The final season of Parks & Recreation made a time-jump that gave the writers a lot of creative freedom when it comes to imagining what the future would be like, and they ended up accurately predicting a couple of things, from the results of big sports events to gadgets and even some popular movies and TV shows. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, Parks & Recreation premiered on NBC in 2009 and came to an end in 2015 after seven seasons full of unforgettable jokes, heartwarming moments, and a couple of weirdly accurate predictions about the near future.
Parks & Recreation took the audience to the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, to follow the crew at the Parks Department, led by eternal optimist Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). Through her, viewers got a taste of what life at Pawnee is like and also got to know some of her closest friends and coworkers quite well, with many of them becoming fan-favorite characters. Each season of Parks & Recreation was set in or around the year it was released, which helped give the series more realism and allowed the audience to better connect with the characters, as they were pretty much living in the same world as viewers. However, by the time the final season arrived, Parks & Recreation shook things up a little bit in order to bring the series to a satisfying end.
Parks & Recreation season 7 was released in 2015 but the series made a time jump and was instead set in 2017, and a lot of things changed since season 6’s ending, set around 2014. This allowed writers to have some fun with the characters and show how much they changed in three years, what their new goals were, and put them on the right path to bring their stories to a satisfying conclusion, and it even gave the audience a look at their not-so-near futures. The time jump in Parks & Recreation season 7 also allowed the writers to show how they thought the world could look like in 2017, with a variety of gadgets, big surprises in movies and TV shows, and even some sports events that made history, and while some seemed too good to be true, many ended up happening. Here's every time Parks & Recreation predicted the future.
A Man Winning ‘Woman of the Year’
The “Woman of the Year” award from the Indiana Organization of Women was intended for Ron Swanson in season 2, but it turned out to be a marketing trick, after which Ron ended up giving the award to Leslie during his acceptance speech. However, in Parks & Recreation season 7, after switching places with Ben in the “Pie-mary” contest, Ben ended up being awarded “Woman of the Year”, with Leslie visibly upset about it. In real life, a man won Glamour’s “Woman of the Year” award in 2016, and it was none other than U2’s lead singer, Bono, who was recognized for establishing a campaign called “Poverty is Sexist”, and of course, this broke a decades-long tradition from Glamour.
Drones Delivery Service
Parks & Recreation introduced the company Gryzzl, which serves as an antagonist during season 7 as its owners try to purchase the Newport Land. Gryzzl is responsible for a variety of technological advancements in Pawnee and many gadgets as well, including drones that make deliveries. Although drones delivering stuff right at your door seemed strange at the time, Amazon conducted its first Prime Air delivery via drone in 2016, and as of 2022, the company is still struggling to make drone deliveries work. Maybe, someday, drone delivery service will be as efficient as seen in Parks & Recreation.
Virtual Reality Headsets
Although this is one of the most believable things that the Parks & Recreation future showed, it still counts as an accurate prediction. Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas), Pawnee’s famous fragrance maker and a man who spent his money in the most exotic and sometimes illegal ways, is seen in Parks & Recreation season 7 watching adult content in an immersive experience through a VR headset. What Parks & Recreation got right about it is that these headsets would be available for purchase, making them more accessible. 2016 saw the release of different VR headsets, such as Oculus Rift, The Vive, and PlayStation VR.
The Chicago Cubs Win The World Series
One of the most notable predictions Parks & Recreation made in its final season was the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. The Chicago Cubs went through a drought of 108 years, as they won the World Series in 1907 and 1908. In Parks & Recreation season 7, when Tom and Andy are visiting Chicago and come across Lucy, she mentions that everyone in the city was in a good mood now that the Cubs won the World Series. The Cubs finally won the World Series again in 2016, in what is considered by many as one of the best of all time due to the underdog story of both the Cubs and their rivals, the Cleveland Indians. The Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series again since then, and although the 2017 champions were the Houston Astros, the Cubs’ win still counts as an accurate prediction as the 2017 World Series surely hadn’t happened yet during the events of season 7.
Pop Culture Predictions In Parks & Recreation
In addition to the above-mentioned predictions, Parks & Recreation made some strangely accurate ones related to movies and TV shows, and not just during the seventh season. In Parks & Recreation’s final season, Ben mentioned “the Twin Peaks reboot”, which was announced in 2014, but the show went through a couple of obstacles after that, including David Lynch saying he wouldn’t direct any of the episodes, but he eventually came to an agreement with Showtime. The Twin Peaks reboot started filming in September 2015, and it premiered in 2017. Also in season 7, Leslie mentioned the Game of Thrones finale, telling Ben that “Khaleesi is marrying Jack Sparrow” and that the “show has really gone off the rails”. While obviously not an accurate prediction, it somewhat “predicted” that the acclaimed series would have a disappointing ending.
Last but not least, Patton Oswalt’s character Garth Blunden hilariously ended up predicting the opening scene of The Book of Boba Fett. In Parks & Recreation season 5, Garth pitches his idea for Star Wars: Episode VII, and describes a scene where Boba Fett crawls out of the Sarlaac pit through the sand – and the opening of the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett ended up being exactly as Garth described it.