This Was Tom Haverford's Worst Idea On Parks And Recreation

Of all the zany characters on NBC's Parks and Recreation, one of the most popular is Tom Haverford, the lovable administrator played by comedian Aziz Ansari. His obsessions with fashion, fine living, and fame often cause him to act in a comedically shallow manner and motivate him to aim higher than his station at the Parks and Rec department, even if his ambitions are hopeless. As a result, Tom has his fair share of get-rich-quick business ideas over the course of the show.

In season 3, as one of the co-owners and promoters of Pawnee's biggest nightclub, the Snakehole Lounge, Tom invents Snake Juice, an incredibly potent alcoholic beverage that's one of his more successful ideas. Likewise, season 6 sees Tom opening his own bistro, which manages to last five years before shutting down after a failed expansion. However, these seem to be the exception to the rule, as not all of Tom's ideas share the same level of success. In fact, most of his schemes fail from the start — but none quite as spectacularly as Entertainment 720.

Throughout season 4 of Parks and Recreation, Tom and his remarkably scummy, unreliable friend Jean-Ralphio open their own "multimedia entertainment production conglomerate," Entertainment 720. At first glance, it seems like the company is a simple marketing and promotion firm, except that neither Tom nor Jean-Ralphio could be satisfied with such a simple endeavor. On top of marketing, Entertainment 720 also does catering, throws parties, and much, much more. It becomes painfully obvious to everyone that neither Tom nor Jean-Ralphio has a proper business plan for their burgeoning company.

This reality becomes even more apparent in the face of all of their reckless spending. The Entertainment 720 headquarters is ostensibly an illustrious nightclub with no customers. Most of their employees are female models assigned to no task in particular while being paid upward of $100,000 a year. Likewise, Tom and Jean-Ralphio hire two NBA players to do nothing but shoot hoops inside their building while Tom and Jean-Ralphio play video games. When the two bring in Ben Wyatt to help with their accounting, he admits they'll probably go bankrupt by the time he finishes his sentence.

Needless to say, Entertainment 720 doesn't last very long — not even until the end of the season. Luckily, Tom always bounces back, and his most successful business venture, Tom's Bistro, would soon follow. Jean-Ralphio, on the other hand, would continue to be as sneaky and conniving as ever.