Stay ConnectedTHAT’S WHAT SHE SAID takes an in-depth look at the world of NBC’s THE OFFICE. Each and every week we will offer audio highlights, episode commentary, news, reports on upcoming media appearances of the cast, retro reviews, a selection of podsafe music, and much more.
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Copyright: © Matthew R. Sommer
Well folks, looks like it might be a short, short season after all.From the AP: HOLLYWOOD WRITERS GOING ON STRIKEBy GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer (11/01/07) LOS ANGELES - Television and movie screen writers said Thursday they would go on strike for the first time in nearly 20 years in a dispute over royalties. Four writers told The Associated Press that Writers Guild of America President Patric Verrone made the announcement in a closed-door session, drawing loud cheers from the crowd [...] Writers said the guild board would meet Friday to formally call a strike and decide when it would start. They said guild members would be told Friday afternoon. For the rest of the article, click HERE.Nothing much to do here but ride it out and hope for the best. EDIT:Lots of media outlets have special articles up regarding the strike. This one at the WALL STREET JOURNAL does a pretty good job of summing up the issues at stake.
I got to see the first "act" of this episode at the convention, and I thought it was pretty hilarious. I hope the rest of it matches the beginning. Oh, and Rashida Jones? Man, she looks skinnier than ever. Give that girl a Coney Island Texas Wiener or two.BRANCH WARS 9/8c TV14 11.01.2007 BATTLE OF THE BRANCHES - RASHIDA JONES ("Boston Public") GUEST STARS - When Karen (guest star Rashida Jones) tries to woo Stanley (Leslie David Baker) away from Scranton, Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) fights back, dragging her ex, Jim (John Krasinski), into his war. Meanwhile, the existence of a "Finer Things Club" further disturbs Dunder Mifflin's calm. Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, B.J Novak, Ed Helms, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Paul Lieberstein, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Creed Bratton and Craig Robinson also star.
I saw these products at the convention this past weekend, and thought they were pretty darn cool. Lots of people seemed to agree with me, since the lines to buy stuff at the con never, ever seemed to decrease.First up? Your very own Dundie Award:"Once again, it's time to hand out the Dundie Awards! Now you can have your very own trophy, which recalls the classic "Dundies" episode. The trophy comes with six interchangeable placards." (including all of the awards given out in that particular episode, like "bushiest beaver," "whitest tennis shoes," "don't go in there after me," etc.).At first I was a little let down by the generic "Dundie Award" placard, but the extra 6 cards are a great touch.Next... the Michael Scott talking bobblehead:"Now The World's Best Boss can be the center of attention in your office too! Buy this exclusive talking Michael Scott Bobblehead featuring some of his infamous catch-phrases."The Dwight bobblehead was cool because... well, because it made sense in the context of the show. This one really DOESN'T... but it's still pretty neat, nevertheless. Click on the link above to see which phrases he speaks.
In case you were wondering what was going on during the video introduction at the Writers' Block panel, Future_Dwight was kind enough to provide this clip (thanks to the OT convention links page).
The fansites are buzzing today with rumors that NBC is prepping a special episode of THE OFFICE which will introduce characters who will then be spun off into their own series.Say what?According to TV Guide's Ausiello Report "the proposed Office 2 is not expected to include any of the mother ship's core cast. In fact, producers are already casting about for a 'name' to headline the potential show."Now, I'm a pretty big fan of THE OFFICE, but why on earth do I need or want a spin-off show? There have been rumors of the "Dwight" spin-off for a while, and I hope these amount to the same hills of beans. One of the reasons why THE OFFICE is so special is that the cast and crew have a laser-like focus to produce a quality product. A spin-off, even if no cast leave the show to follow it, will surely divide the creative staff... stealing some of the producers and writers we know and love. That way, we end up with two mediocre shows instead of one GREAT one.Am I going a little too 'Cassandra' on you guys? Perhaps. I mean, sure, BUFFY was good, and ANGEL was decent... although after ANGEL started BUFFY pretty much went downhill... hmm. Not sure what to make of this.At the very least... for the love of god, DON'T hire David Spade for the "Michael Scott" role.
