whiz, I can't believe I fell into this. I just want to have a good time, you guys.

Yeah, I think that's even a line that's how Bobby feels about abortion, isn't it?

Oh, yeah, right. What did he say about abortion? I guess my thoughts on abortion are just like, I want everybody to have a good time. I just want everybody to have a good time. I mean, come on, guys. What? Bobby kept getting flustered by Leslie wanting it because he wants it. There's that great scene where he's like, Can you just drop out of the race because I want it? Yeah. Because I want it. I want it. Come on.

Please, you could do it. Just do it.

Come on. People were like, I don't know. I love He's great, and he doesn't seem to want it. Yeah, and he doesn't know anything, but neither do I.

Leslie, no, was capable and great for that job. Bobby Newport is not.

No. Bobby, I think, was thinking, Maybe I'll just get it, and then Leslie, you can do it. Yeah.

How about that? That's a good compromise.

What are your memories of doing that character? It was such a funny character. You were so great. Thank you, Amy. My memories of that were, I can't believe I get to work with my favorite people in the world, you and Adam and Katherine and Rachida.

It was like, this is the dream. I remember When you were talking to Tina on the very first episode you did where you were saying you feel like the great thing that can happen if you were able to sustain enough of a career that you can get to a point where you work with your friends, or you get to work with people you really like. Because it's not work. It's just the best. It was such a fun character, obviously. The show is so great, and you're so great in it.

It was a dream.

It was a dream.

I loved it. I loved every second of it.

I loved hanging out with all you guys.

It was so fun. It was really fun. It was. Those scenes were so It's so funny. You got to do the stupidest... Talk about fun, stupid. It's the stupidest stuff. Yeah.

Well, there's nothing funnier to me than unearned confidence.

Yeah. Just somebody feels like they've... It's like, I've got it figured out.

And it's like, no, you don't.

If it's nice unearned...

If it's It's really funny if it's not nice unearned confidence.

But that was the thing of he had a lot of unearned confidence, but he was just dumb. Yeah, he wanted to have a good time. He was sweet, though. But he was nice. He was sweet. He was sweet.

He was sweet. That's a fun thing to get to play. It's a fun character to get to play.

Would we describe him as guyless? Is that the word?

Yeah, I think that's a good way to do it.

I know that word.

That's a really good...

By the way, of course you do. Fucking great word. He was a fucking great word. Fucking great word. God damn. We meet on the set of Parks and Rec. For people that don't know, you had a crazy week when you got hired. You got three jobs that same week. What happened that week you were hired on Parks?

Basically, I was trying to get I got a part in Funny People, the Judd-Apital movie with Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler. I went through this whole vetting process in New York. Then enough where Allison Jones, who cast that movie and Parks and Rec, called me and was like, All right, you made it to the chemistry read stage. So we have to come out to LA and read with Seth and see if you get the part, basically. But I didn't really have an agent or anything. I I had to pay my way to go out there. So it was a little bit janky, but I got myself out there to do that. And then while I was out in LA for that week to do the funny people thing, Allison was like, How would I send you on some other things? How do you feel about that? One of them was she wanted me to go meet Mike Sure and Greg Daniels, who at the time were shooting on the office, and they were on the set of the office. She sent me to the set of the office. I guess at that time, I didn't realize.

I didn't think like, Oh, I could... These meetings will get me a job. I didn't understand.

I think it's one of the things about being young that's nice is you're not really aware what you're actually... What's at stake.

No. Definitely not that. If it was an audition, obviously, I know, All right, I'm going to get the part or not. But general meetings, I didn't really get the vibe of that. How old were you then? I was 24, Yeah. 23, maybe. But so then I went to the set of The Office, and I was so star struck. I see in my horse eye, BJ Nofuck, and Mindy Kaling walked by, and I was like, Oh, my God. I was like, They're in the show, or whatever. Mike Sure is like, Hello. He's at his desk like, and I'm like, What? Then I just met him for like, he describes it. He really embellishes this story, I think.

He loves this story.

He loves it. He's like, And then I met the weirdest person.

There's no bigger fan of Bobby Plaza than Mike Sure. Yeah, right. He loves it, though. Because I think it just speaks to, honestly, the fact that You've always been yourself, confidently yourself, and you don't have a vibe of like... You are the opposite of a pick me, as the kids would say. You do not have that vibe. No. That draws people in. I think he was like, Who is this person who seems mad at me while I try to give her a job?

