May 21, 2025
Kevork Djansezian/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Amy Poehler, above at the 2025 Academy Awards, has shared the trailer for 'Philly Justice,' the fake legal drama created on the set of 'Parks and Recreation.'
At the request of fans, "Parks and Recreation" star Amy Poehler released the trailer Tuesday for "Philly Justice," the fake legal drama created by the show's cast members.
The comedian shared the footage, which was shot in 2012, on an episode of her podcast, "Good Hang With Amy Poehler." Co-stars Adam Scott and Rashida Jones, producer Morgan Sackett and show creator Mike Schur, joined Poehler to watch the trailer and share their experiences in creating the spoof show.
It started with a photo of Poehler, Katheryn Hahn, and Paul Rudd taken during filming for Season 4, Poehler said. Someone noticed the image looked like art for a procedural show in the style of David Kelley, who created "The Practice" and "L.A. Law," and it turned into a running bit for the actors. Over time, they added character names, storylines, scripts and even some brief shoots to create the trailer.
"That small, inside joke, on-set laugh, grew into a beast that is still discussed today," Poehler said.
Schur, who was a guest on the podcast, said the inside joke eventually reached the writer's room. Schur, who said he likes to foster creativity on set, eventually ended up assigning out certain scenes to be written.
"It just kept wafting up to the writer's room, everyone was really enjoying this bit," Schur said. "Then, I think we all collectively blacked out, and when we woke up the writers had written scenes for 'Philly Justice.'"
Jones played Joey Martinez, an opinionated first-year associate from a rough background. Scott portrayed Nick Bellows, the district attorney who rides a motorcycle to work and is the only survivor from his New York City firm because he was late to work on 9/11. Hahn played Valerie McNeal, a criminal prosecutor who cared about her cases over everything else. Poehler played Holly McIntire, head prosecutor and daughter of the firm owner, who became a lawyer after all the kids in her town died of lead poisoning. Nick Offerman was later added as a judge.
The pages turned into shoots after the "Parks & Rec" crew built a city council chambers set for Amy Poehler's character, Leslie Knope, during an arc where she ran for office. The "Philly Justice" team realized that set could also pass for a courtroom and decided to bring the scripts to life, though Schur clarified that no one ever planned to do anything with them.
"It was because it was fun, really the thing that I think was most important to get across is that ('Parks & Rec') was so fun to work on, everyone was almost singularly devoted to the concept of having fun," Schur said. "And this just seemed fun."
