[S1E3] The Reporter
"The Reporter" is the third episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 23, 2009. The episode was written by Daniel J. Goor and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. In the episode, Leslie enlists a local reporter to write an article about the park, but the interviews go poorly, and the problem escalates after Mark gets romantically involved with the journalist.
[S1E3] The Reporter
The episode featured actress and comedian Alison Becker in a guest appearance as Pawnee Journal reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep. "The Reporter" received generally mixed reviews, with some commentators still comparing it unfavorably to The Office, another comedy series created by the Parks and Recreations co-creators.
Leslie (Amy Poehler) announces she has invited a reporter from the local Pawnee Journal newspaper to write a story about the construction pit that she plans to turn into a park. Leslie meticulously prepares for the interview, instructing the members of her subcommittee to "stay on message." Over lunch with Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider), Leslie seeks advice on how to deal with the press. Leslie once again tells the documentary crew like she did in the pilot that she previously had sex with Mark and seems to still harbor feelings for him. The reporter, Shauna Malwae-Tweep (Alison Becker) arrives the next day to interview Leslie, along with Ann (Rashida Jones) and Andy (Chris Pratt). During the interview, Andy reveals he was drunk when he fell in the pit, much to the horror of Leslie and Ann, who were not previously aware of it.
Leslie calls Mark for assistance in dealing with the reporter and Mark, seemingly attracted to Shauna, ends up leaving the parks department office with her. The next morning, Leslie waits at the pit for an interview with Shauna. Leslie is surprised when Mark drops Shauna off at the site and, when she sees Shauna is wearing the same dress as the previous day, she realizes Mark and Shauna have had sex. Leslie is standoffish and irritable during the interview, and she later confronts Mark, who says that it is a private matter and tells Leslie she is acting like a "huge dork." When Leslie says she cannot have this type of behavior from members of her subcommittee, Mark resigns from the committee. Leslie asks for another interview with Shauna, attributing her behavior during their last interview due to food poisoning from a burrito. During the interview, Shauna reads a number of quotes claiming the park will never be built, and that the existence of unicorns, leprechauns and talking monkeys are more likely. Leslie is disappointed to learn that Mark was quoted as saying "this park is never, ever, ever, ever going to happen".
The episode was filmed only two weeks after filming wrapped on the pilot episode, which Schur said he regretted because, "Normally, you'd like to have the usual three months or so to sit back, look at what you made, draw conclusions, tinker, and rewrite."[3] During "The Reporter," Parks and Recreation editor Dean Holland developed an editing technique that would be used throughout the rest of the series. During the scene in which Leslie reacts to quotes read to her by the reporter, Amy Poehler improvised a number of jokes, many of which were not going to be used. Holland thought they were all funny, so he created a brief montage inter-cutting several of the lines into the same scene.[1]
"The Reporter" featured actress and comedian Alison Becker in a guest appearance as Pawnee Journal reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep. Leslie calls the local Pawnee Journal newspaper "our town's Washington Post," one of the largest circulation newspapers in the country.[6] A PDF copy of the Pawnee Journal newspaper page from the episode was posted on NBC's official Parks and Recreation website about Pawnee, Indiana; it included an article written by Shauna Malwae-Tweep with a photo of Leslie in front of the pit, and references to portions of the article mentioned by Leslie in the episode.[7][8]
"The Reporter," along with the five other first season episodes of Parks and Recreation, was released on a one-disc DVD set in the United States on September 8, 2009. The DVD included cast and crew commentary tracks for each episodes, as well as about 30 minutes of deleted scenes.[14] The deleted scenes included on the DVD were originally featured on the official Parks and Recreation website after the episode aired. They included clips of Ann voicing excitement about the pit committee, Leslie asking everyone to "stay on message" with the reporter, and Mark expressing shock about Shauna Malwae-Tweep quoting him.[15]
Parker Gavigan, a former investigative reporter at WJAR, covered Nicholas Alahverdian years ago when Alahverdian was an advocate for child welfare reform in Rhode Island. Alahverdian reached out to Gavigan in the months before the pandemic with what later appeared to be a sham story about himself.
