A Joyful Noise: 'When I'm in Ben ...'

Back in March, The Paley Center for Media hosted its annual Paleyfest, a month of panels paying tribute to classic and emerging television shows. I'd wanted to attend one of these panels for years, but there was never any particular panel that was a must-see for me.

Until this year.

One of the panels was a "Freaks & Geeks"/"Undeclared" reunion, bringing together the casts and creators of the two hilarious, touching, painful, honest and wonderful Judd-Apatow-produced television shows. I bought my ticket and eagerly anticipated the evening.

I didn't make it to the panel. Instead, I drove around Beverly Hills for 45 minutes trying to find parking and, when unsuccessful, drove home, nearly on the brink of tears as I looked at the clock and thought of all the fun those who had made it in were having.

Last night was my redemption night. Friday afternoon, "Parks and Recreation" posted to its Facebook page that the show would have a panel at the Television Academy and fans were welcome. All you had to do was call the RSVP line and you were in. After five tries, I was able to leave my message.

I made it to the Television Academy's North Hollywood headquarters with time to spare. The parking was free. Check-in was a cinch—name crossed off the list, no bag check or body scan, and in I went.

Show co-creator Michael Shur kicked off the evening by introducing a special extended producer's cut of the season finale. Traditionally, never-before-seen clips are shown at these panels, but since the season just ended and the writing staff had its first meeting for the fourth season Monday, we got to watch the "L'il Sebastian" episode with bonus scenes (which you can watch online here).

Of course it would have been cool to see new stuff, to get scoop on the upcoming season, but I don't think anyone in the theater was disappointed. I have decided that I would prefer to watch all television shows on a giant screen from a comfy theater seat with a few hundred other people to laugh and clap along with. "Parks and Recreation" is still a little under the radar, I don't know many people who watch it, so it was nice to be in a room with people who dig it at least as much as I do, if not more.

After the episode ended, the cast and show creators were brought up for their panel discussion, which was moderated by an editor for New York Magazine's TV Vulture (I can't remember his name, which is probably for the best because I really wasn't that impressed with his questions or moderating skills. He was trying to be so clever and push the envelope, and most of the time that just comes off snarky and desperate. Last night was one of those times.) I was on the aisle so as the cast was introduced, they each came sprinting past me—Amy Poehler in fragile steps because she was wearing giant sling-back peep-toed platform shoes; Aziz Ansari leaping three or four steps at a time and nearly clobbering Amy Poehler; Adam Scott, all cool and dignified in his dark suit.

At the panel were:
(front row) Nick Offerman, Aziz Ansari, Michael Shur, Amy Poehler and Greg Daniels (co-creator)
(back row) Jim O'Heir, Retta, Adam Scott and Chris Pratt

The cast really seems to like each other, gently ribbing each other and picking up one another's stories. Amy Poehler, who also writes for the show, and Michael Shur answered most of the questions about the history of the show, the direction of the characters and so forth. Everyone did get their chance, though, because this is an ensemble show and every character had a fan in the audience.

During the Q&A session, the panelists talked about the universe of Pawnee (Michael Shur mentioned that a book about Pawnee will be released later this year), that the role of Ron's first ex-wife Tammy 1 hasn't been cast yet and the writers are taking suggestions, that the cast does do quite a bit of improvising (Chris Pratt is apparently one of the best at this, he came up with the line, "Leslie, I typed your systems into this thing up here and it says you have 'Network Connectivity Issues,'" a line so good that Michael Shur said it made him reconsider his career path), that the casts' gift of improvising lead to the show's habit of using jump cuts where characters list a bunch of different things (the ideas are sometimes so good, the producers don't want to choose what to keep or what to edit, such as when Tom lists business ideas or his nicknames for food).

Adam Scott had one of my favorite bits of the night. The moderator asked Chris Pratt how he prepares for each work day (he says he lives less than 10 minutes from the studio so roles out of bed a few minutes before he has to be on set, doesn't shave or brush his hair, and then eats a 40-pound breakfast on set) and then asked which of the cast members does the most preparation. Everyone singled out Adam Scott, who then went into full "Inside the Actors Studio" mode, taking a deep breath, putting his hand to his mouth and then saying, "When I'm in Ben …"

I laughed so hard. I understand that acting is a craft, but I do get irritated at all that talk about "choices" and "generosity" and so forth that James Lipton lives for, so I definitely enjoyed listening to a really good actor completely rip on that, especially when he added, "I look in the mirror and I don't know who I see, but I know it isn't me."

After taking a few questions from the audience, the evening was over. I hung around for a bit to avoid getting caught in the exiting herd and saw the cast was sticking around to sign autographs and take pictures, so I got a water bottle signed by Amy Poehler, Adam Scott, Aziz Ansari, Retta, Chris Pratt, Jim O'Heir and Greg Daniels that will be included in the African Well Fund's Got Water? auction in November.

I used to watch Chris Pratt on "Everwood" and I was so happy to be able to tell him how much I enjoyed the show and that he had one of my favorite lines ever, a line I still remember and use from time to time, "I have to get my crap in a pile." He was so nice and laughed a bit, then said, "Thank you so much for that."

All of the conversations between the actors and the fans were like that. Amy Poehler kept saying, "Everyone's so nice, all of our fans are so nice," as people asked her for pictures, told her how much they enjoyed the show and gave her gifts. I was impressed at how nice the cast was. When I was headed for my car, I saw Jim O'Heir walking back from the parking lot. He waved to me and said, "Have a good night!"

Once I got my bottle signed, I walked back to the lobby, which was now a dessert reception. I was sure this was just for Academy members, so I thought I should clear out, when a waiter offered me a waffle (as Leslie Knope says on the show, the three most-important things in life are waffles, friends, work, or friends, waffles, work). Yeah, the food and drinks were for everyone.

Did I mention this was a free event? I didn't have to pay for parking. I didn't have to pay to attend the panel. I didn't have to pay for reception. Wow!

I'm now following the Television Academy on Facebook because I would absolutely attend one of these panels again.

Some more of my pictures from the night (my camera isn't the greatest, but these came out OK).

Chris Pratt