Show Notes
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where Craig first meets Typhoon! Donna and Joe's wedding is tomorrow! We find Leslie and Ben preparing to leave for the rehearsal dinner that night, only to find Jennifer Barkley at their door. Assuming Jen is once again going to ask her to run for office, Leslie is surprised when instead, Jen turns to Ben and suggests he run for Congress. Although Leslie would love for him to run, Ben is uncertain, so when they arrive at Tom's Bistro for the rehearsal dinner, Leslie suggests he pretend as if he were running to see how it feels, so Ben proceeds to schmooze people, and they both start drinking ... a lot. The next morning Leslie & Ben wake up hungover in their hotel room, and discover Ben left drunk messages for Jennifer where he apparently accepted the offer to run for Congress. Meanwhile, as Craig helps them go over last minute details at the church, Donna asks maid of honor April to keep the Meagles in line at her wedding, as her family loves drama. During the rehearsal dinner, things seem to be going smoothly, as April and Andy manage to wrangle all the trouble-causing Meagles in the kitchen. The next day, as the wedding creeps closer and closer, things seem to be going okay .. as far as we can tell. Finally, at the rehearsal dinner, Tom shares with Ron how much he likes Lucy, and how he could see having a life with her, even marrying her. Later, Ron accidentally tells Lucy some of the things that Tom said. Lucy seems a bit surprised at this, and Tom is very upset with Ron for spilling the beans. At Tom's urging, Ron tries to rectify the situation by talking with Lucy again, but unfortunately his desire to clarify only makes things worse when he tells her Tom wants to marry her, have multiple kids with her, and also, to live on an island with her and their multiple kids. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Can Ben correct his mistake with Jen Barkley? Can April continue to keep the Meagle drama out of the proceedings? Will Ron ever get to enjoy the rehearsal dinner food? Would Leslie and Ben be able to make a Congressional run work? Does Donna regret the zero-drama policy? Can Tom and Lucy get past this awkward moment in their relationship? Does their babysitter Roz survive the night with their 3 kids? Will Donna and Joe actually get married? What does Tom plan on calling his personal island? Loyal viewers, this might just be the final wedding episode in Parks and Recreation! How will it rank? Could it possibly be better than April and Andy's? Better than Leslie and Ben's? Stay tuned to find out! Many thanks to our incredible sponsor ... the Swanson Breakfast-Based Therapy System, or SBBTS (pronounced "sibbits").
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