Lana learns that Harry has a criminal record when she tries to find out his age to settle a bet. Barney Martin appears in this episode. Terry Kiser makes his first appearance as hotshot newspaper reporter Al Craven, who tries hard to find the criminal file on Judge Stone, which Lana stumbled upon while routinely going through the court files, who was once arrested for running into a liquor store with a '64 Cadillac years earlier as a teenager taking a joyride in his dad's car; the charge and the story, if released to the public media, could be devastating to his judicial career.
Harry winds up admitting this to the reporter, as he admits he spent time in a reformatory tor the offense, which drove a further wedge between he and his dad, who died soon thereafter. Meanwhile, A man, Ronald McKenzie (Joey Aresco) is brought before Harry for disorderly conduct after starting a brawl at his wedding ceremony after learning his bride-to-be, Vickie Guyer (Judy Landers) was once a nude centerfold in a men's magazine, as Harry rules in against Ronald, but manages to get the couple to reconcile as then then marries the two in his chambers, with both attorneys, Liz and Dan, and Lana, and the bailiffs as witnesses, which brings home the message that there are some things we do which we later regret that we cannot change, but which we would like to, that we have to move on from. Incodentally, Craven decides not to print the story, not seeing anything interesting in "a judge who once got busted for taking a teenage joyride"!
Elizabeth is confronted by a hostile reporter who threatens to publish confidential documents that were leaked from inside the State Department. Meanwhile, Henry is dragged into an international negotiation when his wife uses his job as leverage to broker a deal with Pakistan.
The news of the murder and upcoming trial spreads and a reporter from Chicago, Cathy Singer (Alice Barrett Mitchell), picks up the story. Cathy calls DA Askey and leaves a voicemail. After hanging up Cathy asks a colleague to get her the number of the defense attorney and see what she can dig up on Pam since she was the last one to see Betsy alive.
We cut to Hotch and Gideon, and we learn there are multiple bombings, so the team is on the case! They discusses the nitty gritty of how the bombs were put together, and JJ comes in to inform them that there is already news coverage. As they watch the tv, another bomb explodes behind the reporter! Wheels up in 20! (Everybody drink!)
Major Rawls, Sergeant Landsman, and Detective Moreland speak at a police press conference. After Sun reporter William Zorzi inquires if William Gant was murdered because he was a State's witness, Rawls and Moreland both claim that they are investigating Gant's involvement in an unrelated physical altercation.
Amanda-Rae Prescott is a freelance TV reporter and MASTERPIECE superfan. Her articles have previously appeared on Den Of Geek, Doctor Who Magazine, and more. Additional commentary on Masterpiece programs, general UK TV, and racial diversity in media can be found on her Twitter account @amandarprescott.
Urich did, however, continue digging into the case and saw Page at an auction for Union Allied's office equipment. He sat behind her and told her not to acknowledge him, noting that a few other people at the auction were there to look for people like her investigating Union Allied, and her actions were how you got caught. Urich advised her to bid on something so to not draw unwanted attention to herself, when she asked how he knew she would be there, Urich told her it was because it's exactly what he would have done as a young reporter.
Back in his office, Urich began looking at brochures for caring homes when Mitchell Ellison came in to ask why he had given a piece he was writing about a fundraiser to another journalist. Urich skirted the issue by claiming it was personal. Ellison then told him that one of the paper's editors was retiring to spend time with his grandchildren; Ellison asked if Urich would be interested in replacing him, as it would offer Urich a higher salary to support his wife. Urich turned down the offer, claiming that he was and always would be a reporter, not an editor, but thanked Ellison nonetheless.[13]
Having been an investigative reporter for most of his life, Ben Urich was a cynical and heavily determined man who would fully devote his resources and time into unraveling conspiracies and on-going criminal activities within New York City and publicize them to its citizens. He is not a fame or attention-seeker, though, and is motivated by a high sense of justice towards crime, although this could cause him to spend less focus on his wife, Doris Urich, which he admits himself, until she became sick and had to retire from his job to devote his attention to her and her health.
Being a reporter, Urich refused to allow himself to judge a situation or individual in a black-and-white perspective and appears to be without bias in most regards. He judged this on his first meeting with the Masked Man, despite him being framed for a terrorist attack on Hell's Kitchen and murdering several New York City Police Department officers, including the hospitalized Christian Blake, Urich stood by his belief that no story is one-sided because of the conflicting claims that he was also saving people and assisted the vigilante with locating Madame Gao. 041b061a72