Watching The Office

Eeek… tons of video interviews from the cast of The Office at TV Guide! My streams are getting all choppy, it’s like hearing Mr.Roboto talk! So, I’m not able to make sense of what I’m watching! But if you’re interested in the interviews, it’s all here. Here’s a brief teaser from Ausiello:

• John Krasinski breaks “news” about a Jim-Pam wedding and a “possible” Office/30 Rock crossover. (Those quotation marks will make sense when you view the clip.)

• News of a real-life pregnancy throws The Office’s Rainn Wilson into a tailspin.

There’s also a hint of an Office/30Rock Crossover, how great is that?

The Office, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, SAG Awards

Here’s a cute anecdote from People Magazine, involving Steve Carell and Ricky Gervais at last night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards Ceremony (where if you haven’t heard, by the way, The Office won Best Ensemble for Comedy)
Backstage at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Steve Carell (whose The Office won for best ensemble comedy) joked about his sticky relationship with Ricky Gervais – who starred in the British version of The Office.

“[He's] very scary. He’s a very intimidating human being and none of us like him very much, and he doesn’t like us either,” cracked Carell, who was surrounded by the rest of his show’s cast. “There’s an awkwardness. You can cut the tension with a knife.”

Added Carrell, “I actually saw Ricky in the men’s room just before the ceremony, and I swear to god, he leaned over the urinal and said: ‘I knew it!’”

As for the show winning Best Ensemble? I was overjoyed when they won the award since this show remains to be the best comedy ensemble on television today. Clearly, it was definitely much deserved. And it’s so fitting, they showed the clip with the Whoever-Whomever debate, because that was one of their best ensemble acting ever.

Jenna’s speech was simple but very heartwarming (On a different note, I didn’t like what she wore though, sorry!): Hi. Thank you. They voted me to speak if we won, so…which we didn’t expect. Thank you so much. We really love working together. We love each other, we love working together and being together. And as an ensemble, a lot of the people in this group struggled for a long time as non-working actors…and by a long time I mean, like, eight, 12, 15, 20 years. So, we’re always grateful, we don’t take it for granted. Thank you so much.But there’s another part of our ensemble, that’s our crew, and we want to dedicate this to them tonight. We can’t wait to go back to work with them, so, thank you so much.

Congratulations to the cast, once again!

Overheard at the SAG:
“Good evening everyone and welcome to the most glamorous and exciting evening in the history of the world.” — Steve Carell, introducing Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“I remember from last year that when I went back to work I couldn’t extend my biceps.” Jenna Fischer, who shared an award for comedy series cast for “The Office,” commenting on the heft of the Screen Actors Guild award, which weighs in at more than 20 pounds.

The Office, Steve Carell, Ricky Gervais, Jenna Fischer, SAG Awards

Hey everyone! We welcome another week…without a new Office episode. How has the strike been developing lately? And when will our favorite shows be back with fresh episodes? Deadline Hollywood has reported that recent sit downs between the studio and the writers proved very optimistic. And some studios have already brokered deals separately. So, those are good signs, right?

Well, despite the strike, the blogs of Dwight and Creed continue to be updated. I really am wondering what’s the fine print and arrangement for this, considering that these blogs have got to be the workings of a WGA member. Or is it the case really?

Over the last couple of weeks, rumors went around that Jenna Fischer was dating David Spade. She addresses this very same issue on her blog saying she has never met the man, “Imagine my surprise as… I’VE NEVER MET David Spade! What a milestone! My first TOTALLY 100% UNTRUE tabloid report!” | Read her funny blog entry here. And also, read this latest interview of Jenna from Insite Magazine, as well as this one from Total Magazine.

John Krasinski’s next project? Probably a comedy with Sam Mendes and David Eggers about “a couple, pregnant with their first child, as they travel America looking for the ideal place to settle down.” By the way, he was recently on Cosmo Magazine and they named him one of the Fun Fearless Males of 2008.

Jumping over to The Office UK…

Mackenzie Crook, who plays Gareth Keenan in the British version of the Office (the Dwight counterpart) has hijacked the Big Brother house. The concept of this game is a bit different from the Big Brother we know, since the rules and tasks are given by the house mates themselves. And for MacKenzie, he declares it is Nerds Day in the house.

And Ricky Gervais has his Golden Globe acceptance speech on YouTube. He wishes the writers good luck and talks about his future movie plans, The Office Chile, his controversial book, Flanimals and an upcoming The Office book.

The Office, The Office UK, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Ricky Gervais, Mackenzie Crook

The cast of The Office has once again won Best Ensemble - Comedy, in tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Much deserved, indeed! We’ll bring you more of this tomorrow!

Update: Here are some videos from YouTube

The Office, The Office SAG, The Office wins Best Ensemble

There’s going to be a game of basketball in the office today. Michael was telling the documentary crew that this was his idea, after the warehouse guys from downstairs saw him play during lunch break. Apparently, they were impressed by him. Or so he claims.

Dwight has some concerns because Michael has exempted him from the game. He assigned him to another task, which required him to look for someone who could come to work on a Saturday and Dwight agreed since that made him feel powerful.

Michael visits the warehouse with Ryan and introduces him to the guys there. He reminds them about the game. But Daryl, the foreman, tells him something has come up at work so they have to reschedule the game. Michael sees it as a way for them to chicken out of the game, so Daryl wants to disprove him and agrees to start the game at 1 PM.

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Donna arrives at the office rather late, and David, who stands as her guardian, scolds him in front of the staff. While David’s reasons and concern are valid, Donna, being old enough to decide for her life, resents that she is berated like a child in public. So, she answers David back and tells him that she did stay over a boy’s pad and it was a boy from the office.

Despite orders from Corporate to cut back on costs, David is hiring himself a secretary and interviews two new prospects, one guy (Stuart) and one pretty girl (Karen). David is not at all interested on Stuart, but pours all attention on Karen. He conducts an interview with her and it was a moment filled with inappropriateness. David is slightly smitten and acts like a pubescent teenager trying to impress the new girl. His antics failed to impress her, and worse David accidentally pokes her eyes with his elbows.

Tim has openly expressed he’s planning to leave the office to pursue a course in psychology. Everyone still remembers how Dawn rejected him when he asked her on a date, and Tim tries to convince them that he was asking her as a friend. Meanwhile, there is a wave of awkwardness between Tim and Dawn, so right now, they aren’t enjoying each other’s company like before.

Gareth, who harbors a secret crush on Donna, conducts a safety training with her as the lone participant. The training is utterly ridiculous and pointless. His real motive though was to press Donna on the details about her rendezvous with the male officemate, to which Donna cleverly avoided.

Down on their luck with women, the boys decide to unwind after work by prowling for some woman companionship and hitting the club scene. But, as things were, they all ended up not having fun that night.

Need more episode recaps? Visit our recap section here.

The Office, The Office UK, The Office UK episode recap

With production still closed I have found myself with more time catching up on movies. And the other night, I was finally able to catch Juno. Although Rainn Wilson’s appearance was very brief (he was in the movie for a total of five to ten minutes!), he was totally in character (loved it!) and I was very pleased with the whole film.

Where did they find Ellen Page (Juno)? She is wonderful! And brutally funny, in every sense. As a character, Juno is, by no means, a role model. But the movie shows that getting knocked up at a fragile age of 16 happens to even the best, brightest and well-loved kids. But for a single moment, I had wished that every girl can deal with “issues far beyond their maturity level” like Juno. Unplanned pregnancy is no laughing matter, and movies about this have been done over and over. Juno provides a fresh story and I enjoyed that they did not concentrate on all that drama, yet the film still manages to choke me up during the tender moments.

One point of contention — do 16 year olds really talk that way now? Like a bunch of crazy drunk truckers or something?

The other I also liked about the film is the song. It’s as quirky as everything this movie represents. At the back of my mind, I was thinking — “My god, Phoebe Buffay could totally live off her songs with this kind of movie!” I am a big fan of Phoebe’s songs by the way, so that was a compliment!

Have you already seen Juno? How did you like it?

