bj novak-related stories
Posted Nov 20th 2009 9:16AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: The Office, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S06E11) You know a company is doomed when it parades Michael Scott in front of its shareholders as an example of its best and brightest. But, as we saw from Michael today, his sales skills only take him so far.
You really, really wanted to see him pull a plan out of that savantish mind of his that would have saved Dunder Mifflin. At least I did. But, thankfully for the show's writers, that was never going to happen.
The interesting thing about this episode, though? The shareholders meeting plot was just OK. What I really wanted to see was more of Jim devising ways to assert his authority around the office.
That was much funnier, and it was a small reminder of what attracted people to the show to begin with: small, real-life situations everyone who's ever sat in a cubicle could relate to.
Continue reading Review: The Office - Shareholder Meeting
Posted Nov 6th 2009 9:01AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: The Office, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S06E09) There was so much comedic potential in this week's episode, that I ended up coming away from this one unsatisfied. It played out as essentially two mini-episodes, and while the second one was better than the first, neither was particularly funny.
Michael Scott is always funnier when he produces cringe-worthy moments via his cluelessness. Cruelty just doesn't suit him well, and the only time it really works for him is when he's dressing down Dwight. What I was expecting to see during his and Helaine's double date with Pam and Jim was some blissful obliviousness on Michael's part and seething anger on Pam's part. What we got was a Michael that was about as cruel as he's been to anyone in quite some time.
Continue reading Review: The Office - Double Date
Posted Oct 29th 2009 9:01AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Video, Web, The Office, Reality-Free, Webisodes
If
The Real Housewives of Atlanta can record an upbeat party tune, why not (the beautiful and mysterious) Kelly Kapoor and (the pretty) Erin Hannon from
The Office? They may fictional characters on a sitcom, but they are just as real as the
Housewives. And their debut song, "Male Prima Donna," is a lot more fun than tardiness in regards to the party.
Kapoor and Hannon are the new singing sensation
Subtle Sexuality, and "Male Prima Donna" dropped just after midnight this morning. They already have a Web site, a merchandise page with t-shirts, mugs, and tour posters. es, they list several dates in and around the Scranton, PA area and one in Ithaca. If you happen to be in the Dickson City, PA area tonight, you can catch the tour kickoff at Idle Hour Bowling Karaoke.
Continue reading Straight Outta Da Office: Subtle Sexuality
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 1:03AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, The Office, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(
S06E07)
"You know, I really would have appreciated a heads up that you were into dating mothers. I would have introduced you to mine." - Dwight
Ahh, that's more like it. After last week's garbage episode, "Mafia," The Office seems to be back on track by exploring two of the best plots the show has had in quite some time. Jim and Pam's wedding is obviously still the high-water mark, and it will probably continue to be that way for quite some time, but "The Lover" was certainly a step in the right direction.
Continue reading Review: The Office - The Lover
Posted Oct 8th 2009 11:35PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: The Office, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S06E04 / S06E05) The one thing you knew going into this episode was that Pam and Jim were going to be married at the end of it. There wasn't any big mystery; no old lovers were going to come back to interrupt the proceedings; Jim wasn't going to say Karen's name instead of Pam's.
Nope, that's been the beauty of the Jam pairing from the minute they got together; they just continue being a solid couple in the background while the craziness spins around them. Even when one of them gets sucked into the craziness -- Pam defecting to the Michael Scott Paper Company, Jim becoming co-manager -- the pairing is still solid.
That's what made this hour-long wedding episode so enjoyable. It wasn't the fact that Pam and Jim got married, it's that they had a memorable, very PB & J-style wedding
despite the presence of the crew from Scranton.
Continue reading The Office: Niagara
Posted Aug 29th 2007 7:27PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Video, The Office
NBC has released a 3-minute promo for the next season of
The Office. First of all, it's great to see the cast again and I am now feeling very impatient for season 4 to begin (Sept. 27).
