Parks and Recreation Reunion: Why a Reboot is Unlikely

Parks and Recreation has a reunion special coming up this week, but is there a chance of a revival? According to series creator Mike Schur, this Thursday is a one-time deal. The goal of this star-studded reunion is to raise money for Feeding America amid the coronavirus pandemic. People remember the Will & Grace revival after an election PSA, but that doesn’t mean our Pawnee friends will be gracing our televisions every week because of this reunion. Mike Schur is one of the co-creators of Parks and Recreation and he had to explain all of this on a conference call with the press. For him, the series’ light tone and good-willed nature are just what people need right now as they’re stuck at home.

“I would never say never because why bother saying never, but this felt like a moment in time and a cause that we could all rally behind and that made sense…” Schur told the press. “Parks and Rec had a very specific subject to discuss and very specific point to make…We held on by the skin of our teeth at times, but we were lucky enough to be around for seven years and 120-something episodes, I think. And when it ended, Amy and I used to talk a lot about this: We felt like we made our point. We had an argument; we made the argument and we got out.”

He added, “I don’t see the point of rebooting a show or revamping a show or getting a show back up and running just to do it. It was really fun; it was a true joy to make the show when we did, and I really felt like we made our argument, and then we left. I think that’s the right move. Again, I’ll never say never, it’s an unbelievably great group of people from top to bottom, from Amy Poehler all the way to the PAs that we hired to be on the set with us. And so, if there’s a real joy in the creation and the execution of the show, but I don’t think just joy is enough of reason to make something these days. I think it has to have a reason to live and we had our reason, we made our point. I don’t anticipate any long-term reboot or anything like that.”

Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansar, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O’Heir, and Retta are all on tap to appear during the 8:30 pm special on NBC. Other Pawnee favorites are rumored to be dropping in as well. Fans can’t help but be excited at the prospect of more Parks, and delighted to be helping a good cause at the same time.

Are you stoked for more Parks and Rec? Let us know in the comments!