Yeah, literally. Why are you wearing jean shorts in a general meeting? Like, ripped jean shorts.

You're like, I didn't know what this was.

No. Then I got a phone call, and they were like, You're on a TV show. I'm like, What? No.

But then- You're like, Which one? I know. You're like, The Office?

Yeah. I literally probably said that I didn't know what was going on. Then they were like, Actually, you got the part, but actually, you have to audition to play yourself.

You don't have to name names, but I wonder who else was up to play you.

I don't think that anyone.

Oh, right. It was just one person.

I think they just made me do it for the network or something. I think I found out later. I mean, maybe not. I don't know. It's probably like, you know.

It was you, Sharon Stone and Gina Gershung. Yeah. You get the part, we're on the set, and then, I mean, we could do a whole, obviously, we could do a whole episode our experiences there. And there are so... I mean, the best thing about our relationship, I feel like, is a lot of, I think, long-lasting relationships is you don't always remember how you met? I just remember, I just have this vision of you being next to me on the set of that show and me being like, Welcome. Leslie was supposed to be welcoming April, and April was supposed to be like, What am I doing here? And Amy was welcoming Aubrey, and Aubrey was like, What am I doing here?

Truly, yeah. I remember when we first met, and I think I told you this story, it was the promos that we shot. That's right. Which was weird because we hadn't shot the show yet. And the rest of the cast hadn't even been cast yet. I think at that point, it was just like, Aziz, me, you, maybe Rachida. Maybe Rachida, yeah.

I don't think we had nick yet.

I don't think so. But they had me, and I was physically there. They shot this promo of us on a swing set, and that's when I met you officially for the first time. I think I was literally on a swing like a child. I was like, meh, meh, meh. I was like, Jess, don't make any sad movements. Except swinging. Except swinging. Which is good because swinging is really good somatically for me. I liked. But then, yeah, you came over and we were both just swinging like little babies. That's how we met on a swing. We met on a playground, which is nice.

Really nice. It feels like the show was that. It felt like a true play ground space. It really was. I mean, I loved and love working with you. I love playing with you. I love acting with you. I love you as an actor. I love you as a person. I love your acting, Plazzie. You know how I think you are.

I love playing with you.

I feel like our dynamic, the arc of... In many ways, April had the biggest growth in the show. She goes from truly not wanting to be where she is to ending the show with some purpose and a love in her life. Also, she stands up for what she doesn't want to do, which is a big part of your 20s. But when you started that character, when you started her, did you have any idea where you thought it would go? Did you have any... You know what I mean? Did you see? No.

Yeah. No. I just No, I think once I realized, Oh, what's so fun about this character is that it's a game of not showing anyone that I really care.

Yes.

And once I locked into that. It was real... It felt like there was no limit to the growth or what could happen because if you hint that there's something else going on, it's like you can play with that and also in different ways with every different character. So I feel like maybe on an unconscious level, but I felt like, Oh, there's so much to play with, even though it feels really subtle and simple.

Yeah, that was her secret. Is she cared, but she pretended she didn't. So when it would pop out, it was so satisfying. It was so funny and good. And the ways in which she tried to keep those things hidden were so funny.

Yeah. And then I think just the Andy-April thing was such an organic... I had no idea that was going to become a thing until that one episode.

So let's talk about that. So Andy, played by Chris Pratt, and you, April and Andy, had an episode where a bunch of us were off doing the like a harvest. We're at the Harvest Festival. We're at some festival. I don't know where you guys were. We were doing something together.

Yeah. Or you were camping or something.

Oh, yeah. Maybe. Oh, yeah.

We were camping episode.

We were camping episode? I don't know. They put you guys in the office and just said, Let's see what happens to these two characters when they hang out. Basically, the chemistry that those characters had was the building block for why they eventually became the real romantic love story of the show other than Leslie and Anne.

Yeah. Because Anne doesn't deserve.

Don't talk about Anne. Sorry. But what do you remember of that day?

I have a bit... Well, Greg Daniels directed the episode, which I will always remember because he was so delighted. He had such a little kid energy, and he was so... He just was very willing to like, Let's just try things. We had a whole day where we were just playing. It was like what you said, the office, the bowl The bullpen? What did we call it? The bullpen. The bull room. The bullpen became a playground. I just remember, I have an image of us sitting under the table. We were under that main table for a while. I don't even know what we were doing down there, but we were under there. I just remember... I don't know. It was so fun. It just felt like... I remember before then, I think it was the finale of maybe the first season. I don't I don't remember what season, but there was a very subtle moment where we're all in a group, we're in a circle, and Andy's saying something about his band, or he's like, something about, I think this band name is cool or whatever. And everyone else was like, No. And I was just like, I like it.

