BuzzSugar

Amy Poehler's Show Has a Lot of Funny People (But No Title)

BuzzSugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:35:23 PST

Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Rashida Jones, and writers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur just got the room laughing here at the TCA press tour in their first session for their new show. (Seriously, go here to hear about Poehler's Jason Bourne connection.)The show's still untitled, but we now know a little bit about the plot: Poehler plays Leslie, a mid-level local government operative who partners with Jones's character to help get a park built. Ansari plays a schmoozing networker who's most interested in his own rise. Here's some of what we learned:

Despite Poehler's role as a woman in local politics who believes she could one day rise to the top, we shouldn't look at the show as a satire of any recent political events. "It really doesn't specifically deal in any way with tapping into any of those women," Poehler said. "But [Leslie] certainly looks at a lot of the women in media and politics right now as her heroes. They're sort of her Cal Ripkins."
More about Leslie: "Leslie is an optimist, and she's really ambitious," Poehler said. "She's really kind of hoping that the place she is now is not the place she's going to stay. So she really is struggling to find her way in a man's world, to kind of make her mark. Along the way, she's deluded." She's nice, but not too nice: "it's going to be very easy to humiliate and be mean to me in the show."
About that title: Daniels said they just haven't found the right words to sum up the show yet - but they kind of spoof their own difficulties in the pilot with a section about finding the perfect name for their public works project.
The realm of local politics isn't new to Poehler: "My parents watch town council metings on their TV," she said. "They sit and wtch them and care, obviously, about what is next to them - what is being built, or are they going to put a prison where the muffin shop used to be."

To find out why Poehler took the job and whether there will ever be a proper Office spinoff,

Poehler took the job because she wanted to work with Schur and Daniels, and she also "was excited at the idea of being able to turn the volume down a little bit and sit with a character for a while."
The project started out being described as an Office spinoff mostly because at the time, "we didn't have any ideas," Daniels said. They considered ideas both spinning directly off Dunder Mifflin and ones outside, but "as we thought of different ideas, the ideas that were set in the paper industry or something like that, it felt hard to get far enough away from The Office that you would consider it justified for a whole different show," he said.
That said, there is now another idea for a true spinoff involving some Office characters that could materialize someday. No details on that, though.
No plans at this time for any actual politicians to show up on this show - but "anybody who's the hot comptroller could come on," Poehler cracked.

Source

Rainn Wilson, Greg Daniels Talk About Returning to The Office

BuzzSugar — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:38:03 PDT

Guess what's back with a new episode tonight: The Office! I recently sat in on a conference call with writer/executive producer Greg Daniels and Rainn Wilson and got the lowdown on everything from where Greg Daniels gets his inspiration for Dwight's character (the Discovery channel), to how they'll handle Angela's swollen belly, to which character the writers would like to write more stories about. Also, Rainn gives a heartwarming description of the first day back on the job.

Of course, all of this only managed to pump me up more for tonight's new episode. Check it out:

On what we might see in upcoming episodes:
Greg: Well, [in the "Dinner Party" episode, airing tonight], that’s a very charged situation where Michael has been asking Pam and Jim to come have dinner with him and Jan over and over and over again. And he finally manages this. . . and it just happens to be after the previous episode which is when he went to New York to try and help Jan with her deposition and he kind of blew her sort of wrongful termination lawsuit. So, there's a lot of tension between them in that episode. And then coming up we have some episodes that, you know, follow off on that.

Some of them involve the character of Ryan whose website initiative started the season off and is kind of crumbling underneath him and has, for some reason, become infested with sexual predators. Which is just one of the problems his website has. And we have episodes coming up where Dwight and Michael are going to have joined Ryan in some of his club-hopping New York partying and, you know, try to. . . get involved in his life a little bit more. But there’s some cool, weird things happening that I can’t talk about and you’ll just have to see it to truly enjoy all the twists and turns.

For more of Greg and Rainn's thoughts,

On the topic of Dwight's love life:
Greg: I think, you know, it's part of his character that he has some exes out there. So…
Rainn: I think we’ll be seeing a lot more sides, a lot more facets of Dwight when it comes to dating and women.

On whether there's hope of reconciliation for Dwight and Angela:
Greg: Where there’s life, there’s hope.

Speaking of life. . .Angela Kinsey is hugely pregnant in real life.
Rainn: I think all of her scenes from here on out are going to be staged with her behind the copy machine.
Greg: I think it’s going to be a nice drinking game for people to see if they can see the belly.
Rainn: Spot the fetus.
Greg: Yeah.

