Welcome to Pawnee: The Parks & Rec Episode (w/ Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Nick Offerman, Kevin Jonas & More)

23:54Because you see everything.

23:56Rob Lowe:You see everything. You're exposed to everything. It's everything. Everything. Not just, I mean, you've got like Olympic gold medalists coming through. You've got presidential camp nominees coming through. Like, and everything is breakneck and like up all night. It's just a madhouse 24 seven. And so she always struck me as like the scrappy shortstop of the Bad News Bears that is the cast and writers of SNL. Because she sees the field. She's the one calling out like, OK, we've got two down. Force it home. She knows what's going on. And I always, from the get-go on our show, I would see her just do things from a sort of sibling, familial leadership role, where she'd see somebody on set, and me as just an actor, lifelong actor, it's not my place.

24:58like why is that weird representative from after on set like we're trying to do this scene and this somebody's there like trying to drum up votes or something and i'm like that's weird but you don't it doesn't occur to me to do what amy did which is she's like hey who's that guy why is that guy here we're trying to work here and she goes over to the boss like morgan saget to the producer and says, get rid of this guy. Like, we're all happy to deal with our union, and we're supportive of our union, but not here. Like, this is not the time nor place. And I would say, oh, yeah, that's our place. That's our prerogative to say, please keep our set free of distractions like that.

25:45And so early on, when you came to our show, you quickly established yourself as someone who had done this for a very long time. Like, like the first or second day, we were watching you operate. And Amy said, he's been very good at being a professional for a very long time. And I thought that it always shows. You just know what you're doing. I mean, you're a veteran. I love hearing that.

26:21Rob Lowe:I love that. Yeah. You discern. You get your scenes. You get your schedule. And you're like, okay, here's what time I'm going to arrive. Can I please have a black coffee and a cup of espresso? Or what was it? You get a little cup and a big cup. Yeah, I get a little cup and a big cup. I got a cup of milk, usually half and half, and the espresso because I trust no one to mix it but myself. You're probably not dissimilar from riding in Christopher Walken's Cadillac. I love that. I remember coming in because it was going to be – it was like we were going to do six episodes, I guess, and then we're all going to reconnoiter and see if it was a good fit.

27:10Rob Lowe:And I remember doing the flu episode and saying, stop pooping in the mirror. I think you were on set that day. I feel like you were there. What did I feel like you were like at the monitor then? And I thought, this is great. I'm having fun here. I can be a total idiot. It's just the best. Yeah, it really is. I mean, based on that statistic, you cited earlier 99.5%. What's the percentage? It's 97%, 98%, 99 % of all people in the Screen Actors Guild can't support themselves just from acting. So given that statistic, then to imagine getting a job that's going to last for seven-ish years, 125 episodes, that is something that would quite possibly be your favorite show, even if you weren't involved.

28:08Yep. That percentage, I mean, is just infinitesimal. it really was so it was so fun

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31:12Rob Lowe:Here's the creator of it all, Michael Schur. Do you remember the first time you met Amy and could you have ever foreseen all the magic to come? So I met her. I didn't meet her. I first saw her in New York. there used to be comedy show, weekly comedy show. The guys who did the state did a comedy show at Fez, which was a club on the Lower East Side every Saturday. And I think it was, no, it was Thursday or something. I can't remember. But someone was like, hey, let's go to this comedy show. This is before I was on SNL. And I was like, okay, yeah, sure. So we go to this comedy show. It's like Michael Ian Black and all those guys, David Wayne.

31:49And they came out and they were like, hey, before we start the show, we have a group here that has a quick announcement. We're just going to give the stage to them. And Amy Poehler walked on the stage. Now, I didn't know who she was. I'd never seen her before. And she started doing this thing where she was like, hi, my name is, you know, Carol Johnson. I'm from the New York University Research Department. And we're just, we have a new project we're working on. Now, everybody else in the room knew that this was a bit, except me. I didn't, I thought it was real. I thought she was just a person from NYU or whatever she was pretending to be who was like doing some kind of research thing.

