Where Is Everyone? Despite the missing main characters in Parks and Recreation's shocking season five finale time-jump scene, executive producer Mike Schur reveals: "Everyone is back for season seven. The whole cast is back. We were careful to only show the people that we felt like we should show. It was more interesting to leave some questions, but season seven certainly is not the exact same people doing the exact same thing on a different floor."
Jon Hamm Expected to Return: "Hopefully!" says Schur. "If I have it my way, when we show what lead up to that final moment in the season finale, he'll be there to pop in doing something incredibly imcompetent."
Donna (Retta) Will Be Back: "Donna is a wild card and she's always jetting off to Istanbul or Seattle and she has a very active life. But she also has a seemingly serious boyfriend now." Hmm...
Tom (Aziz Ansari) Will Be Back: "Tom obviously had a big thing happen to him in the finale, which is that he opened his restaurant. And it appears to be successful."
Ron (Nick Offerman) Will Be Back: "We don't know what happened to Ron. It's best to leave it as a question!"
Badass Leslie. Even though we see high-powered Leslie in her new fancy job with the Department of the Interior, Schur points out: "She is still the same Leslie at the core. She's always going to be thoughtful and considerate and make cookies for her friends and have Galentines Day. But she has a much bigger job now. She's performing in a much bigger theater. "
The Bangs! "Every single woman I've talked to has mentioned the new bangs!" Schur laughs. "I just felt like the nature of who she is that she would have undergone some changes. That was Amy's idea that she has bangs, to show that. I thought that was a really funny pitch." Casting spoiler alert! The bangs will be seen in a series regular role for season seven.
The Show Will Travel More: Schur points out: "A very small but important part of that scene is when [Leslie] says: ‘Cancel my trip to South Dakota. We'll all go next month.' This is her life now. She's jetting off all around the country and she's on site and managing huge projects. She's going to be doing a lot of travel in the future." Also, regarding Ben's tux? He is dressed up for his own supercool accomplishment unrelated to what's going on in Leslie's office.
Andy's Sling: Anyone remember how Chris Pratt also wore a sling as Bright Abbott on Everwood in season four, when Bright broke his hand trying to karate chop wood? OF COURSE YOU DO. Schur reveals, "That's the secret Easter Egg is that season seven lines up perfectly with season four of Everwood! That's the crossover!" Best idea ever, but, and we know this will come as a great shock: He's kidding. Schur will only say that the new injury was Chris' idea for Andy. He felt it was time again, after Andy's broken leg in season one.
Show's End Date May Be Announced Soon: "If I were a betting man," Mike Schur tells us, "I would say that season seven would be our final season. We have had discussions with NBC and we've had discussions internally, Amy and I have talked. I would say it's fairly likely. I think some kind of announcement will be made at the (New York) upfront in May, and then it will be put to rest." Parks and Rec is not alone! Check out TV's best and worst time jumps of all time!