Did Parks & Recreation Predict The Book Of Boba Fett's Sarlacc Pit Escape?

Contains spoilers for "The Book of Boba Fett" Chapter 1

Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) is a bit of a legend among "Star Wars" fans. Debuting in the oft-maligned "Star Wars Holiday Special," Boba Fett is a skilled bounty hunter who, over the course of the franchise's run, is employed by both the Empire and Jabba the Hutt. At one point, he is even charged with capturing Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and delivering him to Jabba, which he famously did.

For many years, fans were led to believe that Boba Fett met his demise in "Return of the Jedi" after falling into a ravenous Sarlacc Pit. However, it is established in Disney+'s "The Mandalorian" that the famous character actually survived the incident. Of course, considering that the Sarlacc Pit is said to slowly digest its victims over hundreds of years, viewers have wondered: How exactly did Boba Fett manage to escape? 

While "Star Wars" fans have always had fun speculating about how Boba escaped the Sarlacc pit, one scene from the hit NBC comedy, "Parks and Recreation," may have actually predicted the opening moments of "The Book of Boba Fett" Chapter 1.

The "Parks and Recreation" scene in question sees Patton Oswalt's Garth Blundin attempting to filibuster a town hall assembly. While doing so, the character almost perfectly describes the opening scene of "The Book of Boba Fett." Indeed, the "Parks and Recreation" scene shows Oswalt feverishly explaining his character's vision for Boba Fett's return, which involves a camera panning down from the twin suns of Tatooine to reveal a gloved hand bursting from the sand near the Sarlacc pit, followed by a scene of the bounty hunter pulling himself out of the ground. As "Book of Boba Fett" viewers now know, that's almost exactly how one scene in the show's first episode plays out.

Fans were delighted by the reference and many viewers speculated on Reddit about whether or not it was an intentional homage to the NBC comedy series. u/CarpeCarpCarp, for instance, wrote, "[I] would not be surprised to find out the scene was included specifically to reference this monologue." u/2hats4bats added, "[It was the] first thing I thought of when the hand came out of the sand!" 

Another Reddit user reveled in the scene's "glorious" fan service. Meanwhile, u/lcw7323 noted that they hope "The Book of Boba Fett" confirms Lando (Billy Dee Williams) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) were having an affair, which Oswalt also mentions during his extended "Parks and Recreation" monologue. 

All of which is to say that it's not hard to see why fans of both "Parks and Recreation" and "The Book of Boba Fett" were delighted by the latter series' premiere.