Parks and Recreation Season 1 Episode 6

Rock Show

Original Air Date: 05/14/2009
Director: Michael Schur
Writers: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Norm Hiscock

Andy's cast is removed, revealing Ann's iPod and many other items inside.  Leslie asks to keep the cast as a symbol of the Park. 
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At City Hall, the Parks Department has a little party for Andy.  Ann and Andy tell the department all about Andys bands rock show.  Leslie can't go because her mom set up a dinner meeting for her. 
Mark gets a massive speedbump lowered and his depressing nature is revealed.

Ann finds out from the doctor at the hospital she works at that Andy could have had his cast removed two weeks earlier.  Instead, he delayed it.  She is naturally pissed off.

At Leslie's dinner meeting, she quickly realizes that the old man she's out with thinks it is a date.  She steps outside to call her mom, who tells her that she isn't getting any younger! Hah!
At the rock show, Tom brings his wife, Wendy.  Wendy is much hotter than Tom and makes way more money as a surgeon.  Naturally, everyone is surpried she is married to Tom.   

Leslie's sixty-two year old date agrees to go to the rock show with Leslie. 
Later at the rock show, Ann is pissed at Andy and just glares at him while he sings.  Mark tries to hit on her, but she doesn't respond well.

Leslie and her date arrive just as Andy is finishing his show. 
Everyone leaves and Leslie has a drink with Mark.  They get drinks to go somehow and head over to the pit.

Ann fights with Andy about his lie.  His defense is that he "really really liked it" when Ann served him food. Hah! She kicks him out of her house.

At the pit, Mark tries to sleep with Leslie again, but Leslie turns him down. As he begins to leave, he falls into the pit. Andy sees him and calls for Ann to go help him. As Ann rushes off to help him, Andy walks back inside her house, sits on her sofa, and starts eating her potato chips.

Quotes

Andy   "You know I don't really like to define it but it's like Matchbox Twenty meets The Fray."
Tom   "So, rock?"
Andy   "Well, again, I don't really like to define it."
April   "I totally get what you mean."

Mark   "There used to be this huge speedbump in the center of town. It was insane, so I decided I wanted to do something about it and I got it lowered two inches. Apparently, what I can acheive in government can literally be measured."

Andy   "The band has had a few different names over the years. We started, we were Teddy Bear Suicide, but then we changed it to Mouserat. Then we were God Hates Figs, Department of Homeland Obscurity, Flames For Flames, Muscle Confusion, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, then Everything Rhymes With Orange, Punch Face Champions, RadWagon, Puppy Pendulum, Possum Pendulum, Penis Pendulum, Hand Rail Suicide, Angel Snack, Just The Tip, Three Skin, Jet Black Pope. We went back to Mouserat and now we are Scarecrow Boat. God when I hear myself say Scarecrow Boat out loud I kinda hate it."


Soundtrack

Menace Ball   -Mouserat
Ann   -Mouserat
The Pit   -Mouserat

Season 1 Episode 5

The Banquet

Original Air Date: 05/07/2009
Director: Beth McCarthy-Miller
Writers: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Tucker Cawley

Leslie's mother, Marlene, wins the Tellenson Award and a banquet is being held to honor her.  Leslie prepares a speech. 
Ann agrees to go to banquet with Leslie, who tells her it is a very dressy event.  Leslie then goes to the local barber who has cut many politicians hair in the past.
At the banquet, Ann arrives in a pink ball gown and Leslie arrives with a man's hairdo.  It doesn't help they enter holding arms.  Another politician there approaches them and tells them he wishes had their
courage. Hah! Leslie does not see that they clearly look like a lesbian couple.
There is another board member present named Janine Restreppo who could help with the zoning of the park Leslie is trying to build.  Marlene gives Leslie some advice about buttering up Janine Restreppo during her
speech about her mother. However, during the speech, Leslie goes overboard in buttering up Janine.
When Leslie approaches her, Janine tells her to call her secretary to set something up for next month.  Marlene believes she is blowing them off and tells Leslie to blackmail her with information about her husband who got a DUI.
Tom wants Mark to go to a bar with him to hit on chicks. Mark goes.  Leslie tells Ann about her plan to  blackmail Janine and they get into a fight. Ann tells her that her mom gave her bad advice and Leslie calls
her out on being a crutch to Andy.
Tom wears an ugly, orange hat to try to pick up girls.  Mark ends up leaving and tries to go back to the banquet, but it is too late and everyone has left.
Leslie tries to blackmail Janine, but can't go through with it.  Ann and Leslie, of course, make up after their fight.  This episode is the first mention of Leslie's father, who is apparently dead.  The relationship between her and her mother is more closely looked at and it is obvious Leslie respects her too much.  Great dialogue!

