‘Parks & Rec’ Is Doing A No-Shit Reunion Special And It’s Airing Literally Next Week

Nobody panic, but it’s happening. It’s happening. It’s happening. Five years after it left the air in 2015, Parks & Recreation is officially coming back for a one-off scripted reunion special, and virtually the entire original cast has signed on to return.

Per a report from Variety, the cast has come together to film the scripted special which is now set to air on April 30th. As in, mother of god it’s airing literally next week.

As far as cast goes, almost the entire original cast is returning, featuring Amy PoehlerNick OffermanAziz AnsariChris PrattRob LoweRashida JonesAubrey PlazaAdam ScottJim O’Hare, and Retta. All of whom will be appearing in-character for the half-hour special. It’s expected that several of the show’s regular guest stars will make appearances as well.

Plot wise, the special will pick up in the present day, several years after the time-jumped final season left off. Taking inspiration from the current global situation, the special will see Leslie Knope, who is “determined to stay connected to her friends in a time of social distancing.”

The special will be aired in a bid to raise charity money for Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund. According to series creator Michael Schur, the entire cast signed on for the special within 45 minutes.

“Like a lot of other people, we were looking for ways to help and felt that bringing these characters back for a night could raise some money,” Schur said in a statement. “I sent a hopeful email to the cast and they all got back to me within 45 minutes. 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!”

There’s no word on when or how the special will air in Australia at this stage, however you’d bloody hope it’s soon.

And while it might not be the fully-fledged on-set reunion fans may have been hoping for, an in-character Zoom-based special is just as good. Now then, who wants to take bets on whether Jerry will accidentally take his laptop to the toilet?

The entire series is now streaming on Stan so go ahead and enjoy a binge-sesh to celebrate the return of your faves.

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