Jan 15 2009 Stringer Bell Turns to Legitimate 'Office' Work

Variety has revealed that Michael Scott will have a new enemy on The Office later this season: Idris Elba, marking the second time the series will make audiences shout, "Hey, they were on that Wire show!"

Thesp Idris Elba has been cast on "The Office" as a new rival to Dunder Mifflin regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell).

Elba, most recently seen in Guy Ritchie's "Rocknrolla," will appear in six episodes later this season. Details are slim on his plot line, other than he'll play a no-nonsense hire at Dunder Mifflin's corporate office who will throw Michael Scott into turmoil.

Alright, Idris, you've paid off your debt for starring in Obsessed. A half-season part in a funny television sitcom is just enough to make up for being in a Fatal Attraction rip-off that looks like a mid-'90s TV movie. But I'm warning you, next time you get the lead in a derivative, Beyonce-starring erotic thriller, you're going to need like two seasons of 30 Rock to pay that debt.

And in other Office-related news, here's the premise for the new Greg Daniels-produced Amy Poehler sitcom:

The new series, still untitled, will be filmed in the same mockmentary style as "The Office" but will be set in the world of local government. Cameras follow Leslie Knope (Poehler), described as a "mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana."

Sure, I'll watch that.

Aug 27 2008 Who Else Wants to See Germany's 'The Office'?

As a follow-up to the Chilean The Office promo that was so uncomfortable to watch, here are some clips from the German version (as discovered by AICN), which is now being made into a movie. For some reason I had the impression Germany had some kind of ban on joking about the whole Hitler thing too much, but apparently that's cool now:

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Aug 1 2008 Who Else Wants to See a Chilean 'The Office' Promo?

From Ricky Gervais's blog, here's a promo for the Chilean version of The Office that looks strangely like an actual David Brent-style boss doing an impression of David Brent's famous dance. It got me thinking, could actual David Brentish people be taking unfunniness to such a post-modern level? The internet gave its usual reply, "Yes, and it's on YouTube":

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Nov 7 2007 'The Office' Writers Strike, Picket, Joke

If there's a positive to this whole Writers Guild strike, it's that it's easy to pick sides. Do you support the faceless corporate entities trying to rob poor writers of their "new media" residuals? Or do you support the witty and charming writers of The Office, who seem to have very reasonable demands, and make funny YouTube videos to promote their agenda? As a side note, supporting the corporations makes you a soulless bastard.

The Office writers speak out, under the cut.

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