According to various reports,
Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler is in talks to star in
The Office spin-off from NBC, which is set to premiere at mid-season.
The Office spin-off has been long in the making, and is being headed up by top
Office producers, including creator and show runner Greg Daniels, as well as writer Michael Schur (perhaps better known as “Mose Schrute”). Poehler is still a cast member on
Saturday Night Live, and she's also pregnant, two possible obstacles in her hiring. Variety is not only reporting that Poehler is in “final negotiations” to join the spin-off, but that the spin-off won't be a spin-off at all and will be an entirely new series with no crossover characters. This conflicts with earlier reports that some characters would be introduced in the first half of
The Office's newest season, then make their way onto the spin-off.
Poehler is a talented actress, and there's no doubt that she could successfully lead a TV series. It would be a tough blow to
Saturday Night Live, but they have a lot of talent these days, and her departure would give some of the younger cast members more screen time. The only official casting for
The Office spin-off thus far is in the form of Aziz Ansari, a comedian and actor best known for his work on MTV's
Human Giant. Though there's been no confirmation, we should probably assume that Poehler is in talks to play the lead role on
The Office spin-off. Poehler is probably too big of a name to take a supporting role, and wouldn't leave for
Saturday Night Live for anything less that a plum gig.
The possibility that
The Office spin-off isn't a spin-off at all is interesting. I was excited to see another branch of Dunder-Mifflin represented, and the possibilities for interaction between characters on the two different shows is enticing. But, starting over and making the spin-off its own beast is a sound decision as well. You want to keep comparisons to the original minimal, and there's something to be said for creating a unique identity.
The Office Spin-off is scheduled to premiere at mid-season. It will air in the Thursday 9:30pm time slot, following the original
Office.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: TVGuide, Variety
(Image Courtesy of NBC)