A few days ago, Jim O’Heir (the actor who plays Jerry/Garry/Gary/Larry Gergich), announced on Twitter that the Pawnee gang would be getting back together for a reunion special of Parks and Rec.
‘Parks And Recreation’ Cast Reunites For Benefit Special Amid Pandemic https://t.co/aklWE2hV4A via @Deadline
— Jim O'Heir (@JimOHeir) April 23, 2020
The special 30-minute episode will be the first scripted program to address the current COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release by NBC. Additionally, that release announced that NBC and the show’s creators are hoping it will help raise funds for Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
The upcoming reunion episode will be set in current times, with all of the characters practicing social distancing. Additionally, Leslie is being driven crazy by not being able to see her friends or, presumably, work as effectively as usual. We already saw in an earlier episode that Leslie did not deal well with a government shut down. How is she dealing with a complete world shutdown?
In addition to Amy Poehler reprising her role as Leslie Knope, this episode of Parks and Rec will see the return of Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, Retta, Rob Lowe, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, and Jim O’Heir. Knowing how the show works–and how many bored actors are out there right now–we will almost certainly see drop-ins from other show favorites. Possibly a Zoom Bomb from Councilman Jamm? After all, the actors who play Tammy 2 and Ron Swanson are perhaps the only people on the show who aren’t currently socially distanced from one another in real life.
Speaking of which, the episode is going to have to jump through some hoops to accommodate the real-life situations we’re all in right now. Leslie and Ben certainly have spent a lot of time apart, so it’s not hard to imagine them being locked down in separate states. But what about the nearly inseparable April and Andy (yes I remember London and DC)? Or Chris and Ann?
If you remember the series finale of Parks and Rec (did someone just start chopping onions in here?), the gang all went on their own separate paths. Tom went bankrupt due to a lack of beef (weirdly prescient) then launched a career as a motivational speaker/writer. Leslie and Ron continued to work for the National Parks Service (not a great place to be right now). Ben has gone on to represent Indiana in the House of Representatives (he and/or Leslie will eventually be President, but it’s safe to say that’s not our current position). So the episode certainly has an interesting sandbox in which to play.
The Parks and Rec reunion episode is set to air on April 30th at 8:30 EST on NBC.
Personally, I just hope Chris is handling all of this, ok.
If you’d like to make a donation to Feeding America, you can do so at www.feedingamerica.org/parksandrec.
