00s TV show had to censor mini horse erection because he was ‘hard for hours’-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro

The Parks and Recreation cast were almost upstaged by a mini horse’s erection (Picture: NBC)

TV bosses were forced to get creative at the last minute after trying to ‘wait out’ an animal’s erection on Parks and Recreation.

The iconic sitcom aired for seven seasons between 2009 – 2015, and focused on the goings-on in the local government department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana.

Amy Poehler led the cast as Leslie Knope, beside Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Retta, Rob Lowe, Adam Scott and Jim O’Heir.

Jim, who starred as inept employee Garry ‘Jerry’ Gergich, opened up about working on the acclaimed series in his new book, Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation, where he unpacked one of the most beloved cameos.

In the season three episode, titled Harvest Festival, the department held a celebration of the town where they were joined by guest of honor Li’l Sebastian, a miniature horse and local celebrity – however, his appearance didn’t quite go as planned for anyone on set.

Unpacking the scene, the author revealed the moment where Tom Haverford, played by Aziz, was left taken aback by the animal’s ‘shockingly huge mini horse erection’ wasn’t actually originally meant to happen.

Jim O’Heir has penned a book about all things Parks and Recreation (Picture: NBC)

Li’l Sebastian was played by mini horse Gideon (Picture: NBC)

‘At one point in the episode Harvest Festival, Li’l Sebastian’s nether regions are blurred,’ he wrote, via Entertainment Weekly.

‘This was not called for in the script – what I mean is that Tom Haverford wasn’t supposed to look at Li’l Sebastian and announce, “Wow, that is a shockingly huge mini horse erection.”

Things were a little awkward when the mini horse got on set (Picture: NBC)

‘That li’l guy was hard for hours while shooting; turns out this is a normal biological response and has nothing to do with being “turned on.”

‘After trying to wait out the erection, the producers decided that we had to start shooting something. Someone had the wise idea to blur it out in post-production, and a writer decided to give Tom that fantastic line.’

Although Li’l Sebastian was a popular character in the Parks and Rec universe, this was the only time he was seen on screen during the seven-season run.

In the season three finale, Pawnee was left in mourning when he died, with the Parks department in charge of hosting a fitting memorial service for the mini horse.

Who could forget Andy Dwyer’s (Chris Pratt) moving rendition of 5,000 Candles in the Wind, that was absolutely not a rip off of the Elton John classic?

The series ended in 2015, following a futuristic season seven, but the cast have still remained close – they reunited for a special episode in 2020 to raise funds for Covid relief.

Parks and Rec ran for seven seasons until 2015 (Picture: NBC)

Last year, Jim, Aubrey, Nick, Adam, Retta and Jean-Ralphio legend Ben Schwartz joined forces on the picket line during the Hollywood strikes, where ‘Li’l Sebastian’ joined in the action.

Amy was previously asked whether she would return for a possible Parks and Rec reboot, and insisted that she is ‘always standing by’.

She told People Magazine: ‘Anytime anybody gives me the word, and I’m down.’

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