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‘Parks and Rec’ fans: Jim O’Heir wants you to ‘treat yo’ self’
Jim O’Heir (aka Jerry) has written the ultimate “Parks and Recreation” behind-the-scenes book — and he’s in Boston this week
As Ron Swanson said, “Jerry is both schlemiel and schlimazel” of Pawnee’s Parks and Rec office.
And sometimes Jim O‘Heir pulls a Jerry in real life.
“So we have a ‘Parks Family Text,’” he tells me. “Retta, the other day, texted: ‘This is what Jim O’Heir thought he was texting me.’ We were going to meet up, and were making plans. Well, I had tweeted it, not texted.”
He laughs. “Lauren, there’s nobody worse than me with technology. I tweeted a conversation with me and Retta. I tweeted it!”
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O’Heir, aka Jerry Gergich (or Larry or Garry or Terry or Barry), is just as delightful in conversation as “Parks and Recreation” fans might expect.
He’s written a charming must-read for “Parks and Rec” fans with “Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles and Parks and Recreation,” and he’s coming to talk waffles, Lil’ Sebastian, and DJ Roomba in Boston on Nov. 22.
Like “The Office,” NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” was a hit while it aired, and remains comfort food for fans today.
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With 2025 marking the 10th anniversary of the finale, O’Heir is looking back and taking us behind-the-curtains of the job he calls in our conversation, “a gift.”
The book — from its easter-egg filled whimsical cover, to its anecdotes, revelations, and heavy-weight glossy pages packed with cast members’ phone pics (“Everyone was so generous with their phones. There’s over 60 photos”) — is just as warm and inviting as the show.
The old gang is still tight. The group chat is always personal, never “show-biz-y” he tells me: “The other day, it was all about [Chris] Pratt’s new baby — a boy called Ford. We were all back and forth about that.”
O’Heir’s love of the show — and everyone connected to it — comes across in his every word, both in the book, and our conversation.
I chatted with O’Heir ahead of his Boston event. We talked about “The Office” connections, how “Parks” was almost canceled, Jean-Ralphio, Joan Callamezzo, what makes his “head explode” about Nick Offerman, his new show with Aubrey Plaza, and more.
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This interview has been edited and condensed.
Boston.com: So what sparked this book now?
O’Heir: Well, the anniversary is coming up: 10 years since we’ve been off the air. And I’ll be honest, the idea was brought to me by some book agents in New York. I said, “I don’t know. Do I have a book in me?” They said, “Let’s plan a two-hour Zoom and we’ll get a feel.” Lauren, 30 minutes into the Zoom, they said, “Okay, we have a book.”
[laughs] That’s great.
I had such an amazing experience on that show, I can talk about it all day. This is my love letter to the show. And [show runners] Mike [Schur] and Greg [Daniels] gave me so much great information. I learned so much.
You have their voices explaining certain background pieces throughout the book. I didn’t know the origin: NBC wanted an “Office” spin-off — Mike and Greg were “The Office” show runners.
Right, and they didn’t want to do an “Office” spin-off. They wanted to do another show, so they tell how all that happened, how we all came to be hired. I was shocked to learn Amy Poehler was not the first cast. That blew my mind. There are so many revelations I found out writing this.
Like what?
That Aziz was the first one hired — and they hired him without having a script! I learned that we were canceled and then brought back from the dead.
Wait what? After what season?
At the end of season four, the big wigs were on a flight from New York, and pulled us from the schedule. By the time they landed, we were back on.
Oh, wow. So how did Jerry develop from side character to the “schlemiel and schlimazel” we loved.
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I give [writer] Dan Goor the credit. In season two, we did an episode where the gang was trying to find dirt on each other. Paul Schneider was playing Mark Brendanawicz. Jerry says to Mark, “So I hear you have two unpaid parking tickets.” Mark goes, “Oh, well, I heard that your adoptive mother smokes pot.”
[laughs] Right.
Mark goes, “Oh, you didn’t know she smoked pot?” Jerry goes, “I didn’t know I was adopted.” And that’s when they realized: that’s who Jerry is. He’s that guy.
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As time went on, they gave him this amazing family. My wife was Christie Brinkley. One of my favorite running gags was Adam Scott’s character, Ben, just couldn’t understand how Jerry and his wife got together. Was she kidnapped? Was she drunk? Mike said, “If we want Jerry to stick around, we got to give him a reason to live.”
We were talking about the book cover — these great easter-eggs and characters. It’s amazing to see how many recognizable faces there are — Perd Hapley, Dr. Saperstien, the Saperstien twins.
First of all, he hates when I say this, but Ben Schwartz [Jean-Ralphio Saperstein] is an improv genius. I’ll say it. I don’t care. He can be pissed at me. There [were] amazing improvisers on that set — but Ben Schwartz, what comes out of his mouth. Wow.
I’m thinking of [sings] “I got run over by a Leeeex-us!” What that improv?
[laughs] I think it was. Sometimes the script would just say, “Let Ben do his thing.” He’s a special brand.
One of my favorite characters is Joan Callamezzo. She’s a mess. She’s drunk on air. In that scene when she’s having lunch with Tom and Ben, and she has to leave to go powder her nose, “amongst other things.” [laughs] If you want to laugh, Google that outtake. [laughs]
What are some ad-libs that made it on the show?
One of the funniest was Chris Pratt in “Flu Season.” Andy is looking up Leslie’s symptoms on the computer. He says “Leslie, it says you have connectivity issues.”
