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Steve Carell reportedly returning for “The Office” finale

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:23:00 +0000

Despite consistent reports that sorely missed "Office" star Steve Carrel will not return for the series finale, Michael Ausiello's breaking entertainment industry news site TVLine "has learned exclusively" that the former Dunder Mifflin manager "will, in fact, turn up in the swan song."

From TVLine:

According to sources, Carell’s return engagement qualifies as more of a cameo than a full-fledged guest appearance. (It’s unclear if Carell will be joined by his Office soul mate Amy Ryan.)

An NBC spokesperson declined to comment, while Carell’s rep insists that the Office finale will be Scott-free.

On Saturday, Carell surprised thousands of Office fans when he joined his former co-stars at a huge “wrap party” held in the real Scranton, Pennsylvania

The series finale airs May 16 and brings back former "Office" stars Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak.

Jim and Pam’s breakdown saves “The Office”

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:48:00 +0000

It’s been a long time since “The Office” was good: The post–Michael Scott years, even the late–Michael Scott years, have been rough, and when they haven’t been rough, they have been listless. But with the series finale looming in May, “The Office” is finally getting its groove back — and not by being funny. The long arc of this, its final season, has been the slow but sure destabilization of its sweetest and surest thing, the loving relationship between Jim and Pam Halpert. "The Office” isn’t the comedy it once was, but it has become the drama it has never been.

One of the long-running, undercover sadnesses of ‘The Office” was the status of Jim Halpert, a likable guy who could do so much more, but didn’t want to. An essay in the Awl a few years ago described “The Office” as the "most depressing show on television" because of Jim, a man audiences think of as the funny, competent, prank-playing, romantic hero of the show, but who is actually “a mediocre man who has already realized his full potential,” content to wile away his life at a dysfunctional paper company. This season, Jim finally realized that he can do more, that he wants to do more, and he did what he should have done a long time ago: He got a new job. In Philadelphia.

Christina Applegate leaving “Up All Night”

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:50:00 +0000

Deadline is reporting that Christina Applegate, star of NBC's comedy "Up All Night," is quitting unexpectedly:

"It’s been a great experience working on 'Up All Night,' but the show has taken a different creative direction, and I decided it was best for me to move on to other endeavors,” Applegate said. “Working with Lorne Michaels has been a dream come true, and I am grateful he brought me into his TV family. I will miss the cast, producers and crew, and I wish them the best always."

The sophomore comedy was in the middle of a major revamp and will have to scramble to find a star to replace Applegate; some sources point to "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow, while others have told Deadline that "the show is now dead."

NBC has not yet commented on Applegate's departure.

CBS commissions Robin Williams pilot

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:45:00 +0000

Robin Williams, who won an Oscar in 1997's "Good Will Hunting," might be moving back to the small screen. THR reports that CBS has commissioned a David E. Kelley pilot starring Williams as an ad exec in a "single-camera comedy" that "revolves around a father-daughter relationship at home." Called "Crazy Ones," the sitcom would star Williams' actual daughter as his character's daughter.

If picked up for a series broadcast, "Crazy Ones" would mark the comedian's first major television project since he starred in ABC's "Mork & Mindy" between 1978 and 1982. He'd also become one of several TV-turned movie stars attempting to boomerang back to their television roots this year, including Michael J. Fox ("Family Ties") and Eddie Murphy ("SNL") -- the latter starring in a pilot remake of "Beverly Hills Cop." (Incidentally, Eddie Murphy is also Hollywood's most overpaid film actors, according to Forbes.)

Conan O’Brien bringing sitcom to Fox

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:50:00 +0000

Conan O'Brien is bringing a 30-minute medical comedy sitcom to Fox. The show, "Bob's New Heart Show," a play on "The Bob Newhart Show," is about an ambitious young doctor who decides to take over a small medical practice in his hometown after a heart transplant compels him to reevaluate his life.

In addition to writing the script, "Community" writer Ben Wexler will executive-produce the show, along with O'Brien and Conaco's David Kissinger and Jeff Ross.

"Bob's New Heart Show" marks Conaco's first project with Fox, although Wexler and O'Brien worked together on a Fox script in 2010.

h/t Deadline

“Seinfeld” star signed to TV Land sitcom pilot

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 21:22:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- TV Land says it has cast "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards in a pilot for a prospective new sitcom.

The series, "Giant Baby," also would feature fellow "Cheers" alums Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman.

TV Land said Tuesday the pilot will be taped next week.

"Giant Baby" focuses on Broadway star Maddie Banks, played by Alley. Richards plays her limo driver while Perlman plays her assistant.

This would be Richards' first regular series role since his short-lived NBC sitcom aired in 2000. Before that, he played Jerry Seinfeld's kookie neighbor Cosmo Kramer on the wildly popular "Seinfeld" series.

In the meantime, Richards performed as a standup comedian. He lost his temper while being heckled at a club in 2006 and was caught on tape shouting the N-word. He later apologized.

“Ben & Kate” is too sweet to be funny

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:11:00 +0000

One of the nice things about the TV shows not being canceled this fall is Fox’s “Ben & Kate.” The low-rated “Ben & Kate” airs on the network’s Tuesday night comedy bloc along with “New Girl,” “Raising Hope” and “The Mindy Project,” just one of the line-ups turning Tuesdays into a sort thunderdome for pop-culture comedies starring people born around the turn of the ‘80s. (See also, ABC’s “Happy Endings and “Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23” and NBC’s “The New Normal.”) It’s an immeasurably sweet show about an opposite, but perfectly paired brother and sister — they’re putting a new spin on the Jack Spratt nursery rhyme, something like “and so between the two of them, they raised one awesome kid.” “Ben & Kate” is a lovely show to spend time with, good company in that specific way television, functioning as a sort of friend-acquaintance, can sometimes be, but it’s about exactly as funny as a friend-acquaintance — which is not exactly high-level sitcom funny. “Ben & Kate” is more dramedy than comedy

8 reasons Crystal the monkey is better than you

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Crystal is the capuchin monkey who is going to save NBC with the comedy "Animal Practice." Here are 8 reasons, quoted from Benjamin Wallace's article in New York, that she'll be able to do what neither you nor any other human can:

1. She has more money than you:

"Crystal reportedly earns $12,000 per episode of "Animal Practice," and she is a presence in every one, whether cheering on an illicit turtle race (a guinea pig riding on each turtle’s back) or crawling inside and animating a puppet to haunt a puppet-phobe. "

2. She can do more tricks than you:

"Over the years, Crystal has built up a repertoire of tricks, ranging from leaping like a pogo stick to pretending to smoke a cigarette."