The Office, Rainn Wilson, Juno, Ellen Page

NBC Auctions, yesterday, has put more items from The Office for bidding. And some of it —- I want! I want! Only the site doesn’t ship outside of the US. *sigh*. Proceeds to this cause will go to charities NBC supports. Up for grabs are the following:

Pam’s Blouse & Cardigan which Pam wore in Season 2.
Specifics:
# Caribbean Joe branded blouse
# Size small
# 97% Cotton/3% Spandex
# Cherokee branded cardigan
# Cotton

Michael’s Lucky Tie, which he wore in Season 2, during that client call at Chilis with Jan. He ultimately closes that big account, without even talking too much about business. The client and Michael just clicked together.
Specifics:
# 60″ x 4″ (widest point)
# Black, grey, silver, red & gold pattern
# “Mouth” decal patch on the backside of the lower front

Ryan’s Shirt and Tie, which is like his office “uniform” of some sort. He’s always seen wearing this, isn’t it? This was the same shirt and tie he wore during Season Two’s “The Fire”.
Specifics:
# Kenneth Cole brand shirt
# Size 15 32/33
# Cotton
# Geoffrey Beene brand neck tie
# 60″ x 4″
# Silk

The Christmas Card Michael superimposed himself using Photoshop. This is actually Nancy’s family (whom Michael used to date) and was seen in Season 3’s Benihana Christmas.
Specifics:
Card and envelope: 7 1/2″ x 5 1/2″

Dwight’s Bobblehead which will carry Rainn Wilson’s signature. The winning bid’s proceeds will be awarded to Rainn’s favorite charity, the MONA Foundation. The highest bidder will also receive a DVD of Season 3.
Specifics:
# Bobblehead: 7″ x 3 1/2″ diameter

Incidentally, this bobblehead has sold more than 150,00 units according to NBC. And a second bobblehead will be up for draw at NBC’s Sweepstakes.

“The desire to take home a piece of ‘The Office’ with the Dwight bobblehead has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Judith Dutch, vice president, retail operations and consumer marketing, NBC Universal. “We’re very excited to offer these extremely rare prizes to the devoted ‘Office’ viewers and NBCStore.com visitors. This is a great example of how the NBC Universal Store goes far beyond conventional merchandise to provide fun and unique experiences for fans to connect with their favorite NBC Universal shows.”

Bidding at NBC Auctions has began last night at 7 PM and will end on the 30th of January 2008, 4 PM.

The Office, The Office Auctions, NBC Auctions, Dwight Bobblehead

Hmmm….can you sense what’s in the air? Fresh new episodes in the coming weeks? With the strike hopefully nearing its end, are we to expect five to six new episodes by March? As we wait for further developments, why don’t we go and check in on what the actors have been up to the past week, eh?

• John Krasinski is seen watching and enjoying the movie, Cloverfield. His movie Leatherheads is coming in a few months, go watch the trailer. And whether or not he and Rashida Jones are dating again, that’s not my business. Although some people would be happy to know that.

• Rashida’s newly made-over, blue-themed pad in New York is featured in Details Magazine (out in February). I like how the house is styled but I’m not too keen on the baby blue walls. It reminds me so much of the Virgin Mary (but that’s just me!).

• Check out Angela’s baby bump. She’s grown big! I mean, for a small-framed woman like her, that bump is already quite big. But she looks lovely pregnant, no? It suits her. The article reports she’s due May 9th and will be giving birth to a girl.

• I’m quite excited about this, since I enjoy watching Last Comic Standing… Oscar and Angela will sit as judges in its Season 6 offering. Auditions will begin in LA’s Improv on Jan. 28th.

• Are you an Amazon shopper? You may have already seen this:

• Lastly, some viewers have always felt it was stupid of Michael to drive his car on to the lake and blame it on the GPS (Season 4 Episode 2). But wouldn’t you know it, it does happen in real life!

Have a great week ahead everyone! Let’s hope for some very good news at the strike front!

