‘Parks and Rec’ show runner breaks silence on Lowe, Jones exits

Fans looking for some answers from “Parks and Recreation’s” fearless leader -- not Leslie Knope, the other one -- rest easy and stop pooping. Show runner and executive producer Mike Schur has issued a statement regarding the upcoming departures of key players Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones.

It goes as follows:

“The news about Rob and Rashida is true -- they will be leaving the show after the 13th episode of the upcoming Season 6,” said Schur, who is in London shooting the upcoming Season 6 premiere. “We’ve been working on their story line (on and off) for four seasons now, and heading into this year, with the two of them contemplating parenthood, it felt like a natural time to move them into the next phase.

PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of ‘Parks and Recreation’

“We absolutely love both Rashida and Rob, and will be sad to see them go. Rashida was one of the very first people we knew we wanted in the cast, and as important as Ann is to Leslie (and vice-versa), she’ll certainly never be far from Pawnee. Rob we initially thought we could only have for six or eight episodes, and we couldn’t be happier that he will have stuck around for 75.

“They are wonderful, funny, committed actors, they’ve been a huge part of the ‘Parks and Rec’ family, and we think we have a great Pawnee send-off in the works for them.”

Now continue with your video-viewing of Chris Trager saying “Ann Perkins!” while you can. The sixth season kicks off with a one-hour premiere on Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.

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