do you know joe biden? >> he's on my celebrity sex list. >> trust me, you can do better than joe. >> no, i don't think i can. >> in the summer of 2008, the economy had collapsed. barack obama was running for president, and the government was going to be playing a much more active role in people's lives. "parks and rec" is actually called public service at one point. we liked the idea of going for a boring title like "the office". >> we're taking the template of "the office," but the office takes place in one of three rooms in the same dreary building. suddenly we're like now the world's our oyster. >> here we go. wake up. out of the slide. >> leslie knope had ambitions, which was big for comedy.