TVSquad

Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler of HBO held an executive session at the beginning of HBO's star-studded presentation. Among the news:

• The entire Sunday summer lineup: Entourage, True Blood, and Hung will be coming back next summer.
• They've ordered an animated series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant based on their podcasts with the ever-entertaining Karl Pilkington.
• On a third season of Flight of the Conchords: "We're ready when they're ready."
• The pilot of Boardwalk Empire, directed by Martin Scorsese, has been delivered to HBO. It will be picked up based on what they see. They like what they see so far.
• No more Little Britain USA, but they are working with the producers to create specials with all-new characters.

More coming. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed for the latest updates.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant must be kvelling, as their BBC brainchild is being developed into its sixth foreign version. This time, David Brent (or whatever the character's name will be) and his paper company will be located in Israel.

Given the political climate in that area of the world, one has to wonder what their office will be like? Will it be shared by Jews and Arabs? Which religion will the central "boss" character be? Will that even come into play?

I was going to write a long, elaborate intro about how excited I am that it's a new year, but I decided to make this image instead. Look out, Alec and Tina! There's a weeping angel behind you! And check out how Heidi is super excited to be with the not-so-excited guys from Flight of the Conchords. And it looks like David Anders enjoys speaking in big speech bubbles. No, I'm not still buzzed from New Year's Eve, I just have a little too much fun in Photoshop. However, I'm sure some of you are still somehow hungover from celebrating days and days ago, so let's jump right in...

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.

Back in February we reported that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were co-writing an episode of the U.S. version of The Office. At that time there was no information on when the episode would air and what it would be about. Well, that information has now been released, and its premiere is sooner than you would think.

The Gervais-Merchant episode of The Office will air on November 30th, right at the end of the fall sweeps period. Titled "The Convict", the episode has Michael (Steve Carell) trying to be supportive when he finds out one of his new employees, possibly someone from the recently-closed Stamford branch, has a prison record. Meanwhile, the newly returned Jim provides some "advice" to Andy (Ed Helms) when he tries to make a move on Pam.

Here's a bit of trivia for you television geeks: "The Convict" will be the 38th episode of the U.S. The Office. This is over three times the amount that Gervais and Merchant produced for the U.K. version of the series. That version of The Office ran for only two six-episode seasons and finished with a wrap-up Christmas special in 2003.

(S02E06) How do you round off a series like Extras?

Well, nabbing someone like Robert De Niro for the finale is probably one of the best places to start, and as sad as I am to see this fantastic show come to an end (let's hope I'm wrong), I'm happy with the way Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant let their characters walk off into the sunset.

With the UK's top chat show host, Jonathan Ross, kicking off the episode in his typical Friday night interview style, and a sterling appearence from British actor Robert Lindsay -- not to mention a sublime performance from De Niro (as himself), I can happily say goodbye to Andy Millman, Darren Lamb, Maggie Jacobs and the rest of the Extras cast, without feeling the urge to demand more.

However, I wouldn't say no to a Christmas special -- just to round everything off after my turkey dinner on the 25th December.

It's two and out. Ricky Gervais says the upcoming season of Extras will be the last one. At least he feels that way "at the moment," he told the Britain's Sun newspaper [via zap2it.com]. As they did with the original version of The Office, Gervais and writing/producing partner Stephen Merchant say they don't want the show to wear out its welcome, a notion that occurs to most American sitcom producers much later than twelve episodes -- more like 120, say. Or never. Gervais wants to do drama next, and I think he should give it a shot. His comedies have a thread of drama running through them anyway -- Dawn and Tim's romance for example. I'm just saying a drama from Ricky Gervais not a completely whacked idea.

The second series of Extras begins Thursday on the BBC. It'll run on HBO in the Unites States, debut date is not yet set.

Actors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant play their respective characters from The Office in these mock training videos for Microsoft UK. Brent offers some good advice, such as keeping all of your ideas to yourself so nobody steals them. He also chats a bit about Bill Gates, insisting that no one watching the video has ever met him, and that it would be easier to speak to Osama Bin Laden. There's also a hilarious run where he talks about women in the workplace, and his feelings on conception and pregnancy. I could go on listing all the funny bits, but I'd run out of room, so just go check it out. There's two videos, each roughly twenty minutes, but trust me, they're worth watching.

[via The Cartoonist]

(S01E04) Not counting the Christmas specials, this episode is my hands-down favorite. There are so many glorious (and musical) moments that perfectly capture the spirit of The Office, I find hard to believe it's all contained in less than half an hour. This is why I always choose to show Episode 4 when I am attempting to drag another ignorant innocent into a state rabid fandom. It'd be wrong for me to paraphrase the really good moments because every single word is important for the joke. So, I'm going to be doing a lot of quoting. Consider this fair warning.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of your favorite shows, in order, every week.

(S01E02) In the very beginning of this episode, we saw David Brent showing a hot, new, female employee (whom we'd later know as Donna) around his office. To work his humor, he pretended to throw his office answering machine out the window, jokingly frustrated with all the messages. As he started to set it back down, the machine slipped out of his hand and fell on the floor, clattering next to the trash can. The sheer seamlessness of this brief moment (and Brent's frantic mumbling) still throws me into hysterics. I love it when a moment looks so organic that I can't tell if it was improvised, accidental, or geniusly scripted.