Quotes

Leslie   "I think we could be a multi-generational political dynasty, you and I, you know like the Kennedy's or the Bush's, minus the drinking problem. I mean no disrespect."

Leslie   "How important are speeches? I don't know, ask the Gettysburg Address. Oh, it didn't answer your call? Maybe because it was in the Smithsonian."

Leslie   "Salvatore Manfalotti has been cutting hair across from Pioneer Hall since 1958. All the movers and shakers who come through Pawnee have sat in that chair at one point or another. I mean, he's the guy who made Larry Bird look the way he does."

Ron   "Marlene is a woman. She has worked in the government for three decades. Thirty years! Properly applied, that's how long a good varnish should last. So Marlene, it is true, that you have won this award."

Tom   "It's called peacocking. Basically I'm wearing something that kind of makes me stand out like a peacock. So girls will be like 'hey what's with that hat?'"

Leslie   "The people who win awards aren't always the best people. I mean, I think Ann and I are really good people. And some day, others will see that and we'll get our due. Would I like to win a Tellenson award like my mom did? Sure, but my dad never won an award and he was always happy. He lives in Florida in a cemetary. The point is, my mom is alive and I love her. She's one tough cookie. That's why everybody calls her the iron **** ***** of Pawnee...fondly."

Tom   "Yes, I'm married. But my wife understands that a good politician has to be appealing to the ladies. The fact that I haven't even gotten close to cheating on her is a disappointment to both of us."

Season 1 Episode 4

Boys' Club

Original Air Date: 04/30/2009
Director: Michael McCullers
Writers: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Alan Yang

This episode opens with Leslie and Tom being called out to investigate complaints about teenagers having a dog poop fight in the park.  Leslie doesn't quite believe it, but it is indeed true.  At first, she is grossed out, but then she joins the fight!

The Parks Department receives a gift basket of wine and cheese and Jerry and Tom want to open it, but Leslie stops them as it is unethical. 

Leslie has April create a social media web page, like Facebook I think, for The Pit.  She hosts an unveiling of the page and learns Mark is already a 'friend' of The Pit.  Ann, Leslie, April, and Tom look at Mark's photos with slutty women. 

At the same time, Mark is at what Leslie calls 'a boys club meeting.' He stands around in the courtyard of City Hall, drinking beer, with other men who work there.

Leslie and Ann decide to join the boys' club meeting.  To their surprise, the guys are more than fine with them joining.  Until, Leslie knocks into the table causing all the beer to break and spill.  Ann asks Mark about the slutty girls on his profile and he claims not to see them anymore at all.  When the beer runs out, the guys start to leave and Leslie make a decision she will regret.  She opens the gift basket of wine and cheese and takes it out to the boys' club meeting.  Meanwhile, April waits for her sister and draws all over her sisters' jeans. 

The next day Leslie feels awful about opening the basket.  Ann goes to work and asks Andy to clean up.  He takes a bunch of pain killers and actually does some cleaning. 
Leslie demands Ron turn her in for opening the gift basket.  Ron thinks she is blowing things out of proportion, but she insists.  Leslie e-mails the entire Pawnee government in an effort to whistleblow herself. In the e-mail, she includes a link to the Parks Department website.  She didn't realize though that April posted a video of herself drinking some of the wine Leslie stole.  Hah!

Leslie is interviewed by the people reviewing her case.  She admits to opening the basket and pleads for Aprils case. 

Andy puts himself in a plastic swimming pool to bathe and his neighbor Lawrence comes in and takes his boombox, resulting in Andy chasing Lawrence naked down the road.
It is decided that Leslie will get a letter in her file.  This is due to Ron's fierce defense of her character during the interview.  Ann goes to City Hall after work to see Leslie and Leslie reveals that she opened the gift basket for Mark! She tells Ann about how she and Mark had a brief affair a few years ago.  Oh gosh!
The next day, Mark brings Leslie a beer to drink with him. It seems like Mark thinks he is just being a good friend, but I can see how Leslie construes this as flirting.  LOL!  Leslie learns to chill out about a perfect record. Awesome!

Quotes

Tom  "When you're in government, there's a million ways to exploit your power. Have I ever given in to that temptation? No. Never. I'm not that kind of politician...I have a moral code and I never violate it. People look at me and they say 'Wow Tom, you are so pure, like a brown super man with a beard that just stands for justice and truth and the American way.'"

