Parks and Recreation

Season 7

2017

1. The entire season 7 was filmed in 2014 but was set in 2017. There are several predictions about life in 2017:1. Use of holographic phones (Did not come true) 2. The collection of personal information through keywords via various platforms to cater needs to individuals using the service (came true) 3. Use of television as video calls (came true but not popular) 4. Chicago Cubs winning the World Series (came true)
2. First episode of "Parks & Recreations'" final season.

Ron & Jammy

1. When Andy is flicking through Tom's Grzzyl page, he flicks onto the page of one of Tom's cousins, Sadie Ansari. This is a reference to actor Aziz Ansari, who plays Tom. Tom Haverford's real name is Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani, which in fact is the name of one of Aziz Ansari's cousins.
2. While in the library, the book "Love Life" by Rob Lowe can be seen in the background. Lowe played Chris Traegger on the series.
3. When Andy and Tom are visiting Lucy in Chicago, Lucy notes, "Yeah, I think you're really gonna like it here. And obviously, everyone's in a really great mood now because of the Cubs winning the series." This episode takes place in summer 2017, which means the Chicago Cubs had to win the World Series in 2016. On November 2, 2016, the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series in the 10th inning, eight to seven.
4. Final appearance of Megan Mullally as Tammy Two.
5. When Leslie, Jamm, and Ron visit Tammy 2 in the library a book called Psych is visible. This is a reference to the TV show Psych.
6. Second episode of the final season of Parks and Recreation.

William Henry Harrison

1. When Tom suggests that they need to recruit a celebrity as a minority owner to promote the Gryzzl proposal, Ron disdains the whole idea of celebrity, saying that the only celebrities he recognizes are "furniture maker Garry Knox Bennett, designer of the notorious sixteen-penny-nail cabinet" and a large elk he saw near his cabin. Garry Knox Bennett is a real California-based woodworking artist whose furniture, sculpture and jewelry has been exhibited in galleries around the U.S.
2. This is the second episode that Donna tells Ron, "You need to get your house in order."

Leslie and Ron

1. In a previous episode, Leslie says to Ron, "Why would anyone eat anything other than breakfast foods?" Ron replies, "People are idiots, Leslie." In this episode, Ron asks the same question to Leslie, to which she replies, "People are idiots, Ron".
2. The song the janitor is listening to - "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" by Shania Twain - is the same as the one the janitor is listening to in "Lil' Sebastian" when he interrupts the Lil' Sebastian moment of silence the Parks and Rec department is having.
3. For the Parks and Rec mix tape Jerry chose "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. Joel's ex-wife Christie Brinkley plays Jerry's wife, Gail.
4. The room where the janitor is cleaning should be Mark's old office.
5. The mural the staff creates in season two episode Parks and Recreation: The Camel (2009) is visible in this episode.
6. The song "We Didn't Start the Fire" was also parodied in The Office (2005) (which the show is loosely based off) by Dwight in the episode The Office: The Fire (2005).

Gryzzlbox

1. In the photo that Leslie receives in her Gryzzlbox the Supreme Court Justices are sipping the Friends milkshake. Antonin Scalia is not pictured. As the episode is set in 2017, they correctly predicted that he would no longer be on the court. Scalia passed away February 13, 2016. The episode aired one year earlier and was filmed in 2014.
2. Dax Shepherd plays The Johnny Karate Show's producer, Hank Montauk, in this episode. His wife, Kristen Bell, also appeared a season earlier as Eagleton then Pawnee councilwoman Ingrid de Forest.
3. Ron says the only thing he has ever signed is his Charles Mulligan's Steakhouse card. This is clearly a joke, given the third episode of this season involves a subplot of Ben repeatedly getting Ron to sign a notarized document.
4. While at Gryzll, Leslie names Ben as "Gregor Strong" referencing Game of Thrones character "The Mountain" aka Gregor Clegane aka Robert Strong

