Monday, September 26, 2011

PAWNEE 9-2011

For my first entry I'll talk about my experience visiting the set of PARKS AND RECREATION on NBC. Lovingly codenamed, "Pawnee" after the fictional town the show is set in, it wasn't too hard to figure out what was shooting at the Burbank Holiday Inn as a fan of the show.  While my first goal was just to get a picture with the sign (which I did), I figured I wouldn't see too much lurking in the lobby of the hotel, but as it turns out I was in luck.

When I went through the lobby drinks were being passed out to extras with Knope campaign buttons. Leslie had given a speech in one of the conference rooms in the lobby and posters of her and huge posters of Tom Haverford and his entertainment company adorned the walls. A highlight was seeing a flyer for Ron Swanson's alter-ego Duke Silver on the side of a grip cart.

Retta, who plays Donna on the show was texting in the lobby as I walked past, and Amy herself seemed to be walking at a distance ahead of me.  In the areas beneath the lobby, they had rooms marked off for table reads with the whole cast.  I decided to take one last spin through the set when I ran into Aziz Ansari (who plays Tom Haverford) in the lobby. I had a brief exchange with him and was on my way.  Great set visit. Wish  I got one of those Knope campaign stickers, but I talked to one of the extras and apparently they took them back as soon as the scene was done being shot.

As I wanted to appear to be a clueless hotel guest, I took no pictures on this set except this: