KnopeKnows interviews Arnold!

When we first met Arnold in “The Camel‘, Tom Haverford accused him of making a piece of art that looked “like a lizard puking up Skittles.” Some time later, Tom actually analyzed it and found there was a lot to like about it. (So many shapes!).

Below is a Q&A I conducted with Doug Jones, who played Arnold in last week’s Parks and Recreation episode. Enjoy!

All of your screen time in “The Camel” was spent working alongside the hilarious Aziz Ansari. Explain what that was like.
It was great, Aziz is hilarious. I loved watching him on MTV’s Human Giant but he really won me over when I saw him headline a stand-up show at the Punchline in San Francisco earlier this year. It’s inspiring to me because he’s so new to acting yet he’s funnier than some comedians who have been in the business for several decades. So watching him rehearse, and try things different ways with various takes… it was all a very good learning experience for me.

Did either you or Aziz improv anything in your scenes together?
Totally, once they got what they needed as far as shooting what was in the script they let us take it wherever we wanted. That was my favorite part of the day for me because that’s when I relaxed and started having fun. At one point Aziz was serenading me with a Jamie Foxx impersonation. That being said, what you saw on the show is pretty much exactly what was written in the script, except for “It looks like a lizard puking up Skittles!” which was something Aziz came up with.

What were your experiences like on set when the cameras weren’t rolling?
The entire experience of working on a TV show like this was very new and exciting as I’ve only done commercials up until this point. Everyone behind-the-scenes seemed to care about what they were doing and the director Millicent Shelton was incredibly friendly and really put me at ease. When we wrapped at the end of the day everyone said goodbye and patted me on the back, even though it was a small role they made me feel like I was part of the team.

Who would you say you were most thrilled in meeting/working with during your time on Parks and Recreation?
Unfortunately the scenes with Aziz and I were shot at the very end of the day so by the time I got to the set everybody had pretty much gone home. I didn’t get to meet any of the other cast members except for Aubrey Plaza who was still lingering around shooting the scenes where she was digging through the dumpster putting her “Multimedia piece” together. Aubrey was really nice and so was everyone else I got a chance to meet.

I see you do work for Upright Citizens Brigade. How did you get involved with the sketch comedy group, and what do you do for it?
About five years ago I read an interview with Will Arnett and he talked about going to see Amy Poehler perform ASSSSCAT at UCB New York. I didn’t know exactly what ASSSSCAT was, but I bought tickets to see them perform at an improv festival in L.A out of curiosity and my life was forever changed. When the UCB theatre opened in Hollywood in summer of 2005 I decided to give it a shot and signed up for one of the first rounds of classes. It has been said by many others but it’s worth repeating, anybody who is interested in acting or comedy must take improv classes and learn how to write their own material and the best place to do that is Upright Citizens Brigade.

Do you have any upcoming projects we should be aware of?
Last week I worked on a short film called “The Big Dog” directed by Eric Appel. It’s being produced by Funny Or Die (the comedy video Web site founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay) and it’s going to be 20 minutes long so it’s one of the biggest project they’ve done to date. My part is very small but I got to work with Bob Odenkirk, one of my comedy heroes, so I can’t complain!

Thanks, Doug! To keep tabs on Doug, feel free to follow him on Twitter @hey_doug.

"Greg Pikitis" messages Knope Knows!

Exclusive: Greg Pikitis — a.k.a. Cody Klop — messages Knope Knows!

Cody Klop, a student at Calabasas High School in Los Angeles, plays the titular character in this week’s Halloween-themed episode of Parks and Recreation, called “Greg Pikitis“.

Earlier today, Cody was kind enough to send a message to Knope Knows about his experience on the Parks set. Here’s what he had to say:

Hello this is Cody Klop. I played Greg Pikitis in the upcoming Halloween episode of Parks and Recreation. This was an amazing experience. The entire cast and crew were awesome and super nice. I filmed for a week on this episode and it sure beat the heck out of school, that’s for sure. It was my most exciting week of summer and “I’ve got a feeling” that it will be a good episode or at least i hope. My character is super cool and was a very fun role to play.

Thanks, Cody!

More Kaboom Info!

Thursday’s Parks and Recreation episode, “Kaboom“, actually features a real playground-building organization — similarly named KaBOOM! — that was specifically written into the episode as part of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s volunteer week.

As it states in NBC’s official summary for “Kaboom“, members of the Pawnee Parks Department volunteer their time to help KaBOOM! build a playground for a neighboring town. To prep for the episode, three KaBOOM! project managers worked directly with Parks’ set designers to build a playground with the cast.

KnopeKnows asked KaBOOM!’s communications director Alison Risso to share her thoughts on KaBOOM!’s representation in the episode. Here’s what she had to say:

We’ve been working hand in hand with the folks over at Parks and Recreation, so our reaction is really pleased. … I think folks will be able to tell where the real organization ends and the parody begins.

Risso also mentioned that “Kaboom” will be screened in the KaBOOM! offices on Thursday night. During the show, the organization plans to tweet “fun facts” (via its official Twitter @kaboomplay) that Parks may have gotten wrong.

To learn more about KaBOOM!, check out the organization’s FAQ here.

Here’s some on-set photos:

Obamicon Voting

My obamicon submission is in Knope Knows top 5!!! its #4 Peacocking Go Vote One and All!!!
http://www.knopeknows.com/the-parks-and-recreation-obamicon-contest

Parks and Recreation Obamicon Contest

The Parks and Recreation Obamicon Contest
In “Pawnee Zoo”, you’ll probably remember spotting this a couple of times:




That, my friends, is a Leslie Knope Obamicon.

At Obamicon.Me, anyone can create their own Obamicons by uploading a photo, running it through the Obamicon generator and typing in a headline. Simple stuff.

Because Obamicon.Me is both fun and free, I thought it a good idea to use the site as part of Knope Knows’ first BIG contest. Be sure to enter this one, too. The grand prize winner will receive an awesome prize (see below).

The task:

Create an Obamicon using a screen grab of any character from any Parks and Recreation episode. The best entry (be creative and funny!) will receive an awesome prize.
How to enter:

Register at Obamicon.Me
Upload a screen grab from any episode of Parks and Recreation and run it through the Obamicon generator
E-mail your entry to knopeknows@gmail.com. Please include your name!
The Rules:

One entry per person
Please attach your picture to the e-mail (do not cut and paste into an e-mail)
U.S. entries only (sorry!)
Violation of the rules will result in a disqualification of your entry
IMPORTANT NOTE: I must receive a minimum of 50 entries for the grand prize to be awarded. So, Tweet this post, invite your friends, do whatever you must to ensure that 50 people enter this contest!
Judging:

I will choose five finalists
The finalists will be entered in a Knope Knows fan poll
Visitors to this site will vote for their favorite
The winning entry gets an awesome prize
Schedule:

Tuesday, September 22 – Contest starts
Tuesday, September 29 – Submission deadline
Wednesday, September 30 – Five finalists selected; poll begins on Knope Knows
Saturday, October 3 – Poll closes
Sunday, October 4 – Winner announced!
So, what do you win?:

One grand prize winner will receive:

Parks and Recreation: Season One on DVD (Details)
OR

An Official Parks and Recreation T-shirt (Shirt #1 | Shirt #2)
Got it?

To give you an idea of what I’m looking for — and hopefully, some inspiration! — here’s an example:




Best of luck. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Second Episode Title Revealed

Knope Knows recently revealed that the second episode of Parks and Recreation this season is titled "Beauty Pageant"