On Greg's favorite character to write for:
Greg: I do love the Dwight character, I have to say, and especially writing the Talking Heads, you know, the interview segments with Dwight. Basically I look at every survival guide as it’s published. And my wife just got me, you know, what would MacGyver do, some book about that. So, there is something of that character that I really respond to. There was this special on the Discovery Channel, I think, a couple of weeks ago which I spent, you know, an hour taking notes on and being really fascinated by which was the ten greatest threats to the world, you know, from robots that come alive to the mega volcano, to new diseases and everything. And it was so great. And eventually this will filter its way into Dwight’s brain, I think.
Rainn: I think the writers would like to write for Creed a lot more. My sense is that Creed works best in some little doses here and there. But I think the writers really get off on how crazy that man’s brain is.

On the first day back to the job after the strike:
Rainn: You know, it has been a huge love fest. It’s kind of crazy. It doesn’t make for great print journalism, but I will say that everyone. . . it’s like our other family and we, our other family, got together, like at a big family reunion and it’s been really, really fun. We’ve had a blast these first two weeks. It is great to see everyone again and batteries were definitely recharged.

On getting back into the character of Dwight after a long break:
Rainn: There’s like ten minutes when it’s like OK, wait, who is this guy again, right? And then, you know, I just put on the calculator watch and the glasses, and just be all, you know, inappropriate. And then it just works out fine.

Photo courtesy of NBC

The Office Convention Just Keeps Getting Cooler

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:30:54 PDT

Have you booked your tickets to Scranton yet? The Office Convention is now less than two weeks away, and the lineup of visiting guests is making this event a must-attend for serious Dunder Mifflin-heads.

As of today, almost the entire supporting cast of is scheduled to attend the Oct. 26-28 events, from Creed Bratton to Angela Kinsey to Mindy Kaling (Kelly). Executive producer Greg Daniels will also be in attendance, bringing with him writers Paul Lieberstein (Toby) and Craig Robinson (Darryl). So far, it's not looking like any of the big four (Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski) will make the trip - but who needs them when you've got Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration?

The organizers have put together a truly inspired schedule of events, including a live Today Show broadcast with Al Roker, a character look-alike contest, the Office Olympics, and, yes, a Casino Night. Tickets range from $25 ("the intern") to $250 ("corporate"), with varying numbers of events, cast appearances and VIP parties included in each.

So, who's going to be Buzz's Electric City correspondent for the weekend?

Source

Announcing the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards Nominees!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 06:14:12 PDT

TV stars Joshua Jackson and Melissa McCarthy were up and at 'em this morning to present the nominees for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards - one of which went to McCarthy herself for her work on Mike and Molly. There aren't too many shockers on this year's list; new shows Game of Thrones, The Killing, and Boardwalk Empire all got some love, Modern Family continues to dominate (now with a nomination for Ed O'Neill), and Friday Night Lights finally got that much-deserved nod for outstanding drama series. There are also some big names you may not have expected to see on this list, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, and Justin Timberlake all picked up nominations for guest appearances.

Check out the full list of nominees when you

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Parks and Recreation
30 Rock

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Mad Men

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Louis C.K., Louie
Steve Carell, The Office
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Timothy Olyphant, Justified

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Greg Kinnear, The Kennedys
Barry Pepper, The Kennedys
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
William Hurt, Too Big to Fail
Idris Elba, Luther

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Elizabeth McGovern, Grantham
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Taraji P. Henson, Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
Jean Marsh, Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Chris Colfer, Glee
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
John Slattery, Mad Men
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
Walton Goggins, Justified
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Brian F. O'Byrne, Mildred Pierce
Tom Wilkinson, The Kennedys
Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail
James Woods, Too Big to Fail

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jane Lynch, Glee
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Margo Martindale, Justified
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce
Melissa Leo, Mildred Pierce
Mare Winningham Mildred Pierce
Maggie Smith, Violet
Eileen Atkins, Upside Down (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Idris Elba, The Big C
Zach Galifianakis, Saturday Night Live
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live
Matt Damon, 30 Rock
Will Arnett, 30 Rock

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Robert Morse, Mad Men
Bruce Dern, Big Love
Jeremy Davies, Justified
Beau Bridges, Brothers & Sisters
Paul McCrane, Harry's Law
Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Glee
Dot-Marie Jones, Glee
Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee
Cloris Leachman, Raising Hope
Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Alfre Woodard, True Blood
Randee Heller, Mad Men
Cara Buono, Mad Men
Joan Cusack, Shameless
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Mary McDonnell, The Closer
Loretta Devine, Grey's Anatomy