32:24and she was so uh natural and realistic that it was like a good two minutes before i realized that this was actually that the comedy show had started and this was a comedy bit in the comedy show and eventually so i can't remember what the bit was but she called she was like she invited someone she was like i need a volunteer and then matt besser who was you know co-founded ucb with her came up and then they started doing whatever dumb bit it was i think in my memory the bit was like he couldn't stop talking like Bill Cosby or something like that. This is long before the revelations about Bill Cosby came to light.

32:58This is 1998 or something, 1997. But anyway, the point was I remember leaving, and there were so many funny people who performed that night. I just remember leaving and thinking like, that woman who did that thing was so natural and so real. I can't believe I didn't know that she was even doing comedy. She was doing comedy without me even being able to realize she was doing comedy. That's an incredible skill. so then I get on SNL and she like every by then a year goes by and I tell people this story and they're like yeah Amy Poehler like everybody knows who Amy Poehler is dummy like Amy Amy was legendary in New York long before she got on SNL everybody knew that she was the she you know she had co-founded UCB and in the comedy world she was as big as anybody who was on SNL at the time so then she you know they get her on the show in 2001 the 9-11 show was actually her first show too crazily so she gets on the show and we just became friends and I had her she did a bunch of stuff on Weekend Update she would play different characters she played Avril Lavigne in a Weekend Update feature once just being Avril Lavigne and it delighted me so much this is not a joke I sent her flowers after it was over on Sunday morning I woke up and I was so delighted by her performance I just called a florist and said please send flowers that say thank you for being Avril Lavigne on Update So I was just in awe of her.

34:20And so, you know, I left in 04 and she stayed. And I came out to LA and worked on The Office with Greg Daniels. And then when he wanted to develop a show with me and we were thinking like, well, who do we build the show around? You know, Steve Carell was such an important, the most important part of the reason The Office worked is they just built it around a generational talent. And I was like, the person to do it around is Polar. Like, there's just no one better. Like, and at the time she was, she was probably in her last season. It wasn't sure, but she was also pregnant and Parks and Rec was supposed to debut the pilot.

34:57It was a 13 episode order. The pilot was going to air after the Superbowl. It was going to be the Superbowl, then the office, and then Parks and Rec was going to launch that night, you know, to whatever, 28 million viewers. but Polar was pregnant and she was due to give birth literally the week we would have started shooting the pilot and so it was like well oh well I guess we can't have her in it and then Greg and I kept developing the show and I was we kept just having this feeling of like who else though like who else can do this like we just don't know anybody else we can look but I don't think we're gonna beat Amy Polar so Greg and I made what at the time seemed like an insane decision, which was instead of giving us 13 episodes guaranteed, the pilot airing after the Super Bowl, we will voluntarily cut our order to six and debut three months later.

35:49Yeah. Believe me. Oh my God. So, and we just kept feeling like getting, like debuting after the Super Bowl is a short term thing. It's like, that's a short term fix. Getting Amy Poehler in your show is the long term solution. And we would rather have Polar in the show and only get six guaranteed episodes and debut in March or whatever. Then we would debut after the Super Bowl with someone we don't think is as good. So we voluntarily cut our own order from 13 to 6. We didn't debut on January whateverth. We debuted in March whateverth. And, you know, hung on by a thread because we, you know, the cast was, as Greg is fond of saying, the cast on that show was great before the writing was great.

36:30And we eventually figured it out. We got, we hung on by the skin of our teeth. We got picked up for season two. And then the show kind of started to take on and take off after that. But it was a really risky thing to do. But I was such a believer in her and I continue to be. But I just, I was just like, there's nobody else who can do this character. There's no one else I want to do it with. And so, yeah, it was a roll of the dice, but it paid off.

36:53Rob Lowe:Boy, that cast is so extraordinary. And I could be putting words in your mouth, so correct me if I'm wrong. But I think one of your great gifts in putting people on the screen is you kind of hone into something that's in their essence and then kind of add water and nutrients to it. Rob, that is literally what I do. That is literally. Literally. And the reason I know that is because when I wrapped, you sent me, I have it framed in my office. It's so lovely, is your original notes from our first meeting together. Oh, yes. Right. And there it says, says literally all the time. Like you wrote that in the very first moment that you and I met.

