Ben Schwartz Returning to "Parks and Rec."

[JamesG]

"Parks and Recreation": Ben Schwartz's Jean-Ralphio Back in Business With Tom
9/11/2012
by Lesley Goldberg


Entertainment 720 is back in business.

Ben Schwartz has booked a return to NBC's "Parks and Recreation", The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Schwartz, who stars on Showtime's "House of Lies", will return to Pawnee for at least one episode where he's set to reprise what showrunner Mike Schur calls "the world's worst human being," Jean-Ralphio.





"Tom as the beginning of the season is struggling a bit because he hasn't had any good entrepreneurial ideas in a while and he's running short on cash and he strikes what could be the first ever actually legitimate business idea that he has ever had -- and he invites Jean-Ralphio into the mix to be his business partner again," Schur tells THR.

"There's an arc that starts around Episode 5 for Tom where he's trying to start a new business but he's grown up a bit and has learned from his mistakes in the past so it's about him trying to turn over a new leaf and take what he thinks is actually a good idea for once and turn it into a legitimate business," he says.





While the showrunner was mum on just what the evil genius comes up with, he teased that it comes organically to the wannabe entrepreneur.

"It's not like a flash of inspiration for the sky where he suddenly gets an idea for an imaginary product and tries to invent it; it's something that comes very naturally out of everything that you already know about Tom, which is why it feels like a legitimate idea," he says.



Schwartz's episode is tentatively slated to air Nov. 1.

"Parks and Recreation" returns Thursday, Sept. 20 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...returns-369503