Patton Oswalt will be guest starring on an upcoming episode of Parks and Recreation, showrunner Mike Schur confirmed in a conference call today. “I think the news has broken - what the hell, right? Yeah, we wrote a part recently for an episode we just finished shooting and we were sort of like, ‘Who should do this? Oh Patton Oswalt. The answer is Patton Oswalt.’ One of our writers, Joe Mande, has opened for him a lot doing standup, and he literally just emailed him and Patton was like, ‘Yeah definitely, I’m in.’ And that’s as hard as it was to convince him, which was great, because he’s a fan of the show. And he just came and did the part and he was so, so, so, funny.†If these Buzzfeed photos are any indication, he’s probably a farmer, a historical reenactor, or possibly a farming time traveler of some kind.
Schur, alongside Amy Poehler and Adam Scott, discussed how the show’s reputation has meant great guest stars are eager to stop by. Matt Walsh appeared last week’s episode, meaning that all of Poehler’s fellow UCB-ers have now been on the show. “We’re lucky now,†Schur said, “because I think that we’re established enough and enough amazing funny people have guested on the show that we’re in a position where we can write a juicy part like that and go, ‘Alright who should play this? Oh Walsh, he’s perfect.’ And then someone calls him and says, ‘Hey, come do the show.’ And if people are free and they want to do it, they just kind of come by. It’s a very streamlined process.â€
The trio was careful not to give away too much about the upcoming wedding between Leslie and Ben, which will taking place in the first of two episodes airing this Thursday, offering only that Tom Haverford will have to become the last-minute officiate for the ceremony, and that opera-singing Retta’s character Donna will be showing of her pipes at the event. Also, boxes of tissues are recommended for anyone who cries easily.