page_title: The Possum
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Possum / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Mike Scully at the Simpsons Premiere in Springfield, Vermont
context_page_description: "The Possum" is the 18th episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 24th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 11, 2010. In the episode, Leslie forms a task force to capture a possum that bit the mayor's dog, but she begins to fear she has caught the wrong animal.
  The episode was written by Mike Scully and directed by Tristram Shapeero. "The Possum" featured a guest appearance by Alison Becker, who reprised her previous guest role as reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep. Supporting character Ron Swanson is revealed to have a large woodshop in "The Possum", which was inspired by actor Nick Offerman's real-life carpentry skills.
  According to Nielsen Media Research, "The Possum" was seen by 4.6 million viewers. Its rating among viewers between ages 18 and 49 constituted a nine percent drop from the previous week's episode, "Woman of the Year". "The Possum" received generally positive reviews.
context_section_description: "The Possum" was written by Mike Scully and directed by Tristram Shapeero. Some commentators said the main plotline involving the opossum served as an allegory for capital punishment. The episode featured actress and comedian Alison Becker in a guest appearance as Pawnee Journal reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep. The actress and character first appeared in the first season episode "The Reporter", in which she had sex with Mark, which Andy bluntly recollects upon first seeing Shauna in "The Possum". Rashida Jones appears only in the opening and closing scenes of "The Possum" because she was filming scenes for David Fincher's  film The Social Network.
  In "The Possum", Ron is revealed to have a very large woodshop. This element of Ron's character was inspired by actor Nick Offerman, who in addition to comedy runs an independent carpentry business called Offerman Woodshop. This was also referenced in the previous second season episode "Sweetums", in which Ron builds a harp from scratch to prove to Leslie he is not intoxicated. During one scene, Leslie shows a list of the Pawnee Parks Department's Most Wanted Pests, which includes several raccoons. This is a reference to a running gag, established from the series, that Pawnee has a terrible raccoon infestation problem. Shortly after "The Possum" originally aired, a downloadable PDF file was made available on NBC's "City of Pawnee" website of the most wanted pests list, which included images of the 10 most animals including raccoons, the opossum, a bat, a feral cat and a crow. The site also included a PDF file of the front page of the fictional newspaper's The Pawnee Journal, which included the newspaper article referenced in the episode about Andy's capture of the opossum. A printed copy of the newspaper article can be seen taped to the wall of Andy's shoeshine stand in the subsequent episode, "Park Safety".
caption: "The Possum" was written by Mike Scully (pictured).
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