The Office, John Krasinski, Rashinda Jones, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Last Comic Standing, Cloverfield, Amazon shopper

The Alliance opens with Dwight asking Michael about the possible downsizing. He is concerned, perhaps even threatened, that someone else would be chosen to stay over him. Michael tells him that it is something he shouldn’t be worried about. To the documentary crew, Michael says he takes no pleasure in firing a staff.

Dwight notices that people are mingling by the water cooler and gossiping. He suspects everyone is talking about the crisis that is looming in the office. Because he is excluded from this, he brings the water cooler by his table, so that he has more access to the office grapevine.

He approaches Jim for a possible secret alliance and Jim goes along for a ride. Jim tells Pam about it, but Dwight calls on him, reminding him that their alliance is supposed to be just between them. Jim reasons out that he is using Pam to get information, since she has access to Corporate, whenever Michael has meetings with them. Dwight buys Jim’s reason.

So Jim and Pam starts messing around with Dwight. First Jim tells him that there is also another alliance in the office and that they intend to have Dwight get the boot. Then Pam approaches Jim with an intriguing story, all within Dwight’s hearing and satisfaction. Next Jim tells Dwight there’s going to be a secret meeting in the basement and he volunteers to spy on that by hiding in one of the boxes.

Sensing that morale is down, Michael plans to hold an office birthday party for Meredith, who is actually celebrating hers the following month. Michael tells Pam to go ahead with the party today, at least it will really be a surprise for Meredith. A big birthday greeting card for Meredith is passed around and Michael agonizes over what to put. He wants his message to be the funniest, because his staff expected this from him. In the end, his message did not turn out to be funny and instead of bringing their spirits up, everyone is even more reminded of the possibility they could lose their jobs.

Towards the end of the day, Jim approaches Pam and excitedly tells her that he has convinced Dwight to spy on the Stamford branch wearing a blond wig. Jim nonchalantly grabs Pam and they are laughing, just as Roy, her boyfriend, walks in and sees them. He accuses Jim of making a move on Pam. Jim tried to explain to Roy saying that this was all because of his alliance with Dwight. But when Roy asked Dwight if this was true, he denied about the alliance.

Dwight: Do I feel bad about betraying Jim ? Not. At. All.
That’s the game, convincing we’re in an alliance, get some information, throw them to the wolves.

That’s politics, baby. Get what you can out of someone then crush them.
I think Jim might have learned a very valuable lesson.

Need more episode recaps? Visit our recap section here.

The Office, The Office episode recaps, The Office Season 1

Today is staff training day and everyone is required to participate in it. David tells the documentary crew that he could have done the training himself, but the company has hired someone from the outside to do it. The training is all about proper customer care.

Meanwhile Dawn and Lee are arguing at the start of the episode and apparently, they decide to call off the wedding. Dawn is crying and Tim is consoling her. Gareth walks in and also tries to console her; but he says something off, “Don’t worry, Monkey Allen down at the warehouse fancies you, even if no one else does”…. Dawn walks away upset and Tim pounces on Gareth for saying something stupid.

Back at the training, Roan the facilitator, introduces himself to the staff while David stands beside him, also acting like the trainor; sometimes even outdoing and outperforming him. Clearly, David is trying to discredit and undermine Roan’s authority as the trainor hired by the company to educate them.
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Any fans of The Office watching Friday Night Lights on NBC? I’m also fan of the series. Their episode from last week has been sitting here, waiting for me to get around to watching it…and I obviously haven’t. Had I not read this entry from E! Online, I would have waited a few weeks more and do a short marathon of the remaining episodes of the series. But, curiosity got the better of me so I immediately checked it out.

So that you can follow the story, here’s a quick rundown leading to that scene where the characters are fighting over The Office (or at least, what seems to be that)…

Kyle Chandler is Eric, a high school football coach. He and his family are temporarily accommodating his wife’s sister, Shelley (played by Jessalyn Gilslig) into their house. Her wife has just given birth and the sister provides an extra helping hand, since new mom, Tami, is going back to work. But Shelley’s extended stay is beginning to cause a dent in the family. Her lifestyle isn’t actually similar to theirs. And money is beginning to be a problem in the household.

When Shelley learns she passed her real estate exams, Eric was hoping she’d begin moving out of the house and start looking for her own place. But she didn’t. Shelley’s slowly settling into their house…permanently.

