Costume Designer Kirston Mann: Telethon (S2E22)

Pawnee fit check! Today Parks and Rec costume designer Kirston Mann joins Rob Lowe and Alan Yang to talk about the 22nd episode of season 2. In "Telethon"  Leslie struggles to fill the overnight hours at a local telethon when Tom and celebrity guest Detlef Schrempf are sidetracked at the Snakehole Lounge. On today's episode you'll hear why Ann Perkins is the best dressed person in Pawnee, how Kirston helps get to the bottom of the Ron Swanson suit mystery, as well as  a unique story about Pawneean Denise Yermley! Got a question for the Pawnee Town Hall? Send us an email: [email protected] or leave a 30-Second voicemail at: (310) 893-6992
 

Leslie has volunteered to work on the 24-hour "Pawnee Cares" diabetes telethon and orders everyone in the office to work the phones for multiple shifts. Tom is assigned to pick up retired basketball player Detlef Schrempf from the airport, the special guest for the telethon. Leslie is excited because she has been allowed to program her own four-hour block, but her co-workers are upset to learn it runs from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Additionally, she has already been up for 24 hours creating T-shirts for her staff to wear for the telethon.

During lunch, Mark tells Leslie that he is going to propose to Ann. Ann suggests that Leslie get some sleep, but she plans on consuming Sweetums bars to stay awake for another 24 hours. As the telethon begins, Leslie is already exhausted and is falling asleep. With time to kill, Tom brings Detlef to the Snakehole Lounge, but the owner, Freddy (Andy Milder), refuses to let him go because Detlef is bringing a lot of business, delaying Leslie's big headliner. Andy's band, Mouse Rat, is asked to replace Detlef, but when they complete all of their songs, Leslie has nothing else to put on the air. Ron volunteers to demonstrate how to cane a chair, but his presentation is so boring that the telethon actually starts to lose money.

Desperate for something to put on, Leslie tells Mark that he should propose to Ann in front of the camera and he agrees. Not long after, however, Ann confides in Leslie that she wants to break up with Mark, citing that he is simply not the one. Meanwhile, April tries to make Andy jealous by flirting with someone over the phone, but it backfires when it turns out to be Joe (Kirk Fox) from the Pawnee sewer department. Andy is forced to kick Joe out of the studio when he actually arrives to bring April to his van.

The telethon's talent pool becomes so low that Leslie is forced to flip a coin in front of the camera and talk about her favorite episodes of Friends. Jerry is allowed to play the piano, but everyone dismisses his skilled playing as a racket. Mark finally returns to propose and walks on the set with the ring, but Leslie stops him by mooning the camera. Detlef Schrempf and Tom finally arrive at the end of Leslie's programming block. Detlef presents a check for $5,000, allowing the telethon to bypass its $20,000 mark. Despite being awake for two days straight, Leslie goes to Ann's house so they could talk about Mark. She then promptly falls asleep on Ann's couch for 22 hours.