In the episode, Leslie tries to integrate herself into the local "boys club" by drinking wine from an illegal gift basket, and gets into trouble as she tries to accept responsibility for her supposed mistake.
"Boys' Club" received positive to fair reviews, with some commentators praising the episode for better developing the show's supporting characters.
The episode opens with Leslie and Tom responding to an incident at a park trail, where teenage boys are picking up plastic baggies of dog droppings and throwing them at each other.
The next morning, she feels guilty and, despite her boss Ron's assurance that "[i]t's not that big a deal," Leslie issues a public apology to every government official in Pawnee, including a link to the new pit website.
[1] The cold open scene, with kids throwing bags of dog feces at Leslie, was added to the episode after the rest had already been filmed, and was directed personally by series co-creator Greg Daniels.
The restriction prohibiting Pawnee employees from accepting gifts over $25 was based on real-life municipal regulations the Parks and Recreation producers encountered during their research.
[1] Amy Poehler improvised the line at the courtyard gathering, after she accidentally spilled several beer bottles, "I feel like I'm already in the boys' club.
[3] The scene with Ron describing his ideal government was written for a different episode, but was moved to "Boys' Club" when the producers decided it fit better there.
[4] Mark's social networking site featured in "Boys' Club" included the character with a wide range of promiscuous women.
The pictures were shot during a photo session during which, according to series co-creator Michael Schur, "We brought in a lot of women and basically said, you're really trashy.
[6] It proved difficult to film the scenes with Pratt bathing in the children's pool because the bubbles disappeared so quickly that multiple takes were required.
[7] In an attempt to lend authenticity to the fictional Pawnee, Indiana setting, Parks and Recreation producers contacted the Bloomington, Indiana-based Upland Brewing Company and asked them to provide empty beer bottles and labels for the scene with the characters drinking in the town hall courtyard.
Middlebrooks was cast simply based on his work on Miller High Life commercials, in which he steals beer from bars that he deems unworthy of it.
[1] On the day of the episode's original American broadcast on April 30, 2009, the official NBC Parks and Recreation website launched a duplicate of the Sullivan Street Pit social networking site which was featured in the episode, complete with photos of the pit, the list of "friends" from the show and a link to Mark's page and his photos with scantily clad women.
[9] The pit page, as well as the regular NBC website, also included the actual video of Aubrey Plaza pretending to drink wine and get drunk, as it was featured in the episode.
[13] On her desk, Leslie has framed photos of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Alan Sepinwall, television journalist for The Star-Ledger, said "Boys' Club" was funnier than the previous episode and included scenes with good physical comedy involving Leslie, particularly when she spilled the beer bottles; he also praised Andy's "naked crutch chase".
"[12] Jeremy Medina of Entertainment Weekly liked that the episode included a moral crisis of sorts for Leslie, who he described as "a fully-realized character instead of a caricature".
[18] "Boys' Club", along with the five other first season episodes of Parks and Recreation, was released on a one-disc DVD set in the United States on September 8, 2009.
In one of the scenes, Leslie bought a gift basket and returned it to the business that provided the original one, in an attempt at what she called "ethical restitution".