NBC has given one of its Thursday night comedies an early renewal this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has issued a third-season pickup for the comedy Parks and Recreation.

It was said that the early renewal was done strictly for scheduling and production reasons, to lock in the actors for a new season. A network rep said that it didn’t reflect on the rest of its Thursday night comedy slate. Community, The Office and 30 Rock are all expected to return next season as well.

Parks and Recreation stars Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Paul Schneider, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Nick O’Heir, Retta and airs on Thursday nights at 8:30 PM ET on NBC.

From MovieWeb

/Film is reporting on the state of Overture films and the effect it will have on its upcoming films… One of those films that will be “on hold” is one of Rashida’s news movies, “Celeste and Jesse Forever”…

It seems that the various productions that Overture have had in development are now on hold while the unit is assessed and most likely reconfigured. Quite what the outcome will be and how different the new Overture will prove, we have no way of knowing. Nor can we really guess what will become of the projects they’re putting in the cold store, including Seth Gordon’s Celeste and Jesse Forever, David Gordon Green’s Freaks of the Heartland and the remake of Baltasar Kormákur’s Jar City. Could some of them be permanently derailed?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Celeste was about to enter the casting stage and add some extra players, alongside Rashida Jones and Will McCormack who also co-scripted. Meanwhile the other projects were further behind in development. While the article suggests that Overture is very unlikely to be closed down permanently, I can’t say that the box office prospects of their upcoming slate exactly inspire confidence in a swift return to business as usual. And delays in development can all too often mean that a film’s chance of actually making it to the big screen is radically slashed.

I will post any news about “Celeste and Jesse Forever” when I find out more – hopefully we will still be able to see it one day!

You can now stream all seven episodes of “NY-LON” – the 2004 series that starred Rashida and Stephen Moyer – at Hulu.com!

Go on over to hulu.com/ny-lon now!

Rashida attended The Art Of Elysium’s 3rd Annual Black Tie Charity Gala last night in Los Angeles. I have added 24 photos from the event into the gallery – you can see them all by clicking on the thumbnails below!

Once upon a time on his Twitter page, the Roots’ drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson likened the cast of NBC’s “Parks & Recreation to another ensemble crew: the Wu-Tang Clan. In the latest Funny or Die video, the self-described “internationally renowned scholar of television sciences” keeps that metaphor going by directing us to old footage of the Wu founder himself, RZA, screen testing for the show.

RZA apparently tried out for the lead role of Leslie Knope, which of course is now played by Amy Poehler. “We’re gonna rock this world — girl power,” RZA whispers to co-star Rashida Jones in the clip.

The “Parks and Recreation” producers love the chemistry between RZA and Jones, but can the Genius’ sheer talent supersede their height, race, and gender requirements? Watch the video to find out.