Save JJ's

Donna and Joe

1. When Jennifer suggest that Ben run for Congress, she says that Pawnee is in the 10th Congressional district and that its incumbent Congressman is a moron. Apparently in order not to offend a real person, Indiana has only nine Congressional districts.
2. Donna says in S7E6 that Tom is her Butler of Honor (Male Maid of Honor) when they are choosing out cakes. In the beginning of S7E7 Donna tells April why she chose her as her Maid of Honor but later on Tom talks about why he is taking his Butler of Honor duties so seriously. Though unclear who is Maid/Butler of Honor, there is a possibility that it is both of them.

Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington

1. Matt Offerman, Nick Offerman's brother, play Ron's brother in this episode
2. This episode takes place in 2017 when April and Leslie meet with Senator Boxer. However, Senator Boxer retired in 2016.
3. The title "Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington" is a take on the season 5 opener "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington," which itself is a play on the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).
4. In the beginning of the scene with Alyssa at the foundation, you can see Alyssa holding the pillow that Leslie gave her. Although she talks about the pillow, it is very odd that she would carry something like that around with her.
5. Barbara Boxer says she has a meeting with the President but we still don't know who that is since it's never mentioned.

Pie-Mary

1. The actor who plays Harris, died 9 days after this episode aired.
2. This is one of only two episodes in the entire series where Aziz Ansari doesn't appear.
3. The show never intended to specify what political party Leslie Knope belonged to (it's never referred to during her successful campaign for a Pawnee Town Council seat) but it was decided to make her a Democrat because the series-concluding block of stories didn't seem plausible without Leslie being a member of a major party, and that her views were more in line with the Democrats than the Republicans.
4. Back in "The Hunting Trip" episode Donna mentions wanting to see Twilight: New Moon. in this episode, 8 years later, Donna reveals April went with her.
5. The comment "where are your children" was actually a real news story about Pamela Anderson.
6. Ron says that the shoeshine stand probably was removed during the remodel. It seems highly unlikely that neither Andy or April didn't know about the shoeshine stand being removed and that wall being pushed in, considering that they worked right upstairs for 3 years.
7. This is the second time Leslie is passed up for the IOW woman of the year award by a male she is close to.
8. The ticket shown when April and Andy get the box that was supposed to contain Ron's house key was for The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show

1. Burt Macklin's FBI identification card says that he is an agent of the Federal Bureau of Justice, United States Department of Investigation. This is the same as Scully's and Mulder's cards in The X-Files.
2. The full disclaimer shown in the episode is actually 3 pages long.
3. In the Johnny Karate disclaimer it states that Sweetums is actually owned by Academi, a real company formerly know as Blackwater.
4. One of the few episodes of the series in which Aziz Ansari's character, Tom Haverford, does not appear.
5. The burger advertisement during the show, show a profile of a fat man, which is a parody of Alfred Hitchcock.
6. This episode does not contain the actual opening credits of the show, but instead a special Johnny Karate opening.
7. Peter Serafinowicz (Lord Covington) co-stars with Chris Pratt (Andy Dwyer) in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
8. One of only two episodes in the entire series (along with the previous episode "Pie-Mary") where Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) does not appear.
9. Jerry/Garry's name in the opening titles is misspelled (Garry "Gergrench").
10. John Cena guest stars on this episode.

Two Funerals

1. The mayor has been mentioned many times throughout the show. This is the first episode he is shown in.
2. Amy Poehler once said that she would want Bill Murray to play mayor Gunderson if we ever got to see the character.
3. Bill Murray often told Amy Poehler that he wanted to make a cameo appearance as Pawnee's long-mentioned but never-seen Mayor Gunderson. When Season 7 was wrapping up the series, Poehler had the idea to have Gunderson die and finally reveal Murray to be him as he lain in state in his coffin. Murray loved the idea and immediately arrived on the set to film the scene, which took only a few hours.
4. At the final scene, Mayor Garry yells, "I'm flying!" as he takes off in a hot-air balloon. This is a reference to the line, "I'm sailing!" spoken by Bill Murray in What About Bob. Bill Murray ended up being Mayor Gunderson in this episode, the mayor that Garry replaced.