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY
So You Think You Can Dance ("Alice in Mia-Land Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" / "When We Dance" / "This Bitter Earth - On the Nature of Daylight")
So You Think You Can Dance ("Mad World" / "Sundrenched World" / "Heaven Is a Place on Earth")
So You Think You Can Dance ("Collide" / "How It Ends" / "Fix You")
So You Think You Can Dance ("Scars" / "Fallin" / "Outta Your Mind")
Dancing With the Stars (Jive, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" / Viennese Waltz, "Hedwig's Theme (Theme From Harry Potter)" / Slow Waltz, "My Love")
So You Think You Can Dance ("Oh Yeah" / "Boogie Shoes" / "I Surrender")

OUTSTANDING HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

OUTSTANDING MINISERIES OR MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE
Mildred Pierce
Too Big to Fail
The Kennedys
Downtown Abbey (Masterpiece)
Cinema Verite
The Pillars of the Earth

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
The Colbert Report
Conan
Saturday Night Live
Real Time With Bill Maher
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
Carrie Fisher in Wishful Drinking
Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway

OUTSTANDING REALITY - COMPETITION PROGRAM
So You Think You Can Dance
The Amazing Race
Project Runway
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Top Chef

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
Hoarders
Antiques Roadshow
Deadliest Catch
MythBusters
Undercover Boss
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List

OUTSTANDING CASTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Modern Family
The Big C
Glee
Nurse Jackie
30 Rock

OUTSTANDING CASTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Mad Men
The Killing
The Good Wife
Game of Thrones

OUTSTANDING CASTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Mildred Pierce
Downtown Abbey (Masterpiece)
Cinema Verite
Too Big to Fail
Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING COMMERCIAL
Conan (American Express)
Baby Driver (Subaru)
Questions (Old Spice Body Wash)
Polar Bear (Nissan LEAF)
Baby (McDonald's)
Born of Fire (Chrysler 200)

OUTSTANDING COSTUMES FOR A SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Mad Men
The Borgias
Game of Thrones
Glee

OUTSTANDING COSTUMES FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Mildred Pierce
Downtown Abbey (Masterpiece)
Cinema Verite
Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire (Martin Scorsese)
Boardwalk Empire (Jeremy Podeswa)
The Borgias (Neil Jordan)
The Killing (Patty Jenkins)
Game of Thrones (Tim Van Patten)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Modern Family (Michael Alan Spiller)
Modern Family (Gail Mancuso)
Modern Family (Steve Levitan)
30 Rock (Beth McCarthy-Miller)
How I Met Your Mother (Pamela Fryman)

OUTSTANDING NONFICTION SERIES
Moguls and Movie Stars
Biography
American Masters
30 For 30
Pioneers of Television
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS
Family Guy, "Christmastime Is Killing Us"
Saturday Night Live, "I Just Had Sex"
Robert Klein: Unfair & Unbalanced, "An American Prayer - Hymn II?"
Saturday Night Live, "Justin Timberlake Monologue"
Saturday Night Live, "Jack Sparrow"
Saturday Night Live, "The Golden Rule"

OUTSTANDING MAIN TITLE DESIGN
Boardwalk Empire
Rubicon
Too Big Too Fail
Game of Thrones
Any Human Heart (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC
The Borgias
Mildred Pierce
Episodes
Any Human Heart (Masterpiece)
The Kennedys
Camelot

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
The Borgias
Stargate Universe
The Walking Dead
Game of Thrones

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR A SPECIAL
Mildred Pierce
Sherlock: A Study in Pink (Masterpiece)
The Pillars of the Earth
Gettysburg

OUTSTANDING STUNT COORDINATION
Southland
Game of Thrones
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
Hawaii Five-0

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Episodes ("Episode 107," David Crane, Jeffrey Klarik)
The Office ("Good-Bye Michael," Greg Daniels)
Modern Family ("Caught in the Act," Steve Levitan, Jeffrey Richman)
Louie ("Poker/Divorce," Louis C.K.)
30 Rock ("Reaganing," Matt Hubbard)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men ("The Suitcase," Matthew Weiner)
Mad Men ("Blowing Smoke," André Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton)
The Killing ("Pilot," Veena Sud)
Friday Night Lights ("Always," Jason Katims)
Game of Thrones ("Baelor," David Benioff, D.B. Weiss)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Saturday Night Live
Conan
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR A DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Mildred Pierce (Jon Raymond, Todd Haynes)
Downtown Abbey (Masterpiece) (Julian Fellowes)
Sherlock: A Study in Pink (Masterpiece (Steven Moffat)
Too Big to Fail (Peter Gould)
Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece) (Heidi Thomas)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
The Real Women of SNL
Colin Quinn: Long Story Short
64th Annual Tony Awards
Louis C.K.: Hilarious
Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit For Autism Education

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM
The Cleveland Show
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III
Futurama
The Simpsons
South Park