Harvest Festival (Parks and Recreation)
Encyclopedia
"Harvest Festival" is the seventh episode of the third season
of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation
, and the 37th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
in the United States on March 17, 2011. In the episode, Leslie
and her co-workers hold Pawnee's harvest festival
, the success of which will determine the future of the parks department. The festival faces several obstacles, including a supposed Native American
curse, a missing miniature horse
and a scandal-hungry media. Meanwhile, Ann
tries to cope with her recent break-up, and April
confesses her love to Andy
, then becomes angry when he does not reciprocate.
Written by Daniel J. Goor
and directed by Dean Holland
, the episode marked the culmination of a seven-episode story arc about the harvest festival that began with the third season premiere, "Go Big or Go Home
". Unlike the first six episodes of the season, it was not written and produced immediately following the second season
, which had been done to accommodate actress Amy Poehler
's pregnancy. The episode also does not feature Rob Lowe
as he was originally only expected to be a guest star when the episode was conceived; however, he does return for subsequent episodes as a regular cast member.
The episode featured appearances by regular guest stars Mo Collins
and Jay Jackson, as well as the first appearance by Jonathan Joss
as the leader of a local Native American tribe. The harvest festival scenes were shot at Los Angeles Pierce College
, and an aerial shot of the festival itself was the most expensive shot in the series. According to Nielsen Media Research
, "Harvest Festival" was seen by 4.08 million household viewers, one of the lowest ratings of the series.
The episode received critical acclaim, with many reviewers calling it one of the show's best episodes as well as a major turning point in the series.
(Amy Poehler
) surprises everyone by booking Li'l Sebastian, a miniature horse
and legendary Pawnee celebrity. Everyone is thrilled except Ben
(Adam Scott
), who doesn't understand the fascination. The chief of the local Wamapoke tribe, Ken Hotate (Jonathan Joss
), visits the parks department and requests the harvest festival be moved, as it is built upon the site of a Wamapoke massacre. When Leslie explains it is too late, Ken warns them the festival may become cursed, although he privately admits the curse is fake. Ann
(Rashida Jones
) works the harvest festival first aid tent, where she confides in Donna
(Retta) that she has not taken the break-up with Chris
(Rob Lowe
) well. April
(Aubrey Plaza) tells Andy
(Chris Pratt
) she loves him, but grows angry when he replies, "Dude, shut up! That is awesomesauce!"
Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins
) arrives to report on the festival and is determined to find a negative story, although she does show excitement over Li'l Sebastian. She initially fails to find a scandal, but then overhears Leslie and Ben discussing the curse. It becomes the focus of her story, especially after Tom
(Aziz Ansari
) tells Leslie that Li'l Sebastian escaped his pen. Tom blames Jerry (Jim O'Heir
), although it was entirely Tom's fault. The Pawnee media swarms the festival to cover the curse, endangering its opening the next day with the bad press, with one reporter likening Ben's past as a failed teen mayor with the curse. Now believing himself to be the curse, Ben leaves the festival. As Leslie reassures the reporters there is no curse, the power generator blows out, leaving the festival dark and stranding most of the parks department on a Ferris wheel. Using the blackout as an excuse, Ann takes Donna's advice to make out with random people, starting with Kiley (Joey Russo), her dumb but attractive patient.
On the Ferris wheel, with April and Andy arguing below him and Tom and Jerry arguing above him, an annoyed Ron
(Nick Offerman
) clears the air by announcing the obvious: April is mad at Andy for not telling her that he loves her back, and the missing Li'l Sebastian is Tom's fault. Andy tells April that he clearly loves her and they hug, and Tom apologizes to Jerry. Later, everyone spots Li'l Sebastian in the corn maze and recover him. Leslie learns the power outage was due to television crews plugging into the grid and overloading it. The only replacement generator in Pawnee is at the Wamapoke casino, and Leslie humbly asks Ken to loan it to her in exchanged for placing a Wamapoke cultural exhibit near the Harvest Festival entrance. Ken agrees, and during the festival opening the next morning, he performs a meaningless ceremony to remove the fake curse. People begin to swarm into the festival, and Ben returns to apologize to Leslie for leaving, admitting that he is not over his past. She reassures him the festival is as much his accomplishment as hers, and even has Ken break Ben's "curse", although Ken's gesture is also completely meaningless. At the end, Ben appears to have been won over by Li'l Sebastian, but admits to the camera crew that he still fails to see the appeal and remains as baffled as ever.
and directed by Dean Holland
. The episode marked the culmination of a seven-episode story arc that began with the third season
premiere, "Go Big or Go Home
", in which Leslie and the parks department prepare to relaunch the harvest festival, which had previously been a Pawnee tradition before it ended. The storyline stemmed from serious budget problems facing Pawnee which forced a government shutdown and threatened major cuts to the parks department, prompting Leslie to bring the harvest festival back and stake the future of the entire department on its success or failure. Amy Poehler said she believed the storyline was appropriate for a series about small government and was well handled by the writers: "What I like about the show is it doesn't spend 25 episodes talking about this thing, it talks about it in the right amount of time. It happens and then there's consequences of it. The show keeps moving forward, which is always really fun."
