di Live from Pawnee
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we first Ben likes women in skates. Like ... A LOT. Reasoning the citizens from Eagleton will likely have Leslie's back in the recall election, since she saved most of their jobs when the towns merged, Councilman Jamm proposes a bill that only allows someone to vote in a Pawnee election if their ID lists an official Pawnee address. Leslie manages to get the bill tabled until after the election, and carries out an early 90's birthday party for Ben at the roller skating rink. However, she finds out Jamm is holding a special session in the council chamber to untable the bill, and vote on it. Despite being dressed in skating gear, she decides to filibuster the session to prevent the vote, knowing she is not allowed to stop at any time or receive help from anyone in attendance. Midway through her filibuster, Leslie begins to tire and falter, but at that moment a crowd of citizens from former Eagleton enter the council chamber to support Leslie's attempt at preserving their voting rights ... and she gets a second wind. Meanwhile, Tom and his new girlfriend Nadia attend Ben's party at the roller skating rink. As they continue to bond, Tom desperately tries to impress Nadia as she is leaving for Rwanda in two days with Doctors Without Borders, could be gone a very long time, and Tom hopes she likes him enough to contact him when she gets back to Indiana. As a going away present, Nadia challenges Tom to win her a stuffed bear playing skeeball. However, Ann also takes a liking to the bear, offers cash to buy it, and walks away with Tom's best chance to impress and woo Nadia. Also meanwhile, Ron is also attending Ben's party at the roller skating rink, and notices Donna playing an arcade hunting game. Intrigued, he decides to give it a go. Given his real life experience, he assumes it will be easy. Alas, this is not the case. He finds it is not that simple, and does poorly, something Donna teases him about. Infuriated and at his wits end, he contemplates one way to save face with Donna. He gives up on the game, and takes Donna out to the woods to show her "real" hunting, where certainly his skills and natural ability will shine through. Finally, Andy makes an unexpected surprise return to Pawnee to see April. Seeing as he only has 19 hours to spend with April before he has to go back to London, they decide to make the most of it and attend the birthday party Leslie is throwing for Ben at the roller skating rink. They have a great time, but finally it is time for Andy to go back. He gets in a taxi and says goodbye ... but then April catches Andy stopping the taxi down the street, getting out, and jumping into a dumpster instead. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Will the Eagletonians prove to be a help or a hindrance to Leslie? Will Tom confront Ann about stealing Nadia's potential bear? Why did Andy jump into the dumpster? Will Ron regain some pride by showing Donna some real hunting? Does Councilman Jamm have any other dirty tricks up his sleeve? Does Ann have any advice for Tom about how to make things work with Nadia? Is Andy having problems with his job in London? Does Ron still want to go back and show that arcade game who's boss? Can Leslie manage to successfully filibuster through the entire evening? Can Nadia have a memorable night with Tom, even without the bear? Can April give Andy any advice to make him feel better? Loyal podcast viewers, tune in to see the 2nd filibuster episode. Can it top Patton Oswalt's first one from a few episodes back? Tune in to find out! Many thanks to our amazing sponsor, "Ron's Retro Arcade".
