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As some of you know, Nick Offerman, star of the NBC comedy Parks &Recreation, is a woodworker both on and off the show. His character, Ron Swanson, makes regular references to the craft, the more obscure and wacky the better. This Thursday night (Dec. 6) at 9:30 on NBC, in an episode titled “Ron and Diane,” woodworking grabs even more of the limelight, as Ron receives an award from the fictional Indiana Fine Woodworkers Association.

What’s more, Nick convinced the show’s producers to have a few of his FWW friends actually appear on the episode!

So a month or so ago, Chris Becksvoort (here is his report) and I flew out to Los Angeles and checked into the hotel where our scenes were going to be filmed. Parks & Rec had rented out the hotel’s conference facilities to set up big fake woodworking event, complete with 150 extras to play attendees, and many of FWW’s real advertisers, like Bosch, Lee Valley, Lie-Nielsen, and SawStop, who brought their booths and normal show gear, plus a few of their actual staff, too, to appear on the show!

It was a blast, watching the actors do their thing, nervously performing the two short “bits” written for us, and being invited to walk through the background of other scenes, too. No one knows what will end up in the final edit (“Welcome to my world,” Nick says), but they filmed moments with Chris and me both. I can’t say too much, but we played ourselves (sort of), and you’ll probably hear our names at least. In fact, the writers ended up improvising a speaking part for Chris, where Ron gets to interact with his woodworking idol. It was hilarious! If they don’t use it, it should at least appear in the deleted scenes that NBC posts online.

So tune in to NBC on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 9:30 to watch woodworking get a rare spotlight on prime time. I’ll try to remember all the little people who helped me along the way…

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