Parks and Recreation – Recap & Review – Telethon

photo: nbc

Parks and Recreation
Telethon

Original Air Date: May 6, 2010

Sara M. – TwoCents Reviewer
sara@thetwocentscorp.com

Cuteness warning! The cold open contains Andy holding a puppy. You have been warned.

The puppy proceeds to lick an annoyed Ron who then orders Andy to take the puppy outside… and shoot him.

The episode revolves around the Pawnee Cares telethon. Leslie has signed the Parks office up for the 2 am to 6 am shift answering phones. She’s hopeful that they’ll be able to “Dia-beat-this.” Sadly the telethon does not get off to a good start. Tom was put in charge of the VIP guest, Indiana basketball great Detlef Schrempf. Of course, Tom being who he is, takes Detlef to his bar The Snake Hole. Leaving a sleep deprived Leslie high and dry for entertainment. Andy and his band Mouse Rat perform for a while, set list including their hit song “Sex Hair.” To fill time Leslie taps her coworkers for any possible talents. Ron demonstrates how to weave a the back of a chair, Gerry plays the piano, Leslie flips coins and recaps her favorite episodes of Friends. Her plan to provoke a spike in donations involves Mark proposing to Ann on camera.

The only flaw in this plan is that Ann is planning to break up with Mark. To keep him from proposing on air Leslie does the first thing that comes to mind… pull down her pants on camera. There was actually a lot of relationship development in this episode. We see that Mark and Ann are in very different places. Andy and April meanwhile have a few interesting moments. During the late hours of the telethon April gets a call from a creeper and messes with him a little. When he actually arrives she doesn’t know how to handle it, Andy quickly steps in when the guy starts to get aggressive. Ron and Leslie have a very sweet little moment. They are quickly becoming the new Lou Grant and Mary Tyler Moore of 2010.

Everything wrapped up with a funny tag of Leslie, now two days without sleep, showing up at Ann’s house to discuss her Mark issues. She then proceeds to fall asleep on the couch for 22 hours.

Thoughts on the episode? An improvement over last week? Your favorite fill in entertainment? Share your TwoCents.

Next Week: The Master Plan (with guest star Rob Lowe)