TVSquad

Yeah, everyone is going to be voting in the David Cook vs. David Archuleta American Idol final, but there's another contest going on and your vote is needed.

As we've been talking about recently, Redeye in Chicago is having their annual Best Character on Television poll, and it's down to the final four. After weeks of voting, the matchups are Sir Guy of Gisborne (Robin Hood) vs. Michael Scott (The Office) and Benjamin Linus (Lost) vs. Liz Lemon (30 Rock). Right now, Sir Guy is destroying Michael Scott (looks like Scott is going to fail at this too). In fact, I'm surprised that Sir Guy has such a rabid following.

As for Linus vs. Lemon, that's a lot closer, but it looks like Linus is going to win, which will set up a big finale where Linus goes up against Sir Guy. I have to vote for Linus, but I think it's going to be a battle. Voting for this round ends Tuesday at 2pm.

As we told you last week, RedEye is in the middle of their annual Best Character on Television tournament, and now we're into the second round. It looks like some strong favorites have emerged, while some fan favorites have been voted off the island.

That wouldn't include Don Draper from Mad Men (who lost to Jermaine and Bret from from Flight of the Conchords), Morgan Grimes from Chuck (who lost to Michael Scott from The Office), or Captain Jack Harkness from Torchwood. He actually lost to Herbert from Family Guy. That has to be embarrassing.

Polls/contests like this always make me a little nervous. I just know that they are going to leave out one of my favorite characters, and it just ticks me off.

The folks over at RedEye in Chicago are holding their 2nd annual Best Character on TV poll. They give you a list of characters to go up against one another (in different "regions") and you vote for the one you like the best. It's tournament-style, so characters will be eliminated as the weeks go by until we're left with a winner. This is the first round of the voting, and it ends this Friday, May 9, so get those votes in now.

This is probably the weirdest video you'll watch today. And no, don't worry, the Deal Or No Deal models aren't going to make a guest appearance on The Office. That would be too much to take.

No, the models appear in a promotional video on NBC's web site, re-enacting a scene from the sitcom. You'll see model...um...what's her name, the hot one, in a cast, talking to another model...um...can't remember her name...sitting behind the desk, playing Pam. The scene is even done in the style of the show, with hand-held cameras, sweeping shots to get reactions of characters, and confessionals. The woman playing the Dwight part only has one line but she's actually rather effective.

Some fans of NBC's The Office have refused to believe that what happened in the season ender actually happened. They think that other fans are misinterpreting the last scene, that Ryan wasn't actually promoted at Dunder-Mifflin. But now there's official proof that he got the job.

DunderMifflinPaper.com has the official press release about Ryan's promotion. His new title is Vice President of Regional Sales, and he will be based out of New York City.

Remember the twist at the end of the season finale for The Office, where Ryan got the job that Michael, Jim, and Karen interviewed for? Judging from e-mails and other comments, many fans were confused and didn't think that Ryan really got the job, that it was some sort of trick out by the show that would be explained when the new season starts. But it looks like Ryan did indeed get the gig (which is probably good, since it would be weird being in the same office as the girlfriend you just said "we're done" to).

I finally watched the original, British version of The Office, and it's quite good. I still like the American version more though. That has nothing to do with the quality of the British version, really, it has more to do with the pace, the rhythm, the American-ized problems that the show focuses on, and the cast. Though I do think it's just funnier too.

This UK critic agrees. Though he thinks the Ricky Gervais original is a masterpiece and that some of the darker nuances have been lost in the American version, he thinks it's more entertaining and hasn't had that feeling that it had to burn out after a dozen episodes. He loves the fact that after three seasons it's still "remarkably fresh," and likes that Michael Scott is a different sort of annoying boss than David Brent and appreciates the real drama in the Jim/Pam relationship.

These paintings are rather good and quite inexpensive.

They're drawings of the cast of The Office (the U.S. version, though there are pics of David Brent, Dawn, and Gareth from the original too). The mouth on Kevin is just about perfect, Pam looks especially worried, and Toby looks...well, exactly like Toby. You can also buy pics of Michael, Jim, Dwight, Angela, Ryan, Kelly, Stanley, and Jan.

And the paintings are only $8.50! That's not a bad price at all to get a print that you can hang in your cubicle. Or maybe you won't want to hang it in your cubicle. Hard to say. It could either be a funny reminder that there's a TV show that understands the pain of working in an office day after day after day or it could be a sad reminder that you work in an office day after day after day.

[via Best Week Ever]