'Parks and Recreation' gang says charity, and COVID-19, made tonight's reunion possible

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 Kevin

NBCUniversalMedia(LOS ANGELES) — Tonight, the original cast of NBC’s beloved comedy Parks and Recreation is reuniting in a broadcast event, for a good cause.

The show, being put together remotely, will benefit the charity Feeding America, which has tackled food insecurity before, and especially during, the current COVID-19 crisis.

“I get messages a lot where people going through things [are saying], ‘Parks saved me during this’ — and even more so because people are just at home and have no nothing else to do,” Retta, who plays Donna, tells Variety. “So, for us, this was to give fans a little treat. It was an opportune opportunity to bring a little bit of light to the fans who love the show and then on top of it Mike [show co-creator Michael Schur] convinced NBC to make it a fundraiser. That was just the icing on the cake.”

Adam Scott, who played Ben on the show, agreed, telling the trade about the reunion, “I never thought we would do this because of the particular brand of ending it had…But when [Schur] sent the email, it just, at least in my mind, felt like, ‘Of course.’ This is essentially the only circumstance that would call for a Parks reunion, I think: to help people out. It makes emotional sense, and creative sense as well.”

While the entire Parks and Recreation cast — including Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler — got together via Zoom to read the episode, they shot their segments separately. It all comes together tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time on NBC.