Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t Parks and Recreation have a reboot?
While various members of the Parks cast and crew have expressed their interest in a reboot, revival, or some kind of return to the beloved fictional town of Pawnee, Ind., no formal plans have yet materialized. But the powers that be likely haven’t heard star Adam Scott’s bright idea.
Scott sits down with Entertainment Weekly Editorial Director Gerrad Hall on this week’s episode of EW’s Awardist podcast to discuss his freshly Emmy-nominated performance in the Apple TV+ thriller series Severance. Noting that The Office, the mockumentary series that informally spawned Parks, is getting its own spinoff called The Paper, Hall asks Scott, “Of the Parks and Rec characters, is there one specifically you would love to catch up with now, see where they’re working, find out what they’re doing?”
Scott responds without hesitation, and his pick might surprise loyal Parks fans.
Danny Feld/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Jim O’Heir on ‘Parks and Recreation’
“Probably Jerry [Jim O’Heir],” Scott replies. “I think because when we left the show, he was mayor, still, of Pawnee. I’d like to see how that worked out, if there were any scandals or if he was able to keep his powder dry and run the town in the way we know it should be run.”
Indeed, when Parks and Rec wrapped up its seventh and final season in 2015, viewers didn’t have to guess where all their favorite characters would end up. The series informed them — Six Feet Under style, but without all the doom and gloom — by flashing into the future and offering closure for each beloved alum of the Pawnee Parks Department.
O’Heir’s Garry Gergich, mean-spiritedly referred to as “Jerry” throughout most of the series, is Parks‘ perpetual underdog — overlooked, undervalued, and even mocked for his enduringly sunny outlook. Which is what makes the great fortune bestowed upon him by the Parks finale so sweet. The character is elected mayor of Pawnee in a write-in campaign coup, a position he happily holds until his 100th birthday.
“I don’t know how my life could get any better than this,” he tells Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope in one of their final scenes together.
“I feel like Jerry would’ve done a terrific job,” Scott continues, and adds one more idea to boot.
“I think also Tom would be a good one to check in with, find out what’s going on with Tom, with [Aziz Ansari’s] character,” he says.
Similarly to Garry/Jerry, Ansari’s Tom Haverford finds a happy ending in the Parks finale, though one that doesn’t come without its hitches, meaning it could make for great spinoff fodder.
Check out more from EW’s The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year’s best films, TV, and music.
Colleen Hayes/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Adam Scott and Aziz Ansari on the ‘Parks and Rec’ episode ‘Animal Control’
On the finale episode “One Last Ride,” Tom continues to operate his “classy, authentic” restaurant, Tom’s Bistro, which has become the most successful chophouse in Pawnee. However, an economic recession throws open a money pit that pulls Tom’s Bistro. But with the help of new wife Lucy (Natalie Morales), Tom writes a bestselling book, which he naturally parlays into a lucrative motivational speaking gig.
Tom and Garry/Jerry are prime candidates for a Parks spinoff, and in 2022, one of the series’ most key players signaled her openness for more. Poehler, who also produced the series, said she was “always standing by” for a Parks reboot. “Anytime anybody gives me the word, and I’m down.”
Listen to the full episode of EW’s Awardist podcast above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
