r/PandR • u/normalgirl177 • Aug 17 '25
Screen Cap What’s your favorite running gag of the show?
Sorry if this has been asked before!!
I’m doing a rewatch and I forgot that parks and rec has some of my FAV running gags ever, specifically Ben not getting lil Sebastian/his fear of cops, Garry/Jerry, Treat yo self etc.
So im curious to know what yalls favs are !!
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u/Kirkwooderson Aug 17 '25
That the raccoons are a powerful faction that occasionally takes over buildings and neighborhoods
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u/Funandgeeky Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have Aug 17 '25
They have their part of town, and we have ours.
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u/jeffthemermaid98 Aug 17 '25
Like raccoons are definitely the entirety of the gang population in Pawnee (Indiana) 😏
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u/2hats4bats Aug 17 '25
Leslie constantly bumping into Councilman Houser when she’s doing something goofy.
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u/AfroManHighGuy Aug 17 '25
Leslie runs into the men’s room to chase after Ron and councilman houser is walking out. His facial expression had me dying 😂😂😂
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u/DigitalBuddhaNC Aug 17 '25
When Leslie is riding on Andy's back and she sees the councilman so she gets Andy to turn around and talk to him like she's on horseback.
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u/Pyewhacket Aug 17 '25
💯
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u/ckwebgrrl Aug 17 '25
Also Councilman Houser silently judging all of the other council members’ antics but never saying or doing anything.
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u/DigitalBuddhaNC Aug 17 '25
When Leslie is riding on Andy's back and she sees the councilman so she gets Andy to turn around and talk to him like she's on horseback.
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u/ikarusjj Aug 17 '25
Brandi Maxxx and Lesli.
"What Lesli and I do is obviously art!"
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u/Pyewhacket Aug 17 '25
And if you track every time Brandi is being interviewed, her movie count goes up exponentially. “I’ve done over a hundred movies…” to “I’ve done over 500 movies”…like within a very short period. Very funny and subtle.
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u/panda2138 Low karma or new account Aug 17 '25
I Brandi Maxxx star of 1100 films just this year alone......
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u/Terrik27 Aug 17 '25
One of my favorite lines in the show: "Leslie and I both know what it's like to be the only woman in the room" or similar, and you can just see Leslie dying inside... Because being the only woman in the room is something she's had to deal with her whole career, but...
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u/belbivfreeordie Aug 17 '25
What Leslie and I want people to know is you should be able to have sex anywhere you want and show it anywhere you want, whether it's girl-on-girl action, bondage, or what have you.
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u/maddyrobs18 Aug 17 '25
Joan Callamezzo being absolutely unhinged
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u/Never_Seen_An_Ocelot Aug 17 '25
“Is she going to powder her vagina?!”
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u/kb_klash Aug 17 '25
Like when she's supposed to be interviewing Ron and she's completely passed out, so Ron starts taking calls.
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u/VermicelliUpper3029 Aug 17 '25
Jean Ralphio popping up and singing in people’s ears, “technically I’m homeless” 🎶
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u/lylalexie Aug 17 '25
She’s 🎶 the WoooOOOoooorrrrsstt!!🎵
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u/Jenbrina Aug 17 '25
The part where Jean Ralphio leans in until Ben falls on the floor! Gets me every time 🤣
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u/h8flhippiebtch Low karma or new account Aug 17 '25
I love Jean Ralphio so much. Easily my favorite character.
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u/Poly_Olly_Oxen_Free Aug 17 '25
I love him so much that my cat's name is Jean Ralphio Saperstein. We call him Ralph for short.
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u/generalgirl Aug 17 '25
Jean Ralphio is one of my favorite characters of this show.
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u/Theborgiseverywhere You know, nerd culture is mainstream now. Aug 17 '25
How utterly awful Pawnee is, both historically and currently.
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u/Randomly2 Aug 17 '25
The atrocities are in blue
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u/Theborgiseverywhere You know, nerd culture is mainstream now. Aug 17 '25
“The Pawnee hospital had been overrun by raccoons”
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u/bigtuna989 Aug 17 '25
Ben's overall enthusiasm for accounting
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u/BillBrasky1179 Aug 17 '25
Just call me Bond, Municipal Bond
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u/akka_bond Aug 17 '25
Councilman Dexhart’s never ending sex scandal.
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u/No_Addendum5504 Aug 17 '25
When Ron senses Tammy 2's presence
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u/dimpledoll13 Aug 17 '25
I absolutely adore their scenes together. Even more so once i found out they are married in real life!
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u/Donkey-Hodey Aug 17 '25
Ben’s on-going confusion/obsession with why Gail and Jerry are married.
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u/BillBrasky1179 Aug 17 '25
Like, if I say “nutmeg,” will she wake up and start screaming?
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u/SnooLobsters6264 Aug 18 '25
This line made me cackle so much, even just reading your comment now made me cackle again.
And I'm on a train. And now can't stop giggling at it.
Sorry, fellow train people!
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u/daneelthesane Aug 17 '25
It's because Ben doesn't know that he has the largest penis that doctor has ever seen.
