Meanwhile, Tom tries to take a photo of Ann and Mark for the city's summer catalog, while the budding relationship of Andy and April continues to develop.
It featured a guest appearance by Michael Gross, best known for his role as Steven Keaton from Family Ties, as one of the former park directors.
It suffered competition from CBS footage of the first round of the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which drew 9.68 million household viewers.
Later, a frustrated Leslie decides she cannot write the catalog letter; she stops treating the former directors with any respect by telling the sexist to shut up and calling them "turds" when she briefly takes a throwaway picture and then walks away from them without another word.
[5] Within a week of the episode's original broadcast, two deleted scenes from "Summer Catalog" were made available on the official Parks and Recreation website.
Later, Leslie tries to write her summer catalog letter based on the picnic, but struggles due to how rude the four men acted.
[10] In its original American broadcast on March 25, 2010, "Summer Catalog" was seen by 4.47 million household viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
For the second week in a row, the show suffered in comparison to CBS footage of the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which drew an average of 9.68 million household viewers during Parks and Recreation's 8:30 p.m.
[11] Also for the second consecutive week, Parks and Recreation was outperformed by the ABC drama series FlashForward, which drew 6.2 million household viewers.
It's a measure of just how terrific P&R has become that even when it breaks its format with a mostly-outdoors episode, it still moves its ongoing story lines along briskly and provides a constant stream — a babbling brook, in Leslie Knopes' case — of laughs.
[1] Entertainment Weekly television writer Ken Tucker said the storylines moved along briskly, provided a "constant stream of laughs" and displayed the "rich texture" of the characters.
Club writer Steve Heisler said "Summer Catalog" laid the foundation for several future developments, like changes to the Andy/April and Mark/Ann relationships, but also kept the episode funny and enjoyable.
[8] Kona Gallagher of TV Squad said she was saddened by the decline in Mark and Ann's relationship and the setback for the April and Andy courtship, and feared the subplot might not reach a satisfactory conclusion by the end of the season.
[14] "Summer Catalog", along with the other 23 second season episodes of Parks and Recreation, was released on a four-disc DVD set in the United States on November 30, 2010.