Beauty Pageant (Parks and Recreation)

Did You Know?

• The episode was released on a four-disc DVD set on November 30, 2010, along with the other 23 second-season episodes.
• The DVD included deleted scenes for each episode.

Plot

Leslie announces to the parks and recreation staff that she will judge the Miss Pawnee beauty pageant, a job she takes seriously. Tom gets a spot on the judging panel alongside her. April enters the contest to win the $600 prize, despite disliking beauty contests, and unsuccessfully tries to gain an advantage by sucking up to Leslie. Police officer Dave Sanderson visits Leslie to ask her out; she accepts but becomes reluctant when he mistakes a photo of Madeleine Albright for her grandmother.

Ann offers to cook Mark a cheap meal if he fixes her shower; Mark accepts. The date goes well until Ann finds her ex-boyfriend Andy spying on her from a construction pit where he now lives. Ann complains to Mark, who suggests inviting Andy inside when it rains. Andy spends the night interrupting their conversations and spoiling romantic moments.

Ann kicks him out, but Andy thinks the night went well. At the pageant, Leslie favors Susan, a student and children's hospital volunteer, while other judges favor Trish, an attractive but untalented and unintelligent woman. Tom is impressed with Trish even when she gives a poor answer about improving America and expresses distaste for immigrants. April pretends to be a shallow contestant but quits when she learns the $600 prize consists of gift certificates for a fence company.

Production

The episode was penned by Katie Dippold and helmed by Jason Woliner, who also directed and co-created the MTV sketch show Human Giant, a series that featured Parks co-star Aziz Ansari. Louis C.K. returned for his second guest spot as Pawnee police officer Dave Sanderson, a character with a romantic interest in Leslie. The Miss Pawnee Pageant takes its cues from the Miss America competition, which provides scholarships to women from every state. Critics drew parallels between Trish—a contestant who is attractive but lacking in intelligence and talent—and Caitlin Upton, the 2007 Miss South Carolina Teen USA who gave a famously muddled answer.

Co-creator Michael Schur noted that the episode was also inspired by Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California USA who sparked controversy with her response to a same-sex marriage question. Following the broadcast, NBC launched misspawnee.com, an official site featuring biographies of judges and contestants, a downloadable PDF of Leslie’s custom scorecard, ringtones, band posters, songs, and photos. Within a week, three deleted scenes appeared on the show’s official site: one where April asks Leslie for pageant advice and lists her unusual talents; another where Ann clarifies she isn’t hinting at sex by asking Mark to fix her shower, and Sanderson voices insecurities about Leslie’s intelligence; and a third where Tom fumes over the removal of the swimsuit competition and tries to persuade the judges to bring it back.

Cultural references

During her introduction at the pageant, Trish says she has been on YouTube, a reference to the video sharing website. Susan is said to have attended Indiana State University, which helps establish her as the smartest contestant. Leslie mentions the "Naomi Wolf factor" as one of her judging criteria, a reference to the American third-wave feminist author. Leslie's attempt to convince the other judges that Trish should not win mirrors the courtroom drama 12 Angry Men. Sanderson, who has shown a lack of pop culture familiarity, is unfamiliar with Tom's reference to the 1988 police action film Die Hard and its protagonist John McClane.

Reception

The episode was seen by 4.63 million households, according to Nielsen Media Research, a slight increase over the previous week's episode "The Stakeout". It received a 1.9 rating/5 share among viewers aged 18 to 49. Reviews were generally positive, with several commentators saying the season continued a trend of funnier episodes than the first season. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said the show seemed more confident and praised the silliness of Andy, the deadpan humor of April, and the sweetness of Leslie realizing she likes Dave the cop.

H.T. "Hercules" Strong of Ain't it Cool News called the episode as funny as one of the funniest episodes of The Office and praised Louis C.K. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club gave it an A− grade and praised Plaza for embodying pure apathy and Pratt for livening up the Ann and Mark subplot. Entertainment Weekly's Henning Fog said the episode showed Leslie Knope at her most human. Matt Fowler of IGN felt a beauty pageant was too clichéd and predictable but praised the performances of Plaza, Pratt, and Louis C.K. Slate's Jonah Weiner called the hypocrisy of beauty contests a turkey shoot no less enjoyable for its familiarity.