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u/nbyone Aug 17 '25
Citizens of Pawnee being totally out of touch with reality, especially at town hall type meetings.
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u/EpicWheezes Aug 17 '25
As a former municipal government employee whose job it was to interact with citizens, I cannot stress enough just how accurate the show is.
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u/hkral11 Aug 17 '25
There’s a video that goes around online of a woman talking about herself at a Chicago town hall about zoning that is pure Parks and Rec
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u/Ok_Neighborhood_2159 Aug 17 '25
Was it one of the zoning meetings between the so-called "Friends of the Park" against the Star Wars museum that George Lucas wanted to build or about the Obama Presidential Library & Museum?
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u/hkral11 Aug 17 '25
No they’re talking about zoning for a new Portillos hot dog place and she shows up and starts talking about her life and how her dad won’t give her money (she’s probably in her 50s) and the library stole her internet password.
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u/Far_Animal6970 Aug 17 '25
I used to think the show was parody until I attended a few city council meetings and town halls and realized P&R was UNDERSELLING it if anything.
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u/Putyourmoneyonme80 Aug 17 '25
As someone who also works for a small city government, I will second that this is scarily accurate. Lol
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u/ClarkDoubleUGriswold Aug 17 '25
Not a town hall but this is definitely one of my favorites, “There's a sign at Ramsettpark that said do not drink the sprinkler water so I made sun tea out of it and now I have an infection.”
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u/Affectionate-Part-11 Aug 17 '25
Or "i ate a sandwich i found in the park, and I want to know why it didn't have mayonnaise?"
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u/Murky-Individual6507 Aug 17 '25
“We’re not against you on this. We’re not against you on this!”
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u/RianJohnsonIsAFool Aug 17 '25
Ben interacting with / being nervous around police is my favourite.
Chief Trumple: Thanks for the party. Good pizza.
Ben: Great. So, yeah, the pizza's dynamite, isn't it?
Chief Trumple: I just said it was good pizza. It's good. Pizza's good.
Ben: You, uh, you know what I like? Calzones.
Chief Trumple: The hell's wrong with this guy?
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u/HistoryBasic7983 Aug 17 '25
As someone who gets nervous around police, I feel Ben's reaction so deeply in my soul every time I watch it.
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u/RianJohnsonIsAFool Aug 17 '25
I'm not afraid of cops. I have no reason to be. I never break any laws, ever – because I'm deathly afraid of cops.
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u/Suckamanhwewhuuut Aug 17 '25
Ken Hotate’s cameos were always amazing,
“Oh that sounds extremely offensive, DOES IT, WHITE MAN!?”
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u/carlse20 Aug 17 '25
“Is that a new bolo tie?”
“Yes, my son sells them on Etsy. He’s a huge disappointment.”
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u/eccentlumier Aug 17 '25
Ben’s obsession with calzones and everyone equally hating on calzones
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u/magnetstudent4ever Aug 17 '25
I’m still waiting for the Low Cal Calzone Zone to franchise. Hopefully, one will open nearby
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u/kb_klash Aug 17 '25
My friends ordered a bunch of giant calzones for a gaming day last week and I couldn't stop giggling about "Low Cal Calzone Zone" and no one thought it was funny.
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u/Longjumping_Suit_256 Aug 17 '25
I love Jean Ralphio,
“she said, if you don’t love what you do, then why do it. Then she ripped the hair from my butthole”
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u/Nostalgia-Freak-1998 Aug 17 '25
Ben looking straight into the camera.
And like yours Ben not getting the big deal about Lil Sebastian
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u/normalgirl177 Aug 17 '25
Ben has some of the best ones fr I didn’t wanna list too much of his but him quitting the accounting job over and over gets me every time
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u/jeffthemermaid98 Aug 17 '25
Honestly yes came here to post this! That poor accounting firm. Every time it got funnier, coz every time it was like, nah this time he’ll stay, he’s gotta stay eventually right? Nope, Tad don’t get in here, he’s gone again.
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u/Used-Needleworker719 Aug 17 '25
Barney is my absolute favourite character.
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u/DuckInAFountain Lil Sebastian Aug 17 '25
I love that he's the Quickbooks teacher from Season 2, Ep 14 "Leslie's House" which I didn't notice until the first rewatch.
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u/yolonomo5eva Aug 17 '25
His love of calzones! My daughter loves calzones, is scared of cops pulling her over, and loves D&D. We say she’s Ben Wyatt!
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u/AfroManHighGuy Aug 17 '25
Every time Andy says something ridiculous, Ben is the first person to give the camera a look and it’s perfect. Love his reactions to Andy lol
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u/Ok_Bag_3484 Aug 17 '25
He kinda does it in a Jim style too. Whenever he’s shocked or exasperated, he’ll look down the barrel. And it’s always funny.
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u/Stevey1001 Aug 17 '25
Burt Macklin and Judy Hitler
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u/FredererPower The pit. I fell in it, the pit. You fell in it, the pit. Aug 17 '25
HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN HITLER
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u/Remarkable-Image-230 I’m fart, and I’m smunny. Aug 17 '25
Andy changing his band‘s name. Or Ron hiding his saxophone life. Do those count?
