The Parks And Recreation inside joke Philly Justice will, like all Parks And Recreation jokes, become a real thing

By Sean O'Neal | October 18, 2012 | 9:56pm

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It's likely that only those who have achieved some sort of accelerated, Deadhead-like form of Parks And Recreation fandom may be familiar with Philly Justice, an obscure running gag that exists primarily as an inside joke among its cast and crew. For the uninitiated whom those real fans will now scoff at: The ruse began after someone snapped the above photo of Amy Poehler, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Paul Rudd, and Rashida Jones striking an intensely serious pose during the filming of a season four episode. After this photo was mentioned during a Paley Center event, Poehler and showrunner Michael Schur concocted an elaborate back story explaining its origins as a publicity still for their failed 2003 legal drama, Philly Justice, taken before Rudd was replaced by Dylan McDermott, and McDermott was subsequently replaced by Dermot Mulroney.

But as we've seen time and again, there is no Parks And Rec gag so fleeting or ephemeral that it will not become reality, and so—according to a tweet from McDermott—Philly Justice is about to become an actual thing, or at least a Funny Or Die video. No word on when it will premiere, but no doubt plans are already being hatched to build an actual Philadelphia law firm based on it, just for giggles.