Is ‘Parks and Recreation’ Coming Back?!

Last night, March 21, 2019, the PaleyFest hosted Michael Schur and Amy Poehler along with a packed room of fans ready to see Leslie Knope take the office once again.

It was reported that the deafening screams and chants from the filled room of the Dolby Theater in Hollywood moved actress Amy Poehler to hold back tears of happiness and disbelief. “I’m totally overwhelmed,” said the lead of the hit NBC television show.

“I have no idea where I’d want it (Parks and Rec) to go, we would do what we usually do: blow out the formula, do nothing that works — put us in space,” said Poehler, “This is why I’m not the one with the ideas.”

Parks and Rec lasted seven seasons on NBC, ending its on-air run on Feb. 24, 2015. In the series finale, there were hologram tablets and pop-up wrist communicators from 2023, spaceflights and a funeral scene from 2048 that suggested Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope or Adam Scott’s Ben Wyatt had a top line political future.

“We thought we were getting canceled all the time,” said Michael Schur, “I never imagined we’d go for seven years.” When speaking about a reunion, Schur said, “We’d only do it if there was something compelling. If anyone onstage said ‘No’, we wouldn’t do it.”

Then the hopeful moment from Schur dropped: “I would never say never.”

Poehler spoke at PaleyFest about how during the LA Teacher’s Strike, she passed a teacher who was carrying a Knope poster at a rally. Public service and belief in one’s own power drove Parks and Rec in a unique way that allowed for influence to be felt through the masses of individuals who made Leslie Knope a household name.

Here’s to hoping for a future of inspiration through the heart-warming comedy!