And it was an improvised thing. But do you remember that where I remember being like... And then I remember knocking on Mike Sure's door and being like, Listen. I was like, April loves Andy, and April thinks Andy's cool because he's so not cool that he's cool. Do you understand?

Mike was like, Get out of here.

I was like, You better listen to me.

Wow, you did.

You knocked on his door. It was more like just a little conversation.

It was like a layer to that character because you become his advocate. That's the part of April that is another interesting layer is like, again, she acts like nothing matters, and she's completely disaffected, but she's actually very fiercely loyal and sticks up for people she believes in, which I think is a character trait of you too, Plazzie. You're a very loyal friend. You're a really, really protective friend, and you really stick up for people who you love. That side of it was so great because then we got to see her manage him, care about the band, see potential for him that he didn't see in himself. He was just like, I can't believe how lucky I am. I remember when the writers had you guys get married, we were all like, What?

I know. That was insane.

What do you remember of that day shooting it?

There was a lot of crying. You cried. I mean, I love a wedding. I remember you cried in the kitchen, and then you were crying off camera, and I was like, Stop.

I didn't cry that much.

Yes, you did. You literally cried all day. It was so weird. I was so happy you were in love. You were crying all day. I was not crying all day. I was like, We're not even at the camera. I was like, We're in my trailer. Why are you doing this? You were like, How do you feel? I'm like, Oh, my God.

No, I didn't.

I'm ordering a salad for lunch. This is my job.

I was crying because you were crying so hard, and I was worried that we weren't going to get the shot. I was crying because I was sad at how much you were crying. I don't think so.

I think that you thought it was real.

Yeah, I assumed it was legally finding Yeah. But it was so good. The vows were so funny.

Yeah.

The wedding was so stupid. It was so funny. It was so stupid. Okay. I mean, I guess like, have you rewatched Parks and Rec?

Nope. What?

I'm finding this out. Okay.

I wouldn't even know how. Shut up.

Okay.

You asked me how.

You've never... The big, giant screen that you watch your movies on.

How does it work? Go blue, blue, blue. I wouldn't.

And go to... Go to... Go to what? Type in where the search is. Where? How?

Someone tell me.

Peacock. No. Yes. Go there or go to iTunes.

I wish I knew how.

Just pick up your controller and just say, It works and rec into it. Which one? And it'll come up.

Okay, it's probably not the right one.

Go to your DVDs. You love your DVDs.

I wish I had one right now.

But so you've never rewatched it? No. I don't know what's wrong with you guys.

If it comes on in a hotel room, I literally throw something.

I throw it.

Adam says, I will literally break the TV.

Adam says, Watching the show makes him sad. Nick has told me he has not rewatched it.

Liar. He jerks off to it every night. You know he sits there and touches himself.

You're so bright. He's got it on right now. He's.

nick. He's right, Tammy.

You're right. He does watch it for Tammy. His real life, Megan Malali.

They get off on that. They watch it together.

You're so right. They watch it together. They're sick. They're just slap each other in the face. They're disgusting. They're so disgusting. Nick, I know you're listening. You're not bullying anybody. Two more things about Parks. We had so many fun guest stars come in, and you connected with some of them in interesting ways.

I don't know if you remember this, but do you remember when Chris Bosh was on the show, the basketball player? Chris Bosh. He was a Miami He player. Oh, yes. And he was a-Was he in like a- Remember we had different beep basketball? Like Roy Hibbert.

Yeah, we had Roy. Yes. Yeah, Chris Bosh. Yes. Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh? Yes. He was with Aziz and... Was he like- John Ralfia? Yeah. Entertainment 720.

Yeah. But I don't know if you know this story. It was a fairly quick story, but it was so stupid. But I was a really big Chris Bosh fan. So I was like, Oh, my God. I can't believe he's coming. This is insane. I was like, I want to play a prank on him. Do you know this? No. He had to go through hair and makeup, but he, I think, had very little hair and whatever. Didn't need makeup because he's a guy or whatever. But you know how they always put them through the works anyway. So I was like, I'm going to pretend to be the hair stylist. I think it was Terry, maybe was in there. You know how she had those glasses or whatever? I was like, Terry, give me your glasses. I can't remember, whatever. I'm thinking like, this is going to be hilarious because it's going to be me. And he'll be like, Ha ha ha, it's you. I pretend to be Terry. I'm at her station. And then he goes through makeup first, and they're like, You look good. A little powder and you're good. Then he went and he was like, Yeah, thanks a lot.

