S03E01 - Go Big or Go Home

Live from Pawnee: A Parks and Recreation Fan Rewatch Podcast

This week, Mark and Allen break down the Episode that introduces the often imitated but never duplicated Swanson Pyramid of Greatness! The government shutdown is over, and the Parks Department is back, although on a shoestring budget, with Chris and Ben only letting them conduct existing park maintenance. Wanting to offer and do more, Leslie has a brainstorm when she learns Chris has continued to ask out Ann... convince Ann to go on a date with Chris in order to persuade him to increase the parks budget! (What could go wrong?) Meanwhile, due to popular demand, Ben did allow one exception to the maintenance-only rule, and allocated money for the youth basketball league, although with only two teams (they're gonna be GREAT rivals) coached by Ron and Andy, with Tom chosen to referee their first game. Finally, ever since the disaster when April learned about Ann kissing him, Andy has been calling April non-stop hoping to get in touch with her, explain, and smooth things over. What Andy didn't know is that April was in Venezuela all this time. When he finally sees her return, he excitedly jumps at the opportunity to connect with her... only to learn that she is back in town with mysterious, handsome new boyfriend Eduardo. Holy cow! Do we have questions to tackle? You bet we do! Important questions, such as ... Will Ann go out with Chris? Are she and Leslie sneaky enough to pull this off? Will Ron's team win, or will Andy's team pull a stunning upset? Whose team has the better battle-cry? Will Tom learn basketball in time to correctly referee the game? Is April truly over Andy? Will Eduardo encourage Andy to follow his dreams? Loyal podcast viewers, this is a great start to a great season! Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times - it's going to be a wild ride. Many thanks to our mystery sponsor, providing a new product from the makers of the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness - you'll just have to listen to find out!