TVSquad

My Name Is Earl and The Office are still working at reaching those viewer numbers from the Must See TV of a few years ago. But what they lack in audience, they are making up for with cool. How else do you explain the ability of the two to draw such a collection of guest stars and guest directors?

Joss Whedon is joining Harold Ramis and J. J. Abrams as a member of the Office directorial pool. Julia mentioned this last month, but now there is a video on YouTube where Joss talks about why he decided to work on the show. He also says that in doing something like this the director needs to be anonymous and that this will not be "The Joss Whedon episode." Looking at the clips that go along with the interview though, I don't think the writers got that message. It looks like the Joss Whedon episode. Video is after the jump and contains spoilers, just so you know.

[ via whedonesque ]

Rumor has it that Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly mastermind Joss Whedon will be directing an episode of The Office. Considering that Scranton is situated right over a Hellmouth, it makes perfect sense. The rumor first surfaced on both Televisionary and FilmIck, but has been confirmed by Joss himself over on Whedonesque. (Scroll way down to see his two cents.)

As connoisseurs of the Whedon oeuvre may remember, Joss got his start writing for the sitcom Rosanne. He earned his television directing chops care of Buffy, Angel and Firefly. What should we expect from this most inspired of pairings - long master shots through the entire office, sequences done entirely in silence and lots of Pam's feet? Probably not, but I bet we're in for at least one guaranteed heartbreaker of a moment between Pam and Jim. Whedon's awfully good at bringing the funny and the waterworks, but so long as he's not actually writing the episode, I feel relatively safe. I wouldn't want anyone to die on us. It's not that kind of show so don't get any ideas, Whedon.

Thanks to reader Brendon Connelly for the tip.

NBC's The Office isn't the number one comedy on TV where ratings are concerned, but what it lacks in big numbers it makes up for with sheer cool. Rich posted earlier about the episode written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant that airs Nov. 30th. Now comes word that the big holiday special episode will be directed by Harold Ramis.

Jenna Fischer, in her live blog for last night's episode, says that the Ramis episode is "rumored to be our best ever." Of course, she may be a little biased. If you haven't read her live blog, it is worth a look. Among the things she touches on are her favorite TV shows, her thoughts on the popularity of the show, if Oscar is coming back, and her favorite Pam/Jim scene.