Courtesy of Team Coco.
It's truly hard to believe that it's been nearly ten years since the hit tv show & NBC sitcom Parks & Recreation aired its final episode in 2015. It's since gone on to reach a new & younger audience (bigger than it ever had while it was airing on NBC) thanks to its presence on YouTube & the entire cast having such an exceptional career jump since the show aired.
We can "literally" (to shamelessly quote Chris Traeger) list off the entire main cast of that show and everyone ended up becoming a bonafide star since. Just look at Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Rob Lowe, Adam Scott & Rashida Jones (all of them are now way bigger names since the show aired its final episode).
Rashida Jones on Parks & Recreation's iconic legacy.
For Jones, who played Ann Perkins on the beloved series, she recalled the numerous times on the latest episode of the Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast when the show was nearly cancelled & "on the bubble a bit" every season. On one encounter, she recalled how the head of the network canceled the show before a flight & then reversed that cancellation it on a split decision after his flight on a whim. Jones shared, "At one point, we were cancelled and then the president of NBC got off the plane and changed his mind and was like, 'ah, don't cancel it yet I guess.'"
While critics were early to favor the show while on the air, it never had the traditional ratings that should've deemed it a "successful" show. Jones reflected on how it was truly built upon "hoping we get to do more." Ultimately building such an iconic comedy series they didn't know they were making then and has now become a slow burn and cult favorite show.
Conan then chimed in remembering the legacy of comedy institutions like SCTV, who similarly had a slow build starting out and eventually got the flowers it deserved when the show's cast in the '90s (namely John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Martin Short & Joe Flaherty, who Conan mentioned), got to be in front of an Aspen crowd to see & hear the appreciation of their show that wasn't made for a studio audience like Parks & Recreation was too.
Rashida put it best responding, "great things take a while to discover," and we couldn't be more happy the show continues to reach so many new comedy fans and bring us so many exceptional laughs. All episodes are streaming now on Peacock!
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