Nate DiMeo wrote tonight’s episode of Parks and Recreation, “Ann’s Decision.” I’m a huge fan of Nate’s podcast, The Memory Palace, and was super excited to talk to him about working with P&R Executive Producer Mike Schur on the Pawnee book that came out last year.

What is your favorite piece written by someone else, and by you?

Mike is really a talented, gifted dude, particularly when he handles a lot of the character essays, [especially] the Ben Wyatt essay. Ben was really not an entirely fully-formed character when we were writing the book, as a team they were still getting a handle on Ben and it was just coming together.

But Mike sat down and wrote the Ben Wyatt ode to why he likes Pawnee that’s just genuinely lovely and also funny. He does that a lot. I love the introduction – I love the fact that he had the confidence to write a five paragraph to Bloomington, Indiana.

Emily Spivey, the creator of Up All Night, did a lot of the Joan Callamezzo biography. My favorite thing that kills me every time is when Joan’s mom, after having a drunken fight with her Marcus Bachmann-like husband, ends up waking up in the morning holding a concrete nativity sheath. That moment tells you so much about what it was like to grow up in Gary, Indiana for Joan Callamezzo, and to me it’s an incredible, beautiful, hysterical little moment. It may be my single favorite set of words.

I have one very important question for you. How do you feel about Li’l Sebastian? Do you get the appeal or are do you not just understand the appeal of the mini horse?

First of all, he’s a little horse and that’s awesome. Little horses are great. But for me, it’s one of those things that Mike and I talked about when we were coming up with conclusions [for the book] – Li’l Sebastian is the waffles referenced [in the final chapter].

You know how Junior’s Cheesecake in Brooklyn is supposed to be the greatest cheesecake in the world? It might be. I ate it and you know what? The cheesecake is delicious. I don’t know if I’ve ever had better, but it also wasn’t all that great. So there are limits to how good some things can be.

Leslie said at the end of “Born and Raised,” and the end of the book, that somewhere out there are the best waffles in the world, and I love these waffles and why can’t we have the best waffles in the world? I feel like Li’l Sebastian is the same thing. He’s a little horse that they have decided to love and praise and be amazed by, and therefore he is the greatest little horse in the world.

Read more: PopGurls Interview: Nate Dimeo Of “Pawnee: The Greatest Town In America”

Parks and Recreation is back at 8:30p tonight! After Community FINALLY premieres! It’s a good night for TV!

Who are you?
I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition.

You’ve had some incredibly powerful lines as Castiel – in particular from the season premiere — “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.” Did you practice that a lot?

Whenever I’m working on a shoot and it’s the first scene that I’m doing for that role – no matter what, there’s always some sort of anxiety that builds up. I just end up putting more pressure on myself for that scene. There was a lot going on in that scene – I was getting shot and there were explosions and I couldn’t help but overthink the dialogue a bit. And yes, I did plan how to say that line.

We did one take and Kim Manners, the director, said, “Hey, Misha. It was like you were trying to make it spooky or something. Can you make it simple?” So, at that point, I threw out all of the stuff that I had planned and did it more simply. And that’s how it came out.

It’s gonna be a line of a dialogue that stands out — I don’t think there’s any casual way to say “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.” (laughs)

Not unless you were just sitting around, having a few beers at a bar.

Possibly. I’ll try to slip it into casual conversation. See how it goes. Let me make a note.

(Source: arrchangel, via philtippett)

Awesome news:

Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America is a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. — Nate DiMeo

Did you read our interview with Nate where he discusses the initial ideas for the book, how everything had to go through the Leslie filter, and why mini-horse Li’l Sebastian is a lot like waffles? You should. Go do it now: PopGurls Interview: Nate Dimeo Of “Pawnee: The Greatest Town In America”