Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari Shine in Parks and Recreation Season 5 Premiere

As summer grinds to a halt and the weather begins to cool, we once again turn to Leslie Knope; primetime’s most idealistic political enthusiast, to remind us of all that is good.

Thursday is the season five premiere of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, a show that has rooted itself in the hearts of many adoring fans, including myself. This season looks to be as entertaining and charming as ever – perhaps imbued with the nostalgia that these may be the last episodes of a show that, despite cult following, has remained on the shallow end of the NBC’s ratings pool.

This season, expect new characters and twists, with part of the Parks Department now working in Washington D.C. This means long distance relationship struggles, romantic mishaps from Ann and Tom, Andy training to be a cop and at least one terrible perm (redundant) for Leslie. Less predictably, also expect a new love interest for Ron Swanson in the form of Lucy Lawless, former star of Xena: Warrior Princess.

Tune in Thursday for the season premiere of Parks and Recreation in which our favorite Pawnee councilwoman, Leslie Knope, heads to the Capitol to visit her boyfriend Ben and feel the living heartbeat of our nation’s politics, complete with guest appearances by Senators John McCain, Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe.

Parks and Recreations airs Sept. 20 at 9:30 pm EST on NBC.