Show Notes
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we are first introduced to former Eagletonian Craig Middlebrooks! When we last left our heroes, at the end of "The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic", Eagleton was absorbed back into Pawnee, with the 2 cities returning to how it was in 1817. Leslie is charged with sorting the Eagleton government into their new departments, and as a result, the Parks Department takes on 4 new employees from Eagleton. Donna is paired with Craig, who is crazy and intense but loves his job and is very good at it. April is paired with Tynnyfer, who is vapid and useless. Ron is paired with Ron Dunn, who initially seems very much like Ron, thus causing Ron to like him ... at least at first. Finally, Tom is paired with ERIC, which he soon realizes is not a person, but a computer program, which stands for "Eagleton Reservation Information Center". Worst of all, this overload of employees leads to Leslie having to make some hard decisions, as she is forced to cut down the number of people on staff. While Pawnee re-absorbing Eagleton may be a brilliant move in many ways, the unfortunate reality is still that Eagleton's government lost millions of taxpayer dollars, and need someone to swoop in and clean up the obscene mess they made. Enter Chris and Ben ... auditing bros! The pair is excited to be back working as auditors, and once again have an opportunity to demonstrate their amazing teamwork via their now-infamous good cop/bad cop routine: Chris gets everyone in a good mood ... and then Ben hacks their budgets to ribbons. They really get into the task, realizing once again how well they work together, and how much fun they have. Finally, continuing the plot line brought up in the last episode, Ann and Chris are now seriously considering moving away from Pawnee to raise their child. Knowing Leslie will NOT take this well, Ann tries to strategize the perfect way to break the news to her. First, she introduces Leslie to her Eagleton equivalent, Evelyn. Once that breaks the ice, Evelyn leaves the two of them to talk ... and Ann gently tells Leslie about what she and Chris are thinking about. Before Leslie can fully react, though, Ann has several Leslie-specific distractions on hand, including, but not limited to, a giant plate full of waffles and whipped cream, and a framed picture of a shirtless Joe Biden riding a horse. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... How does each member of the gang react to their Eagleton counterparts? Are the Auditing Bros ultimately successful at slashing the Eagleton budgets? Will Ann's well thought out diversions prevent Leslie from melting down? Will Ron find a rare friend, or is this a false alarm? What can the Auditing Bros do to keep the excitement and momentum going? Are there any side effects of Leslie trying to absorb Ann's news? Seeing as there are now too many employees ... who will Leslie get rid of? Has Chris told Ben about he and Ann potentially leaving Pawnee? Can Leslie get to a point where she truly accepts that Ann is leaving? Loyal podcast viewers, what better way to improve upon our beloved Pawnee gang than to introduce their DOPPELGANGERS?!? Tune in to see how effective this was! Many thanks to our incredible sponsor, "Mitchell's Mean Machines".
More from Live from Pawnee: A Parks and Recreation Fan Rewatch Podcast
Leave it to Mark and Allen to wait until the podcast is almost done to deliver an interview like this. It was so great to meet with Mike Scully - what a nice guy, a great conversationalist, and a good sport! Not only is his body of work fascinating, but he doesn't mind when we accidentally add credits to his resume that don't even exist (keep your ears peeled to hear Mark make a royal screwup, LOL). The boys were extremely lucky to get a chance like this to talk with Mike around late September 2024. We got to hear about Mike's work on big shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond and The Simpsons (and Parks of course), what he thought about acting as Pawnee citizen Pearl, concerns he had about Champion the 3-Legged Dog, his start in stand-up (and two famous people he met in the process), and many, many other topics. Please tune in and listen to a thoroughly interesting and tremendously entertaining conversation with writer/producer Mike Scully.
You know, true professionals wouldn't hold out until the very end of their podcast series to deliver the "big guns" like this ... but Mark and Allen have never been accused of being true professionals, have they? Oh my gosh ... Talking with Jim O'Heir was truly a pleasure, and an outright blast! He was so easy to talk to, so friendly, that we probably could have gone on for another half hour if we really wanted to. The boys were extremely lucky to get this chance to talk with Jim around mid-September 2024. We got to hear about Jim's upcoming book, how they filmed the 2020 Special, his thoughts on the series finale, and LOTS of other things, including his opinions on Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Retta, Ben Schwartz, and many others. Please tune in and listen to what ended up being a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable time with Jerry Gergich himself, Jim O'Heir. Perhaps our best Pawnee Spotlight ever.
This week Mark and Allen continue (and finish) the Episode where we see what ultimately happens ... to everyone. TO RECAP: As Leslie and the gang face their last day together in Pawnee before everyone goes their own ways, one final little job crosses their path ... fixing a broken swing. Mundane though it may seem, Leslie throws herself into it with her typical level of gusto, convincing the rest of the gang to band together to do this one last task. In the process of going through the necessary motions to get the swing fixed, we do deep dives into every single person, including time jumps into their futures, so we can see how things turned out for them. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Will they get the swing fixed? Will everyone get the story they want? Can Mark and Allen make it through this last episode review? How many times will Mark break down? What will the boys do with Robonstantine? Will we ever hear from Constantine and Harvey again? What is WITH that stupid f**king Stargate portal and the post-it notes? Everyone ... hold hands, smile, laugh, and be grateful for the good things in life ... of which this series was certainly one.
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we see what ultimately happens ... to everyone. As Leslie and the gang face their last day together in Pawnee before everyone goes their own ways, one final little job crosses their path ... fixing a broken swing. Mundane though it may seem, Leslie throws herself into it with her typical level of gusto, convincing the rest of the gang to band together to do this one last task. In the process of going through the necessary motions to get the swing fixed, we do deep dives into every single person, including time jumps into their futures, so we can see how things turned out for them. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Will they get the swing fixed? Will everyone get the story they want? Can Mark and Allen make it through this last episode review? How many times will Mark break down? What will the boys do with Robonstantine? Will we ever hear from Constantine and Harvey again? What is WITH that stupid f**king Stargate portal and the post-it notes? Everyone, this is it - the series finale. So buckle up, buttercup. It's going to be a bittersweet journey.
Once again, Mark and Allen were extremely lucky to spend time with another fantastic guest during a Pawnee Spotlight interview, this time around the middle of May 2024. It was fascinating to talk to Jim about not only his take on the always entertaining M.C. Martin Housely, but also voice overs and impressions, his childhood growing up as the son of Marion Ross, and many other interesting topics. Jim was a tremendously kind and gracious guest on our show, and we are proud to have one of the only occurences in the world of an honest-to-God "Swanson-Off"! If you're confused at this (and you should be), tune in to see what we're talking about! We've said it before, and will say it once more here, this was yet another in a stream of incredible guests we've had the privilege to have on our show ... A fantastic Pawnee Spotlight featuring a tremendous multi-talented guest! We hope you all enjoy this as much as we did. Visit Jim at https://jimmeskimen.com/ and on Instagram @jimpressions