The video is like that old elementary school essay: What I Did Last Summer. The cast--supporting and main players--all talk about what their summers were like. Some of them even seem to tie up a few loose ends, especially Karen's testimonial, which is a little... bitter. We also get to see Ryan at his new job and Kelly's reaction to him is priceless.
Video after the jump and I've also embedded a great promo for
Chuck with NBC's promo guy:
Continue reading Michael Scott's summer vacation - VIDEO
Posted Jun 21st 2007 7:08PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Programming, The Office
TBS
is adding The Office into its repertoire of nightly comedy reruns starting this fall. There aren't a whole lot of details yet, like whether the net is going to be running all three seasons, and how many episodes will air each week.
TBS prides itself on its evening comedy line-ups and I have to admit that I often get sucked in to watching some of my favorite episodes of
Family Guy,
Seinfeld and
Friends. I can definitely see myself doing that with reruns of
The Office, too. The net also plays reruns of
Everybody Loves Raymond,
King of Queens, and
Sex and the City. Even though I don't particularly like those last three shows, it's nice to see
The Office joining their ranks as classic comedies.
Fox-owned stations will also get to start playing
The Office reruns during local access starting fall of 2009.
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant must be thrilled. Syndication can make some big money for them.
**UPDATE: TBS
also bought My Name is Earl. Reruns start in fall 2009.
Posted Jun 4th 2007 7:23PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Web, The Office, Celebrities
We all know B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard on The Office (he's also a writer and associate producer on the series). However, long before that, he was sharpening his comedic skills on the unsuspecting patrons of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Give Me My Remote has the scoop, straight from Novak's MySpace: while in high school B.J. and his brother decided to swipe the cassettes used for audio tours at the museum and replace them with their own tour, complete with Chinese music and everything (the tapes were for the Chinese art exhibit). The boys recruited fifteen of their friends to sneakily replace the regular cassettes with the new ones, thus giving museum goers a tour unlike any other.
You can download the Novaks' audio tour via iTunes by clicking here. Trust me, it's worth it. This is one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time.
Posted May 4th 2007 5:40PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Watercooler Talk, The Office, News and Gossip
There are reportedly two versions of
The Office season finale-- one where Karen leaves and one where she stays. The reason isn't so much about storytelling as it is about the uncertain future of Rashida Jones, who plays Karen. She starred in a pilot called
The Rules for Starting Over for Fox and now is waiting to see whether it's being picked up. Kristen over at
E! Online says it's a good chance Fox will pick up the comedy. We'll know what happens on May 17th when Fox reveals its fall schedule.
Soapbox time: I'd like to see Karen go. I like Rashida Jones, but it feels like her character is doing nothing but treading water these days. With Karen gone, there's even more of a reason for tension between Jim and Pam because they will have to decide whether to act on the opportunity to hook up. If Karen stays, I'm fine with that too, but I hope something juicy happens in the season finale to spice up her relationship with Jim and her coworkers.
Do you want Karen back next season on
The Office?
[Thanks, Chris W.!]
Posted Apr 12th 2007 4:04PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: OpEd, The Office, TV Squad Lists
Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.I'm bored with
The Office right now. Now, don't interpret that as "I hate the show"... because I don't. I think it is one of the best shows on television, but it has hit a plateau and needs to be stirred up a bit to get interesting again. Last Thursday, I found it to be the second-to-least funny of NBC's comedy line-up (
Scrubs was the least funny with the random, meaningless killing of a cast member).
I think the main problem is that
The Office is a little too close to real life right now. And let's face it: real life is boring. Office life in particular isn't interesting, and
The Office has to walk a fine line between realism and entertainment. Lately, I think,
The Office hasn't so much walked that line as it has stepped on both sides of it.
