BuzzSugar

Two Bits of Office-Related News

BuzzSugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:33:31 -0800

It's NBC day at TCA, and I'm most looking forward to the session with Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, and the creators of the non-spinoff spinoff of The Office. The show is still technically untitled, but some bits of the plot have dribbled out thanks to copies of the pilot script that were left in reporters' hotel rooms last night. Meanwhile, The Office mothership is getting an exciting new cast member - well, at least for fans of The Wire. Read on . . .

First things first: The Amy Poehler series is set in Pawnee, Indiana, where Leslie Knope (Poehler),is a "mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department." The show will be filmed in the same mockumentary style as The Office, and comedian Aubrey Plaza has just been cast to play her intern, April.
Second: Idris Elba, maybe best known as Stringer Bell from The Wire, will appear in six episodes of The Office this season as a new nemesis for Michael Scott in Dunder Mifflin corporate. You know, Stringer Bell always did have some business sense about him . . .

What do you think of the news so far? To watch a clip of Elba's previous, er, "business experience" (beware of some NSFW language), just read more.

Source

Rashida Jones Checks Into the Not-Office Office

BuzzSugar — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:33:40 -0800

Seriously, they're going to have to give the Office non-spinoff spinoff a name really soon, because this is just getting confusing. But here's the deal: Rashida Jones has booked a role on the Amy Poehler-led new NBC comedy, which will reunite her with The Office writers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur.

Rumors of Jones joining the spinoff first surfaced months ago, but that was way back when we thought the show would be a direct spinoff of The Office (oh, how silly we were!). Today, Office Tally confirmed Jones's casting straight from Schur himself, who told the blog that Jones "will be playing a nurse named Ann (not Karen Fillipelli)."

So . . . a nurse, huh? Is that a hint about the show's setting? Is it a tidbit meant to throw us off-course that won't be relevant to the story at all? Am I thinking way too much about this show, which so far has three cast members (Poehler, Jones, and Aziz Ansari) but no title or publicly known plotline to speak of?

The answer to the last one, at least, is yes. But hey, how can I not be excited? This seems like a good move for Jones, who certainly deserves better than her last sitcom job. What do you think?

Source

The Office Spinoff Lives! Plus More From NBC

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:34:20 -0700

It's the last day of sessions here at the TCA press tour, and it's NBC's turn to hawk its wares. Just a few minutes ago, NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman took the stage to clarify a few things about The Office spinoff (and not-spinoff), the network's plans for late night, and more. Some highlights:

First and foremost: The show in which Amy Poehler was recently cast is not a spinoff of The Office. "Amy's character will never appear inside The Office world," Silverman said. Though the shows will be stylistically and creatively similar (in that Greg Daniels and Michael Schur will be behind both of them), "the show is not set up to emanate directly from The Office."
There is still the possibility of such a spinoff, though. When Daniels and Schur were developing concepts, they came up with two, Silverman said: One that would start inside The Office and one that was completely outside of it. When it looked like Amy Poehler could be available, they put all their energy into pursuing her for the non-spinoff show, which made it the top priority. But the true spinoff could still exist, "maybe involving characters that are already inside The Office," Silverman said.
As for details on either show? Not so much getting into those (including a title, a concept, or any other basics) - though there was a promise that Daniels, Schur, and Poehler would release more details soon. The one nugget of info is that because of Poehler's pregnancy, her show - which had been pegged for the post-Super Bowl time slot - will likely premiere in March instead. No idea what's going after the Super Bowl just yet.
This season will feature "26 to 28 awesome episodes of Heroes" - which we're finally getting some glimpses of. "This 'Villains' storyline that [Tim Kring] has introduced is just awesome," Silverman said. "It's really compelling - just big, fun, accessible stuff."

Some more - including about the Jay Leno/Jimmy Fallon/Conan O'Brien transition - if you read more.