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we are first introduced to both Dr. Nadia Stasky and hairdresser Norman "Typhoon" Montalban! The Committee to Recall Knope is relentless, spending lots of and time and money to sling mud at Leslie. Furthermore, councilmen Jamm and Dexhart openly admit they don't like Leslie, waiting for the day when she is recalled, and to this end effectively block Leslie from doing anything productive on the City Council by tabling bills indefinitely and ending meetings early. To make things worse, an inappropriate, rather spicy tweet was sent by Donna on the official Parks and Recreation Twitter account, mistakenly thinking it was her personal account. Jamm jumps on this immediately to further ruin Leslie's reputation, trying to turn it into a media circus. When Jamm asks the responsible employee to provide a statement, Donna insists she never meant to embarrass the Parks Department and admits her personal account is set to private, so usually, her tweets are only seen by a handful of people. However, in an unfortunate twist, Jamm announces that they have somehow obtained access to Donna's private account, and are now perusing it. Meanwhile, a young, attractive doctor named Nadia Stasky inquires about reserving a park on behalf of her organization, Doctors Without Borders, with the intent of setting up a mobile hospital to provide free vaccinations. Tom takes an immediate liking to Nadia and takes on the responsibility of setting up the reservation. Unfortunately, believing she's way out of his league, Tom adopts a British accent to make him seem more sophisticated. However, it turns out Nadia's only interest is to book a park and get out of there ASAP. Desperate to stall her progress and thus keep her around longer, Tom uses the tactic of "incompetent bureaucracy", providing incorrect paperwork over and over, while constantly trying to gain her attention by putting on different suits, offering to take her out to lunch, etc. Finally, Ben talks to Ron about the will he and Leslie put together, asking him to sign as a witness, and in the course of conversation, discovers Ron does not have a will. With Ron now being a husband and father, Ben manages to talk Ron into meeting with a lawyer to have a proper will written up, warning him that without a will, most of what he owns will go to the government. During their meeting with Trevor the lawyer, Ron is EXTREMELY resistant to disclose ANY information, and only after constant cajoling and urging, he reluctantly agrees to give Trevor a ballpark figure of how much money he has. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... How did Jamm and company get access to Donna's private account? Does Tom keep his British accent? How much money DOES Ron have? Will "Twitter Watergate" truly get turned into a media circus? Can Tom manage to keep Nadia around with his stalling tactics? Will Ron listen to Ben's advice about leaving something behind for his children? What further embarrassing facts come out of Donna's private tweets? Will April try to help Tom get a date with Nadia? What do the mysterious symbols on Ron's childhood will mean? Loyal viewers, it's about to get SPICY up in here! Tune in to see just what we mean. Many thanks to our paid Public Service Announcement entitled "MoM" (Memories of Mulligan's).
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".
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we are introduced to Ben's calculator, "Dr. Buttons"! Still losing heavily in the recall election, Leslie uses the press conference covering the Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic to score some cheap points by slamming Eagleton. A bit later, Chris tells Ben their old boss from Indianapolis wants them to take a look into Eagleton's budget problem, something which delights Leslie to no end. At the meeting, Eagleton's city council, including Leslie's counterpart, Ingrid de Forest, prefers not to talk openly about money, instead allowing Chris and Ben direct access to their files, so they can see for themselves. They find out Eagleton's debt-equity ratio is off the charts, and they are now on the brink of an epic financial disaster. Leslie is excited, not only because this is a potential way to get Pawnee back on her side (since she "saved" Pawnee from bankruptcy, and now their worst enemy is about to collapse into bankruptcy), but also, quite simply, because it's a chance to stick it to Eagleton. To that end, while Chris and Ben legitimately want to try and help Eagleton, and come up with a viable solution, Leslie puts together a mock presentation disguised as a financial recovery plan. Either way, unfortunately for Eagleton, having borrowed everything they can from the state, Pawnee is now their only hope. Meanwhile, Ron is disturbed by the lack of privacy he has after receiving a magazine addressed to him at Diane's house, where he has lived for less than a month. Ron recruits Tom and Donna to help him get completely off the grid, although quite frankly Tom and Donna are confused as to why anyone would want that, as they LOVE the grid. Ron gets rid of his cell phone, chops up his credit cards, destroys his City Hall car park access keycard, removes his name plate from his office door, destroys his paediatrician files, and even goes around to all the diners and restaurants in town where he has set food eating records and removes his pictures. Finally, Ann and April take a road trip together to the city of Bloomington, IN. They do so for two reasons: So April can attend her orientation day for Bloomington's School of Veterinary Medicine, and so Ann can shop at some of the nicer baby stores, which far outclass what she can find in Pawnee. Ann leaves April to her orientation so she can do some shopping. However, before long, April shows up at the baby store Ann is at, apparently not a fan of the orientation and bailing almost immediately. Ann insists that April return to the orientation and complete it, but April will only do so if Ann agrees to play along with an embarrassing scheme she's concocted, where Ann pretends to be April's 65-year-old grandmother. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Will Leslie succeed in getting Pawnee back on her side? Can Ron truly get completely off the grid? Will Ann agree to April's crazy scheme? Is Eagleton truly on the brink of financial disaster? Do Tom and Donna help or hinder Ron towards his goal? Will April finish her orientation? Can the Pawnee gang find a way to help Eagleton ... or they even want to? Will there be any drawbacks to Ron's efforts? Is April still on track to go to vet school? Loyal viewers, there are some big shoes to fill after the fantastic Season 6 premiere ... is this episode up to the task? Only one way to find out! Many thanks to our amazing sponsor, "Cozy's Bar and Grill".