Continue reading Six reasons why The Office is in a slump
Posted Dec 16th 2006 7:05PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, The Office, Celebrities
During last week's
episode of
The Office, Michael and Andy sang an... um... interesting rendition of John Mayer's "Your Body Is A Wonderland" to their new Benihana girlfriends. Of course, the show had to get the rights to the song before they could use it. Knowing that his work would be goofed on, John Mayer initially declined to have the song used on the program, one of his favorites. He later reconsidered, after he got some more information from producer BJ Novak... and asked for a Dundie.
Well, it worked, and John Mayer is now a Dundie winner ("
Tallest Music Dude"). That was a pretty clever move! Not only did he get his work on one of his favorite shows, but he also made his way into the annals of Dundie history. Nice work, Mayer. I commend you.
Posted Nov 8th 2006 8:47AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Video, The Office
If you're like me, you're waking up with a major hangover today. It has nothing to do with the elections and everything to do with
Britney and K-Fed's divorce. Like, OMG! I totally thought they'd last 4EVER!
To brighten your day, I have a video mash-up for you. It's
The Office meets Justin Timberlake's SexyBack. It brings a whole new meaning to the song, which was just 'okay' in my book until I saw the video. It's mostly Dwight and Michael, with a little Jim sprinkled in (the one who's really bringing sexy back!). Next time I hear that song on the radio, I'll be rocking out in my car with some Michael Scott dance moves! Look for me on a freeway near you.
Video is after the jump:
Continue reading The Office brings SexyBack - VIDEO
Posted Nov 6th 2006 7:26PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Web, The Office
NBC is really getting the hang of this whole internet thing. On top of making much of its schedule available for viewing and for sale, the network will also stream a special edition of this Thursday's episode of
The Office. NBC is calling it a "producer's cut", which is basically a different version of the show with extra scenes and whatnot. It will be available for viewing starting at 9 pm (Eastern) on NBC.com-- right after
The Office airs.
This is a smart move on NBC's part. It's like a DVD extra that is available right after you see the movie! Of course, deleted scenes on DVDs tend to be disappointing (there's a reason they're deleted!) but hopefully this will be worth the hype.
Posted Jan 12th 2006 9:04PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Talent, Web, The Office
Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam on NBC's
The Office, has taken over weekly blogging duties at TV Guide. She
replaces
B.J. Novak, a very witty writer who
probably didn't have the time to write the blog, write the show, and play the role of Ryan each week. Obviously,
Jenna's writing style is different from B.J.'s, but it still provides interesting behind-the-scenes information about
the show. For example,
she writes a bit
about how she and the other gals from the cast go to lunch, where they usually see paparazzi but never have their
pictures taken. And, the guys on the show have an on-going video game tournament during down-time. She says that John
Krasinski, who plays the lovable Jim on the show, is the best at video games. Hopefully Jenna provides more tidbits
about John because there are some of us who have a crush on him.
[Thanks for the tip,
Doc!]
Posted Jan 4th 2006 10:00AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, ABC, NBC, CBS, Cable, News, Programming, OpEd, UPN, CSI: Miami, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover, Lost, The Daily Show, The Five, My Name Is Earl
Best:
5.
CBS Sunday Morning If you don't watch this, you should.
It's old-school television news at its best with in-depth news stories, and lots and lots about the arts. Plus, the
original "moment of zen" at the end.
4.
The Daily Show A good way to
blow off steam when the news of the day is really getting you down.
3.
The Office
This show really came into its own this season, and I just adore all the characters.
2.
My Name is
Earl Always good for a one-liner.
1.
Lost They mess with our
heads. And we like it!
Worst:5.
Night Stalker I
couldn't even stomach the first episode of this new show. Sad, because I had such high hopes for it.
4.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Too much showmanship, fabricated content (i.e., who can
we get to build this house?), and way too much product placement.
3.
Britney & Kevin:
Chaotic Quite possibly the most useless piece of crap to air this year.
2.
Desperate Housewives That's right. I can't stand this show. Too many open plotlines
that don't interest me at all.
1.
Saturday Night Live It hasn't been funny in
years. Except for that
Narnia
rap everyone is talking about.
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