It’s been 10 years since we said goodbye to Pawnee, Indiana, and the municipal workers from Parks and Recreation (one of the best sitcoms of all time) and we’re still reliving those iconic Ron Swanson quotes and pouring one out for Li’l Sebastian. When a series maintains its popularity the way Amy Poehler’s comedy has, there’s always hope from the fandom that the future might hold a reboot, and Aziz Ansari shared a pretty funny take on that idea.
Aziz Ansari played Tom Haverford for all seven seasons of Parks and Rec, contributing to some of the show’s brilliant inside jokes — “Treat Yo Self!” — with his unwavering confidence and entrepreneurial spirit. So would Ansari be down to reprise his character from one of NBC’s best sitcoms? He told EW:
I would love to spend time with anybody from Parks — even if the show was terrible, and we just got a decent-enough check, but we got to spend time together. I might just be up for it. I love those people so much and every now and then I get to see him.
Is that not the most Tom answer ever? Aziz Ansari sounds way more focused on having fun with his former co-stars than the actual work they’d be doing.
Many actors who discuss revisiting a popular project might say they’d be down for it as long as the story made sense, or if the original creator were involved or a majority of the cast were available. For the Human Giant comedian, however, he jokes that the quality of the revival wouldn’t matter — it’s all about hanging out and making a little cash.
Aziz Ansari said he did get together with some of his Parks and Rec friends a couple of years ago for his 40th birthday, and he’s recently seen Rashida Jones — who played Leslie Knope’s bestie Ann Perkins — and Adam Scott — Leslie’s eventual love interest.
This wasn’t the first time the potential of a Parks and Recreation reboot has come up. Just last month Chris Pratt said “of course” he’d be down to see what Andy Dwyer is up to a decade later. It does seem like it might be tough to coordinate everyone’s schedules in order to do that, though, especially with Amy Poehler and Parks co-creator Mike Schur working on a new project.
Together they are co-creating DIG, a book-to-screen adaptation of Kate Meyers’ bestselling 2023 novel Excavations, and Amy Poehler will also star as one of the four main characters in the upcoming comedic series.
We’ll certainly be looking forward to that, but it’s not likely to stop Parks and Rec fans from hoping a reboot does come to fruition someday. Unlike Aziz Ansari, however, we wouldn’t want the show to be terrible.
If you’re looking for your next long binge, you can stream Parks and Recreations’ seven seasons with a Peacock subscription.