[laughs] I remember that. It’s interesting to hear that there was also such a warmth on set, because there’s definitely a warmth to the show overall. What do you think the magic was?
There’s a comfort in the show. I was raised on television — Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett. Those are my comfort shows. Even if I’m not watching, I like hearing it. I think that’s what “Parks” brings. Amy called it “lightning in a bottle.”
It grew into itself, too. Season one feels like a different show to me than the rest of the series. It hadn’t found its voice and vibe yet.
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I totally agree. I tell people “Start with season two” then later go back to season one. Season one, they were finding their footing.
Exactly.
See, the network sent us right to series. Lauren, that does not normally happen. A show normally does a pilot, they see if there’s something to it, you make changes, figure out what’s wrong.
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We got six episodes right away — which is a gift but we didn’t have a pilot to figure out what worked. They found out pretty quickly that Leslie Knope was coming across too much like Michael Scott.
Yes. Especially in the first few episodes.
There’s no bigger “Office” fan than me, but there’s one Michael Scott. So they made adjustments for season two.
It made so much sense to me, reading in the book, that the show was sparked by the idea of an “Office” spin-off. Rashida Jones even comes over from that season of “The Office” — Karen Filippelli.
The casting director, Allison Jones, did not want [much] crossover. Rashida auditioned, they knew she’d be perfect, so they already had that crossover, which is funky for hardcore fans to see one person on both shows.
What’s interesting is, I loved “The Office.” I wanted to be on. I auditioned for it once, but it did not go my way.
What role?
I can’t remember. It wasn’t anything big. But had I gotten that, Allison said she probably wouldn’t have pushed me on “Parks and Rec” because of crossover. So you never know what life’s got planned. It’s never stopped being a gift. We still have the “Parks Family Text.” I just wrapped a new show with Aubrey Plaza.
What show?
An animated show called “Kevin” [for Prime]. The cast is crazy: Aubrey, Jason Schwartzman, Whoopi Goldberg, Amy Sedaris, John Waters.
Woah, that sounds awesome.
It’s crazy. Just randomly, Aubrey calls. “I got this idea. Do you want to do it?” So these people are just the best. The gift keeps on giving.
I love that. So Nick Offerman also auditioned for a guest role on “The Office” — that fell through. But he was so “weird” that Mike Schur remembered him for “Parks.”
That’s who Mike is: when he sees something special, [he remembers]. It’s like when he met Aubrey. And I love her story — she used to be a page at “SNL” when Amy was a regular. But yeah, Nick stuck in Mike’s head. And thank God. I go onto a bit of a rant in the book, the fact that Nick never got an Emmy nomination. Really, Lauren, it makes my head explode.
You auditioned for the role of Ron Swanson.
I diiiid. [laughs] Everybody and their brother did. But the thought of anyone other than Nick Offerman playing the role of Ron Swanson makes no sense in any world that I want to be a part of. But whatever I brought to the table was enough for them to call when they were looking to cast Jerry.
Jerry was originally supposed to be like a small character, and then he eventually got written in as part of the core cast.
So I got the role — but my agents said, “We don’t know if you should take it. It’s very much going to be background.” I said, “I appreciate your thoughts, but as an ‘Office’ fan, I know what happened to Kevin and Meredith and Angela and Stanley.” So I took a gamble.
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To me, this was a no brainer. I thought, worst case scenario, I’ll make a couple of bucks, hopefully impress Mike and Greg for other shows. The same thing happened to me and Retta that happened to people on “The Office.” We became part of the group.
[laughs] So you wrote that “Hunting Trip” was a big episode for you, when Jerry got his backstory. Any other favorite episodes?
I love anything with the Harvest Festival. And I’ll say this — there will be people who disagree — but I think the writers nailed the finale. Finales are tough. But I feel what “Parks” did is on par with “Six Feet Under.” I was sobbing like an idiot with both those endings.
You mentioned before there were “some sad things that happened because of the show, that were not the show’s fault.”
Well, People magazine did a The Men of Parks and Rec [photo shoot] and they didn’t include me. I was like, “Damn, I’ve been here since day one.”
Wow.
That hurt, Lauren, let me tell you. Thank God for Retta, who played Donna. Retta had my back. She said, “Let’s get out of here,” because the shoot was happening right by my trailer. All the guys were in tuxes. They had chosen not to include me. When I say they, I mean People, not “Parks.”
Another story: Retta and I got word that Entertainment Weekly was doing a spread, and decided Retta and I would not be on the cover with the rest of the cast.
That’s rough.
Tough thing to hear. They said we’d get equal coverage in the magazine, but it hurt. When it was time to do the cover, I said to Retta, “Let’s get out of here.” I don’t want to watch.
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So Retta and I are heading back, and Jean from wardrobe says, “Your shirts are in your trailers.” Well, here’s what happened: Entertainment Weekly showed Amy the [idea]. Amy said, “No, that’s not fair.” And because of Amy, Retta and I are on that cover.
That’s awesome.
I told Amy that last week, and she doesn’t even remember, she’s like, “Are you sure I did that?”
[laughs] Overall, what do you want people to take from this book?
It was love and laughter on that set. I’ve been on a lot of shows, and that’s not typical. I see [interviews with] people from other shows I’ve been on, saying “Oh, we’re like, one big, happy family!” And I’m at home thinking, “You’re lying out of your ass.”
[laughs]
I was on that set. If that’s a happy family, then I don’t want a happy family. But it does exist: “Parks” was it.
Lauren Daley is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.
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