"Harvest Festival" was the first episode of the season written and produced separately from the second season
. The previous six episodes from the third season were filmed almost immediately after the second season ended as part of an early shooting schedule to accommodate Poehler's pregnancy. Series co-creator Michael Schur
described it as a particularly empowering episode for the Leslie Knope character: "When you see this episode [...] it makes you love her even more. This episode is about Leslie being noticed for the incredible hard work she does." Schur also said he believed the subplot with April and Andy was one that several young people in their situation have faced in real life: "Andy is put into a situation that a lot of people have been put into in our lives and he does the exact wrong thing you can do. And that's sort of the template for them going forward is what's the wrongest thing you can do? That's sort of how we follow them." Chris Pratt said he believed the conflict provided strong romantic and comedic potential for the characters: "There definitely will be conflict in their relationship [and] there's still a lot of room for comedy in there, because we have good writers."
Rob Lowe
, a regular cast member with Parks and Recreation, did not appear in "Harvest Festival" because the actor was originally slated to only appear in the first six episodes of the season as a guest star. However, after those episodes were filmed, Lowe joined the cast as a permanent cast member, and his character Chris Traeger
will return in the next episode, "Camping
", as well as all subsequent episodes. "Harvest Festival" included guest appearances by Mo Collins and Jay Jackson as, respectively, Joan Callamezzo and Perd Hapley, two Pawnee television journalists who have appeared in multiple Parks and Recreation episodes. It also featured the first guest appearance of Jonathan Joss as Wamapoke tribe leader Ken Hotate. Joss previously voiced John Redcorn
in the animated television series King of the Hill
, which was co-created by Parks and Recreation co-creator Greg Daniels
. Schur said while writing about the Native American curse, the writing staff wanted it to be the local media that turned it into an issue rather than the citizens of Pawnee, because they felt it would be too cartoonish and unbelievable for the residents to take it so seriously.
Due to budget constraints, the Parks and Recreation set department did not build the harvest festival and corn maze sets, but instead filmed the episode at the annual Halloween Harvest Festival at Los Angeles Pierce College
, a community college in California. Michael Schur said the aerial shot of the harvest festival at the end of the episode was the most expensive in the entire series. The episode was filmed out of sequence from the rest of the season so the weather would be cooler when the scenes were shot; Schur jokingly said if this was not done, "the week that we would have been shooting it was like 148 degrees here and the actors would be dead now". "Harvest Festival" was screened for members of the media during a January 2011 NBC press junket. Afterward, the reporters were taken to the set of Parks and Recreation where they were able to greet and pose for photos with the actual miniature horse who played Li'l Sebastian. Shortly after the episode aired, a "Producer's Cut" version was made available on the official NBC website. It was about five minutes longer than the televised version and included several scenes that were originally cut due to length limitations, including an extended cold open
with the parks department meeting Li'l Sebastian, and additional scenes of Leslie meeting with Pawnee constituents before the Harvest Festival.
, a school in Indiana
, the state where Parks and Recreation series is set. In a later scene, Ben compares Leslie to a Jedi
, a type of warrior in the science fiction franchise Star Wars
, prompting Leslie and Tom to mock him as a nerd
. During one scene, Ken Hotate says, "I know two things about white people: they love Matchbox Twenty
, and they are terrified of curses." The former refers to an American rock band, which is later also featured on the marquee of an exterior shot of a Wamapoke casino. (The extended cut replaces Matchbox Twenty with Rachael Ray
in both instances.) Ann claims that, while distraught from her breakup with Chris, she bought $700-worth of candles from Anthropologie
, a retail store that sells women's apparel and home accessories.
One of the harvest festival booths features Pawnee celebrity Aunt Tilda, the fictional aunt of basketball player Larry Bird
, who is from Indiana. "American Girl
", a song by the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
, plays during one scene showing an overview of the harvest festival. A news report about the supposed curse is presented in a Taiwanese animation clip featuring Leslie and Ken Hotate, in the style of the animation company Next Media Animation
. While interviewing Hotate, Perd Hapley compared the curse to the horror film Poltergeist (1982). Several commentators compared the man who flirted with Ann to the characters of Jersey Shore
, an MTV
reality series about young people living in a house by the Jersey Shore
beach.
