The Shows Mostly Formerly Affiliated with NBC's Thursday Night Comedy Block Thread **SPOILERS**

[Benjamin]

Cried like crazy. From the moment Leslie and April touched foreheads all the way to the Harris Wittels dedication message. Fucking amazing

[tristy]

I suggest watching the series finale and tonight's episode of Late Night with Seth Myers back to back. It was a fantastic episode with the entire cast. The end of Late Night was awesome, I won't spoil it just because I want everyone to go watch it if they can. Tim & Aubrey do something fantastically weird, a special cameo, and Chris Pratt sings a song to end the episode.

[Benjamin]

An Open Letter to the Cast and Crew of Parks and Recreation

“Dear Cast and Crew of Parks And Recreation,

Tomorrow night we will watch the final episode of

Parks And Recreation

and, like Brigadoon, Pawnee will disappear (except for reruns, Netflix, DVDs, Hulu, etc). Has it really been six years since the perpetual optimist Leslie Knope teamed with the “poetic, noble land mermaid” Ann Perkins and began a valiant effort to turn a dangerous pit into a beautiful city park? Since those first episodes, your show has become a pop culture phenomenon and a point of pride for the Hoosier State. Collectively, your team has wonderfully captured in a playful and endearing way all that Hoosiers have grown to love about our home state. It is said that “all good things must come to an end;” and in that spirit watching tomorrow night’s episode will be bittersweet. We will miss you almost as much as we miss Li’l Sebastian. Almost.

Parks And Recreation

embraced Indiana and Indiana embraced the show. The characters have come to represent so many aspects of Hoosier life and culture that it is difficult to look at our state and not see your characters represented by the cities and towns that dot our map. In fact, each character seems to have a town counterpart in our state:

• • Leslie Knope- Full of optimism and a can-do spirit; no obstacle is too big that it can’t be overcome by her determination. She is tough and intelligent. She works hard and gets the best of those around her. She isn’t interested in personal praise; she just wants the satisfaction of making her community a better place. She embodies all that it means to grow up and live in Indiana. Looking at the Indiana map, there is no more fitting town that captures the spirit of Leslie Knope, and best defines Indiana, thanHoosierville.

• • Ron Swanson- The man buries his gold, drinks Lagavulin, loves breakfast foods and eats red meat; lots and lots of red meat (courtesy of Food ’n Stuff). His cabin in the woods is surrounded with mines. Oil-soaked rags next to a burning fire in his woodworking shop? That’s none of your business, please and thank you. Any infringement upon his personal freedom makes his mustache twitch. Don’t bother him, and he won’t bother you. Ron Swanson is Liberty, Indiana.

• • Tom Haverford- The entrepreneur. The visionary. Unique, unexpected and authentic. Tom thinks beyond his environment and has ideas that are sometimes ahead of their time. Tom is Columbus, Indiana. An architectural mecca, Columbus is a surprising city with a rich cultural heritage that is always looking for ways to continue its artistic and economic growth. Just like Tom.

• • April Ludgate-Dwyer- April is exotic. April is mysterious. April is sophisticated and April is intelligent. April could be Peru, Brazil, Rome or Warsaw. She represents Indiana’s small-town charm and global influence. April is Mexico, Cairo or Dublin.Paris, Alexandria or London. Manhattan, Jordan or Holland. Versailles, Shanghai… you get the point.

• • Andy Dwyer- Gas City. No reason in particular, other than we think he would just really giggle at the name. It would also be the perfect venue for the next MouseRat concert.

• • Ben Wyatt- Ben is a lovable nerd. Comic books, Game of Thrones, Settlers of Catan, Cones of Dunshire; Ben embraces nerdery’s complete canon. No town in Indiana better represents Ben Wyatt than Odon, Indiana. Odon, deriving its name (although a slightly different spelling) from Odin, the Allfather of the gods and ruler of Asgard in German mythology, is a name as close to Middle Earth as you’ll find in the Hoosier State. But Ben probably knew that already. He’s also probably mad we spell it with the second “o.”

