The Office Spinoff
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Two Bits of Office-Related News
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.
Rashida Jones Checks Into the Not-Office Office
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!).
The Office Spinoff Lives! Plus More From NBC
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 Poehler Headed to The Office Spinoff?
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.
The Office Spinoff: News, Rumors, and Funny Stuff
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.
Other Search Results
Which "Office" Character Should Have a Spinoff?
Recently there was a laughably vague rumor that Dwight on "The Office" would be getting his own spinoff show. Soon after, "a source close to Rainn Wilson" was quoted calling the rumor "complete farce." But it got me thinking: If there were a spinoff focusing on one supporting character from the show, which character should it be?
An Office Spinoff: Good Idea or Bad Idea?
From the Department of Internet Rumors comes this tidbit, courtesy of TV Guide: The Office is reportedly looking to expand into a spinoff series, a la Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. The show would air a special episode introducing a number of new characters, and then those characters would become the focus of a new series. Unlike the Grey's/Private plan, none of the original cast members would end up in the new series, and producers are apparently searching for "a name" to headline the potential new show.
Buzz News Roundup, 8/11
- The Office has been given the key post-Super Bowl time slot and will air a one-hour episode following the game, Entertainment Weekly reports.
- According to ComingSoon, Steve Buscemi and Romany Malco will star together in Saint John of Las Vegas, a loose adaptation of Dante's Inferno.
- Tori Spelling has no deal to appear on 90210 and her desired salary may be the sticking point, E! reports.
- Sara Gilbert is joining the cast of The Big Bang Theory after a successful guest-starring gig, Zap2it reports.
- Dennis Hopper will get his own exhibit in France where, apparently, he is highly revered, writes Variety.
- Clarke Peters and Wendell Pierce — aka Freamon and Bunk from The Wire — are joining Treme, David Simon's new HBO pilot about New Orleans, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
- Variety has the news that director Chris Columbus is readying a film about Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential run.
- 24 producer Carlos Coto and Brett Ratner are working on an action-comedy for Fox titled Wild Boys, which will follow "ex-soldiers turned suburban dads," ComingSoon reports.
- Matthew Bomer — aka Bryce Larkin from Chuck and Jay from Traveler — has been cast in the lead of a USA series called White Collar, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
CBS's Fall Plans: Four New Series and a Rescue of Medium
CBS swooped in after NBC canceled Medium and picked up the Patricia Arquette drama at its Upfront this morning. Medium joins four other new dramas on CBS's Fall schedule, which seems downright reasonable after, say, ABC's 11 new series.
CBS's newcomers are the NCIS spinoff with LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell; Three Rivers, a medical drama about organ transplants headed by Moonlight's Alex O'Loughlin; The Good Wife, starring Julianna Margulies as an attorney who goes back to work after her husband's public scandal; and Accidentally on Purpose, a comedy starring Jenna Elfman as a movie critic who gets pregnant from a one-night stand.
Parks and Recreation: Love It or Leave It?
Parks and Recreation had one of the more interesting roads to television of any show this year, starting off as a hypothetical spinoff of The Office and ending up as the small-town political mockumentary that premiered on NBC on Thursday. So now I'm wondering: Are you sticking with Parks and Recreation? Or are you already tuned out?
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