37:45Yeah. Well, that is the key to me, at least in to like, I look, I think I'm in awe of actors. I don't, I don't know how to act. I know I used to act in high school and college and I wasn't very good at it. And, and I am really in awe of performers as in terms of just being able to like summon up whatever they need to summon up while in like a costume and makeup. and there's people standing four inches away from them, shoving a boom mic in their face, and there's cameras and there's distractions everywhere. And it's so artificial. And I think good acting is the most impressive skill that exists in the world.

38:26I really do. I don't, because I watch it happen. Yes, I honestly do. And I think, you know, there's a lot of writers are very cynical about acting or they're very eye-rolly about acting. In fact, a lot of actors are that way too. A lot of actors like to go like, it's dumb. I stand here. You're right. Someone tells me to stand there and I stand there and I say the words. It's all nonsense because to be able to summon emotion on cue and to and to deliver comedy literally on cue, I think is just the most impressive thing in the world. And my sort of solution for how to bridge writing and acting is to say, like, well, I'm going to try to make it as easy for these people as possible.

39:05Right. Like I'm going to say, you know, here's my design of the character. and it's, this isn't, I'm not chiseling this in stone. This isn't a poem that's going to be, you know, written down on parchment and put into the Smithsonian. This is just an idea for what the character is like. And then I'll meet the actor and I'll say like, all right, well, how are you like this character that I've designed in my head? And how are you different? And how might I change my conception of the character to make it easier and more comfortable for the actor to play it? And so, you know, if that, you know, Parks and Rec is a perfect example of this because every one of those characters blended some aspect of the real person into the character.

39:46And by the way, I don't think I'm the first person to invent this. Like, this isn't like, I'm not trying to take credit for this thing. But like, you know, when I met Nick Offerman, you know, we had an idea for Ron Swanson that was very, not very different. It was a little different from what it ended up being. originally he was he was like corrupt that character was like um on the take from like the private sector and was like steering government contracts to companies and stuff like that but that was just like that was just our idea because i was in the news a lot because the financial crisis had just happened and there were all these tales of corruption and wall street stealing money and whatever and then we met nick and i was like well that's not this guy at all this guy is the most like this guy has more integrity in his pinky finger than the rest of america has in its collective body.

40:37And so we just altered the character to be more like him. And that some of that was basic stuff like this guy Woodworks, like Nick Woodworks, or this guy plays the saxophone because Nick plays the saxophone. But really, it was more the more important work was in the sort of like, how do you how are you presented to the audience? Like how, you know, how are you like, how did what's his vibe in terms of how his character comes across? and when I met you, that was, I mean, this was one of the easiest writing assignments of my life because I was like, well, I know how to write this guy. This guy is just the most like positive, optimistic, like excited, like upbeat, healthy person I've ever met in my life.

41:21And, and so I, yeah, I took those notes and I was just like, yeah, no, I get, and you know, at the time we Adam Scott was also joining the cast. And what was amazing about it was like how easy it was to pair you up. Because I was like, well, they have to be, they're a comedy team, right? And so comedy teams are like Laurel and Hardy. One of them's tall and skinny and one of them short and fat. So what do I do here? And it was like, well, I already had an idea for Adam's character, which was this guy who had been elected, one of those stories of he had been elected the mayor of his hometown when he was 18.

41:53And it was a disaster. You always hear about those stories of like, oh, an 18-year-old mayor. You never hear about how badly the town was managed by the 18-year-old moron. It's one of my favorite Parks and Rec stories.

42:05Rob Lowe:There's so many, but that's one of my favorites. Yeah, it's one. In fact, the reason I had that idea was that was one of the original ideas for Leslie Knope. One of the very, very first ideas Greg and I had for Leslie Knope was she was that person. Yeah. And then we moved away from it, but I always kept that in the back of my head as like, this is a good backstory for a character, right? So we already had that for Adam. And then I was like, well, if we're adding Robin in the mix, now I get exactly what this is. Because he's the 18-year-old Mayor Vunderkind whose life was turned into a disaster.

