After PaleyFest, many Parks and Recreation fans have been wondering about a possible reboot or revival. Both Mike Schur and Greg Daniels, creators of the show, and the entire cast from the series came to the tenth anniversary of PaleyFest in a panel on Thursday evening. All of the members additionally agreed that a reboot or revival was a good idea.
“Everyone on this stage — and like six other people — would have to feel like there was a story that needed to be told,” Schur explained. “The show had an argument to make. The argument was about teamwork and friendship and positivity, being optimistic and not getting cynical and believing that people can do good and believing in the power of public service and believing that if you work hard and you put your head down and believe in the people around you who are part of your team, that good things are possible. That you’ll achieve the things you want to achieve, and I don’t feel like we left anything on the table. I feel like the show sort of made its argument. And we also — maybe this was like a preventative measure or something — we did jump ahead to the year, like, 2074.”
Earlier on the red carpet, Amy Poehler (Leslie Knope) had told The Hollywood Reporter her thoughts on a reboot of the show. “I am so not cool, so from minute one I’ve been like I’m down. Tell me where to go, I’ll clear my schedule,” she admitted. “I mean, Mike Schur currently produces and writes on, I think, 14 shows, so it’ll really be whenever he is ‘tech avail,’ as we like to say in the biz. But yeah, I’m ready.”
Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) concurred with Poehler. “Oh, sure. I’ll do anything Parks and Rec as long as the brass is behind it,” Offerman admitted to THR. “I mean, the gifts that that show is brought to me I’m still collecting every day, and I don’t imagine I’ll ever feel that I’ve fully repaid them.”
Although Aubrey Plaza (April Roberta Ludgate-Dwyer) had told THR before that it still felt too early for a reboot, she added that she would “do anything with those people,” and that “It’s hard to recreate magic, [so] not yet. But I want to be around [the cast] all the time. They’re the best. I never have had more fun in my life. They’re my family.”
Schur stated bluntly that he didn’t feel the need for a reboot, but didn’t put it out of the question. “There was nothing I loved more than working on this show. It felt like the most important thing that I would ever do,” Schur explained. “I would never ever, ever say never. I mean, the chance to do it again, should it arise, would be incredible, but I think we’d only do it if we all felt like there was some compelling reason to do it.”