page_title: Eagleton (Parks and Recreation)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Eagleton (Parks and Recreation) / Production
caption_attribution_description: Parker Posey at Fox Upfronts 2007.
context_page_description: "Eagleton" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 42nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 5, 2011. In the episode, Leslie becomes angry when her former friend, the current parks director of the more prosperous neighboring town Eagleton, builds a fence through a park that runs through both Pawnee and Eagleton. Meanwhile, Leslie plans a secret birthday party for Ron, much to his chagrin.
  The episode was written by Emily Spivey and directed by Nicole Holofcener. Parker Posey guest starred as Leslie's rival and former best friend, Lindsay Carlisle Shay. A longtime fan of Parks and Recreation and its star Amy Poehler, Posey had expressed an early interest in appearing on the show, and reportedly became frustrated with how long it took to be asked.
  A fight scene between Poehler's and Posey's characters among piles of garbage was performed with stuntwomen during temperatures of more than 100 degrees. The subplot involving Ron's birthday had been conceived by the Parks staff early in the development of the show.
context_section_description: Parker Posey, who previously worked with Amy Poehler on the 2009 comedy film Spring Breakdown, described herself as a fan of both Poehler and Parks and Recreation, and had wanted to make a guest appearance on the series even before it first aired. Posey discussed it with Poehler at the Spring Breakdown premiere during the  2009 Sundance Film Festival in January 2009, a few months before the first season of Parks debuted. She later met with the staff of the show about one year before "Eagleton" was filmed. After several months without an invitation to appear on the show, Posey said she became frustrated and stopped watching the show, but later changed her mind and started watching it again. Shortly after that, she received an e-mail message from Poehler inviting her to play Lindsay Carlisle Shay: "She said, 'You'll play my nemesis! We get to fight in a garbage dump!'" Posey said. "I remember reading that and thinking, 'Dreams do come true.'"
  Posey was sent a script for "Eagleton" and enjoyed it so much she immediately agreed to play the part. She also said she was excited to work with director Nicole Holofcener. The episode was filmed in November 2010. Posey was shooting scenes for a film in Boston at the time, and flew into Los Angeles for the Parks and Recreation filming just a few hours before the shots began. As a result, Posey was exhausted during the filming, including the Eagleton public forum scene, which was shot at the Toluca Lake Sports Center in Toluca Lake district of Los Angeles. The scene in which Leslie and Lindsay fight among piles of garbage was filmed during temperatures of more than 100 degrees. Although stuntwomen were used, Poehler and Posey performed some of the fight themselves. Despite wearing wool blazers that made the heat even harder to endure, the two actresses said they enjoyed filming the scene. Poehler jokingly said it was included in the script "just because it's in Parker and I's contract, that that's how we will work together. It's the only way we'll work together, is fighting in garbage."
  The staff of Parks and Recreation conceived the idea that Ron Swanson had his birthdate redacted from all government documents early in the development of the series, and it eventually developed into the subplot featured in "Eagleton" where Leslie finds out about his birthday and plans a surprise for him. Michael Schur, co-creator of the series, said the scene when Leslie surprises Ron with a quiet evening alone was his favorite scene in the show. During the scene, Leslie and Ron declare their mutual admiration for one another. Schur said it was difficult to make such an outwardly emotional scene effective in a comedy, but he believed it ultimately worked because of Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman's strong performances. Poehler said of the scene: "It's really sweet and it's just an example of how it's important to Leslie who she works with. It's just as important as the job itself. I completely relate to that." Rashida Jones also praised the scene, which she said made her cry during a cast read-through of the script.
  Eric Pierpoint resumed his role as Pawnee Police Chief Hugh Trumple, a character he previously played in the earlier third-season episode "Ron & Tammy: Part Two". "Eagleton" features a cameo appearance by Mike Scully, a writer and producer on the Fox Broadcasting Company animated comedy series The Simpsons, as a speakers at the Pawnee public forum who suggests the building of a second fence around the Eagleton fence. Scully has worked as a screenwriter and consulting producer on Parks and Recreation since the first season. He did not originally wish to take the part and only agreed to it reluctantly. Originally, he only had one line, but improvised additional dialogue after Amy Poehler asked him why he believed a second fence should be built.
  The outside view of the Eagleton correctional facility is of the Prowers County Courthouse located in Lamar, Colorado.
caption: Parker Posey (pictured), who made a guest appearance in this episode, had wanted to appear on Parks and Recreation even before the series debuted.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A540", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:03:04 18:05:44", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "758", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8532", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:05:17 02:37:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:05:17 02:37:48", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "223/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "687/50", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "607", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "714", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "112640/9", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "299929/24", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}