Then he sat down in my chair and I was like, Well. I looked at him and I was like, What are we going to do today? I was doing a dumb thing, and he didn't make any eye contact with me. He was just looking down, and he was so sweet. But he didn't make eye contact. He was just like, Yeah, whatever you think. Oh, no. You were like, Oh. I was like, Well, I think that you're looking pretty good, sir. He'd be like, Yeah, I'm good. All right. I'd be like, Well, you're not that good.

Then I was like, I just kept it going.

Someone videotaped it.

Oh my God.

It was so awkward. Didn't recognize me at all. Didn't know who I was. Don't think he ever knew who I was. No.

Not once. Chris Bosh isn't going to be watching the show before he comes in. He didn't know who I was.

He's too busy. I was. He thought I was...

He thought you were a hair person.

The PAs are like, We really need him on set. I'm like, Well, he's almost done in my department of hair. Then basically, it just died.

You never- Nope. Well, Chris is probably listening, so now you know.

Never not once. Never not once.

Did you even work with him on set that day? No.

Never saw him again. Literally never saw him again ever in my life.

Every single day, someone tells me Parks got them through the pandemic. I heard you mention it on a previous episode.

Isn't that- Every single day, people say, I watched it during COVID. I watch it with my kid. My kid's going through a hard time. I like to watch it at night because I have a lot of anxiety. I cannot believe the way that that show continues to be a medicine for people.

It's so nice.

Isn't that nice?

And Ben and Leslie. I know. Do you remember we were texting just a couple of months ago and just commented on how nice they are?

They're so nice. They're so much nicer than us.

So much nicer.

They're so nice to each other. I know. Every woman deserves a Ben. Every woman deserves a partner like Ben who roots for you and looks at you and it's just like, That's my girl. Every Everyone deserves that relationship.

But also, Leslie, from the word go, loved Ben. Oh, beyond. Now, looking back, it's like they were just in love with each other immediately. I know.

Their arc was such so juicy. The writers, Mike and the writers, because they meet and they're just like, Well, what's your deal?

Oh, yeah. It was like... Hot? And then they like each other, but then they can't...

They can't be together.

Yeah, that was great.

They can't be together, which is like, Really?

I mean, they probably could have been together.

I know, it didn't matter.

And then they had to break up.

Mike was like, This is totally fake and whatever, but we just need to have Rob care about you two being together. And it worked, and it was made it even hotter.

Ben kept putting Leslie's... You know what it is? They kept putting each other's needs over their own. They cared about what the other one needed, and they respected each other. They really liked what the other one did. It was the best thing about that relationship is how, with the exception of Anne, who is- Of course. Leslie's number one. Of course.

I've accepted that.

Yeah, is the way that they just rooted for each other. Yes. They really rooted for each other.

I haven't seen a ton of... It makes me sad to watch the show because I miss it.

I've heard you say that. Yeah. Why does it make you sad?

Because I miss it. I Like you were saying, we really appreciated being there every day, and it was so fun. And also just walking in that building, and then suddenly you're there in the hallways. It was so fun, and the people are Just loved everybody.

I think one of the things that was so fun about what we got to do is the camera helped us, at least it helped me, have my feelings about... I I tell people, of course, we love Ben. We watch Ben watch Leslie, and we love Leslie. So when people love Leslie, we love them. And we got to watch Ben love her Because the camera was... We got to do so much indirect stuff. We didn't have to face to face all the time. Our characters had feelings for each other because of the camera. That's right. Even though... I mean, it's such a beautiful genre, that mockumentary, because it allows you to just even create space and depth in the shot. People are just not in the same room.

That's right. I remember we always used to say we loved it when there were spy shots through blinds because it made our acting better. Do you remember that?

Yes.

Do you also remember this thing we used to do where sometimes we would be doing a scene and we'd be like, okay, I'm not someone who can predict the future 100%, but I will say It was like a couple of times a season, I will say, I can say with 100 % certainty that neither of us will ever win an award for acting for this scene. Do you remember? Totally. You would say it sometimes and then sometimes- I'd be like, You know what?

