Even ‘Entertainment Weekly’ Dunked on ‘Parks and Receration’s Jerry Gergich
Parks and Recreation is the beloved TV show about a group of small-town government workers who are kind, thoughtful and dedicated to treating their affable co-worker like literal trash for no good reason.
Yes, Jerry/Larry/Terry (but really Garry) Gergich was the Pawnee Parks Department’s perpetual punching bag; his so-called “friends” were always slathering his face with a cream pie, or complaining about his flatulence while he was mid-heart attack, or ridiculing his beautiful, painstakingly assembled “murinal.”
The NBC sitcom turned 16 years old this week, meaning that any babies conceived during the pilot are now old enough to get learner’s permit. To mark the anniversary, Entertainment Weekly posted a cover from its January 9, 2015 issue, which hit newsstands just a month before the series finale. At first glance, it may appear to simply be a photo of the cast posing for the camera, albeit airbrushed to such a degree that they look more like Pixar movie characters than actual human beings. But Jim O’Heir, who played Jerry, was specifically positioned so that the Entertainment Weekly title almost completely blocked his face.
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In case there was any question as to whether or not this was an accident made by EW’s layout department, the magazine printed some minuscule text just above O’Heir’s head, reading: “Really, Jerry???”
“Spectacular how Larry/Terry/Garry/Jerry is blocked by the magazine name!” one fan responded. “Poor Gary,” another wrote. At the time, Vulture piled on, claiming that “Jerry totally ruined” the otherwise successful photo shoot. It’s unclear if this was one of the mean jokes that Chris Pratt thought went “too far.”
While he didn’t weigh in on Entertainment Weekly’s cover specifically, O’Heir did defend the Parks and Rec gang’s atypically cruel treatment of Jerry while speaking with Cracked’s Matt Solomon last fall. “I think our legacy is kindness,” O’Heir argued. “People go, ‘But they were always mean to Jerry.‘ I was the guy who played him so I know what they‘re talking about. But ultimately, they always had Jerry‘s back when it counted.”
Entertainment Weekly previously showcased the cast on a 2011 cover, and proudly proclaimed that Parks and Recreation was “TV’s smartest comedy.” But since Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones were still in the cast, EW left out O’Heir and Retta — even though there was presumably room to spare on the cover because Adam Scott couldn’t make the shoot due to a storm.
Come to think of it, this omission is arguably way worse than just sticking an “e” and an “n” in your face.