White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

  • Home
  • About
  • WHC Garden Brunch
  • Washington Insider
  • Archives
  • Contact

After The Election, Biden Heads to Parks and Recreation

November 9, 2012 By WHC Insider

Vice President Joe Biden and David Axelrod

Now that the election is over, we can get Vice President Joe Biden to where he really needs to be–meeting  Leslie Knope.

Or, to be more precise, Amy Poehler on the set of Parks and Recreation for their upcoming episode. The fifth season premiere featured Poehler (who plays the recently elected city councilwoman Knope) in D.C. with cameos from Senator John McCain, Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe. But for the November 15th episode, Vice President Biden shows up in the cold open according to Entertainment Weekly.

It’s no secret in the show that Knope has a crush on Biden, but it turns out the cameo was harassed by Beltway politics:

Once the producers committed to shooting an episode in D.C., the process of landing Biden was “so much less difficult than we ever possibly imagined,” says Schur, noting: “His staff really loves the show, and he apparently had watched the show with his family and his family liked it… The hardest part was keeping it secret for so long because there’s all these FEC rules and equal-time rules. We couldn’t air it before the election because it was the equivalent of a campaign contribution to advertise for one candidate.”

This is far from the first time that the vice president has appeared on TV. He’s read the Top Ten on Letterman, shown up constantly on Hardball, Meet the Press and The Daily Show. But this is the third time that he’s ever appeared on a scripted television show. The second was Robert Altman’s sequel to Tanner ’88, the Sundance Channel mini-series Tanner on Tanner. But the first? Way back in 1993, then Senator of Delaware, Biden appeared as himself on the PBS game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? to offer the host some support:

Greg: Hello?
Joe Biden: Greg, Senator Joe Biden here.
Greg: Oh, hey, Senator.
Joe: I just wanted to let you know that I proposed a Congressional resolution naming you “The Best Detective of the Year”.
Greg: Why thank you, sir.
Joe: But some people were more comfortable with “Best Detective of the Month”.
Greg: Uh-huh.
Joe: And a few preferred “Best Detective of the Work Week”. Then someone suggested “best” is an awfully strong word, so we decided to name you “The Somewhat-Notable Detective of the Next 12 Minutes”. Congratulations, Greg.
Greg: Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. Good-bye. Thank you.

We can only hope he suggested the same when the episode airs next week.

Filed Under: 2012 Election, Entertainment, News, TV Tagged With: Amy Poehler, Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, John McCain, Olympia Snowe, Parks and Recreation, PBS, Robert Altman, Tanner '88, Tanner on Tanner, TV, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

GOOGLE TAKES YOUR QUESTIONS LIVE FROM SPACE

May 18, 2011 By WHC Insider

Commander Mark Kelly will give his first interview from space to Google, You Tube and PBS NewsHour.  Anchor Miles O’Brien will use questions submitted through Google Moderator… To read Matt Dornic’s take, click HERE.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Google, Google Moderator, Mark Kelly, Matt Dornic, Miles O'Brien, NewsHour, PBS, You Tube

NewsHour Anchor Jim Lehrer Stepping Down

May 12, 2011 By WHC Insider

Jim Lehrer surprised the Washington news community today by announced that he will be stepping down as the lead newsman for public television. He has hosted “The NewsHour” on PBS for 36 years making him the longest running national anchorman.  While his daily job will end on June 6, 2011, he plans to continue to moderate the show’s weekly news analysis segment, which airs every Friday.  You can read the full story here, courtesy of the Washington Post.

Filed Under: News, Uncategorized Tagged With: Jim Leher, NewsHour, PBS

PBS Ombudsman Condemns WHCA Dinner

May 17, 2010 By WHC Insider

Has the celebrity aspect of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner gone too far?

Michael Getler, the independent internal critic, otherwise known as the “ombudsman” for the Public Broadcasting System, believes that it has. In a recent Ombudsman Column, Getler calls the dinner an “embarrassment, just one more brick on the pile that buries confidence in the U.S. press.” The dinner happened to take place on the same weekend that marked the passing of two long-time PBS public affairs shows: Bill Moyers Journal and NOW with host David Brancaccio.

Getler called it “Journalism’s Passing Parade” – do you agree? Share your comments.

Filed Under: WHCA Dinner Tagged With: Bill Moyers, David Brancaccio, Michael Getler, NOW, PBS, WHCA, WHCA Dinner, White House Correspondents Dinner

Search WHCInsider

2022 WHC Garden Brunch

About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

Cone of Silence Podcast

WHCA Seating Chart

Connect

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • Apple
  • Google
  • Instagram

Copyright © White House Correspondents Insider