Amy Poehler Is 'Living in Pre-Teen Town' with Sons Who 'Tolerate' Her Work and 1 'Law & Order' Acting Regret

If there's one thing Amy Poehler has learned about sharing classic TV and film with her kids, it's all about employing a light touch and a little reverse psychology.

"I'm kind of living in preteen town right now, so you have to do a lot of reverse psychology," Poehler, 50, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, referring to her two sons Archie, 13, and Abel, 11, with ex Will Arnett. "You can't come in front of anything and say something is funny or good. That's not going to happen. You're going to be immediately rejected. So you have to reverse psychology words. You have to put things on and be like, 'Huh, what's this stupid thing?' 'Okay, I guess Airplane is funny, whatever.' I have to have a real light touch because they will not love what we love. My guys have such a different taste."

Poehler, whose first documentary Lucy and Desi is now streaming on Prime Video, admits that her kids have watched their mom's work, but only sometimes appreciate it.

"They do watch it. They tolerate it, but they're not chomping at the bit to watch any of my stuff, to be quite honest," she says. "I mean, the other day we were talking about SNL, and I was like, 'Who do you think are the best SNL [cast members]?' And my kids were like, 'Well, probably [Colin] Jost and [Michael] Che.' And I said, 'Not your mother?!' They said, 'No.' "

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Misguided SNL favorites or not, Poehler's sons have now seen one of her most beloved (and quoted) TV performances.

"In the beginning of the pandemic, we did what everybody did. We turned to comedy for comfort and we watched all of Parks and Rec, which they had never seen," she says. "And they loved The Office. Oh, God, we watched everything. I feel like most people watched all of the TV, all of the shows."

One of Poehler's current favorites is the new hit sitcom Abbott Elementary, created by and starring Quinta Brunson.

"It is so good. Quinta is just a genius, a delight and so funny. I love her. Love that show," says Poehler. "I just love when a network show pops like that because people like to talk about genres as if they've decided how genres are going to go. It's hard to make a network show that's that complicated and interesting, but also appealing. And I love it."

And although Poehler has been putting in more time behind the camera as a director and producer (Russian Doll, Broad City), the actress, an admitted crime show enthusiast, can't believe she never did an episode of any of the Law & Order shows.

"Honestly, that is one of my biggest regrets as an actor is that I was never on Law and Order when I was in New York," she sais. "I would've made the best baby-faced arsonist! I would've been so good at being the friend of the girl who was murdered, who they go back to again and they are like, 'Just tell me your story one more time.' And she is like, 'I don't have time for this. I'm going to go class.' "

Poehler's Lucy and Desi is now streaming on Prime Video.

For much more on Amy Poehler, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands now.