, with a 1.8 rating/5 share among viewers between ages 18 and 49. It was one of the lowest ratings of the series to date, and marked a 25 percent drop from the previous original episode, "Indianapolis
". The ratings suffered in part because its lead-in show, The Office, was a repeat; all the other NBC comedy shows that Thursday, including 30 Rock
, Community
, Perfect Couples
and Outsourced
, also saw lower ratings than their previous episodes. Parks and Recreation was defeated in its 9:30 p.m. timeslot by the Fox
comedy-drama series Bones
, which was seen by 11.34 million households; the ABC
medical drama Private Practice (TV series), which was seen by 5.97 million households; and CBS
coverage of NCAA
basketball, which was seen by 4.44 million household. In network television, it defeated only a remake of the CW Network
drama Nikita
, which drew 1.37 million households.
magazine writer Steve Kandell called it the most pivotal episode of the season in terms of "resolving and resetting narrative stakes", as well as the most complex from a production perspective. Kandell wrote, "There's something that feels particularly satisfying about watching a wholly sympathetic, albeit fictional, character like Leslie Knope do well by her own ambition and by her friends."Entertainment Weekly
writer Ken Tucker said the episode placed Parks and Recreation "squarely in the tradition of great gentle-hearted sitcoms" that treated its characters "with equal affection, and has relatively little patience for irony and cool detachment". He praised Amy Poehler's performance, and enjoyed how the characters' excitement over Li'l Sebastian demonstrated how "in some parts of this great land, there are people who aren’t jaded, who are open to wonderment, who find vessels in which to pour their joy". HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall said "Harvest Festival" may be his favorite episode of the season thus far, and demonstrates how the series has evolved. While in the first season
he said Leslie was too over-the-top in a relatively ordinary setting, Sepinwall said this episode showed Parks and Recreation "has successfully made the rest of Pawnee seem as believably crazy as Leslie, if not moreso". TV Squad television reviewer Maureen Ryan called "Harvest Festival" a "delightful, comedically deft episode, one that depicts the mildly demented world of Pawnee in loving detail".
Joel Keller, also of TV Squad, called it one of the best episodes of the season, and that it provided each member of the ensemble cast moments to shine. He praised how the episode combined the "funny small-townness of a place like Pawnee and the realities of being in city government". James Poniewozik
of Time
magazine called it a "splendid" episode that "combined slapstick, authentic stakes and a holistic picture of the oddball history and commonalities that bond the folks we've come to know in Pawnee". Punchline Magazine
writer Megan Gilbert said the episode featured "plenty of laugh-out-loud moments" and particularly enjoyed the "sweet non-aggressive fighting" between April and Andy. Gilbert felt Adam Scott was underused, but praised the performances of Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari and Mo Collins. TV Guide
writer Damian Holbrook said the difficulties that plague the harvest festival were funny, "but like the best of Parks, these hiccups are matched with acres of heart". He praised the growing romantic interest between Leslie and Ben, as well as the subplot about Andy and April. Alex Strachan of the Montreal Gazette
praised the show for being funny without resorting to cynicism or cruel jokes, and called the series "one of the sharpest, smartest comedies on TV at the moment". He also called the Wamapoke curse subplot "wildly politically incorrect, but funny". National Post
writer Scott Stinson said Parks and Recreation "continues to challenge for the title of best comedy on television", and called the continuing romance between April and Andy a "welcome development" for both characters.
Hollywood.com writer Eric Sundermann enjoyed the new direction Ann's character was taking, as well as how "Harvest Festival" accurately portrays small-town life. Rick Porter of Zap2it
said the episode "put a great cap on the first portion of the season". He called Andy and April "a recipe for excellent comedy" and called the slowly developing romance of Ben and Leslie extremely rewarding. Andy Daglas of ChicagoNow
called it a "pure delight from beginning to end" and a good entry point for newcomers to the show. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
called the episode "celebration of the whackjobs that live in Pawnee and how their singular focus can make for some adorably naive comedy". While he praised the main subplot, he said it was too early in April and Andy's relationship for them to declare their love for each other, and said April's declaration "came out of nowhere". Matt Fowler of IGN
said it was not his favorite episode, as the jokes about Ben's past felt repetitive compared to past episodes, and the April and Andy subplot "fell a little flat". However, he said it was "chock full of dozens of little moments that make the entire episode worthwhile", and particularly praised the Native American curse and the parody of the media.
Parks and Recreation (season 3)
The third season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network between January 20 and May 19, 2011. Like the previous seasons, it focused on Leslie Knope and her staff at the parks and recreation department of the fictional Indiana town of Pawnee...
of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...
