'Parks and Recreation' cast to reunite for coronavirus charity episode
Despite the current quarantine, we’re all taking a brief trip back to Pawnee, Indiana!
NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” is coming back for one reunion episode. The 30-minute special will feature all of the original characters from the series played by Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O’Heir and Retta.
According to a release, the episode will feature Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, “determined to stay connected to her friends in a time of social distancing.”
Executive producer Michael Schur said in a statement he had been looking for ways to help amid the current pandemic and realized bringing the beloved characters back could raise money for charity.
“I sent a hopeful email to the cast and they all got back to me within 45 minutes,” he said. “Our old ‘Parks and Rec’ team has put together one more 30-minute slice of (quarantined) Pawnee life and we hope everyone enjoys it. And donates!”
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The episode will raise funds for Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, which helps keep food banks going during the pandemic. State Farm, Subaru of America, the cast and crew behind “Parks and Recreation” and TODAY’s parent company, NBCUniversal, are donating a combined $500,000.
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The reunion episode will be the first scripted show that addresses our current situation, NBC said in a release. The casts and crews of other shows, including “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and “Saturday Night Live,” have been producing episodes remotely over the past weeks.
“SNL” went as far as creating a pre-taped version of the show last week, with the cast shooting their segments at their homes. The show announced plans to do it again this Saturday.
"Parks and Recreation" ended five years ago with a flash-forward to an epilogue that showed us how all the characters ended up, so it’s unclear exactly when in the timeline the reunion episode will take place.
The special is slated to air on April 30 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
We're excited to see these friends reunite, even if it's an awkward Zoom call where Jerry Gergich can't get his microphone to unmute!
