July 16, 2008
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.
July 10, 2008
The Office premiered a series of internet-only webisodes last summer, entitled “The Accountants,” and they were received so warmly that NBC and The Office writers are back with another batch of webisodes this summer, the first of which debuted today at NBC's official website. The series is called “Kevin's Loan” and it involves our favorite “special” accountant, Kevin Malone, as he tries to secure a small business loan in order to pay off some gambling debts to his bookie. Kevin, as fans of The Office are well aware, is a gambling addict. This personality trait has popped up occasionally during the first four seasons and, coupled with his Police tribute band association, is one of Kevin's defining characteristics. The first of four webisodes in “Kevin's Loan”, called “Money Trouble,” was released today, and it stars Brian Baumgartner as Kevin and Oscar Nunez as Oscar. You can watch the full webisode below.
July 7, 2008
Brian Baumgartner does not sound anything like the character he plays on The Office. It's a little bit disorienting hearing him talk. Today, we at BuddyTV were privy to a conference call with Brian Baumgartner (who plays Kevin on The Office) and Mindy Kaling (who works triple-duty on The Office, as an actor/writer/producer). They were there to discuss the upcoming Office Webisodes, which will debut on NBC.com July 10, as well as the Office Games, which are taking place in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Kevin is the focus of the four Office Webisodes, which will be released weekly, as he tries to secure a loan in order to pay off his gambling debts. Mindy Kaling will host the Office Games in Scranton. Kaling and Baumgartner discussed these events, plus all sorts of random Office musings.
July 2, 2008
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The list of acting finalists for this year's Emmy Awards is nearly complete thanks to Tom O'Neil at Gold Derby. He has already uncovered all the major Drama categories, and now he has both Supporting Actor and Actress categories on the Comedy side. The lists are largely dominated by NBC, thanks to three apiece for past Emmy champions The Office and 30 Rock.
Continue reading for these top 10s and a little analysis.
June 30, 2008
With the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences releasing the top 10 finalists for Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series last week, awards fanatics can now feel like they're a part of the nomination process. In recent years, the Emmys have complicated their process a bit, adding in panels, episode judging and weighted ballots to determine who will be deemed the five best shows of the season.
Thanks to the intrepid reporting of Tom O'Neil at TheEnvelope.com, we also know the specific episodes submitted for consideration by each show. Over the weekend, panels gathered in Los Angeles to view one episode submitted by the top 10 finalists for Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series and then ranked them from best to worst. With the episode titles, you too can determine which episodes are your favorites, and with BuddyTV's newly expanded Video feature, you can even watch a few of them right here for free. Continue reading for the Outstanding Comedy Series episodes.
June 30, 2008
Amy Ryan, Academy Award nominated actress, will be returning to The Office in the Fall. Ryan played Holly, Dunder-MIfflin's new Scranton HR manager in the season finale, taking over for the departed Toby Flenderson. Steve Carell's Michael Scott and Holly immediately hit it off over the course of the finale, sparking discussion among fans of The Office whether Holly would return for season 5. She will, but not permanently. Variety announced today that Amy Ryan has signed on for five more episodes of The Office for next season.
June 20, 2008
Match Game was well before my time. I understand it was a cultural staple back in the day, but every time I see a clip, the show strikes me as hopelessly unfunny. I mean, Charles Nelson Reilly? Seriously? The only part of it I truly like is the fact that everyone is boozing and smoking during the broadcast. That sort of of laid-back, anything goes feel has long passed television by, especially in the post-Wardrobe Malfunction TV landscape. However, the newest re-vamped Match Game that is heading to TBS is very, very intriguing, if only because of the personnel. The Hollywood Reporter broke the story today: The new Match Game pilot, executive produced by comedic genius Robert Smigel, will feature Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program), Norm MacDonald (Saturday Night Live) and other comedic talents. The show has not been picked up yet, and is still in its pilot stage, but with the talent on hand, it's probably a safe bet that Match Game will go to series. If it does, it will become the first original game show on TBS.
June 13, 2008
The Office spin-off is still in the early stages of production. Nothing has been written, nor has the concept been fully formed. Office writer/producer/part-time blogger Michael Schur (perhaps better known as Mose Schrute) recently discussed The Office spin-off with Variety, saying "We're trying to come up with the best concept and hire the funniest writers. In the next couple of weeks, we'll be making the final move to one specific idea." Word is that none of the main characters from The Office will leave the original series to be a part of the spin-off. More likely is that some new characters will be introduced next season on the original who will then become a part of the spin-off, which will premiere on NBC at mid-season. Despite not having a premise nailed down, the spin-off has its first cast member: Aziz Ansari. Aziz is a part of the MTV comedy troupe Human Giant and will be featured on the next season of Scrubs as an intern.