page_title: The Fight (Parks and Recreation)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Fight (Parks and Recreation) / Production
caption_attribution_description: PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS 72nd Annual Peabody Awards Luncheon Waldorf-Astoria Hotel May 20, 2013
context_page_description: "The Fight" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 43rd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 12, 2011. In the episode, the parks department employees become very drunk during a bar outing, where Leslie and Ann have their first major fight. Meanwhile, Chris tells Tom he must sell his share in the bar due to a conflict with his government job. According to Nielsen Media Research, "The Fight" was seen by an estimated 4.55 million household viewers, a drop from the previous original episode, "Eagleton".
context_section_description: "The Fight" was directed by Randall Einhorn and written by Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler, the second script she penned for the series after "Telethon" in the second season. Filmed in December 2010, "The Fight" was originally broadcast on May 12, 2011, and ran back-to-back with the episode "Road Trip", which aired immediately afterward. The two are stand-alone episodes that were not originally designed to be shown together. However, because the third season premiered late as a mid-season replacement in January, the two episodes aired together so the series' season would conclude at the end of the television season. The filming of "The Fight" involved a particularly large amount of improvisation among the actors, a common technique among Parks and Recreation episodes. Each actor spent about two days on their own filming their Snakehole Lounge scenes, which included the shots used in a montage sequence that showed how drunk each character had become by the end of the night. Poehler described the filming as "the most fun I've ever had".
  Although Ann Perkins was initially conceived as a character outside of city hall who became involved with Leslie and her political world, series co-creator Michael Schur said he believed it made sense that she would take a city hall job because "we just decided that Leslie’s pull would be strong enough to get her to make a move, career-wise". Schur also said it would make it easier for the character to become involved in stories with the others. "The Fight" featured several appearances by actors who had appeared in previous Parks and Recreation episodes, including Ben Schwartz as Tom's friend Jean-Ralphio, who helps him promote Snake Juice throughout the night. Andy Forrest appeared as Andy's shoeshine customer Kyle, who is often insulted and mocked by Andy and the other characters during his shoeshines. Nick Kroll also appeared as "The Douche", the host of the Pawnee morning zoo-style radio show "Crazy Ira and The Douche", which was previously featured in the episode "Media Blitz".
  During one scene, Ron says, "I won't publicly endorse a product unless I use it exclusively and I really believe in it. My only official recommendations are US Army issued mustache trimmers, Morton's Salt, and the C.R. Lawrence fine two inch style oscillating knife blade." That line was written by Schur, and the scene used in the episode was Nick Offerman's first take, with no mistakes made with the complicated dialogue. Immediately after "The Fight" first aired, a "Producer's Cut" version was made available on the official NBC.com website. It included an additional four minutes of material, that include a previously-unaired cold open in which Ron sternly demands to know which employee has broken the parks department's coffee machine; this prompts a fight as the staff make accusations against each other. Ron secretly reveals to the camera that he broke the machine himself, but questioned the other employees anyway to deliberately start the arguments.
caption: Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler (pictured) wrote the script for this episode.
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