She invites her mother Marlene Griggs-Knope, an official with the county school system, but she does not appear supportive and tells Leslie she may be too busy to attend.
Leslie holds a subcommittee meeting with Tom, interested citizen Ann Perkins, intern April Ludgate and city planner Mark Brendanawicz.
Tom leaves the canvassing group to call prospective contractors about the park project, hinting at accepting bribes and making corrupt deals.
"Canvassing" was written by Rachel Axler and directed by Seth Gordon, whom the cast and crew of Parks and Recreation admired for his documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.
[2] Series co-creator Michael Schur said the plot for "Canvassing" was conceived early in the Parks and Recreation brainstorming process because the staff wanted to demonstrate Leslie's optimism and strong resolve in the face of harsh public criticism.
[4] The producers were concerned the subplot would make Tom too unlikeable, but instead audiences responded positively because they felt it was an accurate portrayal of some aspects of small-town government.
The scene was completely improvised by Poehler during multiple takes,[5] and Michael Schur called it "my favorite talking head that Amy has done".
[1] The cold open of the episode features Leslie wearing bunny ears and helping children on an Easter egg hunt at a park.
The cold open was the last scene shot for "Canvassing", and was conceived at the last moment because the production date was near Easter, and series co-creator Michael Schur said he "thought it would be funny to put Amy (Poehler) in bunny ears".
[4] "Canvassing" marked the first appearance of Marlene Griggs-Knope, Leslie's mother and an important public figure in the Pawnee school system.
"[1] Lennon Parham, an actress and comedian who worked with Amy Poehler on the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe, made a guest appearance in "Canvassing" as Kate Speevak.
[5] During office hours, Leslie catches Mark, April and Andy playing Rock Band, a popular music video game in which the players perform rock music using guitar, drum and microphone controllers;[6] during the game, Andy sings the song "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit.
[7] Seth Gordon said the Parks and Recreation producers almost opted not to include a singing part due to concerns about the legalities of using the song, but they ultimately decided to use it.
[5] During Leslie's filibuster at the town hall meeting, she begins reading The Phantom Tollbooth, a children's adventure novel written by Norton Juster.
[1] During the canvassing, Leslie says she may resort to the tactics of Karl Rove, advisor to former President George W. Bush, in phrasing her questions to guarantee positive responses.
[6] Matt Fowler of IGN said Amy Poehler "remains frighteningly unflappable" and said he enjoyed how disastrous the town hall meeting turned out to be, but said supporting characters like Mark and Ron "need to be fleshed out a bit more and made... well, funnier.
"[8] Josh McAuliffe of The Times-Tribune said "Canvassing" was funnier than the pilot episode, but still lacked big laughs and "I think the writers can do some interesting things with the whole playground plot, among them introducing us to some of Pawnee's more colorful denizens.
Club said although he liked the pilot episode, he thought jokes in "Canvassing" were "pretty thin on the ground", the supporting cast lacked good material and the Leslie character was less likable than the previous week.
"[9] "Canvassing" was first broadcast in Australia on Channel Seven on December 8, 2009, and received a positive review from The Sydney Morning Herald writer Mark Ellis.
He particularly praised Poehler and Ansari, and said of the episode, "Tune in just to hear her say to her canvassing companion, who complains it's hot and wants to cool off: 'We could blow in each other's faces.
[18] In a second minute-long clip, Leslie talks about her very detailed life plan, which involves eventually becoming head of the parks department, then governor of Indiana, then U.S. vice president and then getting married at age 84.