A special ‘Parks and Rec’ return
New quarantine episode provided what fans wanted
Amid of the horror of the coronavirus pandemic, some celebrities have really been trying to lift people’s spirits. Sometimes, like the infamous “Imagine” video, it backfires miserably. Then, there’s the “Parks and Recreation” special that aired Thursday night.
The show was, truly, everything you wanted it to be. All of the stars returned, playing their original roles, to participate in a 30-minute episode about how everyone is handling the pandemic. Even though the series ended five years ago, everyone slid seamlessly back into character. Depending on how you’re feeling in quarantine today, it could make you laugh (Joan Callamezzo’s terrifying couch of dolls) or cry (the group singalong to “5,000 Candles in the Wind”). For some of us, ahem, it did both.
Creator Mike Schur said the writers pulled together the script for the episode, which also served as a fundraiser for the Feeding America organization, in about three days. “I honestly didn’t think that ‘Parks and Rec’ was ever going to reunite for any reason, just because I felt like that show had a point to make, and I felt like we’d made it,” he said on a conference call with reporters. “But this is a compelling reason. This is as compelling a reason as there is.”
The writers packed in plenty of inside jokes to entertain both casual and the most dedicated of fans. Some of the best callbacks, which featured the leads and guest stars who populated Pawnee, Indiana, are below:
Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd), the good-natured trust fund doofus who was Leslie’s (Amy Poehler) opponent in the Pawnee mayoral race, opened the special by reading a message from Leslie about the novel coronavirus. However, news of the pandemic had not reached his parents’ private fox-hunting estate in Switzerland. “What is she talking about? Something going on? I haven’t watched the news lately.”
Leslie, working in the Department of the Interior, dealt with quarantine by setting up a daily phone tree among all her closest friends and former co-workers. She even made sure that someone always checked in with Jerry/ Garry (Jim O’heir), who could never quite grasp video chat technology.
You can tell Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) is massively depressed by the fact that he’s wearing a Letters to Cleo T-shirt and making weird movies. Even though Ben is a congressman now, he threw on the shirt while penning a new script for a claymation version of his hit board game, Cones of Dunshire. Leslie could tell he was not handling the pandemic well.
Ron (Nick Offerman) had his ID blocked in his Google — er, Gryzzl video chat. And he preferred hunting for his own meat instead of going to the grocery store. Oh, and of course he caught his unhinged ex-wife Tammy Two (Megan Mullally) trying to sneak into his cabin so she could join him and his wife, Diane, in their marital bed. He consequently tied her up and left her outside for the wolves, but she was fine — she chewed through the rope and ran into the woods. “I’m actually a little worried for the wolves,” he said. (Offerman and Mullally were the only people actually in the same room; they are married in real life.)
Tom (Aziz Ansari) had a new business idea: A clock with dials that just move randomly! Perfect for these confusing times. He caught up with Donna (Retta), who sat in a closet with tons of shoes and spoke admiringly of teachers (like her husband, Joe) teaching in quarantine. All teachers deserve a new Mercedes at the end of this, she said — except Joe, because she already bought him one.
April (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy (Chris Pratt) were handling things how you would expect: April put her clothes in garbage bags and wore the first five items she pulled out. Andy accidentally locked himself in a shed for two days. “Chris, did you lock yourself in the shed, probably?” he asked when they got Chris (Rob Lowe) on the phone. “I think that’s pretty common these days.”
In fact, Chris was so healthy that he was deemed a “super healer” — in good company with soccer star Megan Rapinoe and a “panther at the Miami zoo” — and was donating blood four times a week. His wife, Ann, was helping with outpatient care as a nurse, and still, as Leslie called her, as beautiful as a desert fox.
The guest stars did what they did best: Jean-ralphio (Ben Schwartz) was making money by purposefully getting hit by cars. Perfume mogul Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas) had a new scent called “Miracle Cure.” Talk show host Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins) informed everyone she won an EGOT: Kicked out of all four award shows. Dentist Jeremy Jamm (Jon Glaser) encouraged at-home root canals. Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson) had his classic introductions on his news program: “I’m Perd Hapley, the Perd I mentioned a second ago when I was telling you the name of my show.”
During the group rendition of the Lil’ Sebastian song, some of the actors looked choked up — which could have just been great acting skills, but probably involved some real tears. And in classic “Parks and Rec” feel-good fashion, Ron admitted to Leslie he gathered everyone together because they knew that she was having a tough time being isolated. “Don’t spend all your time looking after other people,” he told her. “Look after yourself once in a while.”