Aubrey Plaza & Amy Poehler Reprised 'Parks and Rec' Roles on 'SNL'

Aubrey Plaza, Sam Smith Episode 1836 -- Pictured: (l-r) Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Host Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, and anchor Colin Jost during Weekend Update on Saturday, January 21, 2023 — (Image credit: Photo by NBC / Getty)

Aubrey Plaza made her long-awaited Saturday Night Live hosting debut this weekend, and she delivered the goods as expected.

Not only did her monologue poke fun at her signature monotone, but the actress also spoofed two of her most iconic roles in the skits.

Firstly, she joined Colin Jost's segment to reprise her role as April Ludgate from Parks and Recreation with Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope. Plaza effortlessly slipped back into her DGAF character's shoes, wearing a gray hoodie and striped t-shirt, and telling people that if they work for local government they can do the bare minimum and get away with it.

"Drive a bus," she advised. "You don't have to be on time, nobody cares. Work for the water department. You can drain the reservoir and find all the bodies and murder clues. Or just be a dog-catcher and just say you couldn't find any. Yeah, because when you work for the local government, doing the bare minimum is doing your part."

Poehler then came on as Leslie and brought the enthusiasm she was famous for on the show, beautifully contrasting April's nonchalance as ever.

Secondly, Plaza participated in a White Lotus spoof titled The Black Lotus, in which the staff refuses to put up with the guests' "foolishness." In it, Plaza plays a truth-talking bartender. Although she didn't spoof her own character from season 2—Harper—there is a scene where a waitress goes up to a man meant to be Plaza's on-screen husband—Ethan—and tells him, "Will your friend be joining us or is he still upstairs f***ing your wife?" If you've seen season 2, you'll understand what that's all about.

Also, as part of Plaza's monologue, President Biden actually recorded a short video. Here's what happened. Plaza explained that her family was there and had come from Delaware, where she's from.

She then said, "I was actually voted the most famous person from Delaware. I beat Joe Biden. That's a fact, and he was pissed. He was livid. Look at this video he sent me."

Cut to the President saying joyfully, "Aubrey. You're the most famous person out of Delaware and there's no question about that. We're just grateful you made it out of White Lotus alive." LOL, oh Joe.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.