JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The show "Parks And Recreation" transformed Jim O'Heir's career. He had been working as an actor for some time when he landed a small part on the NBC sitcom, which wrapped in 2015. He ultimately became a series regular as Jerry Gergich, who fans will remember as the Parks and Rec department's favorite punching bag. And he's out with a book all about the series and the people on and off camera who made it happen.
The book is called "Welcome To Pawnee: Stories Of Friendship, Waffles, And Parks And Recreation." The book is part-memoir, but it also weaves in stories from O'Heir's castmates as well as the voices of creator Greg Daniels and show writer Mike Schur. When O'Heir and I started talking, I had to ask him about one unforgettable scene.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PARKS AND RECREATION")
JIM O'HEIR: (As Jerry Gergich) Anyway, hunting and fishing season is winding down, OK? And we all know that it's already closed season on twout (ph), so now - I said twout instead of trout.
Everything goes wrong. I trip getting to the computer. I don't even plug the computer in, accidentally. And then I'm looking for my glasses.
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O'HEIR: (As Jerry Gergich) You know what? Has anybody seen my glasses? I don't even...
I bend over.
(SOUNDBITE OF FABRIC RIPPING)
O'HEIR: My pants split.
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O'HEIR: And then, as you could hear, a little bit of nature's gas comes flying out.
SUMMERS: (Laughter).
O'HEIR: So the reason I love that scene - for many reasons. No. 1 - it was a Jerry-centric episode. Every actor loves when an episode involves them. But also, my favorite scenes always were in the conference room because we were all - it meant we were all together, and it also meant there was going to be a lot of time to just chat and tell stories, you know, because between setups - there's a lot of downtime on a set. And we just enjoyed each other. And in this case, it was even more so because it was such a ridiculous thing that was happening in front of everybody. We couldn't keep it together. Leslie - my gosh - Amy Poehler literally at one point said to me, I can't - I'm done. I can't even laugh anymore. This - I'm exhausted. I can't do this anymore. So it was just all of us laughing and joking together.
SUMMERS: You've also talked about the process of finding the character and rhythm of Jerry since in those earlier seasons, there wasn't initially as much on the page. And you spent so much time trying to figure out how to be funny and make the cast and crew laugh. And then the way the character formed was that people were just laughing at him regardless as sort of a human punchline. I am curious. Was there a moment where you remember that it just came together, where the character just sort of clicked for you?
O'HEIR: I can tell you it was a combination of me finding it and the writers finding it because it was in Season 2 during one of the episodes. We're all finding dirt on each other, and Jerry's not happy with that 'cause, you know, Jerry's a very sweet man. But finally he goes along, and he says to one of the - the character Mark Brendanawicz - he goes...
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O'HEIR: (As Jerry Gergich) A little birdie told me that you have one unpaid parking ticket.
And Mark looks at him and says...
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PAUL SCHNEIDER: (As Mark Brendanawicz) Well, that's funny 'cause a little birdie told me that your adoptive mother was arrested for marijuana possession.
O'HEIR: And so there's this moment where they cut to Jerry, and there's a pause, and Mark said...
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SCHNEIDER: (As Mark Brendanawicz) You didn't know that.
O'HEIR: And Jerry goes...
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O'HEIR: (As Jerry Gergich) I didn't know I was adopted.
And they realized that's who Jerry is going to be. He's going to be this guy who's just not fully with it with everything going on around him. And that was the moment I think I was solidified. Like, I'm going to stick around.
SUMMERS: In the book, you write about a number of close calls of the show - coming close to being canceled or your character perhaps not being a part of the show anymore. And I'm curious how your reaction to those compared to the moment when Mike Schur broke the news that the seventh season was going to be it.
O'HEIR: They're totally different because every season we were panicked that we were being canceled. And there was valid reasons to be panicked. Our ratings were not good. So that was terrifying. And we got through it, and we would be texting 'cause we have this chain called the "Parks" family text. And we are constantly like, what's going on? What have you heard? And no one had heard anything. And Mike Schur - his attitude was always, you guys, we can only do the best show we can do. Everything out there, we have no control over. Let's just do the very best show we can do, and the cards will fall how they fall. Well, then we get the call that we're wrapping it up. And NBC had given Mike and Amy their choice. How do you want to do it? We can keep going. Are you - what do you want to do?
And something else Amy had always said - she never wanted it to be a show that people were like, oh, is that thing still on? You know, leave them wanting more. And so I think the way they wrote us out, the way they finished those 13 episodes are brilliant. And I'm so proud of how we went out. That doesn't mean I didn't spend two weeks sobbing like an idiot when we were shooting the last two episodes because believe me. I was a mess. But it was the right time.
SUMMERS: You know, one of the coolest things about interviewing actors who have been on shows that you love is it means that part of your job becomes getting to watch back a lot of those shows. And I rewatched the series finale, and first of all, I just want to say, I had completely forgotten that President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden make an appearance.
O'HEIR: Yes.
SUMMERS: Fast forward to 2025, which hits differently this year.
O'HEIR: It does hit different. Yes, it does.
SUMMERS: I also really just found myself really moved, seeing all of your characters' storylines advance into what's now our present day. And I just want to listen to a snippet of the toast that Leslie gives at the end of the episode.
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AMY POEHLER: (As Leslie Knope) When we worked here together, we fought, scratched and clawed to make people's lives a tiny bit better. That's what public service is all about - small, incremental change every day.
SUMMERS: I mean, Jim, it kind of hit me right in the feels. How do you think about the way that "Parks" went out?
O'HEIR: It was perfect. I think it was absolutely perfect. It does hit different now. And people will ask me, could "Parks" be a show now? Could it work now? I hope it could.
SUMMERS: What do you think?
O'HEIR: It's a tough question. I would like to think it could because "Parks" was about hope. It was about people working together to make change, and things didn't always go our way. And when they didn't, Leslie Knope was like, OK. Let's dust ourselves off and move on to the next thing. So I don't know. I don't know. I'd like to think it could work because I'd like to think overall, people are good. With "Parks," they're pretty good people. I mean, everyone has their flaws, and everyone has their bad moment. But they're good people, and I think we need more of that. So I don't know. I'd like to think it could still do it, but I don't know. I'm in a very weird head space these days.
SUMMERS: I think that for any of us who are fans of the show, a lot of us have imagined and heard about that "Parks" family text that you have talked about. What does a "Parks" family reunion look like these days? What's happening on the text thread?
O'HEIR: Our boy, Chris Pratt, had baby Ford - baby Ford Fitzgerald, 10 pounds. He sent us the cutest picture you've ever seen. It's that type of stuff. It's not showbizzy (ph) at all. Nick won the Emmy last year, so, of course, congrats and all that kind of stuff. But it's generally - like, Retta is the queen of history, and Retta will just post some random thing that happened. She goes, this was 10 years ago today. And then we all just go on a rant about whatever that was about.
It's just personal. It's people who, to this day, are good friends, and we love each other. So they're just the greatest. And I sometimes think I sound very Pollyanna and very, like, oh, it's all - everything was wonderful. But it kind of was. It kind of really was, and I will be forever grateful. And I know I will always be known as Jerry, and people are like, does that bother you? And I'm like, oh, hell no. I will take that with a badge of honor.
SUMMERS: We've been talking with Jim O'Heir. His book is "Welcome To Pawnee: Stories Of Friendship, Waffles, And Parks And Recreation." Jim, thank you so much.
O'HEIR: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE PIT")
MOUSE RAT: (Singing) The pit - I was in it. The pit - you were in it. The pit - we all were in it. The pit. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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