While watching football videos to assess for work, Eric is surprised to learn Shelley taped over it with a “talky TV series” her brother-in-law won’t probably appreciate. Of course now, with what she’s done, Eric will probably ban The Office in the Taylor house.

Here’s the video:

The Office, Friday Nigh Lights, Kyle Chandler, Jessalyn Gislig

Well how about that, imagine a Michael Scott who is Latin American, a David Brent becoming Chilean…and what do you have?

Chile’s Luis Gnecco, who is quite popular in his country, is set to star in the Latin American remake of The Office. Set to be launched in May, the Chilean version’s rights has been awarded to Chilecorto TV’s Canal 13.

It would have to be the fifth version adapted from the original British Series starring Ricky Gervais as David Brent. If my memory serves me right, The Office has been remade in Canada, France, Germany and of course, the United States.

Asked for his reaction on this recent development, Ricky Gervais said, “We stopped making The Office in 2003 but the rest of the world didn’t. I won’t be happy until I have seen an Inuit doing David Brent’s dance.”

The original version of the British series, The Office, airs in over 90 countries. It is no doubt the most successful Britcom to date.

So, what do you think Office fans? Latinos are known across the world as the best lovers, I wonder, with a character profile like David Brent, would their Office boss find luck in that area or will he be just as pathetic? The Latin American version sure would add a different flavor, and I think there is definitely some character tweaking involved to cater to their audience. I wish there was a way we can watch all of the remakes in full. But I was able to find some clips and I’m sharing this with you.

The French version, Le Bureau:

The German version, Stromberg:

The Canadian French version, La Job:

The Office, The Office remake, The Office Chile, Ricky Gervais, Luis Gnecco

Hey, there! What is up? Yep, the strike is still on. Nope, they have not yet reached any settlement. TV episodes are dwindling everyday. We’re left with reality TV scraps (with the exception of a few good ones like The Amazing Race!).

The other week, I was able to check Celebrity Apprentice which took over The Office’s time slot. The last time I’ve watched this show was in still Season 2 and I don’t know why I was expecting the first ever Celebrity edition to be any different… when I know the answer already. It only made me hope this strike be over the soonest, so we can watch Michael and the gang in their own boardroom.

So, how are you holding up?

As there is little The Office updates to go around, I get by with doing some video digging for today and found a couple of commercials starring Steve Carell, before he is where he is right now. Thought I’d share this here.

Here’s Steve in ad for Citibank. Don’t blink on the first five seconds, or you’ll miss him. I did not recognize him right away! This ad looks like it aired in the 90’s. Can anyone confirm?

And here’s one of him from way earlier…you can tell by the hairstyle. Bwaha! Or the fact that the person who uploaded it says it came from an old videotape. Videotape — it’s so 80’s! It’s an ad for WTMJ (a radio station, if I’m not mistaken)

Have you got any more Steve Carell ads you want us to check out? Send us a tip!

The Office, Steve Carell

The show opens with Michael telling the documentary crew that providing care for his workers and their family is a sacred thing for him. And today, Corporate is asking him to pick a new health care plan. At his meeting with Jan, Michael tells her he has picked the plan that offered all the works, like acupuncture, which is part of the Gold Plan. Jan tells Michael he needs to pick a plan that will also save the company money. Michael is uncomfortable about this sensing his employees would be upset with what he’d choose. Michael calls it a suicide mission, so he gives the task to Jim. But he tells Michael, he’s not up to task and then recommends Dwight, who’s more than willing to take over and decide for the company.

Dwight is a bit overzealous about his task, and demanded a temporary office. Michael situates him in the conference room. Dwight calls this the Dwight Schrute Workspace. Later, Dwight passed around a memo and the staff weren’t too pleased with what was on it. Dwight’s plan has no dental, no vision, with a 1200 salary deduction.

Dwight: In the wild, there is no healthcare. In the wild there is…”Ow, I hurt my leg. I can’t run. A lion eats me, and I’m dead.” Well, I’m not dead. I’m the Lion. You’re dead.

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