Summer Catalog
| "Summer Catalog" | |
|---|---|
| Parks and Recreation episode | |
Leslie and the last four Pawnee park directors have a picnic
|
|
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 20 |
| Directed by | Ken Whittingham |
| Written by | Katie Dippold |
| Original air date | March 25, 2010 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
|
"Summer Catalog" is the 20th episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 26th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 25, 2010. In the episode, Leslie organizes a reunion with the last four Pawnee park directors, but is disappointed when it turns out they despise each other. Meanwhile, Tom tries to take a photo of Ann and Mark for the city's summer catalog, while the budding relationship of Andy and April continues to develop.
The episode was written by Katie Dippold and directed by Ken Whittingham. It featured a guest appearance by Michael Gross, best known for his role as Steven Keaton from Family Ties, as one of the former park directors. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Summer Catalog" was seen by 4.47 million household viewers. It suffered competition from CBS footage of the first round of the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which drew 9.68 million household viewers. "Summer Catalog" received generally positive reviews.
While working on the Pawnee summer catalog, Leslie (Amy Poehler) excitedly organizes a reunion between Ron (Nick Offerman) and his three predecessors. She anticipates a joyous occasion and plans to write a letter about it for the catalog. However, none of the four men get along with each other, and all of them are difficult to get along with. One of them (Dakin Matthews) litters repeatedly, treats everybody disrespectfully, and cheerfully says he never gave a damn about the Parks department and only took the job because it had an easy path to job security and a lucrative pension. Another one (Jack Wallace) exhibits a sexist attitude, and tells Leslie she should not be working there due to menstruation issues. The third (Michael Gross) constantly talks about his affinity for marijuana, going so far as to say "I've planted marijuana in community gardens across this city," and particularly clashes with Ron (who forced him out of the position years ago) who cheerfully confirms he screwed his predecessor over and otherwise is his usual detached self. Later, a frustrated Leslie decides she cannot write the catalog letter; she stops treating the former directors with any respect by telling the sexist to shut up and calling them "turds" when she briefly takes a throwaway picture and then walks away from without another word. Ron takes her out to dinner to apologize, and the two process their mutual respect for each other, and vow they will never grow to hate each other the way the four former directors do. Ron even tells Leslie that he wants her to take over his Parks Director position if he becomes Pawnee's City Manager. However, Ron cheerfully says in an interview that one of his first acts as City Manager would be to eliminate the Parks department, while Leslie gives an equally upbeat interview where she says one of her first acts as City Manager, were she to leapfrog Ron for the job, would be to double the department's size.
...
Wikipedia