This week Mark and Allen break down the remainder of S06E02 - London Part 2! This is the episode where we get introduced to the bromance between Andy and Lord Covington (aka Lord Fancyface), Diane informs Ron that she is pregnant, Ron proposes to Diane, April goes to Vet School Orientation with Ann, Tom and Donna sleuth out the owner of Tommy Closet (the store trying to put Rent-A-Swag out of business, and Leslie accepts an award in London while creating havoc back at home....damn it Jerry...and, oh yeah, Ann is pregnant! (DEEP BREATH) As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Will Leslie's speech go off without a hitch, or could she encounter some turbulence? Can Andy convince Lord Covington to choose Ben's proposal? Does Ron take pictures of London like Diane asked him to? What is the REAL reason Dr. Saperstein is going so hard after Tom? Will Ann and Chris decide to start telling people? Can Leslie's award change how the citizens of Pawnee see her, or will they continue to be "pee-pee-heads"? Is there anything Andy can otherwise do to help clinch the deal with Lord Fancyface? Is Ron able to talk Leslie down out of the crazy tree? Can Jean-Ralphio and Mona-Lisa help to diffuse the situation between Tom and their father? Can Ann and Chris predict how Leslie will react when she hears their news? Does Leslie's award change how SHE feels, or does she need a boost from another source? Who exactly came up with the nickname "Lord Fancyface"? Where exactly is Leslie's itinerary sending Ron? Does Tom close Rent-A-Swag, or will he continue to fight? Is all this making Ann and Chris feel overwhelmed, and if so, how do they deal with it? Loyal podcast viewers, here we go ... let's wrap up the Season 6 premiere! Can it live up to the legacy Season 5 left us with? Tune in and find out! Many thanks to our non-sponsor, 'Lagavulin Offerman Edition Scotch'! That's right this ad is on us Lagavulin! DM us for our address if you want to send us a sample bottle!
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we get introduced to Lord Fancyface! Picking up immediately where the Season 5 finale left off, Diane informs Ron that she is pregnant. Overwhelmed with joy and love, Ron proposes to Diane. Both wanting as small and quick a wedding as possible, they head to the 4th floor of City Hall to get married immediately. They pick up Leslie and April on their way, and with them as witnesses, Ron and Diane are pronounced husband and wife. One month later, Leslie is STILL being attacked by the "Recall Knope" campaign. Leslie attempts to fight back, but so far nothing she does is creating awareness or making a difference. Trying to think outside the box, April recently nominated Leslie for an award from the International Coalition of Women in Government, and announces some much needed good news to the gang: Leslie was one of five winners, and the awards ceremony is being held in London! One month later ... Leslie and April are in London for the awards ceremony, with Ben, Andy, and Ron also present. As Leslie prepares for the ceremony, she discovers her personal London pictures are being used by those from the "Recall Knope" campaign to insinuate she'd rather be in Europe than work through her problems in Pawnee. With the help of Ron, Leslie works past her initial instinct to fly back to Pawnee immediately. Meanwhile, Ben and Andy are in London to meet with a wealthy potential benefactor for the Sweetums Foundation. Ben and Andy meet with Lord Edgar Covington, a wealthy man from a distinguished family with lots of money and property. Ben attempts to discuss terms with Lord Covington, but it quickly becomes clear he is easily distracted and is interested in childish, trivial things ... much like Andy. In fact, Andy and Lord Covington get along very, VERY well, both having similar work ethics and mannerisms. When Ben finally gets the chance to put forward his proposal, Covington admits he has no idea what he is doing. He started the charity to do something good with his family's money but he has heard hundreds of charity pitches and isn't sure who to choose. Also meanwhile, we learn from Ron that Diane originally wanted this London trip to be their honeymoon, but when a huge wave of morning sickness took her out of the equation, she stayed home and insisted Ron go take pictures for her and try to enjoy himself. Ron grumpily agrees, but is not having a great time there. Despite this, he