TVSquad

Ron Livingston, who is probably best-known for his role as the lovable slacker, Peter Gibbons, in the cult classic, Office Space, is no stranger to television. He played the rakish captain Lewis Nixon on HBO's seminal miniseries, Band of Brothers, and will go down in Pop Culture history as Berger, the douche who broke up with Carrie via Post-It note on Sex and the City.

This summer, Livingston is starring in the new ABC drama, Defying Gravity, with a special two-hour premiere on Sunday, August 2, at 9:00. Described, to the dismay of many, as "Grey's Anatomy in Space," Gravity follows a group of astronauts on a planetary mission 40 years from now. While everybody's sleeping with their coworkers, they aren't quite as angst-ridden about it as their Grey's counterparts. These astronauts cut through all the BS and get down to the business of doing it in zero gravity, as any rational person would.

Recently, I was able to chat with Ron Livingston about Defying Gravity. We talk about some of the more mysterious elements of the show, how he prepared for the role, and why they're wearing t-shirts in the future, instead of Mylar jumpsuits.

(There aren't any major spoilers, but we do discuss the pilot, so keep that in mind).

Mike Judge doesn't strike anyone as the kind of guy who's created a legendary animated duo and a cult hit movie. And, you certainly wouldn't size him up as a creative mind with two active series on first-run network TV.

The native-Texan is just too unassuming, soft-spoken and self-deprecating to show up at Comic-Con International last week to discuss TV's The Goode Family and King of the Hill alongside his new feature film, Extract.

But there he was in Press Room 28e, preparing for his panel and eyeing the Mythbusters Comic-Con bag I'd just picked up on the convention floor.

"I've got to get me one of those bags before I go out there," Judge said.

On behalf of a grateful TV Squad nation, I offered him mine. He accepted the bag graciously. Then we begin the interview.

Things are going to get a bit more complicated up in Elmo, Alaska when a new character joins the show. According to TV Guide, actor Orlando Jones is joining the cast of Men in Trees (my fave new show of the fall). Jones will play 'George', the gay son of Buzz. I believe we learned a few episodes ago that Buzz ditched his son and fled to Alaska. Now George and Patrick will be brothers. Weird.

As far as Orlando's television experience, he's all over the map. He has the distinction of being an original cast member of MAD TV, was the 7UP spokesman, played a lead role in the short-lived show Evidence, and hosted the short-lived The Orlando Jones Show on FX in 2003. Bottom line: the guy is hilarious and will make a terrific addition to the cast. Look for him in Elmo early next year.

[Via TV Tattle]

"I'm gonna end up doing it because, uh, I'm a big pussy. Which is why I work at Intertech to begin with."

A lot of you might remember that line from the cult hit Office Space. It was said by Ron Livingston (now on Standoff), but now it's being said by the Man of Steel himself, Superman. Someone has mashed together dialogue from the movie with an episode of The Superfriends, and the results are, well, super.

The great part about this is how the person who did it actually gets the casting down perfectly. Superman, the way he is drawn here, actually does look like Livingston, and The Green Lantern really does look like Gary Cole. The editing is well done too, even getting the facial expressions and reaction shots down. I also like how Aquaman is the sleazy horndog in the group. I always suspected that about him.

Video after the jump!

On the new FOX drama Standoff, Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt play Matt Flannery and Emily Lehman, who are partners on one of the FBI's finest crisis negotiaton teams. They also happen to be sleeping together. The show examines how the personal aspect of their relationship mixes in with the high-stakes nature of their jobs. I was able to get a few minutes with the pair before the screening of the show's pilot at the New York Television Festival. Of course, no Ron Livingston interview could go by without my sneaking in an Office Space question or two, which I did at the end:

Now that pilot season is wrapping up, it's casting season in L.A., where mega-stars or yet-to-be-discovered actors sign on to all sorts of new shows in hopes that the networks will pick them up for the fall line-up. There are a lot of big names this time around. Check it out:

• Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal) and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) will star in the ABC drama pilot Brothers & Sisters, a soap-style drama about adult siblings.
• Heather Locklear is in negotiations for a leading role in the ABC comedy pilot, Women of a Certain Age. Locklear would play a recently widowed woman who starts a new life with her two best friends.
• Ron Livingston (Sex and the City, Office Space) is one of two leads in a FOX drama called Primary, which is about a male and a female hostage negotiator who balance their love lives with their jobs.
• Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos) has agreed to star in CBS' Waterfront, as the charismatic and "ethically-challenged" mayor of Providence, R.I.
• Steven Culp, previously known as Rex Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives, will appear in the ABC drama, Traveler, about three Yale graduate students who become a national security risk when one of them frames the other two for an art museum bombing.
• Swoosie Kurtz will take on a supporting role in the CBS comedy, Play Nice, which stars Timm Sharp and Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect) as a brother and sister who run a toy company.
• Jonah Lotan, who has been playing Spenser Wolff this season on 24, will take on a role on the FOX thriller, Beyond, which is about the space race.

[Via The Hollywood Reporter]