“You ever found a dead body in the trash? Or body parts? Like a torso or a head?
Please say head."
If you’re anything like me you’ve been mourning the end of 'Parks and Recreation' ever
since it wrapped in 2015 and maybe you’ve even been keeping an effigy of April Ludgate
in your living room and worshipping it every night and sending locks of hair to Amy
Poehler and asking Nick Offerman to adopt you. I mean - I can’t be the only one right?
[crickets]
Oh, yes well according the the cast and creators Mike Schur and Greg Daniels, the
only way it would happen is if there was a good enough idea. Amy Poehler, Nick
Offerman, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt,
Jim O'Heir and Rob Lowe - along with Schur and Daniels - appeared on stage at
Thursday night’s PaleyFest panel for the tenth anniversary reunion where Schur
said,"Everyone on this stage — and like six other people — would have to feel like there
was a story that needed to be told.” Well, I’ve got an idea for you Mike, What about the
story of an intrepid Australian who moves to Pawnee in search of a new beginning and
lands a job at City Hall where she becomes besties with Ann - sorry Leslie - and single
handedly solves all of Pawnee’s problems and dethrones Gerry/Larry/Garry/Terry as
mayor because who are we kidding, and lives forever as one of the government building's
infamous murals?
[crickets]
Wow. Tough crowd today. Tough.
While Schur says that he hasn't ruled anything out, he also feels like the show succeeded
in its mission. Meanwhile, before the panel, Poehler told 'The Hollywood Reporter' on
the red carpet that she was 100 percent in if Schur had an idea he thought would work.
”I invented this parks game, son!"
"Dammit! When did they put a lamp here?"
Offerman - who played Ron Swason also said he'd be available under the same
conditions.
”When people get too chummy with me, I like to call them by the wrong name to
let them know I don’t really care about them.
Plaza, who had previously told 'THR' it felt "too soon" for a reboot, but she'd "do anything
with those people," said on the carpet,
”I think you should lose the first line, and the last line, and all of the other lines,
and instead just walk up to the mic and meow really loudly for eight minutes."
'Parks and Recreation' ran for seven seasons from 2009 to 2015 with the finale flashing
forward to various points in the future. We saw Andy and April become parents to
Burt Snakehole Ludgate Karate Dracula Macklin Demon Jack-o-Lantern Dwyer or “Jack”
for short, Tom become a best-selling author capitalising on his past failed ventures,
and Leslie and Ben being accompanied by secret service agents leaving us to hope that
Leslie finally achieved her dream of being president of the United States - which quite
frankly is MY dream right now because… you know.
The discussion, which was moderated by Patton Oswalt, spanned plenty of topics,
including the show's eerily on the money predictions such as Paul Rudd's Bobby Newport
character's political aspirations and the Fyre Festival disaster which let’s face it, was
totally something Tom and Jean-Ralphio would have attempted when they were running
Entertainment 720, and I still don’t know what their company did!
"My company’s bankrupt, okay? Entertainment 720 is dead."
And of course, there is plenty of topical material to draw inspiration from these days too.
"I was reading about the college admission scandal and I was like, 'That's some Eagleton
shit,' joked Ansari referring to the Pawnee’s fictitious bougie rival town. When it comes to
Schur’s favorite episode of the series, he picked season three standout "The Fight"
which was written and directed by Poehler. In the episode, the gang heads to the
Snakehole Lounge and proceed to all get wasted on Snakejuice, while Ann and Leslie
have their first fight.
So, if everyone were to say yes, a reunion could happen.
Um, Mike, isn’t the fact that I want it compelling enough?
[crickets]
Oh, fine!
Schur - who is also the comedic mastermind behind 'The Good Place' and 'Brooklyn
Nine Nine' among others - recently signed a huge multiyear overall deal with his longtime
home Universal Television said to be worth in the nine-figure range. Well earned.
To read more on this story, head to THR.com.
For The Hollywood Reporter News, I’m Lyndsey Rodrigues.