‘Parks & Recreation’s Chris Pratt Defended Jim O’Heir’s Jerry From Bullying

Parks and Recreation is arguably one of the most wholesome shows from NBC’s phenomenal 2009-2013 sitcom era (which saw the series air alongside The Office, 30 Rock, and Community). The show starred Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, the overly-optimistic deputy manager of the Pawnee city council’s Parks and Recreation department. While the show is full of feel-good moments, one character is the butt of a good portion of the jokes. And, Chris Pratt (who played the lovable Andy Dwyer in the show) would often have to defend the character, and the actor that played them.

Jim O’Heir, who played Jerry Gergeich in Parks and Rec, detailed Pratt’s valiant behavior in his new book, Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation. In it, he included a conversation with Pratt, where the pair discussed some of the harsher jokes leveled towards Jerry Gergeich on the show, including many that didn’t make it in. “I remember you, particularly more than some others, being worried about some of the Jerry bits being…mean,” O’Heir said to Pratt in the book. “I remember you saying, ‘Jimmy, you okay with these?’… Do you remember that feeling at all?”

The treatment of Jerry Gergeich is one of Parks and Rec‘s dicier moments for contemporary viewers, as the character was often unfairly bullied as the office’s whipping boy. “I do, I do,” Pratt responded. “I was concerned in some of those moments because I care about you and I love you, and I knew that there were some jokes that were, like, mean. But meaner than they were funny.” Ultimately, showrunner Michael Schur made sure to balance out the nastiness, giving Jerry a beautiful wife (played by Christie Brinkley), three daughters, and, according to a Pawnee doctor, “the largest penis I have ever seen,” which O’Heir has previously joked about being a moment of art imitating life. Pratt continued, saying he wanted to make sure none of the jokes aimed at Jerry crossed any lines. He explained:

“If it’s a joke, it’s funny. But if it’s mean for the sake of being mean, well, I’m not a huge fan of mean-spirited humor, and I just wanted to check in on you.”

Parks and Rec aired on NBC for seven glorious seasons between 2009-2015, during which time countless jokes were made at Jerry’s expense. But, during the conversation, Pratt recalled the one time he had to step in when a joke went too far. “There was one time where I put my foot down on something,” Pratt recalled.

Related

Original Parks & Recs Star Has Conditions For Revival Return

One Parks and Recreation star feels a little skeptical about a possible revival…

The “joke” involved Jerry using the printer, where his colleagues had left a mean message on a sheet of paper for him. For Pratt, the moment was meaner than it was funny, and it had to go. He continued, “There was that time you use the printer, and it says something like, ‘Jerry sucks’ on a piece of paper, and I just said, ‘I don’t think that’s funny. I don’t know about it.’ For the most part, I rolled with it, but there were a couple times where I think it went too far, and I was concerned for you.”

Your changes have been saved

Release Date

April 9, 2009

Seasons

7