Jay Leno's last show as the host of The Tonight Show will be May 29, 2009, with Conan O'Brien stepping into the chair on June 1. Conan's stint on Late Night will end sometime in the first three months of 2009, while the target for Fallon to appear on air is sometime around March or April. Fallon will prepare by doing online mini-episodes for a few months before the show launches.
Meanwhile, NBC still hasn't ruled out finding a way to get Leno to stay, despite a story last week that quoted him saying he was "definitely done next year" with NBC.
Silverman's co-chairman, Marc Graboff, said NBC was committed to airing Friday Night Lights no matter what - even if much of the audience has already watched on DirecTV or another way. (Graboff and Silverman also didn't accept that "another way" of downloading unlicensed versions of the show online might flourish, though, saying they'd be able to control it. We'll see about that.)
Last year, NBC tried sci-fi Mondays with Chuck, Heroes, and Journeyman. This year, it's all about "a kind of male hero sandwich," Silverman said, with the Christian Slater-starring My Own Worst Enemy taking over the old Journeyman slot. Before Enemy premieres, though, the Friday night series Life will get a couple of airings after Heroes to try to reset the season and attract an audience.
Little switcheroo in the Thursday comedy schedule: The new series Kath and Kim will follow My Name is Earl, with 30 Rock returning to the spot after The Office at 9:30.

Source and Source

Amy Poehler Headed to The Office Spinoff?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:30:05 -0700

They've teamed up for SNL and Baby Mama. Could Tina Fey and Amy Poehler soon be holding down NBC's Thursday night comedy fort together, too?

That's what it sounds like, if we can believe the numerous reports that Poehler is in final negotiations to join the show, which also recently cast Aziz Ansari.

Also, apparently we have to stop calling this show an Office spinoff: According to the reports, it's looking increasingly like the show will have nothing at all to do with that other Thursday night comedy that happens to share its executive producers. (Of course, we still don't know what it will have to do with, as no plot details or title have been revealed; here's hoping that comes next week at TCA.)

There are a couple of factors that could make it tricky for Poehler to join a new show: One, she's pregnant and due sometime in the Fall, which might be a tough schedule to work around for a show that's scheduled to have a high-profile premiere immediately after February's Super Bowl. And two, she's still an active SNL cast member, playing Hillary Clinton (among other characters) and being the only ensemble member to make a semifinalist list for the Emmys.

I'm a fan of Poehler, but I know she can be a pretty divisive actress, so I'll put it to you: Would you watch a series with her in the lead?

Source

The Office Spinoff: News, Rumors, and Funny Stuff

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:31:25 -0700

Well, here's our first proof that the spinoff of The Office is actually happening: The show might not have a title, a setting, or a concept, but at least it has an actor!

Aziz Ansari of MTV's Human Giant will join the show as one member of the ensemble cast that's still being assembled. In addition to his work on the MTV sketch show, Ansari provided one of the funniest moments of the first season of Flight of the Conchords, playing a racist fruit stand owner. I'm certainly not sad to be seeing more from him.

Meanwhile, there's a wild rumor going around that Rashida Jones could be joining the spinoff, with one source saying it's happening and another saying she hasn't even been asked. It's an interesting idea, though: Would you watch a show focusing on Karen Fillipelli and the Utica branch?

In announcing Ansari's casting, Office creator Greg Daniels and producer Michael Schur also talked a bit more about the spinoff in general, so to read what they had to say - and watch Ansari's great Conchords moment - just read more.

Some tidbits from the story:

It's unlikely that any current Office characters will jump to the new show.
However, it could be a "planted spinoff" where characters are introduced on the main show and then jump to their own series.
The show could also be a completely separate series with no direct ties to The Office at all. Schur simply said, "We're focusing on making the best show we can make as a companion to The Office."
The producers have a handful of ideas for the premise and will decide which one to pursue in the coming weeks.
The writers have been hired, and they come from Everybody Loves Raymond, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and South Park, among others.

Sounds to me like it's all still kind of a mess at this point, but I'm curious to see what comes of it by the time the series premieres after the Super Bowl next year.

Here's Ansari on Conchords:

And here's the Conchords song his character inspired (vaguely NSFW, though to be fair, they're just saying "uckers"):

Source