'Parks and Recreation' Reunion Special Brings Warmth to the Pandemic
by EG
The entire cast of Parks and Recreation returned this week for a one-time reunion special. The episode's story was led, of course, by Leslie Knope as she worked to keep her friends sane and happy during the pandemic crisis. Read on for details.
[This story contains spoilers from NBC's Parks and Recreation special.]
"[T]he main character is eternally optimistic and believes in the power of community to hold people together. She believes that incremental, small, little moments of connection and togetherness were crucial and vital to the social fabric."
That's how Parks and Recreation showrunner Mike Schur described his former NBC show and Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope, and it's with that spirit that all 10 stars from the beloved comedy reunited Thursday for a special to raise money for Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund.
Poehler, Rashida Jones (who plays Ann), Aziz Ansari (Tom), Nick Offerman (Ron), Aubrey Plaza (April), Chris Pratt (Andy), Adam Scott (Ben), Rob Lowe (Chris), Jim O'Heir (Gary) and Retta (Donna) each had heartfelt and funny moments where their characters offered a glimpse of life of everyone has experienced while following stay-at-home guidelines. (Shout-out to Paul Rudd's Bobby Newport for opening the special with his own blissful ignorance and shock at the state of the world.)
Here's how things played out as the special offered an almost by the numbers approach to what life is like while adhering to government-mandated Safer at Home guidelines.
Poehler's Leslie has shut down all the national parks in her purview and created a daily phone tree among her former Parks Department brood, which is how the episode took shape as the scenes shuffled from one Zoom conversation to another as everyone, naturally, did their best to avoid being the one to call Gary. The phone tree that provides the backbone of the episode ends with Ron reminding Leslie that it's important to take care of yourself while also looking after others.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Did you catch the Parks and Rec reunion? Let us know in the comments below.