parks and WRECK
I thought it would be appropriate if my first blog post was about my favorite show and one of my favorite episodes. Parks and Recreation is very similar in style to The Office, but much better (yes, please @ me on this). The series follows the characters in their quest to fill in this big pit in the town of Pawnee, Indiana and turn it into a new playground because the old one has become overrun by raccoons. The main character, Leslie Knope, is in charge of the pit project but continues to have trouble getting the go ahead to fill it in. In the particular episode, “Kaboom”, Leslie gets the idea that it would just be much easier to go behind the back of the city and to fill in the pit by herself. Leslie and her best friend, Ann, rent a backhoe and begin filling in the pit. Ann’s ex-boyfriend, Andy, use to live in the pit because he became homeless after Ann kicked him out of her house. Leslie and Ann are under the impression that Andy moved in with the drummer from his band, but in fact he was sleeping in the pit when they began to fill it in. Long story short, Andy is struck by a lot of falling dirt and taken to the hospital. He begins the process to sue the city for his injuries, but Leslie believes she can talk him out of it. In Leslie’s attempt to get Andy to talk to her, she gets Ann to call Andy and to tell him to come over to her house so they can talk. When Leslie answered Ann’s door, she found Andy standing there naked. He was under the impression that Ann wanted to get back together. But, the best part about this episode is that Chris Pratt (who plays Andy Dwyer) was actually naked when filming this scene. On The Graham Norton Show, Chris Pratt talks about this scene and why he decided to take his shorts off for the ~reaction~ he desired.

He basically says that Amy Poehler (Leslie Knope’s actor) was giving a very dry reaction to seeing Chris Pratt in nude shorts, so he took it upon himself (and the boom mic operator) to take his shorts off and to be completely naked for the scene. As funny and stupid as this show is, I think shows like Parks and Rec and The Office are important parts of pop culture. These shows thrive on the awkward situations and the dry humor when all of this happens in our daily lives. These shows give a much more real feel to television when “reality” shows have become fully scripted and not real in any aspect. Even the naked Chris Pratt scene is important because Amy Poehler gave her raw reaction and not the reaction of her character. Real TV needs to be brought back, whether it is more shows like Parks and Rec or ACTUAL reality television. Whether we realize it or not, the youth watches these shows and I know I would much rather have a society full of Andys and Leslies rather than Kardashians.