42:36And he's been slowly trying to make up for it every day by just being like austere and responsible and kind of like head down and like no nonsense because he was such a goofball disaster as a kid. and then here comes Chris Traeger who's all light and happiness and upbeat and shiny and everything's going to be great and positive and clapping and cheering people on and they're a comedy team because you come in and you make everybody feel great and then you walk out the door and then Ben takes out a machete and just hacks everything to pieces so it just it was a true miracle because it was the two perfect actors in the two perfect roles at the perfect time and you guys just fit together so neatly that it, I mean, it really was like, so, um, it took so little time to figure out how to make that work compared to other, you know, examples that I could cite in the history of my own writing career.

43:30It was just, I was like, okay, I got this. Here's what this is. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You hit the ground running. Yeah. I mean, like if you look back at that first episode, it's in that first scene where you come in and you're pointing at everyone and smiling at them and they're all like getting googly eyed. And Leslie has a talking head where she says that looking at you is like staring into the sun. And, you know, and then you leave and Ben immediately takes them into the conference room and starts like slashing the budget. It was all, it just all laid out very, very wonderfully and easily.

43:59It was, it was, it was a joy.

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45:47Rob Lowe:Adam Scott. I can't believe that we got to do that together. I'm so happy that - Well, we got to go into the show at the exact same time. There's certain things that you remember. I remember waiting for our cue - Me too. To walk into that very first scene. Me too. Do you remember that? That was our first scene on camera. On camera. We're together. Yep. We're standing behind the door. Just met. Right? Yep. Just met. There's somebody with a, you know, walkie-talkie going. Yeah. And then we go and it's Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger. Yeah. We didn't know what the fuck we were doing. Nothing. I didn't.

46:21Maybe you did. I didn't. I didn't. I remember after the first take, Dean Holland coming up and being like, so it is like a mock documentary. You know, that's what we're doing. but you don't need to keep looking at the camera. Like you don't need to notice it at all. We'll do like talking head interviews later and stuff but you don't need to, because I was, I guess, acting like, why is this cameraman here? Oh, that's amazing. I didn't know what to do. No, that's, well, you were the master of the look to camera. That ended up, yeah, you're right. That, well, not right that I was a master of anything But you're right that we did end up doing the thing where we would look at a camera sometimes for like a punchline kind of thing.

47:06Yeah, you were the best. I thought you were the best at it. 100%. Very nice of you to say. That was really, what a great just five years that we got to do that. Because we came in two seasons, a full two seasons into a show.

47:22Rob Lowe:I did for a moment a podcast about Parks and Rec and I had never seen the show before we came on it. I knew of it. Yeah. It's so different. Oh, yeah. It's like an indie, I don't even know what it is. It's like an indie movie. They really started finding it on the road. Yeah. Like while they were kind of figuring it out as they went. And then even when we came in, if you watch those early episodes when we joined. You were a huge dick. I was a total dick. Yeah. But also just the kind of speed. By the time we finished, the show had sped up so much. It was like six jokes a page. Like it was just going.

48:02Whereas when we started, it's just interesting to see how a show kind of evolves as it goes.

48:08Rob Lowe:If people are interested in comedy production, to pay attention to the editing in Parks and Rec is, I mean, they were micromanaging down to the frame. Yeah. I mean, the thing I always think about the most is the, and I wish I'd have been in the scene. I think you're in it where they all have to go present something on an ice rink and they have to walk out to that stupid song I wasn't in it because that's the episode where I'm doing claymation and you come to help me out no way that's also claymation yeah yeah dude how about that how about an episode well that's another one with the editing is cutting out the REM song where they cut it out yeah is a laugh every time totally and it's only because of where they choose to cut the song off Yeah, it's perfect timing.

48:58Totally. That's a great, that's also Calzone Zone. Yes, I think so. I think it's claymation and Calzone Zone. And you come over, I just saw it the other day. Someone showed it to me and I hadn't seen it in years. and it's so sweet that you're coming over to help me out and telling me like, you need to slow down. Like you're going crazy. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And I am, I'm depressed. You're, oh, you're saying you're deeply depressed. Yes, yes. But also the timing of those Cameron, Tom McGill and his team and the timing of their moves really help, you know, the responsible for so many laughs too, you know?