manages to support Leslie, and even tries to mentor her when she finds out Pawnee is still raking her over the coals at home. Leslie also gives Ron what she considers a "proper" wedding gift ... an itinerary taking him to a mystery location that she swears he'll be glad he went to. Back in Pawnee, Tom is peeved at Tommy's Closet being established across the street from Rent-A-Swag, and asks Donna to help him find out information on the unknown owner. Finding only an address, Tom drives there to find Ann and Chris entering the building - what the what? Tom races in after them and finds the pair in a room in the middle of a sonogram. At this point, Tom realizes two very important things: [a] Ann is pregnant, and [b] the person trying to ruin his business is their doctor, Dr. Saperstein ... the father of both Jean-Ralphio and Mona-Lisa. Dr. Saperstein tells Tom he is only doing it to get back at him for ruining his children's lives. Even after hearing this, Tom doesn't really get Dr. Saperstein's reasoning for going after him. Finally, Ann and Chris are together, and doing great - their relationship is better than it ever has been. As things progress, we (and Tom) end up learning one more very interesting fact ... Ann is pregnant! They're trying to keep this just their secret for now, but they're getting a little antsy to let everyone know ... As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Will Leslie's speech go off without a hitch, or could she encounter some turbulence? Can Andy convince Lord Covi
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we see the triumphant return of Bert Macklin, FBI! Founder's Week is a yearly celebration of all things Pawnee, and to prepare for the momentous day, Leslie brings her entire staff to Ron's cabin in the woods for a brainstorming session. As Leslie encourages everyone to focus and rid themselves of distractions, Tom is still dealing with the train wreck that is his girlfriend Mona-Lisa. Leslie hosts a Founder's Week public forum to help celebrate her first year in office as a Pawnee city councilwoman. To kick things off, Leslie posits the question, "Are you better off now than you were a year ago?" Immediately, however, there is hostility with Pawnee Restaurant Association spokeswoman Kathryn Pinewood speaking up against many of Leslie's changes which she feels restricts citizen's basic personal freedoms. (Or because the Restaurant Association was angry about the soda tax, so they are lashing out against Leslie for it.) Many more stand up against Leslie, and overall, the forum does not go well. Leslie finds the Founder's Week Parade to be a perfect distraction from the drama surrounding her humiliating forum. Meanwhile, while searching through the trash for his sweatshirt at Ron's cabin, Andy comes across a positive pregnancy test, which propels him to reassume his alter ego as Burt Macklin, FBI. There were five women at the cabin over the weekend, and Andy vows to figure out which one is pregnant. Andy confronts Ann first, but it's not her. She is a little annoyed that someone else got pregnant before her, though. Ann hops on board as Macklin's partner, and the two set out to find the woman behind the test. Andy and Ann rule out Donna and Leslie, leaving only Mona-Lisa ... Finally, business is booming at Rent-A-Swag, and a lawyer representing an anonymous client approaches Tom about buying the company. Tom reports back to his investors – Donna, April, Jerry, and Ron – about the opportunity, and Donna is all over the idea, but Ron thinks Tom should continue growing his business as he is clearly doing something right if he is being offered to sell. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Are there any Pawnee citizens that are pro-Leslie, or are they all against her? Is this actually Bert Macklin, or is he back from the dead as some sort of zombie-Macklin? Will Tom sell out? Will the parade go smoothly for Leslie, or will there be a twist? Will Special Agent Perkins make a good partner for Macklin, or is he truly a lone wolf? Who is the mystery client? How many Lerpisses are in this episode? Is Mona-Lisa pregnant, and if so, what has Tom done to humanity? Loyal viewers, this is it ... the Season 5 finale! Season 5 has been a non-stop action ride, and it's coming to a close here. Tune in to see how things turn out! Many thanks to our incredible sponsor, the one, the only, often imitated but never duplicated, JJ's Diner.