Leslie  "Politics is full of boys' clubs, formal and informal. Behind me are all the members of the city council over the past 30 years. And every day, as a woman, I have to walk past this wall of men. It can be very upsetting. Especially because of that guy. No matter what direction I move, he's always staring at my chest."

Leslie  "April, we're leaving and you're in charge and it's because you're a woman."

Leslie  "Did you hear that? That was the sound of a glass ceiling being shattered."

Leslie  "Maybe in your world it isn't a big deal. You're a white, Protestant man with a full, rich mustache. But I am a woman and I need to hold myself up to a higher standard."

Leslie  "Two days ago, I attended an informal boys' club meeting for the very first time. After one and a half beers, awash in the glow of acceptance, into this elite, exclusive club...I made a very unwise decision. A decision that will live in infamy. I opened a gift basket of wine and cheese. Our intern, April Ludgate, drank some of that wine without my knowledge. That was never part of the plan. She had not been invited to the meeting of the boys' club. I repeat- not been invited.  Though it is my hope that someday she lives in a world where the very idea of boys' clubs is ancient history."  

Ron  "No, I didn't do it for Leslie. I did it because I hate bureaucracy. My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk. And the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke. The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test and maybe also a physical tournament, like a decathlon, and women are brought to him, maybe, when he desires them."

Parks and Rec Season 1 Episode 3

The Reporter

Original Air Date: 04/23/2009
Director: Jeffrey Blitz
Writers: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Daniel J. Goor

On a nature hike, led by Jerry, Leslie eats a plant that Jerry explicitly says not to eat- country honeysuckle. Her mouth goes numb. Hah!
Leslie gets a reporter to write an article about the pit by Ann's house.
Leslie gives her subcommittee a debriefing on what to talk about while the reporter is around.  She pretty much just tells them to stay on message. After they leave, Ann takes Mark out to J.J.'s Diner. She thinks she is flirting with Mark, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't get it.
The reporter, Shauna Malwae-Tweep, arrives. When Shauna turns on a voice recorder, Leslie freaks out and continuously turns it off. The reporter interviews other people on the subcommittee.  As she interviews Andy, he reveals he was drunk at the time. Ann is upset because at the hospital that night they gave him anesthesia that could have been dangerous in conjunction with the alcohol.  Andy points out that it's totally safe, as she herself drinks all the time and is on birth control.  What?! LOL  Leslie reminds them to stay on message, thank goodness!

Leslie calls Mark to fix the situation and he takes Shauna out to wine and dine.  Leslie learns of this the next morning when Shauna arrives at the pit in the same dress she wore yesterday.  Shauna also gets a ride from Mark in the morning and shows up with no paper or pencil- how professional.  Leslie realizes Shauna slept with Mark...after awhile LOL, and freaks out. She goes to her car, winds up the window and reclines the chair! Hilarious!

Afterwards, Leslie goes to Ann's house to talk and tells her about Shauna and Mark. She tries to talk to Mark about his unethical actions, but Mark resigns from the subcommittee!  Leslie schedules another interview with Shauna. At J.J.'s Diner, Shauna reveals that Mark told her he thought the park would never be built, among other things.

Ann convinces Mark to ask Shauna not to publish what he said.  Shauna agrees since they are 'romantically involved' but Mark screws it up by telling her they AREN'T romantically involved- Hah! Classy move Mark!

Tom has been playing Ron in Scrabble and letting him win.  One day, April gets on Tom's computer and beats Ron solidly.  When Tom explains to Ron that it was April, Ron pretends not to know Tom is letting him win.  Hah!

Mark comes by and apologizes to Leslie. It's surprising because usually Mark is too okay with being a jerk. Leslie asks if he really believed the park would never get made.  When he answers that the park will get done, she reinstates him on the subcommittee. 

The newspaper article turns out to be mixed. Apparently Shauna mentions that Andy was drunk and that Ann is on birth control, but at the very end she wrote, "We'll see."

Great episode! Classic!


Quotes

Leslie: "The Parks Department has so many programs. Jerry's in charge of our pre-teen nature hikes. For awhile, it was a teenage nature hike, but then we changed it because a girl got pregnant."

Leslie: "It is a classic strategy. The press is a weapon and you can use it to kill people or to feed people. You know the beginnings of projects are very vulnerable and you have to make sure that you get a lot of press cause the momentum of that can kinda keep it alive. Or else it will die. I'm sure you remember the Tucker Park Graffiti Removal Project?"

