‘Parks and Recreation’ series finale will tribute late Harris Wattels

This is probably news that you saw coming last week, but it is still important to report. As confirmed by Deadline, the upcoming series finale of “Parks and Recreation” is going to include a message to the late Harris Wattels from the show’s cast and crew.

Wattels, in case you did not hear, passed away last week at the age of 30. He was a co-executive producer on the show, and had written many popular episodes. He also guest-starred over the years in the role of Harris, one of the reasonably-incompetent workers within Animal Control. He was clearly loved by many within the cast and crew, and even opened for Aziz Ansari on tour and was a close friend to him away from work. The fact that addiction is suspected heavily as the reason for his death makes this news all the sadder.

This is the right move for the series to make, given that there is really no other way to honor him given the short amount of time. The finale finished filming a matter of several weeks ago, and the cast has all scattered and is currently working on a variety of other projects.

Hopefully, though, this is not the last time we see Wittels recognized for his hard work and brilliant humor over the course of the coming weeks. He could and should be honored at the Prime Emmy Awards a little later this year. His humor went far beyond just what you saw broadcast on this network TV show.