, and the 37th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on March 17, 2011. In the episode, Leslie
Leslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
and her co-workers hold Pawnee's harvest festival
Harvest festival
A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
, the success of which will determine the future of the parks department. The festival faces several obstacles, including a supposed Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
curse, a missing miniature horse
Miniature horse
Miniature horses are found in many nations, particularly in Europe and the Americas. The designation of miniature horse is determined by the height of the animal, which, depending on the particular breed registry involved, is usually less than as measured at the last hairs of the mane, which are...
and a scandal-hungry media. Meanwhile, Ann
Ann Perkins
Ann Meredith Perkins is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is a nurse and best friend of Leslie Knope. She is portrayed by Rashida Jones.-Season one:...
tries to cope with her recent break-up, and April
April Ludgate
April Roberta Ludgate is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is an apathetic college student employed by the Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation as Ron Swanson's assistant. She is married to Andy Dwyer. She is portrayed by Aubrey Plaza...
confesses her love to Andy
Andy Dwyer
Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is Ann Perkins' ex-boyfriend, a talented-if-yet-unsuccessful musician, a shoe-shiner at Pawnee City Hall, and April Ludgate's husband. He is portrayed by Chris Pratt.-Background:At the start of the...
, then becomes angry when he does not reciprocate.
Written by Daniel J. Goor
Daniel J. Goor
Daniel J. Goor is an Emmy award winning writer, who has written for several comedy talk shows including The Daily Show, Last Call with Carson Daly and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He is currently serving as producer of the NBC primetime series Parks and Recreation. He writes for Power Rangers...
and directed by Dean Holland
Dean Holland
Dean Holland is an Emmy Award-winning, American film editor, television director and producer best known for working on Entourage and the NBC comedy shows The Office and Parks and Recreation...
, the episode marked the culmination of a seven-episode story arc about the harvest festival that began with the third season premiere, "Go Big or Go Home
Go Big or Go Home
"Go Big or Go Home" is the third season premiere of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 31st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 20, 2011. In the episode, Leslie gets Ann to go on a date with state auditor Chris...
". Unlike the first six episodes of the season, it was not written and produced immediately following the second season
Parks and Recreation (season 2)
The second season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network starting September 17, 2009, and ended on May 20, 2010. The season was produced by Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, and series co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur...
, which had been done to accommodate actress Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
's pregnancy. The episode also does not feature Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
as he was originally only expected to be a guest star when the episode was conceived; however, he does return for subsequent episodes as a regular cast member.
The episode featured appearances by regular guest stars Mo Collins
Mo Collins
Maureen "Mo" Ann Collins is an American actress and comedian. Collins is perhaps best known for being a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series MADtv. She became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show...
and Jay Jackson, as well as the first appearance by Jonathan Joss
Jonathan Joss
Jonathan Joss is a Native American actor. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he went to McCollum High School alongside independent filmmaker and best friend Mark A. Watson, where they studied both Drama and Choir, and worked together on such theatrical plays together such as El Gallo...
as the leader of a local Native American tribe. The harvest festival scenes were shot at Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College, also known as Pierce College, Pierce, is a community college that serves more than 23,000 students in the northern Chalk Hills of Woodland Hills, a community within the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.The college began with 70 students...
, and an aerial shot of the festival itself was the most expensive shot in the series. According to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, "Harvest Festival" was seen by 4.08 million household viewers, one of the lowest ratings of the series.
The episode received critical acclaim, with many reviewers calling it one of the show's best episodes as well as a major turning point in the series.
Plot
With the Harvest Festival days away, LeslieLeslie Knope
Leslie Barbara Knope is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.-Background:...
(Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) surprises everyone by booking Li'l Sebastian, a miniature horse
Miniature horse
Miniature horses are found in many nations, particularly in Europe and the Americas. The designation of miniature horse is determined by the height of the animal, which, depending on the particular breed registry involved, is usually less than as measured at the last hairs of the mane, which are...
and legendary Pawnee celebrity. Everyone is thrilled except Ben
Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation)
Benjamin "Ben" Wyatt is a character in the TV series Parks and Recreation. The character guest starred in two episodes of season two and was upgraded to a regular in season three. Ben is a state auditor who comes into Pawnee with Chris Traeger to evaluate the town's funds at the end of the second...
(Adam Scott
Adam Scott (actor)
Adam Scott is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Henry Pollard in the Starz comedy series Party Down and as Ben Wyatt in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation....
), who doesn't understand the fascination. The chief of the local Wamapoke tribe, Ken Hotate (Jonathan Joss
Jonathan Joss
Jonathan Joss is a Native American actor. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he went to McCollum High School alongside independent filmmaker and best friend Mark A. Watson, where they studied both Drama and Choir, and worked together on such theatrical plays together such as El Gallo...