Leslie: "This is J.J.'s Diner, the unofficial meeting place of Pawnee's political elite. The people who eat here basically run this town."

Leslie: "Well, Shauna, this is our crack team. Tom Haverford, boy genius, smooth like milk chocolate."
Tom: "That's a weird way to describe me."
Leslie: "April Ludgate, nineteen, cool enough to be invited anywhere, and chooses to be here. And finally, we got Ann Perkins and Andy Dwyer. They're the real heroes of this story."

Andy: "Oh yeah, that's, uh, actually a great story. Um, I just finished up a gig with my band, Three Skin, formerly Four Skin, but our bassist left for personal reasons. And I was taking a shortcut home and I thought I saw a toaster lying in the pit and I was like 'maybe I should get that' and I fell in and broke my legs."

Tom: "April, let me ask you something. Do you think I'm in the top five best looking Indian guys in Pawnee?"

Andy: "Men are dawgs!...He was probably thinking with the head of his wiener instead of the head of his brain. Men do that, it's disgusting."

Ron: "I'm not an idiot. I know Tom has been losing to me on purpose, but I like Tom. He doesn't do a lot of work around here. He shows zero initiative, he's not a team player, he's never one to go that extra mile. Tom is exactly what I'm looking for in a government employee."

Season 1 Episode 2

Canvassing

Original Air Date: 04/16/2009
Director: Seth Gordon
Writers: Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, and Rachel Axler

Tom Haverford fails to hide the Easter eggs for the Parks Department Easter egg hunt!  Leslie thinks he must have hid them "exceptionally well"- Hah! 
Leslie's mother, Marlene Knope, is introduced for the first time.  She clearly does not think highly of Leslie, who brags to her about having her own subcommittee.  Later, at her first subcommittee meeting, Mark tells her he thinks she's going to the public a little too soon with a public town meeting.  Leslie reveals her secret weapon is canvassing!  She even has binders created with precise dialogue. 

While canvassing, Leslie and Ann scare people off while Mark, April and Tom get scared by people.  Tom takes off running and Mark and April go back to Ann's where they play Rock Band 2 with Andy.
Leslie and Ann, after working hard all afternoon, go back to see the other committee members playing video games and they are frustrated!  

Leslie attempts to cancel the public forum, but Ron won't let her because the park project has been fast-tracked. 

At the public forum, Leslie gets very nervous and considers pulling the fire alarm when she thinks about her mother being in the audience.  She blows it pretty bad. 

Not only does she sound stupid at first, she ends up filibustering her own meeting and reading from 'The Phantom Tollbooth'.  She calls on April, her plant in the audience, but Lawrence recognizes her as a kid who came to his door canvassing.  Hah!
Leslie avoids a vote and saves the park!  Barely.  This episode was great!  It showed Leslie's bravery and it made clear her feelings regarding her mother.  Well written and hilarious as usual!


Quotes

Leslie: "I'm going to see my mom. She's a big Mucky-muck in the county school system. She's my hero. How do I explain her?  She's as respected as Mother Teresa, she's as powerful as Stalin, and she's as beautiful as Margaret Thatcher."

Marlene: "In or out Leslie, doorway is creepy."

Leslie: "I'm not above using my expertise to change hearts and minds, if the cause is just.  When I was in sixth grade, I was voted 'best dressed' by 87 votes and there were only 63 people in my class."

Leslie: "This is a little something I learned from Karl Rove.  If you want to guarantee the results of the survey, you design the question to give you the answer that you want."

Ron: "There's a new wind blowing in government and I don't like it.  All of a sudden there's all this federal money coming in and Paul, the city manager, is telling us to build parks, start new community programs- it's horrifying."

Leslie: "Why do I want to build this park so bad?  Maybe because a pit filled with garbage isn't the best that we can do in America.  You know, in Russia they could pretend that pit was a park.  Bring their kids down there, 'Hey Vlad, uh, look at these rocks. Let's pretend their potatoes. Nikolai, do you want to swim in the dirt?' but not here.  Okay?  Cause we're a nation of dreamers and it is my dream to build a park that I one day visit with my White House staff on my birthday.  And they say, 'President Knope, this park is awesome.  Now we understand why you are the first female President of the United States.'"   

Leslie: "I'll push anything through anything, you know me."

Marlene: "I want my daughter to be successful, which is why I always tell her there's nothing wrong with being a wife and mother."

