u/jmkarmstrong

Thank you! Happy to answer more questions at any time.

Oh, yes, Leslie very much had a trajectory! The producer/writers really honed in on her after season 1, and the big change was to make her not a delusional incompetent (a la Michael Scott) but instead a hyper-competent official hell-bent on helping everyone she could, even if they were ... a little off, like most of the citizens of Pawnee. So the show really became Leslie (and her friends/team) against the world, instead of delusional Leslie against reality. And that made the difference, as we all know. I suspect that it was partly comparison with Michael Scott, partly a little sexism on all of our behalf (a delusional woman isn't as cute as a delusional man), and the specifics of the actors ... Carell is such a master at playing that line, and the "new" Leslie played more into Amy's natural strengths of optimism and extreme competence. One of my favorite things about this team was that they actually listened to and considered criticism when it was warranted.

Also, thank you for the opportunity to talk about my other books! Honestly my favorite (besides this one) is one called When Women Invented Television, which is about the pioneering women of early television who have largely been forgotten. My second favorite, besides this one, was about The Mary Tyler Moore Show, called Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. My writing and general skill get progressively better over the span of my books, but this early one was such a labor of love, and such an honor to write!

This is such a hard one! I might go Flu Season, not only for the flu antics—stop pooping, and Amy Poehler's brilliant improvs when Leslie is looped on medication—but for the surprise of her snapping right into place when she needs to and landing the presentation. And, more than anything, Ben's awe at her performance: That was amazing. That was a flu-ridden Michael Jordan at the '97 NBA Finals. That was Kirk Gibson hobbling up to the plate and hitting a homer off of Dennis Eckersley. That was... that was Leslie Knope.

Underrated wise, I am finding that as I think about it, maybe the entire show is underrated, and/or everyone has such different favorites that it's hard to settle on one. I was about to say End of the World, only to find that Thrillist ranked it as their #1! https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-parks-and-rec-episodes

Master Plan? Doesn't everyone know that's great, too?

Spiciest hot take: Ann was under-served. (I would love to hear others' answers!)

I have some other meetings today but will continue to pop in when I can and answer more questions if people want to post more! Thank you for having me here. You can find the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/773126/parks-and-rec-by-jennifer-keishin-armstrong/

I'm on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/jmkarmstrong/

Would love to hear from folks who read the book!

I'm so glad you asked about the cover, which I love! You can see it here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/773126/parks-and-rec-by-jennifer-keishin-armstrong/

Designers at the publishing house make the cover, so I can claim no credit! Especially in this case, where the first draft was perfect. (I don't think I've ever had NO NOTES on covers for my previous books.)

When I opened the email with this cover, I laughed out loud immediately. It's quite unconventional for books like this, which have tended to do stylish illustrations of the casts or iconic items from the shows. I spent some time thinking about it, like, "Is this okay?" But every time I showed it to a fan, they loved it. And I felt like it looked like something Leslie might make herself, a collage of all of her favorite things. I truly love it!

We also posted the notice a little late due to technical problems! I'm happy to answer some more over the next few days! It's fun to talk to the real fans. :)

lol, Pawnee is definitely not known for its dietary discipline! I personally love waffles but with age I have found myself buying whole-grain protein waffles, which I'm sure Leslie would not approve of. I also love bacon and eggs, which actually are very in now with the protein craze, something that I'm sure would annoy Ron.

I'd be very surprised if Paul Schneider had been into that idea! He has talked afterwards about not being particularly thrilled with his experience, which I suppose is understandable. That said, I also very much would not be surprised if the writers had talked about this. It would be very P&R. They love a callback, and they love thrilling the audience with these little Easter eggs. I do think it's extraordinary on a show that otherwise does love a callback that Brendanawicz never comes up again.

I have! (Thank you for this opportunity to talk up my other books!) I've written about The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Seinfeld, and Sex and the City. (I also have books on Mean Girls and one about early TV called When Women Invented Television.) I have also been on set for shows like Grey's Anatomy, Lost, The OC and others, which I mention just because it has given me a wide perspective on how casts work. The cast of P&R really is exceptional in the way that they love and respect each other, and, maybe even more so, seemed to want to spend *extra* time together. (I once again cite the extraordinary feat of Philly Justice.) The closest I've seen to this in my work was The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where Mary and her producers also really set a tone of respect, generosity, and working together to make something great. But I still don't think they were as connected, or having as much fun, as the P&R cast. So many people talked to me for this book because, they said, they just love talking about this show and this time in their lives. Aubrey Plaza and Adam Scott in particular really made an impression on me with how, I guess, wistful they seemed for that time, thinking about how fleeting and precious it was. Adam said something like, "I would leap out of bed in the morning and couldn't wait to get to work." And I think most of them were mature enough at the time to grasp how special it was.

