Parks And Rec: The Story Behind Chris Pratt’s Legendary Improvised Line In My Favorite Episode, ‘Flu Season’

From his physical comedy skills to his commitment to any bit, Chris Pratt was always bringing the funny throughout Parks and Recreation. However, one of his greatest assets, and what made Andy so hysterical, was the actor’s ability to improvise, which was proven during the Season 3 episode titled “Flu Season.” It turns out the story behind Andy’s hilarious line during my favorite episode of the Amy Poehler-led series makes the moment even funnier, so let’s break it down.

In Season 3, Episode 2 of Parks and Rec, many of the characters catch the flu. This leads to Leslie working while she’s ill and denying her sickness, and Andy filling in for April as Ron’s assistant while she’s at the hospital with the flu. As Amy Poehler’s character is headed out of the Parks Department and to the hospital, she and Ben walk by Pratt’s character, who says:

Leslie I typed your symptoms into the thing up here, and it says you have network connectivity problems.

The moment is fast, and if you blink you might miss it. However, fans and those who worked on the crew, immediately realized how funny Pratt’s line about mixing up actual symptoms and wi-fi problems was. And to this day it remains one of the funniest lines in one of the best episodes of Parks and Rec. 

(Image credit: NBC)Why Michael Schur Was Hilariously ‘Upset And Angry’ About Chris Pratt’s Line In ‘Flu Season’

So, back in 2012, when the show was still on, the cast of Parks and Rec did a panel with The Paley Center for Media, and they spoke about improvising during the show. Amy Poehler explained that while they get to make up bits, typically, what ended up in the final cut was what was written in the script. However, the showrunner, Michael Schur, noted that everyone in the series has had an improvised line included at one point or another. This led to him explaining Chris Pratt’s iconic “network connectivity” joke, and how he reacted when the actor said it for the first time, he said:

The funniest line ever spoken on our show is improvised by Chris Pratt. It’s when Leslie has the flu, and she’s being led out, and he’s just sitting at the computer, he’s filling in at [April’s] desk, and he says: ‘Leslie I typed your symptoms this thing up here, and it says you could have network connectivity problems.’ Improvised. Line.

Continuing to speak highly about one of the funniest members of the Parks and Rec ensemble, Schur explained why he was jokingly angry over not coming up with the line himself. He said:

I’m not kidding, as a writer it made me furious. I’m still really upset and angry. He did it once, the camera happened to be on him, he did it once, and I think it’s the funniest joke that’s ever been on our show. It’s my favorite joke from the show.

It really is one of the funniest quips in the series, and it shows one of the reasons why Parks and Recreation is one of Chris Pratt’s best projects. The NBC comedy highlighted the actor’s comedic timing and gift for physical comedy. It also proved how naturally hilarious he is through lines like this one. As the series went on, there were countless one-liners from the actor that were super funny, however, this one he made up in Season 3 is a classic.

(Image credit: NBC/YouTube)Chris Pratt Explains Why Improvisation Works On Parks And Rec 

Along with Michael Schur giving Chris Pratt his flowers for the dialogue, the Guardians of the Galaxy star also explained why he was able to successfully improvise on the show. He said in the same panel that the NBC comedy is filmed “documentary style,” and because of that they were able to live in the scenes. He compared working on the show to performing in “an improv theater,” because the actors always had to be on, they never knew when they’d be included in a shot. 

Going into more detail about how he found the best moments to improvise in, Pratt noted that they would shoot a scene 15 to 30 times. This led to him explaining: 

Eventually, it just takes on its own life. It takes its own sort of shape, and you’ve caught the joke four or five times the way it’s written, and it works, it’s great. Hopefully one of those takes will work. But they’re still trying to get something else, and in the meantime, you come up with something and you say it. Maybe it makes the episode. It’s kind of a testament to the format.

Well, that time to think and really work out a funny one-liner worked so well in “Flu Season.” Since Andy is not involved in the scene really at all, he’s just in the background, I assume Pratt had a lot of time to think about how he could be involved in the sequence. What he came up with was truly genius, and it shows off one of the many reasons why Parks and Rec is so good. That line was so unexpected and creative, but also so relatable, which is a kind of joke the show managed to pull off episode after episode.

Along with Pratt, this cast is genuinely hilarious, and they got to show off all their skills in “Flu Season.” This episode is just one zinger after zinger another, from Rob Lowe’s iconic “my body is a microchip” gag to April and Ann’s hospital standoff to Andy and Ron’s unlikely bonding moment. It also gave us one of our first glimpses of how hilarious the future power couple Ben and Leslie are together. The cast was firing on all cylinders, and with each rewatch I noticed even more nuanced silly lines or actions packed into the 30 minutes. 

To see Chris Pratt’s hilarious and legendary improvised moment from my favorite episode of Parks and Rec, you can stream Season 3, Episode 2 — “Flu Season” — (as well as the entire show) with a Peacock subscription.