NBC is gearing up for the premiere of a new series of Office webisodes premiering May 7th. To gear up for next month’s premiere check out a new sneak preview clip as well as a behind the scenes clip featuring the cast sharing their thoughts on the new webisodes coming up.
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The Office (May 14, NBC)
On the show’s 100th episode, Dunder Mifflin sponsors an “eventful” company picnic, at which guest stars (and Wire vets) Amy Ryan and Idris Elba will no doubt charm and torture Michael Scott, respectively. What’s that? You were hoping to see Jim and Pam’s nuptials by the end of the season? Well, pick up the shattered pieces of your life and move on, because it ain’t going to happen. We’re hearing that the honour of our presence will instead be requested for a fall wedding.
Things are really coming together at The Michael Scott Paper Company. From putting Pam in sales, to bringing Ryan back, to having Michael actually manage to wrestle away some of Dunder Mifflin’s clients, things really were hitting their stride in that 160-square foot office. But all good things must come to an end.
Here’s how.
Every once in a great while, Michael Scott shows us how, despite seemingly impossible odds, he did manage to get head in life at one point, and it’s quite interesting. When he managed to successfully negotiate Dunder Mifflin’s buyout of The Michael Scott Paper Company, for that brief moment, Michael Scott was a master negotiator, and it was glorious. When the dust settled, The Office is and always was about Dunder-Mifflin, so The Michael Scott Paper Company had to go away somehow. But instead of having it end in shame and failure, Michael was able to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat - and even secure some jobs out of the deal. The future of D-M Scranton will be interesting, with Pam out from behind the receptionist’s desk and working as a salesperson. This sets up an interesting subplot in which she and Jim may be directly in competition for clients, which might take a toll on their relationship.
Also interesting? Ryan is going to be back, yet again, in an as-yet unspecified position. There’s no way that’s going to go well. It’s Ryan.
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He’s started his own fledgling paper enterprise, which has made for some great comedy. But is Michael Scott ever going back to Dunder Mifflin on The Office? That’s unclear, but even if Michael (Steve Carell) does come back to Dunder Mifflin Scranton, E! Online says his relationship with Dwight continues to be strained. After all those years of Michael putting him down, Dwight’s going to be in attack mode. Says Rainn Wilson, “If you poke a cobra in the neck, he will strike at your arm with his teeth. You can quote me on that.” That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?
In happier relationship news from The Office, “There’s love and politics in the air at Dunder Mifflin,” added Rainn. And while Dwight and his former lover Angela are not currently getting it on, Rainn hints that they will, “Maybe in the near future.”
Wonder what the ‘Nard-dog will think of that…
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The Dwight and Michael dynamic was altered, possibly forever, in this hilarious episode of The Office.
When the half-hour began, Dwight was hating on new boss Charles because the guy had the gall to ask Dwight to wear full-length sleeves, as part of the new dress code. Due to his displeasure, Dwight had no problem feeding Michael a few Dundler Mifflin secrets, and even clients. Indeed, Dwight was willing to help the Michael Scott Paper Company get off the ground.
At least for a few minutes.
Soon enough, Charles called Dwight into his office, complimented him on his work ethic and said the two of them should - gasp! - get a drink together that week and discuss how to expand Dwight’s role!
This appreciation caused Dwight to see Charles in a new light. He called Michael and said - through a series of innuendos and metaphors that Michael, hysterically, could not follow until Pam and Ryan helped out - he could no longer assist Michael Scott Ltd. Stunned, Michael asked Dwight to meet him at their “spot” (i.e. the parking lot).
Once there, though, Michael was ambushed! Dwight brought along Charles, who said Michael had to leave Dundler Mifflin alone. This meeting led to an all-out war between the pair of former BFFs.
Michael, showcasing actual salesman acumen, called Harper Collins, Dwight’s largest client. He taunted Dwight with the possibility that the company might leave Dundler for Michael Scott. As a response, Dwight broke into Michael’s new office and stole all his supplies, including the rolodex he was using to gather together new clients.
The feud culminated when Michael called Dwight from the offices of Harper Collins and kept him on the line (in his pocket) as Michael entered a meeting with the big company’s boss. Dwight could hear everything that was going on, as he got into his car and raced over to prevent the deal from taking place.
Dwight arrived, out of breath, and burst into the office of the man in charge at Harper Collins. Michael was there, getting along swimmingly with him. After Dwight tries to give a sales pitch, the boss cut in: why doesn’t Dwight and Michael just send him their best offers? This was all Michael needed to hear, as he headed out, head held high. Dwight, however, tried one last trick to get on the good side of the Harper boss.
Reading from Michael’s rolodex card, he asked the man how is gay son was doing. This was secret information, however, as the man looked confused and angry and Michael told the camera he color-coded his cards so he’d know which information was not meant to be revealed. Dwight didn’t know this and, in the end, Michael got the best of his former employee.
In other funny storyline news: Jim pretended to be torn up over his impending wedding to Pam in order to mess with Andy. It worked. Eventually, though, Andy caught on, but Jim cut off his anger with helpful, kind advice: he and Pam are very happy; and while Andy may be hurt over what happened with Angela, he will find love again. Just trust Tuna, Andy. The man knows what he’s talking about.
All good things must come to an end. That includes this season of The Office. What will the finale bring? What’s the future of the Michael Scott Paper Company?
Korbi Ghosh of Zap2It was on set for the show’s 100th episode and reported the following developments…
The Office “Cafe Disco” 05-07-2009 9:00PM
Michael Brings Coffee And Dancing to The Office - Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) enters the cafe-disco business. Meanwhile, Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) decide to take a secret trip. Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton, Paul Lieberstein and B.J. Novak also star.