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where we are first introduced to the possibility of a Knope Recall! Ron has proposed the city cut its funding to the Pawnee Palms Public Putt-Putt (a.k.a. "the Pawnee Palms", a.k.a. "the PPPPP", a.k.a. "the Quintuple-P"). Leslie disagrees with Ron, and tries to make sure the city council votes against it. Unfortunately, the council is locked at 2–2, with Councilman Jamm as the proverbial "swing vote". To this end, Leslie invites Jamm to the Quintuple-P for a night of mini golf. Predicting this move, Ron meets them there, not to play, but just to remind Jamm how much taxpayer money is spent each year on this place. Leslie, on the other hand, panders to Jamm's juvenile side, supplies him with snow cones and balloons, and reminds him how fun the Quintuple-P is. Enjoying the attention, Jamm decides to make Ron and Leslie play 9 holes against each other, and whoever wins, gets Jamm's vote. Meanwhile, when Ben, April and Andy have a celebratory drink at Paladino's Bar, Andy is shocked to find out Mouse Rat is playing without him (under the name "Rat Mouse"), performing songs he wrote. When Andy confronts Burly and Chang, they explain they called him numerous times over a number of weeks to try and get him to come to rehearsals, but when he never showed or responded, they still really wanted to play so they continued on without him. In response to this betrayal, Andy comes to the conclusion that he is going to retire from music and performs one final solo swan song, that night, on stage, to bid farewell to his career. Finally, having grown tired of his crazy, uncontrollable, and sometimes dangerously unpredictable girlfriend Mona-Lisa, Tom finally acts like an adult ... and asks Ann to break up with Mona-Lisa for him. Ann reluctantly agrees, but this ends up backfiring ... I mean, sure, Mona-Lisa DOES break up with Tom, but then she conscripts Ann as her bestie, focusing her "laser beams of crazy" on her instead. Desperate to find a way out of this situation, Ann insists Tom help her, who resorts to kissing Ann in front of Mona-Lisa as a guise for ending the friendship. This only makes things worse as Mona-Lisa takes this as them asking her for a threesome. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Who will win the mini-golf contest, Leslie or Ron? Will this be Andy's final swan song? Will Ann and Tom be sucked into a threesome with Mona-Lisa, or can they escape with their sanity? Will Jamm honor the contest results, or will he vote however he wants? What will Andy do with his life after he retires from music? Is Mona-Lisa's breakup with Tom permanent, or just a temporary respite? If the Quintuple-P closes, what will happen to Mr. Fuzzy-Face the gorilla? Does Andy make good nachos or not? Exactly how crazy IS Mona-Lisa? Loyal podcast viewers, this is the penultimate episode - tune in and let's finish this season strong! Many thanks to our amazing sponsor and sister company LFP World Musik: creators of "Mouse Rat, The Deluxe Edition" and "KidzPOP Covers Mouse Rat!". Order them soon on LivefromPawnee.com or pick them up at Food and Stuff!
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode where our beloved Jerry Gergich retires! Ben has talked Leslie into taking a VERY rare day off and spending it with him. However, when they learn Jerry is retiring ... THAT DAY ... their plans are put on hold, as Leslie furiously works to send Jerry off on the right note. Leslie turns to the goals Jerry originally set for himself when he was first hired ... not that ambitious, but appropriate for him, such as eating in the private city council dining room. Unfortunately, that goal and many others prove to be out of reach for various reasons. As the day rolls on, Leslie becomes worried - above all, she doesn't want Jerry to leave this job with nothing, and go home to an empty life. Finally, Leslie decides that, while they can't name a building after him (one of his original goals), they CAN name the Parks and Rec conference room after him, and she does so with a custom plaque and cake before he says his goodbyes to everyone. Meanwhile, the fertility clinic got the results back from Chris' tests. During Ann and Chris' next visit, they tell them Chris is very healthy, and, that he can give a specimen whenever he's ready, including that day. However, with the concept of artificial insemination no longer just a distant thought, Chris and Ann start to get cold feet and decide to take a few days to think things over before rushing any decisions. Ann invites Chris over to her house so that they can discuss things. Reading the pamphlets, they become rather put off by the medical, emotionless verbiage. This leads them