Parks And Recreation was always close to being cancelled according to Rashida Jones, who starred in the show which ran from 2009-2015.
In a new interview with the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, aired on Monday (July 8), Jones revealed that the show “never succeeded” in the ratings and was always close to being cancelled.
Jones appeared in the show alongside Amy Poehler, Adam Scott, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Rob Lowe, and Nick Offerman and revealed that NBC did cancel the show at one point before changing their minds.
Speaking to O’Brien, Jones explained: “[Parks and Recreation] is kind of iconic now—It’s like one of those great comedies of that time, which is so awesome…But we didn’t feel that way.”
She continued: “Every single season, we were like, this is it. They’re not gonna want us back,” she continued. “At one point we were cancelled and then the president of NBC got off the plane and changed his mind. It was like, ‘Eh, don’t cancel it yet, I guess.’ It was not really a thing at all.”
When it came to ratings, Jones said “we never succeeded.” She added: “The whole time we were just holding on for dear life, hoping we got to do more…which is probably part of why it was so good—because there was no stardom. It wasn’t infiltrated by any outside feelings about us. People kind of liked us if they knew who we were.”
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Reflecting on the show’s success now, Jones added: “I think it was five years ago, we went to the Dolby and we did a 10th anniversary thing where we all came out, the whole cast. The reception was so—I felt like the Beatles, it was so nuts.
“People were screaming so loud [and] we were all crying, because we had never been in a room where anybody cared.”
Adam Scott (who played Ben Wyatt), Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate) and Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) appeared alongside other former members of the cast and crew outside Amazon Studios in Culver City, California.
Others on the picket line included Retta (Donna Meagle), Jim O’Heir (Jerry Gergeich), Ben Schwartz (Jean-Ralphio Saperstein), Alison Becker (Shauna Malwae-Tweep), Kirk Fox (Joe Fantringham), Joe Manda (Morris Lerpiss), Colton Dunn (Brett Hull), Susan Yeagley (Jessica Wicks) and show creator Michael Schur.
Sharing pictures on Instagram, including with Sam Elliott (Ron Dunn) and Pawnee’s miniature horse Li’l Sebastian, Yeagley wrote: “Parks and Recreation Day on the picket lines. What a thrill to see the sweet family again. One day longer. One day stronger.”
Parks and Recreation ran for seven seasons between 2009 and 2015. The cast previously reunited in 2019 to mark the show’s tenth anniversary.