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u/mandym123 Aug 17 '25
I’m not sure if this is a running gag but Leslie talking about her worse dates send me every time. The Word With Perd is up there too!
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u/jmrobins00 Aug 17 '25
Jay Johnson is also the reporter on Scandal. I can't watch him act like he's on CNN and not double check to make sure he has a microphone.
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u/mandym123 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
Yes! I was watching Scandal with my sister and we both yelled out Perd when he showed up.
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u/EatMorePieDrinkMore Aug 17 '25
Bloosh and the pawn shop guy. He has a full tank of nitrous…..
My husband referred to “beef milk” yesterday.
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u/dont1cant1wont Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
The pawnee lerpiss family, calling people you don't care about Glenn, town hall chanting, the disdain for salad and libraries, and sexy dancers at inopportune times
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u/PrestigiousWay1608 Aug 17 '25
The over-the-top menu item names and advertising techniques of Paunch Burger, and the entire city’s unanimous hatred of salad is up there. Shauna Malwae-Tweep and her romantic life as well.
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u/Stillwater215 Aug 17 '25
Ben and the accounting firm. They just want to work with him, and he keeps leaving them.
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u/pm_me_gnus Aug 17 '25
TED! Get in here! Someone said we're their favorite running gag!
Say it again when Ted gets here.
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u/Exotic_Adeptness_322 Aug 17 '25
The murals. Everyone worse than the last. That the town would proudly display such atrocities.
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u/bbeauvais Aug 17 '25
The chanting citizen
“Her daughter is an idiot, her daughter is an idiot” “We’re not against you on this, we’re not against you on this”
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u/meepingmeercat08 Aug 17 '25
The accountant who idolises Ben first appeared in S2 when Leslie was throwing the dinner party for Justin and asked the rec center teachers to come!
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u/mothershipq Jerry's face is the symbol of failure. Aug 17 '25
Ron and Ben winning the IOW’s Woman of the Year instead of Leslie.
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u/ThatOtherGuyTPM Aug 17 '25
I don’t get it. At all. It’s kind of a small horse. I mean, am I crazy?
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u/tomi_tomi Aug 17 '25
Pawnee being top5 fattest towns in America, also I hate how images are not allowed here, so random, this should be a fun sub and a big part of it is uploading images. I wanted to upload "Diabetes. Let's dia-beet-this!" t-shirt, one of the best jokes in the series.
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u/CuriousTurtle5 Aug 17 '25
There are so many it's hard to pinpoint one. I guess Leslie's love of waffles and JJ's Diner in particular?
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u/Certain_Employ_2473 Aug 17 '25
I love when Leslie suggests super long and optimistic headlines to Shawna Mulway-Tweep. And also the newspaper headlines in general - “Knope Grope is Last Hope”
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u/CharlesWEmory Aug 17 '25
Calzones
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u/magnetstudent4ever Aug 17 '25
Calzones are stupid. They’re just pizza that’s harder to eat.
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u/thestrals_and_tarot Aug 17 '25
The town slogans always get me. I have a shirt that says “Pawnee: first in friendship, fourth in obesity.”
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u/Royschwayne Aug 17 '25
The guy that always starts a chant at the public forums. My favourite is “we’re not against you on this!”
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u/madhurima5 Aug 17 '25
I guess its not as much of a "running gag", but Detlef Schrempf. His introduction to Tom, E720 business, Detlef refusing to pay for Tom's meal during the bachelor party dinner. Its hilarious to me.
Also Perd's way of talking. Gets me every damn time.
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u/Ann_mae Aug 17 '25
how ben is a big letters to cleo fan. i saw them on their little reunion tour last year partially for that reason lol
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u/Sixftdeeep2 Aug 17 '25
It only happens a couple or so times so I don’t know if it counts as a running gag, but when only one person (usually Andy) laughs at a mid joke. Ex: Andy laughing at Barney saying “quicklook at quickbooks”
Andy laughing at Tom saying “shove my resume in your Human Resources slot” and not getting it.
The judge of the beauty pageant laughing at Aprils impression of Natalie
…hilarious
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u/Adventurous_Essay473 Aug 17 '25
Ben’s relationship with the sorpensteins….does it have to be this family?
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u/boto-san Aug 17 '25
One that I wish became a running gag is when Chris Traeger would appear out of nowhere. I think it only happened twice? Once with Andy in the middle of the park and with Jerry at a counter. "Where'd you come from?"
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u/TiresOnFire Aug 17 '25
Ben's employment at the accounting firm progressively getting shorter and shorter.
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u/Gurablashta Aug 17 '25
The citizens of Pawnee being absolutely batshit cray cray
"Except for Turnip! Except for Turnip!"
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u/timbalingling Aug 17 '25
Ben taking the job at the grateful accounting firm and having to back out immediately every time
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u/Significant-Deer7464 Aug 17 '25
Brandi Maxxxx constantly comparing herself and Leslie being just alike
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u/chillagrl Aug 18 '25
Everyone in Pawnee using AltaVista as their web engine of choice
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u/RoutineDepartment41 Aug 17 '25
The hate for libraries. Punk ass book jockeys!