Watching The Office

It doesn’t seem NBC has an idea about what it wants to happen to The Office spin-off or Amy Poehler for that matter. No, wait…let me correct that. It seems like they have TONS of ideas in mind and can’t decide on what to deal with first.

Initially, news came out that Amy Poehler was going to leave SNL and head to the spin-off. Then immediately after that news went to press it turns out that the real story is — she’s heading to an entirely different show managed by the same people running The Office (headed by Greg Daniels); and it won’t be a spin-off after all. And the other day we find out, NBC wants to do both:

NBC co-chair Ben Silverman says the network is not only doing a Greg Daniels comedy starring Amy Poehler, but is also still pursuing a separate “Office” spinoff.

“They came up with two ideas,” Silverman says. “One that is totally a spinoff and planted in ‘The Office’ and may involved characters from ‘The Office.’ The other is a new concept that’s set stylistically similar to ‘The Office.’ We decided to put all our energy into getting Amy. We literally pursued her the entire year and it is incredible we were able to land her. Amy will never appear in the world of ‘The Office.’ The show is not a spinoff. It does not come directly from the world of ‘The Office.’”

That said, “We are also going to be continue to pursue the spinoff as well,” Silverman says.

Is your head already spinning?

Let me sum it up for you:

• Amy Poehler = Leaving SNL. For new primetime show on NBC. Thought to be the The Office spin-off. Not anymore. It will, however, have the “sensibilities” of The Office.
• Office Writers (Greg Daniels and Michael Schur) = Still with The Office. Going to work on the new Amy Poehler show. Will still work on The Office spin-off.

With the writers from The Office dividing their time between the main show, Amy Poehler’s comedy and the still-in-the-plans spin-off…hmmm, it doesn’t seem like a grand idea. One show is definitely going to suffer in quality. Everyone knows how good the writers and the show runner for The Office are, but does NBC realize they are not super human?

Also, with the spin-off talks, no one has made mention of this guy again. Is he still in the plans?

The biggest news related to anything The Office over the weekend was Amy Poehler’s confirmation that she is indeed going to be in the planned spin-off. And since we’ve had some site issues a few days ago and I was out sick, I only had the chance to provide the update today.

Anyway…so, yes Amy Poehler has confirmed with The Associated Press — she is heading to primetime. The earlier rumor that she’s leaving Saturday Night Live (SNL) to do the new show which will be a mid-season replacement, is true. But more developments about the spinoff have come into play since. And apparently, it isn’t so much a spinoff, but rather, it’s a new show altogether.

Nikki Finke from Deadline Hollywood Daily has reported that showrunner Greg Daniels and NBC had different concepts to where the spinoff should head to. Eventually, Daniels won over his boss and will instead take Poehler and the new show to “an unrelated series with an ‘Office’-like tone and vision.”

Incidentally, Amy Poehler is the very first SNL performer to ever earn an Emmy Nomination (Best Supporting Actress) for playing Hillary Clinton. She and husband Will Arnett celebrated her nomination with Ice Cream shots, keeping away from any alcohol as the actress is currently pregnant with their first child (I’m telling you, that baby is good luck!).

Amy is due to give birth in October but the couple still has no idea what the baby’s gender will be.

Are you going to like this news?

THR reveals that Amy Poehler’s name has been thrown and linked to talks about the spinoff last April but the rumor has since fizzled out. It’s now back on again, especially after the success of her movie with Tina Fey, "Baby Mama". 

But certain issues have yet to be considered, such as her presence on Saturday Night Live and the fact that she is to give birth in the fall.

The report is after the cut…

(more…)

Interesting read I’ve come across on the TV Addict site this morning; especially considering the people behind The Office spinoff just announced casting their first character . Not meaning to put Aziz Ansari in a box or typecast him base on his ethnicity and heritage, but he’s most likely an office “IT guy”, don’t you think?

Here’s what the TV Addict says in the weekly Q & A column:

Where is Joel McHale’s pilot that was supposed to debut in the spring? — Bobby Brown

If the pilot you’re referring to was NBC’s adaptation of the hit British comedy THE IT CROWD, well I’ve got some bad news for you Mr Bobby Brown [if that is your real name]. After failing to premiere mid-season as promised, it seems likely that NBC has permanently shelved the Joel McHale laugher.

And while NBC has been mum [that’s British for quiet] on the reasons why, this TV Addict has a theory. One that I’m more than happy to go out on a limb and share with you. THE IT CROWD was purposely shelved because the Peacock Network is hard at work quietly developing a spin-off to THE OFFICE that just so happens to revolve around, you guessed it, an IT crowd.

Anyone else going to join me on that limb?

And you know what, I have a feeling this is right!

Would The Office - IT Crowd, or whatever it will be called eventually, be something you’d want to watch? I have seen the British show and it is crazy hilarious!

The Office, The Office Spinoff, The IT Crowd, Aziz Ansari

Finally, pieces to the spinoff mystery are slowly taking form…

Variety is reporting that Aziz Ansari, star of MTV’s Human Giant (a sketch comedy) is the first person hired by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur for The Office spinoff.

The report also confirms no one from the original show is leaving (Hooray!) and that spinoff characters may be introduced to the original show first before getting their own series (looks like that is the trend these days? House, MD is also doing the same thing!).

At any rate, this news is good.

I’m not familiar with the actor’s comedy though, so I’ve dugged up Youtube videos of him in action. If you’re like me and you also need to get to see if the guy is any good, comically, then watch these clips:

The Office, The Office Spinoff, Aziz Ansari, Greg Daniels, Michael Schur