• • Donna Meagle- There’s one place and one place alone in our state that typifies Donna. It isn’t a city, but a man-made edifice to commerce. A place where high-end fashion and consumer goods are sold to those with only the most discerning of tastes. Tiffany’s, Burberry, Apple, Coach and Louis Vuitton- they’re all there. The Fashion Mall at Keystone in Indianapolis. Go on Donna, get in the Benz and Treat Yo’ Self!

• • Ann Perkins and Chris Traeger- We literally (or as Chris would say litch-early) cried when Ann and Chris drove out of Pawnee; and to Michigan of all places! The Perkins-Traeger union belongs in Indiana. Come back and raise your son Oliver in Oliver, Indiana.

• • Jerry (Larry, Garry, Terry) Gergich- we don’t really claim him. He’s more of an Ohio guy. Probably someplace nondescript like Springfield, Ohio. His wife and daughters on the other hand, his inexplicably gorgeous wife and daughters, have Milan written all over them (The Italians may pronounce it Me-Lon, but Hoosiers pronounce it My-lan).

While each character so wonderfully represents a certain corner of our state, for this cast, like our state, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And what a beautifully funny and touching sum it has been. So please accept our thanks for all you’ve done to capture the spirit of our state. Our kind, nostalgic, freedom-loving, proud, quirky, funny, fashionable, forward-looking, intelligent, determined, modest, traditional and beautiful state. Our home. Indiana.

With laughter and gratitude,

Indiana Office of Tourism Development”

[LL!]

[MalaCloudy Black]

Heh, I didn't notice the easter egg about Jean-Ralphio. Just saw the article about it on AVClub.

[Ruki]

There was only 13 episodes in this season? I better speed up my re-watch.

[LittleDaniel]

Wait did I miss something or did they never confirm that Leslie is the president now??

[LL!]

I don't think they officially confirmed it, but that scene at Garry's funeral was a pretty big tell.

[Benjamin]

Unless she took Joe's job instead

Biggest laugh for me was still the part about the library, that was just amazing.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

Mike Schur told Alan Sepinwall that the viewer has all the information they need from that scene. I'll spoiler the details:

It does indicate that either Ben or Leslie either is or has been President. At her speech in 2035 she indicates she served two terms as Governor of Indiana and was looking ahead to new challenges which most people seem to think means she would run for President in 2036. If she won in 2036 and was re-elected in 2040 she would be term-limited and out of office by Garry's funeral but the President gets Secret Service Protection for life.

[tristy]

Unless term limits are abolished by then

[Benjamin]

Just saw the Seth Myers episode. Fuck I am going to miss these guys :'(

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

I suggest watching the series finale and tonight's episode of Late Night with Seth Myers back to back. It was a fantastic episode with the entire cast. The end of Late Night was awesome, I won't spoil it just because I want everyone to go watch it if they can. Tim & Aubrey do something fantastically weird, a special cameo, and Chris Pratt sings a song to end the episode.

I was actually expecting Li'l Sebastian

[jrhodes]

Just binge watched the entire last season of Parks & Rec...I don't think I have any more tears left in me.

The greatest send-off to any show I've ever seen.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

I'm no music aficionado but is Mouserat actually a decent band?

[LittleDaniel]

YESSSSSSSS THERE IS A PRODUCER'S CUT OF THE SERIES FINALE WHICH IS LIKE TWENTY MINUTES LONGER

YESSSSSSSS THERE IS A PRODUCER'S CUT OF THE SERIES FINALE WHICH IS LIKE TWENTY MINUTES LONGER

[LL!]

I WONDER IF THERE IS A PRODUCER'S CUT OF THE SERIES FINALE WHICH IS LIKE TWENTY MINUTES LONGER

[Josh]

I've only seen that cut, so I'm curious what didn't make it to air.

[Benjamin]

I really need to see that cut. Like, I am dying to see it.