), visits the parks department and requests the harvest festival be moved, as it is built upon the site of a Wamapoke massacre. When Leslie explains it is too late, Ken warns them the festival may become cursed, although he privately admits the curse is fake. Ann
Ann Perkins
Ann Meredith Perkins is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is a nurse and best friend of Leslie Knope. She is portrayed by Rashida Jones.-Season one:...
(Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
) works the harvest festival first aid tent, where she confides in Donna
Donna Meagle
Donna Meagle is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Retta Sirleaf and has appeared in the show since the pilot. For the first two seasons of the show she appeared as a recurring character; she became a regular in the third season.-Background:Donna is...
(Retta) that she has not taken the break-up with Chris
Chris Traeger
Christopher "Chris" Traeger is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation on NBC. He began on the show as an Indiana state auditor who visits the fictional city of Pawnee to help solve their crippling budget problems, and eventually...
(Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
) well. April
April Ludgate
April Roberta Ludgate is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is an apathetic college student employed by the Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation as Ron Swanson's assistant. She is married to Andy Dwyer. She is portrayed by Aubrey Plaza...
(Aubrey Plaza) tells Andy
Andy Dwyer
Andrew Maxwell "Andy" Dwyer is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is Ann Perkins' ex-boyfriend, a talented-if-yet-unsuccessful musician, a shoe-shiner at Pawnee City Hall, and April Ludgate's husband. He is portrayed by Chris Pratt.-Background:At the start of the...
(Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt
Christopher Michael "Chris" Pratt is an American actor, best known for his roles as Harold Brighton "Bright" Abbott in the television series Everwood, the recurring character Winchester "Ché" Cook in season 4 of The OC, Andy Dwyer in the television series Parks and Recreation and for portraying...
) she loves him, but grows angry when he replies, "Dude, shut up! That is awesomesauce!"
Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins
Mo Collins
Maureen "Mo" Ann Collins is an American actress and comedian. Collins is perhaps best known for being a member of the ensemble on FOX's sketch comedy series MADtv. She became well known for several characters during her tenure on the show...
) arrives to report on the festival and is determined to find a negative story, although she does show excitement over Li'l Sebastian. She initially fails to find a scandal, but then overhears Leslie and Ben discussing the curse. It becomes the focus of her story, especially after Tom
Tom Haverford
Thomas Montgomery "Tom" Haverford , born Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani, is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who is revered for his high levels of swagger and unmatched entrepreneurial skills...
(Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. He currently stars as Tom Haverford on the NBC show Parks and Recreation....
) tells Leslie that Li'l Sebastian escaped his pen. Tom blames Jerry (Jim O'Heir
Jim O'Heir
Jim O'Heir is an American actor. He was active in the Chicago theater during the 1980s and 1990s as part of the theater group White Noise, and appeared in such plays as The Book of Blanche, Stumpy's Gang and Ad-Nauseam with the group...
), although it was entirely Tom's fault. The Pawnee media swarms the festival to cover the curse, endangering its opening the next day with the bad press, with one reporter likening Ben's past as a failed teen mayor with the curse. Now believing himself to be the curse, Ben leaves the festival. As Leslie reassures the reporters there is no curse, the power generator blows out, leaving the festival dark and stranding most of the parks department on a Ferris wheel. Using the blackout as an excuse, Ann takes Donna's advice to make out with random people, starting with Kiley (Joey Russo), her dumb but attractive patient.
On the Ferris wheel, with April and Andy arguing below him and Tom and Jerry arguing above him, an annoyed Ron
Ron Swanson
Ronald Ulysses "Ron" Swanson is a fictional character played by Nick Offerman in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation on NBC. Ron is parks department director in the Indiana city of Pawnee and the immediate superior of protagonist Leslie Knope...
(Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman
Nick Offerman is an American actor best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. He is also a skilled woodworker.-Early life and career:...
) clears the air by announcing the obvious: April is mad at Andy for not telling her that he loves her back, and the missing Li'l Sebastian is Tom's fault. Andy tells April that he clearly loves her and they hug, and Tom apologizes to Jerry. Later, everyone spots Li'l Sebastian in the corn maze and recover him. Leslie learns the power outage was due to television crews plugging into the grid and overloading it. The only replacement generator in Pawnee is at the Wamapoke casino, and Leslie humbly asks Ken to loan it to her in exchanged for placing a Wamapoke cultural exhibit near the Harvest Festival entrance. Ken agrees, and during the festival opening the next morning, he performs a meaningless ceremony to remove the fake curse. People begin to swarm into the festival, and Ben returns to apologize to Leslie for leaving, admitting that he is not over his past. She reassures him the festival is as much his accomplishment as hers, and even has Ken break Ben's "curse", although Ken's gesture is also completely meaningless. At the end, Ben appears to have been won over by Li'l Sebastian, but admits to the camera crew that he still fails to see the appeal and remains as baffled as ever.