to reminisce about their relationship, and the good times they had ... especially the good times they "physically" had. Finally, when the gang discusses the ramifications of Jerry retiring, Ron shares his philosophical theory that, since nature abhors a vacuum, the office will naturally select someone to assume the role of "punching bag". This makes everyone a little nervous, especially Tom, who takes every precaution to make sure he doesn't become the "new Jerry". Unfortunately, when Tom has a series of verbal flubs during a meeting, his worst nightmare comes true - everybody piles on, gives him a new embarrassing nickname, and makes fun of him non-stop. It gets so bad that, out of desperation, he asks Ron to hire a new intern in the hopes that the mantle of punching bag will pass onto someone else. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Does the room-naming ceremony go smoothly, or does it get "Jerry'd" up somehow? Will Chris still decide to be the sperm donor for Ann? What nickname does the gang give to Tom? Can Leslie try anything else to soften the blow of retirement for Jerry? Is there still a spark between Ann and Chris, physical or otherwise? Can Tom pass on the "punching bag" mantle to Ron's new intern? Will we see Jerry again, or is this really goodbye? Will Ann and Chris consider approaching fertility from a more "natural" route? What else can be done to help Tom avoid the fate of "the new Jerry"? Loyal viewers, we're getting close to the end of Season 5, and it's been a non-stop roller coaster ride ... will it continue with this episode? Tune in and find out! Many thanks to our amazing sponsor, "Pawnee Diagnostic Imaging", or PDI.
This week Mark and Allen break down the Episode with special guest star Patton Oswalt! The City of Pawnee annually celebrates the great Pawnee tea dump of 1817, but due to how the old-timey script looks, "tea" looks like "ted", so each year the city dumps a man named "Ted" into Ramsett Lake. This year, the "Ted" thrown into the lake becomes very angry, and demands Leslie address the many, many outdated laws still active in Pawnee. To this end, at the next City Council Meeting, Leslie proposes the city purge many of its old and obscure laws. However, citizen Garth Blunden is overtly against changing the laws due to historical significance, and successfully filibusters the meeting to prevent further action. Leslie implores Garth to reconsider. Garth accuses Leslie of having no respect for tradition. Finally, they decide to settle things with a wager: whoever can survive the longest living primitively at the Pawnee Historical House gets to make the other back down from their agenda. Meanwhile, now that April has been promoted to Deputy Director of Animal Control, Chris requires her to complete the Chris Traeger Management Training Seminar, or "ka-tumps". April asks Ron to help get her out of the seminar, but when Chris learns Ron has ALSO never had any management training, it backfires, with Ron getting roped in as well. As one might expect, things do not go well: Chris is overtly cheery, Ron is stoic and grumpy, April is sarcastic and snarky. Ron and Chris completely disagree on the best motivational methods, so Chris challenges Ron to see whose method works best: encouragement/appreciation/smiles (Chris), or money/fear/hunger (Ron). Finally, Ann's custom holiday with Leslie, "Breakfast Day", is coming up, and she found a waffle maker from JJ's Diner on an online auction. Unfortunately, somebody is bidding against her ... and she discovers that someone is Ben, who is shopping for a present for HIS custom holiday with Leslie, "Waffle Day". The two of them battle it out, trying to win the waffle maker, but ultimately lose to the owner of the Pawnee Pawn Shop, who they then have to deal with. While all this is happening, both Ann and Ben come to the realization that they are EXHAUSTED trying to keep up with the thoughtful but never-ending custom holidays Leslie has come up with for both of them. As always, we tackle the tough questions, such as ... Who will win their competition, Leslie or Garth? Will Ron or Chris win the competition, and what side will April be on? Who will win the coveted JJ's waffle maker? Is Garth cheating, or is he just really good at old-timey gibberish? Can Ron and Chris find a suitable mindless worker drone for their test subject? Can Ann and Ben continue dealing with all these custom holidays? Can Leslie get all the chickens out from under her dress? Will April and Ron be able to keep their conductor hats from the seminar? Loyal podcast viewers, this is competition cranked up to 11, just like in Spinal Tap! Many thanks to our wonderful sponsor, "Ron's One Minute Seminars", or ROMS.