Parks And Recreation is one of those shows that will never cease to be funny. Comprised of one of the best casts out of any other sit-com, the series has become a staple for lovers of every kind of comedy. And this isn’t one of those cases where talk is cheap, either. Over the run of seven seasons, the show won a Golden Globe, was nominated for over a hundred awards and remains to this day one of the highest-ranking television series on IMDb.
It’s hard to remember a single episode where Parks And Recreation didn’t make us laugh out loud. But even though pretty much everything the characters said was hilarious, we’re willing to bet some jokes completely flew over your head or were so subtle you missed them. Curious? Let’s take a look at 10 jokes from the show that everyone completely missed.
The Disappearing Skeleton
The ongoing hatred April has for Ann was one of the shows many on-going gags. And it paved the way for many elaborate and hilarious jokes that still make us smirk sometimes. And while most of them were extremely in-your-face, others were a little more subtle.
Back in season 2, the show found yet another way to portray April’s dislike for Ann. You have to really pay attention to see it, but in “Greg Pikitis”, during Ann’s Halloween party, if you look closely, you can see April stealing one of the skeletons, along with Ben and Derek. It’s hilarious, but if you miss it, you miss it, because no one talks about it. Classic April!
Dry Cleaning
This is a tricky one and requires you to recall an earlier episode in order to get the joke. There’s an instance in season 6 when Dr. Saperstein tries to convince Tom to let him invest in his restaurant. He does so by listing all the other businesses in which he operates, and Tom seems to be shocked when he mentions a dry cleaning transactional holding business.
This can easily be missed unless you recall that earlier in the season, Ben actually tried to pitch to Tom the idea of becoming the middle man in the dry-cleaning service. That’s the face of regret right there, folks.
The Couple That Wanted Drugs
Undoubtedly, one of the best couples to ever come out of any television show is April and Andy. They’re polar opposites, and that’s both half of the fun and half of what makes them work so great together. Plus, their relationship makes for some genius comedy on several occasions.
One hilarious moment the two shared as a couple was back in season 5 when Leslie throws the tea she bought for Ann in the trash, since it was clearly some sort of drug. For a split second, April stares at the trash, then to Andy, and they both nod complacently. We don’t know what happened next, but it’s not hard to guess.
Did Someone Hear Horses?
You really don’t expect a show like Parks and Recreation to break your heart, and yet here we are. In spite of being excruciatingly funny in nature, the show still had a fair share of moments where a few tears were shed by the audience. A great example of that was the death of Li’l Sebastian.
The show still managed to keep it light and make a series of horse puns in the process. If you go back to the season 3 finale, Li’l Sebastian’s memorial is plagued by a horse-themes soundtrack. This includes ‘Wild Horses’ by The Rolling Stones and ‘A Horse With No Name’. Well played, Parks, well played.
Booking Rachel Ray
Love him or hate him, Ken Hotate was one of the most hilarious and silly recurring characters from the show. Just like the rest of the characters, his jokes tended to be quite straightforward, but the showrunners know exactly how to milk the best jokes and keep the show background hilarious.
Remember when he said “there are two things I know about white people. They love Rachael Ray, and they are terrified of curses”? Well, later in the episode, his Casino’s exterior actually says Rachel Ray is a guest for the night. He puts his teachings to work, that’s for sure.
A Subtle Matthew McConaughey-ism
Was there a single fan of the show who managed to keep their jaws away from the floor when it was announced that Leslie and Ben were expecting triplets? Well, the couple certainly didn’t! And it was very much noticeable, so much so that Dr. Saperstein ordered Ben to be like “Matthew McConaughey in a hammock on the beach”.
Audiences were probably so caught up in the Doctor’s great joke that they missed Ben’s answer “alright, alright, alright”. Any fan of Matthew McConaughey knows that this is his go-to catchphrase.
The Future Of The New England Patriots
Even though most of the jokes in Parks And Recreation are very much out there and completely in your face, some are more subtle and require you to actually pause for a second to be able to grasp them. That was the case for season 7’s episode depicting the future.
At the time the episode was being written, the New England Patriots were involved in a controversy now known as Deflategate. The show was quick to play with this, by presenting us with a headline that reads “Belichick (the team’s coach) on RobotGate: None of our players are robots”. Witty!
A Curious Place To Live
It’s hard to choose a favorite character in a show that gave us as many gems as Parks And Recreation. However, many fans out there will agree that Andy is definitely at the top of the list. One of his most underappreciated moments came when April thought she was going to be fired back in season 4.
Andy being Andy, and the supportive partner that he is, quickly begins coming up with places where the two can run to. This list includes places like Germany and the moon. But the best one has to be Winterfell, the Starks’ home in Game of Thrones.
Shout Out To Star Lord
Chris Pratt was making headlines all over the world due to his starring role in Guardians of The Galaxy back when the seventh season of the show was airing. Considering how much of a success the movie was, the writers and producers simply had to give his character a shout out.
And a shout out they gave. During one of the flashbacks, April and Andy open their door to a group of children asking for candy. And guess what of them is dressed as? Star Lord, of course.
It’s Actually North Korea
Jeremy Jamm’s obsession with Asian culture, in particularly Chinese culture, has paved the way for many jokes and eyeballs from the audience. He’s just incredibly ignorant of the very thing he claims to love, and this ignorance is presented both in a very transparent way and in some more subtle manners.
The best one has to be in the scene where he is cooking for Leslie and Chris. In the background, you can see a board with something written in Japanese. It says North Korea. Way to go, Jeremy.
