Parks and Rec cast to reunite for a one-off NBC scripted coronavirus relief special

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The half-hour special, titled A Parks and Recreation Special, will air Thursday, April 30 at 8:30 p.m. to raise awareness and raise money for Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, which aids food banks across the nation. "Pawnee’s most dedicated civil servant, Leslie Knope, is determined to stay connected to her friends in a time of social distancing," reads the description for the half-hour special, which is apparently set amid the coronavirus crisis. A Parks and Recreation Special will feature a virtual reunion of Amy Poehler with Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Jim O’Heir and Retta, plus other Pawnee favorites. “Like a lot of other people, we were looking for ways to help and felt that bringing these characters back for a night could raise some money,” said co-creator Michael Schur in a statement. “I sent a hopeful email to the cast and they all got back to me within 45 minutes. Our old Parks and Rec team has put together one more 30-minute slice of (quarantined) Pawnee life and we hope everyone enjoys it. And donates!” Watch A Parks and Recreation Special promo.

A Parks and Recreation Special causes NBC to adjust its schedule, moving Blindspot's final season premiere back one week

The Parks and Recreation benefit special has resulted in Council of Dad's second episode moving from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. next Thursday, and bumping Blindspot's fifth and final season premiere to May 7.

A Parks and Recreation Special will be accompanied on NBC by The Paley Center Salutes Parks and Recreation

The 2019 PaleyFest salute to Parks and Rec will air before Thursday's coronavirus-themed scripted reunion special.

Parks and Rec's Michael Schur teases reunion special: "The first face you see on camera will not be one of the 10 main cast members"

“And that sets the tone for the show," Schur told reporters Tuesday of Thursday's A Parks and Recreation Special for coronavirus relief. The Parks and Rec co-creator added: “There are probably half a dozen… familiar faces who pop up at one point or another." Schur added that the special is a one-off, taking three weeks to put together -- including four days of filming -- to emphasize the importance of government. “Leslie Knope believed government could be a force of good," Schur said. "The show was forged in the economic recession of 2008, and at national, state and local levels we’re obviously in another one of those moments. Government is where we’re turning: people need food and mortgages paid and the government in these moments is where people turn to in times of need.” Schur said the coronavirus crisis was a compelling reason to bring Parks and Rec back. “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, and we ended the show and it just didn’t seem like there was a compelling reason,” he said. “But this is a compelling reason. This is as compelling a reason as there is.”