Rashida Jones On The Renaissance Of “Parks and Recreation” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

a really nice thing has happened with. Parks and Recreation which was always a. great show something happened where and. I think it's a nice part of this world. we live in where people have access to. these shows it used to be when a show is. over it would slip beneath the waves and. that was it and sometimes the a show. occasionally would be shown in reruns. and become popular but Parks and. Recreation has just bloomed really in.

such a lovely way because you know few. people know and I think a lot of young. people today wouldn't know that perks. and reation Parks and Recreation was. kind of on the bubble a bit at NBC the. whole time not even a bit every single. season we were like this is it they're. not going to want us back at one point. we were cancelled and then the president. of NBC got off the plane and changed his. mind was like H don't cancel it yet I. guess yeah it was it was not it wasn't. really a it wasn't a thing at all like I.

think critics really championed it and. there was a couple like seep and wall. Alan seep and wall was like our guy he. was like right from the beginning very. um generous and and nice about the show. but no it was like ratings remember. remember when you used to look at. ratings every morning like the. overnights and like the weekly ratings. and you n your neelson and your Shar and. all this stuff like we never succeeded. there like we were never there was like. you know we'd kind of get something a. little better we' get a bump from like a.

I don't know some other show in front of. us or something but the whole time we. were just kind of like holding on for. dear life like hoping we got to do more. which is probably part of why it was so. good right because we there was no there. was no like stardom we it wasn't. infiltrated by any outside you know. feelings about us like people kind of. liked us if they knew who we were and. besides that we just like had fun. together you know and it is it's nice. the rewriting but I'm like but I need. people to understand because I think.

it's sort of like it's kind of iconic. now it's like one of those like great. comedies of that time which is so. awesome but we didn't feel that way and. actually like I think it was five years. ago we went to the Dolby and we did a. 10th year a 10th anniversary thing where. we all came out the whole cast and the. reception was so it was I felt like the. Beatles like it was so nuts people were. screaming so bad we were all crying cuz. we could we had never been in a room. where anybody cared we were there as a.

crew you know what I mean like together. it was so wild I saw that happen once CU. I know that you were a comedy nerd for. things like SCTV yes and uh SNL and uh. when you were when you were growing up. um sectv was you know a huge influence. on me this show made in. Toronto uh and um actually I don't was. it made in Toronto or outside Toronto. anyway not important Conan um but you. know Katherine ohhara and John Candy and.

um you know uh Marty Short and you know. Eugene Levy and Joe flarity and the list. goes on and on and on these just these. amazing performers and they did such a. smart sketch show that in so many ways. was so much more um it had all these. levels that SNL could never have SNL was. great but then there was this show that. could get to all these different levels. so they did a. reunion and I'm a huge satv fanatic so. they asked me to to do and this is back.

in the '90s and they asked me to go to. Aspen and so I'm there with all these. people that I had never met. before and I go out on stage with them. and I start interviewing them and we. start showing. clips and there's this giant crowd there. that's just exploding with laughter and. they're all looking at each other and. they said we've never seen people laugh. at this because they made it it was a. show that didn't have a studio audience. they made it they constructed it and.

then they put it on TV and there all. these people that revered it but I don't. think they knew that so they had that. same feeling and it was just I was I. think um you know I don't tear up easy. but I I was very emotional that they. were having what they should have had. you know at the beginning totally but. sometimes you know great things take a. while to discover and I I I have to have. faith in that because you know in this. weird business we make things and people. don't care there's too much on TV or you.

know nobody's seen it and then somebody. says to you like in a mall somewhere 15. years later that thing changed my life. and that's kind of that's that's the. reason to do it you know yep I always. try and boil it down to make stuff make. stuff that you like and put it out there. and then sometimes you get a ping back. sometimes you hear nothing sometimes you. get something back but it's 15 years. later but that's not our job right right. this is the Buddhist side of me now our. job is just to like put it out there put.

