‘Parks and Recreation’ Meets ‘Indiana Jones’ in Amy Poehler’s New Peacock Series

Amy Poehler is making her grand return to television more than a decade after concluding her award-winning turn as Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation. The 55-year-old has been a small screen staple for more than 20 years, getting her breakout role as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and more recently reprising her role in the Wet Hot American Summer revival miniseries. She will lead Peacock’s newest comedy, Dig, which she co-created with her Parks and Recreation showrunner Michael Schur.

Set on an excavation site in Greece, the 10-episode series is an adaptation of Kate Myers’ aptly titled 2023 novel Excavation. According to Peacock, Dig will tell “the story of four women archaeologists who find themselves neck-deep in an international conspiracy after uncovering a priceless artifact.” With Schur and his wife J.J. Philbin serving as co-showrunners, Dig will blend the comedy of Parks and Recreation with the archaeological adventures of Indiana Jones.

‘Dig’ Is a Workplace Comedy With a Bit of Adventure

Dig is essentially a workplace comedy, a genre Schur has perfected working on The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This isn’t located in an office or precinct, but rather an excavation site in Greece complete with unearthing an unprecedented artifact. The setting is unexpectedly fruitful for comedy, according to Poehler. “It is about the kind of crazy stuff that happens during one of these archaeological digs. You know, a dig is a really funny place where a lot of young, energetic people show up to try to find things and where some serious and professional archaeologists try to make their careers," she told TVLine. It’s part summer camp, part mysterious uncovering of relics. We thought it would be a really good place to make jokes and create characters that you like.”

Tired of giving up credit to men, including Hugh Laurie’s Neville who refuses to step down as head archaeologist despite many retirement announcements, Elise and an all-female team break protocol and likely the law by not reporting it. And that team includes The Good Doctor’s Antonia Thomas as “poised and intelligent” Clare, Thunderbolts*’s Geraldine Viswanathan as the “plucky but scattered” Dylan, and Fina Strazza as the “naive go-getter” Patty — all common archetypes of sitcoms.

The trailer teases “deception and intrigue,” with Elise and her team finding themselves in danger. They discover they are being followed, finding photographs following of themselves that would usually illicit fear in a drama. But in Dig, they comment on the unflattering angles. Insisting they just needed to “tell the right story” as an alibi, they injure each other - Clare bites Elise, Elise punches Dylan, and Patty shoots herself in the leg. But when panning out, they are screaming and writing in pain rather than taking the moment in stride.

Amy Poehler Reunites with Michael Schur

Dig is proving the importance of teamwork both on-screen and behind the scenes. Poehler is reuniting with Schur, whom she worked with for seven seasons on Parks and Recreation. But fans shouldn’t expect their latest collaboration to birth a Leslie Knope 2.0. While Elise is a workaholic, she lacks the overwhelming optimism signature to Pawnee’s favorite resident or the deep admiration for her boss. Dig’s latest trailer already conveys a more subdued and intimidating presence. According to Excavation’s official book description, Elise is “their star excavator” and “a lone wolf about to go rogue.”

But Elise is in good hands. Poehler spoke of Schur’s ability to bring life to characters, telling TVLine, “I think a good comedy creates characters that make you care enough to wonder what they do on the weekend when you’re not watching them. What’s cool about Mike’s work is there’s not a reluctance to find the deep humanity in his characters and you can feel it.”

Schur is behind some of the most influential comedies of the last couple of decades. Dig’s limited episode count will be familiar territory for him, who recently honed in concise storytelling via comedies like The Good Place or more recently, A Man on the Inside. Philbin is also an established talent in her own right, producing and writing on shows like The O.C., New Girl, and Only Murders in the Building. She also created the short-lived comedy Single Parents, which scored a rating of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dig will premiere on Peacock on November 23, 2026. Poehler has proven herself to be a tastemaker in front of and behind the camera, more recently executive producing the cult-favorite Broad City and co-creating the critically acclaimed Russian Doll. Finally leading another ensemble comedy that includes television veterans and up-and-coming stars, it’s no wonder Season 1 already has a stacked cast of guest stars including The Neighborhood’s Max Greenfield, Schur staple Jason Mantzoukas, Dropout’s Brennan Lee Mulligan, The Comeback’s Dan Bucatinsky, and The Little Mermaid’s Noma Dumezweni.