Let's just... I mean, and also on the other side, I would sometimes say, I said this on the podcast, I would say, Adam, your acting is so good. You'd be like, Shut up. We're in the middle of the scene. Because it was like, Oh, my God. I mean, that's what I love about working with you. And I just feel like before we end, I just want to feed our fans a little bit more, which is what do you think was the most romantic scene between Ben and Leslie?

Oh, man. It's so sweet. I know, but what's the most romantic? The most romantic? I think, well, there are a couple of nominees. Okay. But I think maybe Smallest Park.

Because I- We just heard a little groan. I hope it's a good groan.

Someone just being like,.

I love Smallest Park.

Me too.

Nicole Hallef Center, the great Nicole Hallef Center. Nicole Hallef Center.

Chelsea wrote that one.

Chelsea Peretti wrote that episode.

I remember really feeling connected shooting that and just Just being like, this is feeling like how special it was making the show. And that was... Yeah, that was... But I don't know. What do you think?

Well, I have a lot. I mean, I feel like that was such a big one. I feel like some of the... I have such an affinity for the beginning, beginnings parts of Ben and Leslie, because I do think it also just reminded me of the show was deciding that they were to love each other, too. I really love this tiny moment when they realize they like the same spot, when they like to sit under the sunflow mural. I love that moment.

When I ask you if you know where that mural is and your response, it's a rewindable moment.

I love that moment between both of us because... And of course, Parks then pays it off years later.

Years later.

By sitting underneath it. Yeah. I also, when we shot Ben and Leslie's wedding, it was so fun. It was like we were all just sitting there all day, goofing around. And it was so fun.

I think we had real champagne, too.

We probably did. We probably did. And then that probably became a problem later in the day.

Yeah, probably. Champagne, not something to have when you have a 10-hour workday ahead of you. Are you asked all the time if there'll be more parks or a reboot or something? I always feel like it's done. It was perfectly done. How do you do that?

Maybe they should do like Muppet Babies. They should do like Parks and Rec babies. That's right. Like everyone has babies.

All of us have babies. Like that Instagram thing where everyone's...

Oh, yeah, we see that. The AI babies? The AI babies? They should do AI babies.

But like a whole series of all of us just in a crib together. Yeah.

But they should do it present day where the politics are really dark and mean. It should be like tiny babies fighting each other. They hate each other.

It's like apocalyptic political babies.

They all are like, Oh, no.

I hate you so much. I hate you so much. Yay.

I mean- Yay, I hate you. Because we made the show in an era where public service was encouraged and valued and funded. Yes. I'm sure it wasn't as funded as much as it should have been, but it was funded, at least. It's an entirely different tone to American life.

When you have that feeling, sometimes you wish you could go back to high school and enjoy it.

Right.

That's how it felt. We actually got to do it in real-time.

Yeah, because it was genuinely goofy and funny. Yeah. Like, the best jokes- What is one of the favorite funny scenes you got to do? So many. So many. I mean, I always think of you guys on the ice at the ice skating rink with Gloria Estefan. I remember at the table read, that was, We couldn't stop laughing because it was so funny.

Yeah, Mike Scully wrote that episode.

Mike Scully is the best.

We got to walk across that ice, and I remember just thinking, this is so fun. It looked so fun.

What a fun job. That wasn't even in Yeah, that's right.

Sorry. We should probably just Photoshop.

We should put me in that scene. That's why I brought it up. I feel like I deserve it.

Okay, are you guys ready to watch it? Yeah. Okay, here we go. Yes.

Really exciting.

Amy, are you going to play it for me? I'm supposed to play it. I'm supposed to play it. Here we go. I'm You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weis-Burman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spalane, Kaya Alan and Elea Zanaras. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovelle, and Jenna Weis-Burman. Original music by Amy Miles. Say mal, hast du bei der Steuer, auch diesen Schul-Flashback? Einfach irgendwas raten und dann hoffen, dass es stimmt? Boah, nee, gar nicht. Wieso Steuer ist so mein safe space? Du meinst, damit ist alles sicher? Ja, genau. Wieso Steuer ist so die Steuer-App, die dich einfach versteht. Egal ob Studium, Job oder Umzug. Stimmt, krass. Fühlt sich gar nicht wie Steuern an. Steuern erledigt? Safe. Mit Wieso Steuer.