it out there and then see what happens. yeah yeah and then hopefully somebody. loves you for it one. day yeah we'll see but really it's about. the money oh you know monetize it it's. good good you into podcasting I'm. sorry actually actually yeah no it's to. me it's about money and more. specifically real estate oh God because. real estate can always be converted into. cash if you know you have a guest to. talk to right who's here Rashida Jones.

oh I love her she's fantastic just. just turn 15 oh Rashida so you have. property. right you're putting some of it into. property I don't do I have to leave this. show eventually gets to property it. would be great if this podcast morphed. into we start talking about creative. stuff and then it always got back to. what land do you have are you renting it. um I see your Zillow page.

property yeah Florida not a good idea. taxes low though no tax very. Gooding it is it was a joke and then it. wasn't you've always had you said. something in some interview that I. really connected with which is you. always sought out funny people comedy. writers people that you could riff with. and I always thought yeah I understand. that it's it's someone else might say. who was cynical might say oh you're. networking it's like no I just it's such.

a gift to be around to be surround. yourself with really funny people yeah. and just um make that your life make. that your environment well also because. it makes you feel funny I mean it's a. little selfish too and by the way it's. it didn't it didn't not help I mean it's. it was good to know you know my comedy. friends in college you know this this. feeling like they UND like they. understand you in a way that maybe when. you go in for an audition just randomly. they're not going to really understand.

the depth of what you're able to do but. if you have a friend who's a writer. who's on the other side of it I.E Mike. Sher who you know I was friends with. since freshman year he can you know. although he he made it really hard to. get both parts on the office and parks. and R I wish I didn't have a friend on. the inside he made it harder he made it. harder he's like he's like Fair guy he's. so fair you know he might have show. about being the good place is about fair. right and wrong wrot whole book on.

ethics that's what I'm saying he's he's. been that guy forever yeah Mike knock it. off he's so just stop it yeah stop being. so. ethical yeah he does kind of wear it on. his sleeve a little bit what's he hiding. what's he hiding what's he hiding he's. the kind of guy who's like well let's. make sure everyone gets an equal slice. of pie and my attitude is I've been on. TV the longest I have the most property. yeah I me the pizza I should get half. the pie hey maybe all the pie and you.

guys can go yourselves oh my God. yeah I'm sorry I'm glad you weren't my. boss trust Mike's the best Mike's the. best he's great yes we're doing we're. doing a funing weing he said he listens. to this podcast oh he doesit yeah make. sure you're a monster I love you pretend. so much oh look sure the mic say sure oh. wow he's here with us yeah sorry promo. for the mics oh sure it's not spelled. like that but they say they say sure but. anyway the point is he for the most part.

did not give me parts I wish he did but. I think he saw the thing in me that he. knows has existed since I was 18 years. old so it's not just about what I'm. doing in on that day as an audition like. he can kind of understand the the. fullness of me in a way that I think is. like nice and it does help it did it did. help me but yes I like to be sced by. funny people I often play the straight. guy that's okay I don't mind well you. know I like it it's interesting in the.

history of Show Business the I'll say. the Straight Man because that's what he. was called for a long time in Vaudeville. and in the movies um the straight man. was actually considered much more. important because they held the straight. person so their names always came first. it was Abbott and Castell it was Martin. and Lewis it was uh you know it just the. straight person really was the person. who was in charge of the whole act and. made it all work because of their. reactions and then the other the wacky. person was is often less valued right so.

interesting changed things I mean to me. it's huge though how much being a good. straight person is absolutely crucial. you have to have an anchor it's not it's. just a bunch of people jumping off the. walls yeah and and also by the way I. don't even like I think Parks had some. combination of like Goofy and straight. the whole time everyone couldt everybody. got to be all of it it was the nice. thing about it eventually after six. years to like maybe year one I was like.

straight straight straight but by year. four I was like pretty goofy.