Production
"Harvest Festival" was written by Daniel J. GoorDaniel J. Goor
Daniel J. Goor is an Emmy award winning writer, who has written for several comedy talk shows including The Daily Show, Last Call with Carson Daly and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He is currently serving as producer of the NBC primetime series Parks and Recreation. He writes for Power Rangers...
and directed by Dean Holland
Dean Holland
Dean Holland is an Emmy Award-winning, American film editor, television director and producer best known for working on Entourage and the NBC comedy shows The Office and Parks and Recreation...
. The episode marked the culmination of a seven-episode story arc that began with the third season
Parks and Recreation (season 3)
The third season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network between January 20 and May 19, 2011. Like the previous seasons, it focused on Leslie Knope and her staff at the parks and recreation department of the fictional Indiana town of Pawnee...
premiere, "Go Big or Go Home
Go Big or Go Home
"Go Big or Go Home" is the third season premiere of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 31st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 20, 2011. In the episode, Leslie gets Ann to go on a date with state auditor Chris...
", in which Leslie and the parks department prepare to relaunch the harvest festival, which had previously been a Pawnee tradition before it ended. The storyline stemmed from serious budget problems facing Pawnee which forced a government shutdown and threatened major cuts to the parks department, prompting Leslie to bring the harvest festival back and stake the future of the entire department on its success or failure. Amy Poehler said she believed the storyline was appropriate for a series about small government and was well handled by the writers: "What I like about the show is it doesn't spend 25 episodes talking about this thing, it talks about it in the right amount of time. It happens and then there's consequences of it. The show keeps moving forward, which is always really fun."
"Harvest Festival" was the first episode of the season written and produced separately from the second season
Parks and Recreation (season 2)
The second season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network starting September 17, 2009, and ended on May 20, 2010. The season was produced by Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, and series co-creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur...
. The previous six episodes from the third season were filmed almost immediately after the second season ended as part of an early shooting schedule to accommodate Poehler's pregnancy. Series co-creator Michael Schur
Michael Schur
Michael Herbert Schur is an American television producer and writer, best known for his work on the NBC comedy series The Office and Parks and Recreation, the latter of which he co-created along with Greg Daniels...
described it as a particularly empowering episode for the Leslie Knope character: "When you see this episode [...] it makes you love her even more. This episode is about Leslie being noticed for the incredible hard work she does." Schur also said he believed the subplot with April and Andy was one that several young people in their situation have faced in real life: "Andy is put into a situation that a lot of people have been put into in our lives and he does the exact wrong thing you can do. And that's sort of the template for them going forward is what's the wrongest thing you can do? That's sort of how we follow them." Chris Pratt said he believed the conflict provided strong romantic and comedic potential for the characters: "There definitely will be conflict in their relationship [and] there's still a lot of room for comedy in there, because we have good writers."
Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
, a regular cast member with Parks and Recreation, did not appear in "Harvest Festival" because the actor was originally slated to only appear in the first six episodes of the season as a guest star. However, after those episodes were filmed, Lowe joined the cast as a permanent cast member, and his character Chris Traeger
Chris Traeger
Christopher "Chris" Traeger is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation on NBC. He began on the show as an Indiana state auditor who visits the fictional city of Pawnee to help solve their crippling budget problems, and eventually...
will return in the next episode, "Camping
Camping (Parks and Recreation)
"Camping" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 38th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 24, 2011...
", as well as all subsequent episodes. "Harvest Festival" included guest appearances by Mo Collins and Jay Jackson as, respectively, Joan Callamezzo and Perd Hapley, two Pawnee television journalists who have appeared in multiple Parks and Recreation episodes. It also featured the first guest appearance of Jonathan Joss as Wamapoke tribe leader Ken Hotate. Joss previously voiced John Redcorn
John Redcorn
John Redcorn III , is a character in the animated series King of the Hill. He is addressed or referred to as "John Redcorn" or "Mr...
in the animated television series King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
, which was co-created by Parks and Recreation co-creator Greg Daniels
Greg Daniels
Gregory Martin "Greg" Daniels is an American television comedy writer, producer, and director.-Life and career:...
. Schur said while writing about the Native American curse, the writing staff wanted it to be the local media that turned it into an issue rather than the citizens of Pawnee, because they felt it would be too cartoonish and unbelievable for the residents to take it so seriously.