I would really have liked to talk to Aziz Ansari and Chris Pratt. Aziz's character is so interesting and changes over time, and I think it would have been fun to talk about that. I did get a lot of good Pratt stories from others. I found it really interesting how much people talked about: 1. how nice he was and 2. how funny he was. I mean, these are some of the funniest people on the planet, expert improvisers, but they all raved about how good his improvs were, many of which you can see in the show. And his own arc from playing Andy to being one of the most bankable action stars working is fascinating!

In both cases, I reached out to their reps multiple times but got no response, so we can only guess why either of them didn't want to talk.

Well, alas, I don't think he had a choice. That character just didn't work the way they'd hoped. Schur was careful to note to me that it wasn't Paul Schneider's fault, but I think we could all see that they'd tried some stuff and it wasn't happening. He noted some interesting story problems, namely that they started with that idea that he and Leslie had slept together and she was still pining for him but it wasn't mutual. As Mike said, it seemed funny when they thought of it, but on screen it just played as sad. They had conceived him as inspired by Ted Danson's character on Cheers but it never clicked into place.

This is impossible to answer because they are all exceptionally nice! Like, really, really. I've interviewed a lot of famous people and they just don't need to be this nice! :) But! Standouts include Mike Schur, who is the reason this book was possible. (I asked him before I sold the idea to a publisher because I didn't want to do it without him.) Offerman was the next to say yes, and he said yes right away, without hesitation. Talking to him is as special as you think it will be. He cried when talking about the moment he landed the role! He's just very genuine and present. I would say the same for Amy, who introduced herself to me when she got on the Zoom. (I was like, yes, I know, I am the one who requested this interview with you! But I really appreciate the gesture, which I think is a grounding and equalizing moment of like, we're both just people here.) That said, I had standout moments with Paul Rudd, Adam Scott, and Kathryn Hahn, too. And Rob Lowe really impressed me. He didn't have a ton of time because he was shooting 911, but he gave nothing but interview gold in the time we had, and he is so clearly proud of the show.

They were written entirely with Rob and Adam in mind. Mike Schur wanted Adam as Leslie's love interest; Adam had read for the role that went to Paul Schneider. (It was called "Josh" at that point, before it turned into Mark.) He told the network he wanted Adam, and they asked him to meet with Rob, who had just left the show Brothers and Sisters. (Rob Lowe was an enormous draw at the time—if you got him on your show, people watched!) Mike agreed to the meeting even though Rob wasn't at all what he had in mind for the love interest. He told me it's one of the few times he had a meeting with someone and could immediately envision a character for them (i.e. Chris). He went back to the network and asked if he could have both Rob and Adam, and they said yes! Thank goodness. Season 2 is good, but I feel like bringing in those two just sets the place on fire and they're just compulsively watchable after that.

However, this also gives me the chance to brag that this book HAS been selected for the Joan Callamezzo Book Club, which is a dream come true: https://www.instagram.com/p/DW2OG8BASA0/

Hahahaha! I feel very lucky that not only did Nick Offerman write my foreword, but I also got a blurb from Jay Jackson, who played Perd: "What an incredible work. I was on the show for six seasons, and reading the book gave me an entirely new understanding and appreciation of Parks and Recreation. This book is truly a study on how Hollywood sitcoms are envisioned, engaged, and then enjoyed. It makes me even prouder to have been a part of it." Alas, he clearly did not do it in character!

lol!

The thing that comes to mind is that the writers got into some very elaborate gift exchanges, like trying to outdo each other in their Secret Santa gifts. Meg Amram ended up hiring Gethin Anthony, the guy who played Renly Baratheon on Game of Thrones, to come act out a play with Matt Hubbard, and Gethin Anthony presented Matt with a sword from the show. It reminds me so much of how far the cast went with Philly Justice, to the point of actually shooting a promo reel with Dylan McDermott. Like these people just do not go small with a bit.

I do not have any up-to-the-minute updates, but my research indicated that he was still alive as of a few years ago. I suspect that we will hear about it when he dies! He certainly deserves his own stellar obituary.

Hi, all, I'll start answering questions now, please fire away with some more!