Parks and Recreation’s season 7 decided to catch up with the characters a couple of years into the future – but was this a creative decision or was there another reason behind the time jump? Parks and Recreation was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur and debuted on NBC in 2009. The series came to an end in 2015 after seven seasons, and even though the final season was shorter than the rest (except season 1, which only had six episodes), it managed to bring closure to all main characters with the help of a couple of time jumps.
Season 7’s particularity, aside from being only 13 episodes long, is that it relied on time jumps from the beginning, with episode one taking viewers to 2017 (season 6 ended in 2014 and season 7 premiered in 2015). In it, Leslie was working on her new career as Regional Director of National Parks Service (in Pawnee) and her friendship with Ron Swanson was over, for reasons that were revealed later on. The time jump was a fun resource that added mystery to the series and gave more room to the writers to explore the characters and their future.
But why did the team behind Parks and Recreation decide to skip a couple of years in the final season? Turns out, it wasn’t exactly a creative decision.
The Real Reason Parks and Rec Season 7 Had A Time Jump
In an interview with Vulture in 2014, Retta revealed that Parks and Recreation’s season 7 time jump was actually Amy Poehler’s idea, as she didn’t want to work with babies. Leslie’s pregnancy was revealed in season 6’s episode “Flu Season 2”, and in the episode “One in 8,000”, Leslie and Ben learned they were having triplets – so it’s easy to see why Poehler wasn’t willing to work with babies. Retta added that Poehler said she had already had her share of babies for three years as she just had two kids.
As result, viewers never actually got to see Leslie and Ben with their baby triplets, and instead caught up with them when the kids were already creating chaos around the house. The time jump also allowed the writers to explore a different side of other characters, like Andy and April, who were looking to start their own family. Parks and Recreation’s final season would have been very different had it taken place not long after season 6’s finale, and it probably wouldn’t have left enough room to develop the stories of the main characters and bring them to a satisfying closure without feeling rushed.