Due to budget constraints, the Parks and Recreation set department did not build the harvest festival and corn maze sets, but instead filmed the episode at the annual Halloween Harvest Festival at Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College, also known as Pierce College, Pierce, is a community college that serves more than 23,000 students in the northern Chalk Hills of Woodland Hills, a community within the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.The college began with 70 students...
, a community college in California. Michael Schur said the aerial shot of the harvest festival at the end of the episode was the most expensive in the entire series. The episode was filmed out of sequence from the rest of the season so the weather would be cooler when the scenes were shot; Schur jokingly said if this was not done, "the week that we would have been shooting it was like 148 degrees here and the actors would be dead now". "Harvest Festival" was screened for members of the media during a January 2011 NBC press junket. Afterward, the reporters were taken to the set of Parks and Recreation where they were able to greet and pose for photos with the actual miniature horse who played Li'l Sebastian. Shortly after the episode aired, a "Producer's Cut" version was made available on the official NBC website. It was about five minutes longer than the televised version and included several scenes that were originally cut due to length limitations, including an extended cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
with the parks department meeting Li'l Sebastian, and additional scenes of Leslie meeting with Pawnee constituents before the Harvest Festival.
Cultural references
When Ben fails to understand the appeal of Li'l Sebastian, Ron explains the miniature horse has an honorary degree from the University of Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, a school in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, the state where Parks and Recreation series is set. In a later scene, Ben compares Leslie to a Jedi
Jedi
The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...
, a type of warrior in the science fiction franchise Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, prompting Leslie and Tom to mock him as a nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
. During one scene, Ken Hotate says, "I know two things about white people: they love Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty is an American rock band, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995...
, and they are terrified of curses." The former refers to an American rock band, which is later also featured on the marquee of an exterior shot of a Wamapoke casino. (The extended cut replaces Matchbox Twenty with Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray is an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity chef and author. She hosts the syndicated talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray and three Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and $40 a Day...
in both instances.) Ann claims that, while distraught from her breakup with Chris, she bought $700-worth of candles from Anthropologie
Anthropologie
Anthropologie is a chain of retail stores that sells women's apparel and accessories, home furnishings, imitation found objects and an array of gifts and decorative items.Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is owned by Urban Outfitters, Inc...
, a retail store that sells women's apparel and home accessories.
One of the harvest festival booths features Pawnee celebrity Aunt Tilda, the fictional aunt of basketball player Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
, who is from Indiana. "American Girl
American Girl (song)
"American Girl" is the second single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' self-titled debut album. The single did not chart in the U.S., but in the UK it peaked at #40 the week ending August 27, 1977...
", a song by the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
, plays during one scene showing an overview of the harvest festival. A news report about the supposed curse is presented in a Taiwanese animation clip featuring Leslie and Ken Hotate, in the style of the animation company Next Media Animation
Next Media Animation
Next Media Animation is a Taiwan-based subsidiary of Next Media, a Hong Kong media conglomerate, which is purposed toward creating CGI-animated, humorous re-enactments of recent news stories...
. While interviewing Hotate, Perd Hapley compared the curse to the horror film Poltergeist (1982). Several commentators compared the man who flirted with Ann to the characters of Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore (TV series)
Jersey Shore is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 3, 2009 in the United States. The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Season 2 followed the cast escaping the cold northeast...
, an MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
reality series about young people living in a house by the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
beach.
Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "Harvest Festival" was seen by an estimated 4.08 million household viewers, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, with a 1.8 rating/5 share among viewers between ages 18 and 49. It was one of the lowest ratings of the series to date, and marked a 25 percent drop from the previous original episode, "Indianapolis
Indianapolis (Parks and Recreation)
"Indianapolis" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 36th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 24, 2011. In the episode, Leslie and Ron travel to Indianapolis to receive a...
". The ratings suffered in part because its lead-in show, The Office, was a repeat; all the other NBC comedy shows that Thursday, including 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
, Community
Community (TV series)
Community is an American television comedy series created by Dan Harmon that airs on NBC. The series is about a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. The series heavily uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television...
, Perfect Couples
Perfect Couples
Perfect Couples is an American comedy television series that was originally broadcast by NBC. The half-hour romantic comedy was co-created by Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri and produced by Universal Media Studios. A sneak preview of the series aired on December 20, 2010, and officially premiered on...
and Outsourced
Outsourced (TV series)
Outsourced is an American television sitcom set in an Indian workplace. It was based on the John Jeffcoat film of the same name and adapted by Ken Kwapis and Universal Media Studios for NBC. The series originally ran from September 23, 2010 to May 12, 2011...
