Parks and Recreation

Season 3

Go Big or Go Home

1. When Ron throws the chair at the basketball game it is very similar to a famous incident with Indiana coach Bobby Knight, including Ron's outfit with the red sweater.
2. When Leslie tells Ann how to get onto the subject of the parks budget while on her date with Chris, she suggests the example of a favorite movie, "Jurassic Park, parks are so great, parks department needs more money." Four years later, Chris Pratt, who portrays Andy Dwyer, would star in Jurassic World (2015), the reboot of Jurassic Park.

Flu Season

1. The part where Andy says he thinks Leslie may have 'network connectivity problems' was completely improvised by Chris Pratt and considered by writer Greg Daniels to be the funniest line in the whole show.
2. During the filming of this episode Amy Poehler was pregnant. If you look closely in some scenes you can see her bump. The bump was mostly cleverly hidden with camera tricks and darker clothing.
3. Though Leslie, April and Chris are supposed to be sick with the flu, the symptoms they exhibit suggest Norovirus. The flu is a respiratory illness and does not cause vomiting or diarrhea.

Time Capsule

1. The bench in Leslie's office that Kelly sits on is the same bench that Leslie and Mark sit on at the pit in the last episode of season 1.

Ron & Tammy: Part Two

1. After Ron Swanson shaved his mustache, Nick Offerman had to wear a fake one for the next three episodes.
2. The kimono Ron is wearing is actually an authentic Japanese kimono. Interestingly, it is a kimono meant specifically for married women.
3. This episode marks the first time Ben mentions calzones as his favorite food.
4. Third episode in which Andy uses FBI Agent Burt Macklin as his made-up alias.

Media Blitz

1. The backstory for Adam Scott's Ben Wyatt character--he had been elected Mayor of his small town when he was still in high school and ended up performing disastrously in that role--was one that the P&R writers strongly considered using in Season 2 as part of Leslie Knope's history.
2. Crazy Ira & The Douche's first appearance on the show

Indianapolis

Harvest Festival

1. Ken Hotate says that white people like Matchbox Twenty, and later the band are performing at the casino. In all other showings this is changed to Rachel Ray.
2. When Ron says "Tom and Jerry get along", this is a reference to the cat and the mouse Tom and Jerry
3. The cold opening salad gag is changed in this episode. In the original episode, there is an extended wordplay between the Salad Lady and Leslie Knope. In one version, Leslie quickly disparages salad and then the scene ends.

Camping

1. When he is fishing with Jerry, Ron Swanson is wearing a hat from "Minooka, Illinois". Nick Offerman was raised in Minooka.

Fancy Party

1. April and Andy's full names are revealed: April Roberta Ludgate and Andrew Maxwell Dwyer.

Soulmates

1. The website "hoosiermate.com" mentioned in the episode is a fictional website. Hoosier is a term used to describe people from Indiana. For this episode, NBC did make such a website for some time for fans of this serial.
2. In the courtyard scene nearing the end of the episode while Chris is talking to Leslie, you can see the industrial ceiling of what should be the outdoor courtyard.
3. Tom suggests that the movie Point Break be remade. The film was remade in 2015.

Jerry's Painting

Eagleton

The Fight

1. Ron mentions that they will "be at each other's throats with warpaint on their faces and a pig head on a stick." This is a reference to the William Golding novel Lord of the Flies, in which kids stranded on an island begin to fight and kill each other.

Road Trip

1. Ron's political views towards government (not having any at all) are actually anarchist, however the character was written in an over-the-top manner to parody Libertarians, who believe in limited government.
2. When Chris uses the bathroom at his condo you can hear the toilet flush and the door open and then he comes out of the bathroom. Seeing how he opened the door right after you hear the flush, you can infer that he didn't wash his hands.

The Bubble

1. The bizarre "spaceship keyboard" that Donna was forced to use is not a custom prop; it's an actual ergonomic keyboard manufactured by SafeType.
2. Leslie tells Ben that her mother loves "McSteamy" from the TV show Grey's Anatomy (2005). Pamela Reed (Marlene Griggs-Knope) once played a patient in an episode of Grey's Anatomy (Season 6 episode 14).
3. First appearance of Ethel Beavers.
4. Ann's full name is Ann Meredith Perkins.

Li'l Sebastian

1. This is the episode that introduces Mouse Rat's iconic "5000 Candles in the Wind".
2. After Lil' Sebastian's funeral, the song "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones can be heard in the background at the after party.
3. When Andy and April are trying to write the song for Li'l Sebastian Andy sings "Champion, champion". In the season 4 episode 'Sweet Sixteen' Andy is looking for his dog, Champion, and sings the same line to the same tune while trying to call for him.