One Last Ride: Part 1

1. The canoe that Ron Swanson rides in "lucky boy" was actually crafted by Nick Offerman himself, for Youtube maker and TV show host Jimmy Diresta.
2. Jon Daly played the drunk in the slide in the pilot episode and plays the man who wants the swing fixed in his local park in the finale.
3. When Andy (Chris Pratt) is handing out candy, one of the kids is dressed as Star-Lord. Chris Pratt played Star-Lord in Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014).
4. Jean-Ralphio tells Leslie that he always loved her. Ben Schwartz, the actor who plays Jean-Ralphio, was originally cast as Leslie's love interest, Dave Sanderson.
5. After April insists their baby's name has a 'Halloween angle,' Andy suggests: "Burt Snakehole Ludgate Karate Dracula Macklin Demon Jack O'Lantern Dwyer, and we call him Jack for short!" Leslie and Ben then walk in and April confirms they've chosen the name Jack, to which Leslie replies, "Oh, that's good!" Jack is also the name of Chris Pratt's son in real life.

One Last Ride: Part 2

1. The man who asked to fix the swing was the same man that was stuck in the slide in the premiere of the series.
2. In the 2025 party scene you can hear Andy's song "5000 Candles in the Wind".
3. The original producer's cut of this episode included a future storyline for Councilman Jamm and Shauna Malwae-Tweep (which included Bobby Newport).
4. The song "End Of The Line" preformed by The Traveling Wilburys during the final credits holds a special significance. In addition to the obvious- that it is the end of the series, and that the episode's theme of finding a team composed of remarkable individuals (The Traveling Wilburys was a musical "super group" composed of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynn, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty)- but also because the song was released after the untimely, unexpected death of Roy Orbison. This episode was released 2 days after the untimely, unexpected death of the pivotal, beloved writer/supervising producer/guest actor of the series Harris Wittels.
5. April is made to look older in the flash forward in 2025 with glasses and greyish hair. But when Leslie is giving her farewell speech in 2035 and the camera pans to the audience, April looks the same as she did in 2017, with no glasses and youthful-looking hair.
6. Ron says that his work was "perfect craftsmanship", but as stated in the season 6 finale, Ron does not like his work to look perfect because then it appears machine-made.
7. Last episode of Parks and Recreation
8. The storyline for the series finale makes it clear that either Leslie or Ben have been elected President of the United States, but the producers decided to make the question of WHICH of them was currently POTUS unanswered. One theory from fans and critics is that Leslie has become President because the sequence of scenes goes from her giving a farewell speech after two terms as the Governor of Indiana and talking about "embarking on a new adventure" to a scene where she is told by Secret Service agents that it's time to leave the memorial service for Garry Gergich. Another theory is that Leslie had previously been President, and Ben has now been elected to the same office, so that Leslie is talking about being the First Lady and the security detail is in place because all former Presidents have one.
9. At Gary's funeral the body guards protecting Leslie and Ben happens because one of them has now been elected to president. Ben's badge implies that presidency leaning toward him.
10. Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) returned.
11. April becomes pregnant at least twice, first in 2023, resulting in Jack Dwyer on Halloween of that year, and again in 2025, where she hinted at her pregnancy during Leslie and Ben's flash forward.
12. April is made to look older in the flash forward in 2025 with glasses and greyish hair. But when Leslie is giving her farewell speech in 2035 and the camera pans to the audience, April looks the same as she did in 2017, with no glasses and youthful-looking hair. This is most likely due to her dressing up for the event in formal attire. If you watch closely at the other members of the Park's and Rec team it's quite noticeable how grey Ron's hair and moustache have become which makes sense as he is the oldest of the group.