Amy Poehler: “Parks & Rec” Was Always On The Verge Of Cancellation | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

You know, it's interesting because you. were talking to me about how you just. always thought our show was there to. stay and it was fine. And a lot of people don't know because. this interesting thing has happened with. Parks and Recreation where it is now. just one of those shows that's chapter. and verse and comedy people know it. And. not just comedy people, but it's like it. plays a lot. People really know it. It's. esteemed. It's and they don't know that. it was a running gun battle to keep that. thing on the air. big time. Yeah. Every year we thought we.

were gone for maybe the first four or. five out of the seven seasons we were on. because NBC was just we were joking that. our show was on the on the table hooked. up to machines and then a new show would. come wheeling in next to us and they'd. just be like clear and they would just. be save trying to save that show over. and over again and then it would they. like they'd call time of death and. they'd put this sheet over the show and. they'd bring the show out like. suddenly Susan didn't make it. I mean. still here. Totally. We had about five upfronts.

where it was like this is the next new. big show and we would watch it come in. so hot with tons of marketing and then. it would die and we would just be like. beep beep beep. And so we hung in there. and long enough until finally at like. season five like your show like. critically we were very loved but we. were always worried we were going to get. cancelled and although we would all give. anything to have those numbers now. whatever we had um.

it was like you know we have a 3.8 8 or. whatever and I was like this is a. disaster you know um then streaming. happened started to happen and it all. started to like dovetail at the same. time. I I am every I mean almost every day I. thank the streaming gods and and the. internet because I never thought the. stuff that we were making I always. thought we did this really weird thing. tonight it'll never be seen again cuz. it's just tonight and maybe it'll be. rerun once in the summer but then that's.

it. It's gone. And um I was at the SNL. thing and when you buy a Samsung. television, there's a Conan O'Brien. channel and it won't go off my TV. I'm. trying to get it off. Bill Murray came up to me and he was. like, "Uh, yeah, Conan, there's this. thing on my TV. It's just you and it's. you." And I and I went, "Huh?" And he. went, "And I can't get it off.". I was like, "Well, I can't help you.". And he went, "Yay, I you know, some of. it's really good." you know, but it was. just so weird that that stuff that I.

thought would never be seen. Yeah. There's moments on the internet. It all. and the good work gets picked out. It. rises to the top. There's plenty of. stuff we all did that we're like, okay. But that tends to not get passed around. as much and it creates this illusion. that everything we did was super funny, which in my case was like, no, that's. that's a complete illusion. You're just. not seeing the other ones cuz they don't. get clicks. That's for sure. Yeah, that's sketch in. a nutshell, too. So much of it is just. like how are you what's your batting. average? Like it's you're going to get. one out of three good sketches if you're.

lucky. Parks was like that the. trajectory of that. And getting back to. your show for a second, what was so. exciting about being there at the. beginning not only was uh one of our own. like Andy was our was an improviser that. we knew who suddenly Chicago Yeah. from. Chicago who could buy an apartment and. we could go over to it. Yeah. You know, we were like what? I remember he had parties. He had an. apartment that was like on 19th or 20th. Street downtown and it was kind of a. loft. and he, you know, I wasn't having.

parties. I was just, you know, but I. would go to Andy's parties and. it was everyone from UCB, you and Matt. Walsh and Besser and Ian and it's just. like this whole salon of super funny. people. Plus, sometimes you go to an. Andy party and there'd be like a guy in. a fez in the corner with an eye patch. It looked it had it just that it got. there were like people with parrots on. their shoulders. Yes. And it was it was. just right New York like you know early. 90s like David Reikoff and Amy Sedaris. and you know all these like people that. were kind of coming through and just.

starting out as well in different ways. It was it felt very chic. And then also. truly your show allowed me to pay my. rent, get health insurance, tell my. parents that I was going to be on TV. All the beginnings of that it got me so. many jobs. people saw I think my first. movie which was the um world famous. Deuce Bigalow very very proud of my. performance in that but I remember I. think it killed it but Rob Schneider I.

think saw me like on your show and I. think. that stuff helped me when we were. selling UCB the sketch show it was it. was just such a huge deal and I can. remember you know under six and remember. that like you know if you had under six. lines on on Conan show you paid a. certain amount of money and then if you. got over six. Yeah. you got paid like a hundred bucks more, you know, because of SAG minimums and. stuff. And it was a huge deal to we did. a ton of staring contests. Um.

a ton of bits. I think my first thing. was I was under a giant me and John. Benjamin were under giant foam rubber. Conan and Andy outfits. Yeah. And we had to run around a track all day. or something. So, it makes no sense. No sense. Really funny. I was just at this SNL and I saw Tina. and I saw she's with her husband Jeff. Jeff Richmond and I immediately I I'm. sorry Jeff, but I immediately go to when.

we first you we used Jeff Richmond. um who's you know scores all this stuff. He's very brilliant. He's incredibly. successful. We used him and he played. Cupid. So, he was in a diaper hanging on. a rope with a uh bow and arrow, you. know, and like some glitter in his hair. and no shirt and he's kind of just. spinning at rehearsal awkwardly. And um. I didn't know who Jeff was. And then.

it's over and I'm I I think I'm doing. something and Tina had passed a monitor. and she went, "That's my husband, you. What have you done to him?". Yeah, I learned so much. I don't care. what he does. He'll get an Oscar for. scoring something and I'll still think. you were Cupid. I learned so much on that show. I. learned how to like, you know, get ready. for a bit, how to not peak too early, how to figure out what the audience, like, you know, just basically how to. play the rhythm of the audience, like.

camera blocking, all that stuff I knew. nothing about.