49:40Rob Lowe:What I love is born out of something that's organic, your love for REM. Yeah, that's right. Right? That's right. And again, the cut where I go, you pitch to me the Calzone zone. Yep. The low-cal Calzone zone. That's right. And I go, that's amazing. Shotcut me. That is the worst idea. Yeah, it's a terrible idea. Yeah, that timing of that is, they just don't make them like that anymore. I know. They really don't make. And let the show kind of breathe and find itself. Yes. I don't know if the show would last that long now. Well, and also comedies today, that kind of comedy has fallen out of favor.

50:21Rob Lowe:Kevin Jonas. Yeah, and then on Parks and Rec. My favorite show of like all the time. Oh, thank you. And I'm not just saying that. Like, it truly is like, I can quote it for days. I've seen every episode many times. You should do it again. You should all come back and make another season. Well, we all love each other so much. I know. That we could do, I, but, but my old literally was in the, this podcast, which comes from that was from, from me saying that word, I guess, in a way that made the writers laugh. So that was all just cause I guess I either misuse the word or pronounce it heavily, whatever.

50:59Rob Lowe:But that, that was from me and from them observing me talk. Yeah. And that's part of your identity though. Like you're, it, but also like, if you didn't know any better, you're someone's watching like, oh, that's such a funny thing he does with his character because he's emphasizing it to a point. It's like, well, that's just you. It's like, oh, well, there you go. Turns out you're funny. Hyper enunciation. Thank you, brother. What was your favorite episode to film? Like, what's your favorite Parks and Rec episode? Okay, there's my favorite episode and then there's my favorite Parks and Rec moment.

51:27Now, my favorite Parks and Rec

51:28Rob Lowe:moment, I'm not even in. It is when they are walking across, trying to walk across the ice rink to that Okay. I want to, what song? It's some like lame, big hit song and because the ice is so slippery and it takes them so long to walk, the song has to keep playing and it just goes on and on and on and it's so funny and it's such a big, bold comedy moment. Like that's the kind of stuff that I feel like doesn't, media today, like in just like, it's hard to take that big of a swing and take that much time. Yes. Oh, that's the thing. Because it's one of those jokes that the whole point of it is you can't believe how long it's taken.

52:15And that you have to get so many people's approval to do.

52:25Rob Lowe:Here's one of the great writers of the show, Alan Yang. Our new podcast, Parks and Recollection. I am so excited for people to get a chance to get into. I mean, A, I love the genre of deep dives on shows that you love. I mean, I'm just a fan of them. I love Office Ladies. It's super fun. But the fact that there hasn't really been a definitive Parks and Rec one, I'm glad to step into the breach, and I'm glad to step into the breach with you. I think it's, I mean, we're a few episodes in. I think we have our footing. it's been a fun rewatch I mean it's really fun doing the pot because we're just shooting the shit that's really fun you and me talking yeah but it's been fun watching the episodes it doesn't feel like homework it feels like yeah I'm happy to rewatch these and there's I feel like there's just enough time for people to be nostalgic and all of the guests are people we worked with and loved working with and we like seeing them again so that's been really fun but yeah it's been so enjoyable doing the show and and I'm not lying I mean I could honestly be lying about that and you wouldn't know, but I'm not lying.

53:28Rob Lowe:So let me ask you this though. What if, what if actually this was the worst idea to do? I don't think it, I don't think so. I think it's electric. I think it's undeniable. I, yeah, well I do too, but you know, I've been wrong before. Listen, I, I, I chose Dr. Vegas over, over Grey's Anatomy. So I've been wrong. Well, let's see the jury's still out. The jury's still out on that. I mean, Grey's is what season 20 or something. I mean, they might, they might not make it to 30, Rob. They might not make it. And here's the thing. and I'm not kidding actually if I'd have done Grey's Anatomy we wouldn't be having this talk right now because I wouldn't have been on Parks and Recreation you know life takes interesting turns I don't know man I just feel like I feel like I'm one of the luckiest people in the world and when anything doesn't go my way I'm like you know I got a lot of other lucky breaks so it's all going to be okay that's the other thing I think why we're simpatico is because I'm totally an optimist and it's not like it's a choice it's not like I had to wake up every morning and go I know good things are happening in my life.

