Oh my god, that was the best parody of a public radio show I’ve ever seen –
“Please enjoy a song from the lesbian Afro-Norwegian funk duo Nefertiti’s Fjord”
Tom: “Ben, I’m cute with everybody.”
April: “I’ve never used a phone.”
Chris totally digging the Gotcha Dancers.
The wrong name gag at the end (especially with the threepeat) was well played as well.
This episode really had me rolling from start to finish- even the physical comedy with Bert Macklin which was so close to being too much was perfect because it was funny.
“Yes, they’re awful… but they’re lesbians, so…”
I agree that it was a very funny episode. Acsenray already mentioned the public radio parody, and also the show parodied the controversy over Obama’s birthplace.
I love this show. It’s been cracking my shit up as much as Community.
Ron’s tactic of complimenting someone, then calling them by a different name was awesome. I loved when April did the same thing to Ron, and he quietly smirked in satisfaction.
Andy’s bodyguard alter-ego was great, too. What was his name again? “Burt” something…
I don’t know what was more funny about that gag, the NPR parody, the “genre” of music, the band’s name, the music itself, Leslie’s response to it, or the DJ’s comment.
That’s a hexametric gag right there.
Bert Macklin. He’s used that name before, I believe, when he was doing his roleplay with April in “The Fight.”
IMO the best part about that joke is that they didn’t go for the obvious “We’re still on the air” that I think we all assumed was going to be the next line after Leslie commented on how awful they were.
Not an overall great story like last week, but still bursting with comedy gold. April’s turn on Ron with the wrong name was pure gold. Did you see Ron’s reaction? Could’ve been unscripted. And Burt Macklin was the outstanding performance in the episode. Nice ending to the otherwise dull ‘Ann trying to converse with April and Ron’ subplot too.
My TiVo cut off the very end - what was the tag?
And the DJ was played by Dan Castelleneta, who is always fun to see in front of the camera.
Jerry came back into the office – he had been traveling all over northern Indiana confirming the facts in Leslie’s book. He even missed his daughter’s birthday for it.
He was so enthusiastic about it that Leslie couldn’t bring herself to tell him that there was no need for it, and she let him go ahead with his plans to tackle the rest of the state.
As much as??? Community is decent, but P&R is definitely the platinum standard of comedy.
That was one of the funniest episodes I’ve seen of any series ever. Top 5, for sure. And given how shitty the first season was, that’s pretty amazing.
I’ve gotta say, Ben was a brilliant addition to the show – he plays the straight man really well, and balances out the zaniness of Andy, Ron, Tom, and Leslie quite nicely. I don’t have much to say about Ann, because she’s kinda boring (but very hot), and I don’t like April because her one-note pseudo-Goth hipster pessimism isn’t very funny, but the rest of the show works amazingly well.
A couple of random comments about that episode. Did Ron Swanson actually whittle a stick into a recorder? And Ben was hilarious when he talked about the new Star Trek film. The character sounds like someone who would fit in here. And I liked it when Chris tried to flirt with the woman in the records office to get the birth certificate.
Why yes, yes he did. “Now it’s time to finally do some real work” Starts whittling a stick. Then when Ann asks him what’s the one thing he’d bring to a deserted island, he responds “Silence.” and proceeds to play his hand-made recorder. Brilliant.
I really like how this show made Leslie not so much clueless as just over passionate about her job and the town. I thought from the first season, she would be the female version of Michael Scott from The Office, but glad they steered away from that doofus character.
I actually thought her closing paragraph about the World’s Best Waffles in her book was quite eloquent and moving. Then of course, the Gotchya punch line. 
I think one big thing they’ve done that makes the show work is make it that EVERYONE in Pawnee is like Leslie, except maybe not quite to the same extent. Everyone completely understands how awful it would be to find out you’re from gag Eagleton. Having the outsiders there makes it a little clearer, but the whole town is slightly nuts.
Great episode! Y’all do know that book is a real thing right?
I haven’t gotten yet but I ordered it.
Holy crap, I had no idea. I’m buying it and I’ll report back if I find any factual errors.