Jim O’Heir’s new book “Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation” includes a conversation with co-star Chris Pratt in which the latter recalls putting his foot down over mean jokes during their time on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.” O’Heir and Pratt starred in all seven seasons of the popular sitcom as Jerry Gergich and Andy Dwyer, respectively.

“I remember you, particularly more than some others, being worried about some of the Jerry bits being…mean,” O’Heir tells Pratt in the book. “I remember you saying, ‘Jimmy, you okay with these?’… Do you remember that feeling at all?”

“I do, I do,” Pratt responds. “I was concerned in some of those moments because I care about you and I love you, and I knew that there were some jokes that were, like, mean. But meaner than they were funny. If it’s a joke,...