Even if you were glued to your television screens in the 2010s, chances are you haven't heard of legal drama Philly Justice. That's because it doesn't exist – not in the traditional sense, anyway.
The warped brainchild of the Parks and Recreation cast, Amy Poehler revealed the germ of an idea to create a fake TV show came from an impromptu suited-and-booted photoshoot with her co-stars Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, and Kathryn Hahn.
"We pretended we were on a fake TV show in the '90s called Philly Justice – or the early 2000s – and we all crossed our arms," Poehler revealed in a recent episode of her Good Hang podcast.
From there, it spiraled out of control. Breaks during filming for the fourth season of Parks and Rec led to the cast putting together a fake pilot and shooting it for real.
Until now, though, it's only been spoken about in hushed tones and whispers: did they really go that far? And what did some of the 21st Century's great comedic talents cobble together?
As it turns out, a decent amount. On the latest episode of Good Hang, Poehler finally debuted the Philly Justice trailer – and it's just as funny and razor-sharp as we were expecting.
A spoof on the increasingly outrageous world of procedurals, Philly Justice sees the cast – including, bizarrely, The Practice's Dylan McDermott popping by – dealing with the trials and tribulations of an eclectic band of judges, lawyers, and legal minds.
There are proposals, shock job changes, and twists aplenty. In another world, we would have binged eight 24-episode seasons of this by now. Check the trailer for yourself below.
"Suddenly, we were just going to do this," Parks and Recreation co-creator Mike Schur recalled to Poehler. "We're going to be using NBC resources while we're supposed to be making the show they paid for… It wasn't like we were going to make it a viral thing, it was because it was fun."
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