, also saw lower ratings than their previous episodes. Parks and Recreation was defeated in its 9:30 p.m. timeslot by the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
comedy-drama series Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
, which was seen by 11.34 million households; the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
medical drama Private Practice (TV series), which was seen by 5.97 million households; and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
coverage of NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
basketball, which was seen by 4.44 million household. In network television, it defeated only a remake of the CW Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
drama Nikita
Nikita (TV series)
La Femme Nikita is a Canadian action/drama television series based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson. The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks Entertainment and Warner Brothers. It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow...
, which drew 1.37 million households.
Reviews
"Harvest Festival" received generally positive reviews. New YorkNew York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine writer Steve Kandell called it the most pivotal episode of the season in terms of "resolving and resetting narrative stakes", as well as the most complex from a production perspective. Kandell wrote, "There's something that feels particularly satisfying about watching a wholly sympathetic, albeit fictional, character like Leslie Knope do well by her own ambition and by her friends."Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer Ken Tucker said the episode placed Parks and Recreation "squarely in the tradition of great gentle-hearted sitcoms" that treated its characters "with equal affection, and has relatively little patience for irony and cool detachment". He praised Amy Poehler's performance, and enjoyed how the characters' excitement over Li'l Sebastian demonstrated how "in some parts of this great land, there are people who aren’t jaded, who are open to wonderment, who find vessels in which to pour their joy". HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall said "Harvest Festival" may be his favorite episode of the season thus far, and demonstrates how the series has evolved. While in the first season
Parks and Recreation (season 1)
The first season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television network between April 9 and May 14, 2009...
he said Leslie was too over-the-top in a relatively ordinary setting, Sepinwall said this episode showed Parks and Recreation "has successfully made the rest of Pawnee seem as believably crazy as Leslie, if not moreso". TV Squad television reviewer Maureen Ryan called "Harvest Festival" a "delightful, comedically deft episode, one that depicts the mildly demented world of Pawnee in loving detail".
Joel Keller, also of TV Squad, called it one of the best episodes of the season, and that it provided each member of the ensemble cast moments to shine. He praised how the episode combined the "funny small-townness of a place like Pawnee and the realities of being in city government". James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik is an American journalist and television critic. He writes Times Tuned In column and has a blog with the same name.Originally from Monroe, MI, Poniewozik attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating with a BA in English. He subsequently attended the graduate program...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine called it a "splendid" episode that "combined slapstick, authentic stakes and a holistic picture of the oddball history and commonalities that bond the folks we've come to know in Pawnee". Punchline Magazine
Punchline Magazine
Punchline Magazine is an American online magazine devoted to stand-up comics and comedy clubs. Based in New York City, New York, it was founded in 2005.-History:...
writer Megan Gilbert said the episode featured "plenty of laugh-out-loud moments" and particularly enjoyed the "sweet non-aggressive fighting" between April and Andy. Gilbert felt Adam Scott was underused, but praised the performances of Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari and Mo Collins. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
writer Damian Holbrook said the difficulties that plague the harvest festival were funny, "but like the best of Parks, these hiccups are matched with acres of heart". He praised the growing romantic interest between Leslie and Ben, as well as the subplot about Andy and April. Alex Strachan of the Montreal Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
praised the show for being funny without resorting to cynicism or cruel jokes, and called the series "one of the sharpest, smartest comedies on TV at the moment". He also called the Wamapoke curse subplot "wildly politically incorrect, but funny". National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
writer Scott Stinson said Parks and Recreation "continues to challenge for the title of best comedy on television", and called the continuing romance between April and Andy a "welcome development" for both characters.
Hollywood.com writer Eric Sundermann enjoyed the new direction Ann's character was taking, as well as how "Harvest Festival" accurately portrays small-town life. Rick Porter of Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
said the episode "put a great cap on the first portion of the season". He called Andy and April "a recipe for excellent comedy" and called the slowly developing romance of Ben and Leslie extremely rewarding. Andy Daglas of ChicagoNow
ChicagoNow
ChicagoNow is a blogging site managed by a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune. Launched in August 2009, the site features numerous blogs of mainly local interest on a variety of topics.The website of the Tribune daily RedEye is notably hosted on ChicagoNow...
called it a "pure delight from beginning to end" and a good entry point for newcomers to the show. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
called the episode "celebration of the whackjobs that live in Pawnee and how their singular focus can make for some adorably naive comedy". While he praised the main subplot, he said it was too early in April and Andy's relationship for them to declare their love for each other, and said April's declaration "came out of nowhere". Matt Fowler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said it was not his favorite episode, as the jokes about Ben's past felt repetitive compared to past episodes, and the April and Andy subplot "fell a little flat". However, he said it was "chock full of dozens of little moments that make the entire episode worthwhile", and particularly praised the Native American curse and the parody of the media.
External links
- "Harvest Festival" at the official Parks and Recreation site
- "2011 Pawnee Harvest Festival"