Although NBC hasn't set an air date yet for the final season, the cult comedy hit Parks and Recreation is scheduled to return sometime in early 2015 with a run of 13 episodes.
The last episode of Parks and Recreation, which aired on April 26 and lasted for an hour, had Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) running a regional branch of the National Parks Service in Pawnee, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) pulling off a successful early opening the second time around for Tom's Bistro, the Pawnee and Eagleton residents loving the Unity Concert, and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) having legal rights to The Cones of Dunshire restored to him thanks to help from a Silicon Valley startup. The show ends on a cliffhanger that happens three years into the future when Knope fires an incompetent National Parks employee (cameo by Jon Hamm) and walks into some important situation with husband Ben.
With that backdrop in mind, executive producer Michael Scheur spoke to Entertainment Weekly back in April about the future of Parks and Recreation. While NBC renewed Parks and Recreation for another season, Scheur noted that he faced a decision on how to proceed after the season six finale.
"Out of that brainstorming session came the idea that we would jump into the future - quite literally into the future - and I just thought that was more interesting," Scheur said. "I liked the way that we were concluding all of the stories that played out, especially the second half of the year, but really all year. So it didn't seem right to screw everything up."
Scheur later added that although some chunks of the final season have been mapped out, others are subject to change.
"I have an idea for the final image, the final scene and the final image of the show, and I have no idea whether that'll be the final image or not," he said.
Jefferson Grubbs says in an article from Bustle that NBC went ahead and made this year's fall schedule without asking for public opinion, leaving Parks and Recreation out until mid-season. However, Grubbs managed to grab a few teasers about the final season.
"We know the premiere is titled '2017' (remember Season 6 ended with a significant time jump)," Grubbs wrote. "The second episode is titled "Ron & Jammy" (in which Megan Mullally will be reprising her role as Tammy 2); Rachel Dratch (30 Rock, SNL) will guest star on at least one episode; we probably won't be seeing much of Andy Dwyer (since Chris Pratt is such a busy man these days); and, most surprisingly, the season will dispense with the mockumentary format that's been synonymous with the show throughout its first six years."
Another thing that can be confirmed about Parks and Recreation is that the full cast will be back again. However, Scheur added that it will indeed be the curtain call for the comedy show.
"It's fairly likely that next year will be the last," Scheur said. "The natural rhythm of the show and the big creative jump we take at the end of this season certainly suggests that we're moving in that direction."
For anyone who needs to catch up on Parks and Recreation before the final season airs on NBC, all 112 episodes from seasons one through six can be watched on Netflix.