54:26Rob Lowe:I know I need to be able to. It's just who I am. I think it's one of the reasons why you wrote, when you wrote Chris Traeger, along with the other folks who had a hand in it, I think that's probably why you were the right person for the right part and why I was the right person to play that part. Genuine positivity. Not in a cheesy way, hopefully. Now, is it true you were supposed to play Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy? Because that's an unorthodox choice. It would have been a different show. You know, different show. Bill Gray. It was the original, I think the script I read was Bill Gray. And they were ahead of their time in turning that down.

55:06I got about 20 seasons of Grays to catch up on. Maybe that's our next recap podcast.

55:11Rob Lowe:Here's the thing is, I would have been so irate. Just for me. It's just me. Like, people going, yo, McDreamy! I would have jumped off of a bell tower. Worth doing it so you didn't get the nickname, honestly. Don't you think? You're doing fine. Your career is doing fine. You don't need people calling you McDreamy. So you dodge that bully. Enjoy it, Patrick Dempsey. Enjoy the success, but enjoy the McDreamy nickname. Yeah, that is funny. You have to live with that. You can't eat like, you're eating like a burrito on the street. Someone's pointing at you and saying McDreamy. McDreamy's eating a burrito right now.

55:47Let's take a video. Let's take a video of McDreamy and his burrito. Let's go.

55:51Rob Lowe:Oh, then it's always becomes then that other thing of like, you know, who was in it? That guy, you know, McDreamy. You don't have a real name. We're not human. You're not human. No. And like I do, people point at me and go, Ann Perkins. They do that. Could be worse. I'm good with that. I'd so rather be the Ann Perkins guy than the other. I mean, I'm happy to be the literally guy. And that was the other thing is I was so happy to be on Parks and Rec and finally get a catchphrase. because when I grew up, you weren't anything on television unless you had a catchphrase. You got a catchphrase that's so versatile, it's now the name of a podcast.

56:30So that's a dream come true. That's much more versatile than McDreamy. You don't want that. There's no podcast that sounds good with the name McDreamy in the title. It's very confusing.

56:39Rob Lowe:Well, but then it could have been Dreamy. This could probably say, hey, man, I'm so glad you came on Dream a Little Dream with me. American McDreams, whatever you would call it. I'm developing that show. Listen, there's more scintillating talk just exactly like this. I mean, we've had great guests. We've had Chris Pratt. We've had Ben Schwartz, John Ralphio. We've had some of the great writers like Dan Gore on. And what was really cool is when we had... Gay Parello. Head of prop department, Gay Parello. And it was so... And what I love about doing the pod is like, look, Chris Pratt, he's amazing.

57:18Rob Lowe:And he's great. And we're going to have him back at 1 ,000... but you go i wonder what it's going to be like to talk to gay about the props and what props are if you don't know there are any object that appears on screen if if uh ron swanson eats a donut this person has to find the donut if uh here's my favorite the prop department made dj rumpa my favorite character on parks and recreation which you created that was uh something i put in a script that uh mike shore the creator did not understand at all it was thought was total nonsense because it is and then allowed us to make and put on the show and uh it struck a nerve people liked it people liked it um but that the interview with gay was was one of my favorite favorite interviews we ever did i mean it was really she was so excited by the way dropped a lot of hot gossip love that about gay did not was not was not trying to protect her career just dropping a lot of gossip we we talked about all these props also props that we didn't use like One of my favorite stories from the show was we did an episode that took place at a dinosaur-themed restaurant that we called Jurassic Fork, which is not even really wordplay.

58:25So it does not rhyme with Jurassic Park. And almost rhyme. And at one point, we had a C story or even a D story, I would say, a runner in the show where the character of Jerry, played by Jim O 'Hare, goes to the restaurant. The writers were really excited about the story. We're like, what if there's a giant hydraulic egg that is in this restaurant, Jurassic Fork, and it opens and closes so that you put a coin in and kids can go inside, take a photo or whatever, and it opens and closes and opens and closes. There's a crack in it, whatever. And what if Jerry goes inside the egg to take a photo or something, and then it closes on him, and he's never able to get out of it, right?