Thanks to Jennie Tan (a.k.a. Tanster) for being kind enough to link to my convention special podcast episodes on OfficeTally.com. I recognized her from the "internets," and introduced myself at the press conference. She's very nice and certainly more down to earth than I might be if I got to hang out with the cast on a regular basis. Since starting this podcast, I've often felt cut off from most of the other "The Office" fan community. The convention was a good chance for me to meet the cast and people like Tanster, and I'm glad to be feeling more connected with things "post-show." My carpool-mate Adam presented Tanster with a cool parking sign with the Dunder Mifflin logo at the Bloggers' Breakfast (he works for a company that makes traffic signs), and it went over pretty well. He also gave one to Melora Hardin which earned him a much talked about hug. Check his flickr page for images.
We woke up pretty early on Sunday morning (since my two roommates have IMHO overly complicated morning rituals) in order to get to the BLOGGERS' BREAKFAST on time. It was set to start at 9am, and the place was surprisingly crowded. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, since this was one of the "big" events that people had to choose between with their different ticket levels.Donuts, coffee, and juice were provided, which was a nice touch (just don't get caught in that stampede for the Krispy Cremes).I felt sort of bad for the bloggers present at the event, since most of them got lost in the shuffle between Jennie "Tanster" Tan and the cast members. Seriously, who would you rather ask a question? Random blogger, or Brian Baumgartner? As you can imagine, most people chose option "B." But hey, that's what you paid the big money for, right?Brian explained how he got started blogging, his decision to write as his character, and his undying love for OfficeTally. Bobby Ray Shafer was a bit more brief, partly because he'd lost his voice for most of the weekend. Kate Flannery popped in a bit later, talking briefly about her TV Guide blog. I guess Andy Buckley was just there for moral support, since he proclaimed his complete and utter ignorance of all things computer related.(For the full audio of the panel, download the podcast below)After the BB, we headed across the campus to the Scranton Cultural Center for the big WRITERS'S BLOCK panel. I had an awesome seat for this event, as the press was assigned the upper balcony. I sat front row center, with no one else in front of me. I struck up a conversation with the three people around me, and found they worked for NBC.com-- one was in charge of video production, another for writing copy, and the last was in charge of the whole Dunder Mifflin Infinity website. Very cool. A few minutes later, a woman came up and said everyone had to get out of the first two rows because NBC wanted them... my new buds said I could stay, though, so I was the only one down there with them.It was very cool hearing the writers discuss the show, since we rarely seem to get their point of view in any of the extra material. Greg Daniels, Mike Shur and Jennifer Celotta did most of the talking, although Mindy Kaling and B. J. Novak (a surprise drop-in) also got most of the audience questions. (For the full audio of the panel, download the podcast below)After the panel, we got to see the first 8-10 minutes or so of BRANCH WARS, which I thought was hilarious. By all accounts I should have hated it -- most of the humor was totally "over the top" and silly -- but I found myself laughing louder than I have in a few weeks. Maybe it's the return of director Joss Whedon... I don't know. I just know that I was digging it and look forward to this Thursday.There was a final VIP cocktail party next, and I managed to sneak myself in and chat with most of the writers. B. J. Novak was only there for about 10 minutes or so, and he was getting mobbed, so I had no chance to talk to him. Writer Mike Schur (a.k.a. Cousin Mose) was also getting mobbed. The lesson here? Acting is better than writing :)With that, our magical weekend came to a close. Sigh. We'll always have Scranton.
On Sunday, the convention played host to the "Bloggers' Breakfast," an assemblage of notables from the world of Office blogging (including everyone's favorite blog-mistress, "Tanster") and several cast members who themselves blog about their day jobs. Join Brian Baumgartner, Bobby Ray Shafer, Kate Flannery, and Andy Buckley as they dish on how blogging is a wonderful thing.
I posted all of my pictures to the FLICKR account. Have fun!Other photo collections from the convention:Adam's pageAlison's page
It was the WRITERS' day to shine in Scranton today, as Greg Daniels, Mike Schur, Kent Zbornak, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Celotta, Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky, Lester Lewis, and... "the rest" of the writing staff fielded questions from the fans about writing for the best show on TV. Sadly, Paul Lieberstein couldn't make it out to the show this weekend, but as you can see, B. J. Novak made a surprise appearance to (hopefully) make up for it. Oh, and we also got to see the first ten minutes of "Branch Wars," which "Sunday Matt" proclaims to be "dawesome." Again, sorry for the audio quality... hope you can still enjoy the content.
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