Tagged: The Office

Carell delivers ratings for Office exit

Steve Carell delivered great ratings for the episode of The Office that featured his exit from the series. 8.25 million viewers tuned in to watch Michael Scott bid farewell to his crew and join Holly in Colorado for his happily-ever-after.

Now speculation begins on just who the network has settled on to replace Carell long-term. Will Ferrell is the current favorite but has been notably listed as a guest star during his current run on the show to date. To fuel speculation, NBC is planning guest spots from just about every prominent actor named by fans as a favorite to replace Carell over the past year.

The list includes British The Office star and creator Ricky Gervais, Will Arnett, Ray Romano, James Spader and perhaps even Jim Carrey. I’m sure NBC is sending out Gift Baskets for Men to lure most of these folks back to TV, but for my money the favorite remains Arnett, with Gervais as a fan-favorite. Carrey would be an incredible get, but unlikely; Romano is uninspiring and while Spader could do some interesting work with the role, I’m not sure he’s quite the right fit.

Carell clocking out of The Office

It’s officially confirmed by NBC Entertainment president Angela Bromstad; the upcoming season of The Office will be Steve Carell’s final season as a series regular.

“Not to diminish the departure of Steve, because that will impact the show, but we have tremendous faith in the writers and actors to keep it alive,” Bromstad said in an Associate Press report.

Carell had been hinting at his exit for months, as he was at the end of his contract; he’s developed a prolific movie career on the side and that is expected to be his primary pursuit following his exit from the top NBC comedy.

Speculation has run amok on who might replace Carell as the head of Dunder Mifflin. While Jim seems to be a natural choice, many have said the creative possibilities of putting Dwight in charge might be more intriguing. Of course, the show may also opt to introduce a new character, in which case, the question becomes what actor could step into the established ensemble without upsetting the established chemistry.

Personally, if I could choose anyone, I’d draft Aziz Ansari, currently a supporting cast member of Parks and Recreation. But I’m not sure I have enough onecall coupons to really sell anyone by myself on the idea.

However, spare me the suggestions of Ricky Gervais reviving his David Brent character on the US version to replace Carell; it’s a fan-boy dream, nothing more.

NBC recycles and renews

NBC completed its green shopping late this week as they announced plans to recycle and renew the rest of their Thursday night comedy lineup, one of the few bright spots in the NBC stable of shows.

That means a sophomore season for Community, a fifth season for 30 Rock and a seventh season for The Office. The other NBC Thursday night comedy, Parks and Recreation, was renewed for a third season back in January.

In all honesty, I have to say that this is the strongest four-comedy lineup has had on NBC since the network played host to … if memory serves … The Cosby Show, Night Court, Cheers and Seinfeld. But I may just be remembering the good ones..

New media residuals: real differences

The devil’s always in the details.

When producers offered writers a proposal last week that guaranteed millions more in payments over a three-year deal, it sounded good to the uneducated observer. But now new details of the producers’ proposal and the writer’s recent counter-proposal have become available, and the two sides are not as close as it first seemed.

While some sources claimed the only significant difference was $120 million versus $150 million over the next three years, as we reported earlier, the differences are more detailed and in-depth. In fact, the two sides stand rather far apart.

According to Bloomberg.com, producers wanted to offer writers a $139 flat-fee residual when shows are broadcast on the Web or other new media sources, regardless of the number of viewings or “airings.”

The WGA is eschewing the flat-fee concept and want stepped payments based on a percentage of so-called “applicable minimum” per 100,000 views or “airings.” What does that amount to in real dollars?

Well, an hour-long series episode “applicable minimum” is $632, and it’s $348 for a half-hour show. Writers want only three percent of this applicable minimum, per 100,000 downloads/viewings/whatever.

That would be $18.96 per hour-long show, $10.44 per half-hour show.

For unpopular shows, $18.96 or $10.44 isn’t much; but with popular shows, the money could vary greatly from the flat fee producers were offering.

For example, let’s imagine an episode of the office is offered via iTunes and Verizon Wireless and Sprint TV. Let’s say new media goes wild over this episode and these figures result: 3.25 million iPod owners download it via iTunes. 1,335,000 view it on Verizon, while only 196,000 view it on their Sprint phones.

3.25 is rounded up to 3.3 for 33 times 100,000.

1.33 is rounded down to 1.3 for 13 times 100,000.

0.19 is rounded up to 0.2 for two times 100,000

That’s a show that, therefore, had 33 plus 13 plus two times the applicable minimum fee. The Office is a half-hour show, so the three percent of the applicable minimum in this case is $10.44

48 times $10.44 is $501.12.

Getting a 48x hit episode might be hard to come by, but when it does come along, $501.12 is a whole lot better than a $139 flat fee, wouldn’t you say? That’s what the strike is about, apparently. And at three percent, the writers share grows only as studio/producer profits also grow.

Makes sense to me, WGA!

New Office spinoff?

Perhaps the writers strike isn’t going to be the big deal some are anticipating.

Word on the street is that Ben Silverman and NBC are interested in developing a spin-off of The Office, which could potentially air next season. No word on casting, although industry buzz says it’ll be an all-new cast, not some lame Jim and Pam-based deal.

Now, I’m a fan of The Office, but I do think overkill can destroy not only the spinoff, but the original.

The US version of The Office is already a spinoff of a much more brilliant BBC version of the show, penned by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who are currently laboring on a third season of Extras, from the sound of things.

The US version nearly bombed due to overblown US portrayals, and it was only in the second season, when the comedy style became a bit more restrained and subtle that the show began to catch on with US audiences.

But another version of The Office? Definitely overkill.

Sure, it would be an all-new cast. Yes, I understand that series cast members like Steve Carell and company are becoming hot properties and maintaining the cast may quickly become too spendy in the long term.

Yet, is the answer really a substandard spin-off?

Already, names being cast about to headline a second Office are the likes of Ed O’Neill, Mike Myers and Jim Carrey.

First, I doubt Carrey would do it, that Myers would be good at it, or that O’Neill would be well-suited to the role. Better to go with Carell’s Comedy Central pal, Stephen Colbert and capture lightning in a bottle for a second time. The only real question is whether he’d be willing to walk away from a guaranteed hit like The Colbert Report to live in the shadow of comparison that’s sure to hang over any second Office series.

In the end, it would be better to just pony up to the current cast on renewal, set an end-date for the series, and write with that in mind. Which means it’s more likely that before long, NBC’s sitcom lineup will look like CBS’s CSI line-up:

Mondays: The Office: Birmingham
Tuesdays: The Office: Ames
Wednesdays: The Office: Portland
Thursdays: The Office
Fridays: My Name Is The Office