59:06He's just trapped inside the egg, which is a funny story, admittedly, right? Yeah, it's great. The producers are laughing on this one. so we write that story really excited props department gay parello gotta build this giant egg right gotta build this egg it's essential to the episode it said so they they do it they build this egg it's it's enormous right it's probably this eight foot egg right it's it's gigantic and and it works like it works with hydraulics right you hit a button it opens and closes it's the most magnificent prop they ever made i mean it's just incredible we take it to the set whatever we shoot the scenes jerry gets in it jim gets in it gets trapped it's very funny ha ha we do the cut the editors assembly it's too long episodes too long needs to be trimmed down these episodes need to be 21 minutes long it doesn't make the episode gets all the entire stories trimmed out the episode we go back to gay we're like uh sorry it did the the egg didn't make the episode uh how much did the egg cost and gay's like it cost fifteen thousand dollars to make that egg we just threw we just lit that money on fire we took that and so for seasons afterwards that egg just sat on the stage like it was in the corner like sadly a sad reminder of this failed bit that that but it was operating like it worked so i love that prop but yeah gay prilla episode look forward to that that's season two-ish but yeah it's coming up i think um we should reveal

1:00:22Rob Lowe:the fact that we have look a lot of people wanted the beatles to reunite a lot of people still think pink floyd might reunite um you know a lot of people would love to see oasis back together but The fact of the matter is we reunited Mouse Rat. It's bigger than all of them. Bigger than all of them. To hell with those other bands. Mouse Rat is back and they wrote us our own theme song. How exciting is that? It's legendary. Yeah, it's a great theme song too, man. I was just listening to it. I was like, oh, it's really good. I love a podcast theme song. It's like, oh man, this is for us. It's great.

1:00:58Rob Lowe:It's one of the things I miss about network television. Well, most television. Because you have so little time anymore, there are no more theme songs. Parks and Rec is one of the last shows to have a theme, like a proper opening credits with theme. And I think it's a mistake. I know you lose storytelling time, but I think a big part of... Look, I've never fast-forwarded through the Sopranos main titles. It's so good. No one ever fast-forwarded through the West Wing main titles. And no one ever fast-forwarded through Parks and Rec titles. It just makes you feel happy and you know that something good's about to happen.

1:01:28Rob Lowe:It's so cute. And think about the Game of Thrones ones. It's like... Yeah, I'm going to watch some people get killed. Watch some dragons. Some people's heads get chopped off. And you see all the little cities growing and stuff. But shout out to Mark Rivers, who's a drummer of Mouse Rat and also the mastermind. He wrote the song. Shout out to everyone in Mouse Rat, man. Burley, the guitarist, and me. And I think that speaks to how beloved the show is by the people who made it. I'm always blown away because everyone on the show has gone on to unbelievable, tremendous success. but everyone really, it's like a little family, right?

1:02:03Like I was talking to you, Rob, about this and you know, I was having a birthday party coming up and, and Paula texted me immediately. She's like, we got to do this. She's like, let's, let's get all the parks people there. We got to get everyone there. It's like, damn, like we started this show like 12 years ago. We're still, we're still hanging out and you know, we're still a tight knit family. So that's really cool.

1:02:20Rob Lowe:Well, I hope everybody will, will, will download it. You can get it where you get this and where you get all your podcasts, It's Parks and Recollection. It's me and Alan Yang. And if you'll even remotely, just like even remotely care about Parks and Recollection. And by the way, even if you don't, it's good, clean American fun. Taiwanese fun, too. Good, clean, Taiwanese American, Indianan American fun. It's fusion. That's classic Taiwanese Indiana cuisine, right? You love that fusion. You love that fusion.

1:02:56you've been listening to literally with rob low produced by me sean doherty with help from associate producer sean calvano research by jeff fox engineering and mixing by joanna samuel our executive producers are rob low for low profile and nick leow adam sax and jeff ross for team coco booking by katherine cook music by devin bryant special thanks to hidden city studios Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on Literally.

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