Former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is the latest politico to make a cameo on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.” But the appearance ,unlike Vice President Joe Biden’s, wasn’t exactly planned out in advance.
Gingrich happened to be eating at the St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis the same time as the cast and crew of were shooting a scene for an upcoming episode.
The sitcom is set in fictional Pawnee, Indiana, and filmed in L.A., but five of the series’ main characters were filming on location in the Hoosier state on Monday.
“Parks and Recreation” showrunners couldn’t pass up an opportunity to have the former Speaker of the House appear in an episode, so they scrambled to rewrite the scene to have him on the show.
“It was a completely random chance,” co-creator Michael Schur told the Indianapolis Star. “But you can’t pass up on an opportunity like that.”
Gingrich was in town for a meeting with Gov. Mitch Daniels.
“Parks and Recreation” filmed several scenes over the summer in Washington, D.C. where senators Olympia Snowe, Barbara Boxer and John McCain all made cameos.
“I love, ironically, that we had to come to Indianapolis to have Speaker Gingrich,” “Parks and Rec” star Rob Lowe told the Star. “No, we didn’t have him in Washington. We have him at St. Elmo’s.”