Leslie: "It was tough, but you know, that's Pawnee- that's democracy. There are a lot of people here who want this park. You just gotta get past the negative people, but guess what? My subcommittee held its' first town hall meeting tonight. God, I loved it! I loved every minute of it!...Hear that?  Called me park lady!"


Soundtrack

My Own Worst Enemy  -Chris Pratt

Season 1 Episode 1

Pilot

Original Air Date:  04/09/2009
Director: Greg Daniels
Writers: Greg Daniels and Michael Schur

Leslie hosts a town hall meeting.  When she first arrives, the doors are locked.  Later, in the school theater, Leslie begins to speak, but the lights are turned off.  The meeting is moved to a classroom. 
The residents of Pawnee are ridiculous!  What are they even talking about?  Who is Laura Liney?  Ugh.
Ann (Rashida Jones) tells Leslie about a pit next to her house.  Apparently some condo builders bought it and dug out the pit for the basement.  Then, they went bankrupt and ended up leaving the lot as a pit.  Tom Haverford, Leslie's aide and fellow parks and recreation co-worker hosts the meeting with her and heavily hits on Ann. 

After hearing Ann's complaint about the pit next her house, Leslie vows to fix it and put a park where the pit is currently. 

Leslie decides to form a committee to turn the pit into a park.  She meets up with Ann and they survey the pit.  Leslie vows to get the pit filled in, but that doesn't stop Mark, her co-worker/ex-lover, from falling into the pit as well!!!

Ann, the nurse, rushes to his side, while Andy goes back into Ann's house and watches some television.   

I LOVE this show!  It is officially my new favorite show!  The comedy is just right, the characters act in just the right way...love it!  I know nothing about politics and it still made me laugh OUT LOUD multiple times. 

Quotes

Leslie   "You know when I first tell people I work for the government, they say  'oh the government the government stinks.  The lines are too long at the DMV', but now things have changed.  People need our help and it feels good to be needed."

Leslie   "Government isn't just a boys club anymore.  Women are everywhere.  It's a great time to be a woman in politics.  Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin, me, Nancy Pelosi.  You know, I like to tell people: get on board and buckle up 'cuz my ride's gonna be a big one.  And if you get motion sickness, put your head between your knees 'cuz Leslie Knopes stopping for no one."  

Leslie   "This is where the rubber of government meets the road of actual human beings."

Tom   "Ann let me speak with you for a minute.  So, your boyfriend fell down into this pit right?    And, um, this guy, is it pretty serious?  You guys living together?...Wow, I'm sure this must be pretty tough for you, ya know.  This guy sounds like he didn't have much going on for him to start with and now both legs broken.  He's just weak, you have to take care of him.  You probably feel like you have to move on.  Just become more adventurous in relationships with your body...I feel like we might be taking up too much of the forums time.  Maybe we should just exchange numbers.  You know, maybe go away one weekend and kind of talk about this.  I'd love to do it."     

Ann   "The bottom line is, I've been trying to get this thing fixed for months and nobody's done anything.  And it's ugly and it's dangerous and it's government owned.  And you need to do something about it."

Leslie    "It's more than a promise!  It's a pinky promise!"

Leslie   "But this pit- the chance to build a whole new park from scratch-- this could be my Hoover Dam."

Tom   "No, that sounds great!  But, the problem is, anything over $25, I have to report.  So, uh, maybe give my wife a call and give her the suits.  And then, if they don't fit her, maybe she'll give them to me."

Leslie   "I need more firepower...I need bigger guns.  Committees are the lifeblood of our democratic system."

Tom   "Committees cover our democracy in blood."

Leslie   "Well if you want something done in this town, you call Mark Brendanawicz because he's a city planner.  Well, he's kind of more than that, he's kind of a fixer.  He fixes things.  He's a smart, capable guy.  He just...he knows where the bodies are buried."

Leslie    "City hall is like a locker room.  You gotta get in there.  You gotta snap towels at people."

Leslie   "Dream with me for a second, Ann.  Doesn't this neighborhood deserve a first class park?  Imagine a shiny, new playground with jungle gyms and swings, a pool, tennis courts, a volleyball court, raquetball courts, basketball court, regulation football field, an amphitheater over there with Shakespeare in the park... We could do some of those things."

Soundtrack

Lady Marmalade (as made famous by Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya & Pink)  -Amy Poehler

Why?

So all my friends are talking about Parks and Recreation.  It seems to be the new HOT show around here and I love love love Amy Poehler, so I'm going to give it a shot.  I bought seasons 1 and 2 to add to my DVD collection, but I can't seem to find when season 3 will be released...does anyone know?!