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Could Charles Miner be hooking up with both Angela Martin and Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor?!
OK, maybe not. But we did just catch up with The Office’s newest addition, Idris Elba, to get the goods on which of Dunder Mifflin’s two sexually available ladies Charles Miner would most likely go for.
“Kelly is a little quirky and funny, but I can’t see Charles and Kelly having a fun date. I can see Angela and Charles having a fun date because they’re so boring! I can see them going out there and reprimanding waiters in restaurants.” Hee.
Read on for more of what Idris told us exclusively about the future of Dunder Mifflin without Michael Scott (Steve Carell), Charles’ antipathy toward Jim (John Krasinski) and Idris’ battle with what seems to be a pretty serious disease…
That Damn Rundown: To quote Dwight Schrute, “Oh no! The new boss doesn’t find Jim adorable.” Our sentiments exactly. “No one likes my character right now,” says Idris. “They’re like, ‘Why can’t you leave Jim alone?’ Everyone adores Jim, but it does bring a different dynamic to the show. My character is not lovable, and he’s not trying to be lovable, and he doesn’t like the lovable characters.” With Idris sticking around through the season finale, is there a chance the two will ever see eye to eye? “Charles is not movable. He doesn’t soften up, so I think that Charles-Jim dynamic gets stronger. Jim is eventually going to get so pissed off he might come out of his socks a little bit.”
The Big Showdown! They’ve been tiptoeing around it for weeks. Remember when Michael threatened to open a six-pack of whupass on Charles? But is there really a Scott-Miner face-off before the season’s end? “There are a couple of moments where it gets a little like, uh-oh! It’s really funny, and the fans of Michael Scott are going to be fully redeemed. It’s a great arc in the storyline and leaves the season finale with a nice cliffhanger.” Cliffhanger? No! We just hope that Michael reclaims the throne.
Charles Miner, Big Softie? Idris does say that we might yet see some redeeming qualities in Charles. “I’m not sure they’re going to use [the scene], but Charles Miner breaks down who he is, and it was revealing, like, ‘Hey this is who I am.’ I enjoyed that because I played him completely different. It is a clue that this guy has a couple of sides to him.”
Spoiler Alert! Charles Miner heads back to the Big Apple soon enough, but don’t count him out just yet. “It’s clear that Michael’s position is strengthened, and my position is also strengthened. Mr. Charles doesn’t leave the picture. He has the position that Jan had, and she came back quite frequently, so there’s the possibility that Charles can. My storyline has come to an end, but there is a good indication that the writers see my character coming back.” Idris did leave us a little tease about the finale. “There are a lot of ups and downs in this particular episode, but it’s good fun. We’ve been playing volleyball all day.” Like maybe there is some sort of company picnic on the horizon? Hopefully there’s as much hilarity as there was on Dunder Mifflin’s first Beach Day.
ARTAS: Sorry if we scared you with our mention of Idris’ imaginary “illness,” but we couldn’t resist. “I’ve invented a new name for the disease that I’ve got, ARTAS: A Random Twitter Addiction Syndrome.” Genius! Not only is Idris insanely busy with The Office and an expanding movie career, he’s also a musician and absolutely loves updating his Twitter (and MySpace) for the fans—maybe we can get him to follow our tweets on KristinAlert, too!
Idris Elba continues his reign as Charles Miner on The Office tonight at 9, and he can be seen on the big screen in his new film, Obsessed (costarring Beyoncé and Ali Larter) on April 24.
What do you think about Charles Miner now? Are you as charmed by the real Idris Elba as we are? Let us know!
The last two episodes of The Office have taken the series into an unexpectedly hilarious direction. After gathering enough courage to face the workday, Michael Scott finally assembled his “dream team” and set up shop at their new headquarters: a small office space (technically a closet) in the same building as Dunder Mifflin’s office. With Pam closing her first account ever as a salesman, The Michael Scott Paper Company seems to be off to a good start. Then again, it’s too early to tell. And becoming the frontrunner of the paper industry is still a long shot, let alone surviving the presently depressed economy. But this is The Office, a world where you can play pranks at your co-workers, get away with wearing a tux at work or get promoted in spite of lack of managerial skills, so anything is possible. Still, one sale won’t be enough and Michael (Steve Carell) won’t be able to succeed with only Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Ryan (B. J. Novak) on board. The question is: Who should Michael hire next?
There’s a huge chance that The Michael Scott’s Paper Company will dissolve quickly but before Michael realizes that he’s way over his head, I’ve decided to list some of the possible characters who might come on board Michael’s train. And hopefully, we’ll see him employ other Dunder Mifflin employees in due course, including the love of his life, Holly.
Jim
Jim (John Krasinski) may be a bit of a slacker at work but he’s a pretty sensible guy – smart enough not to make impulsive decisions like Pam pulling a Jerry Maguire. However, things are not so smooth between him and the new boss, Charles (Idris Elba), and with Pam (his only reason for staying at Dunder Mifflin) out of the office, he has a pretty good reason to sign up with Michael’s company. Perhaps this could even bring a whole new light to Jim and Dwight’s (Rainn Wilson) competitive relationship as they’ll be direct rivals.
Jan
As much as I’d like Michael to hire Jan, who’d probably be back with a vengeance and would make a pretty good Dunder Mifflin adversary, actress Melora Hardin won’t be back for the remaining episodes of the fifth season. As reported previously, she’s already signed on to play the female lead of FX’s drama pilot called Lights Out. But she’s still expected to guest star in one or more episodes of The Office next season though it might be wishful thinking that The Michael Scott’s Paper Company will last that long.
Holly
If Michael Scott had a soul mate it would definitely be HR rep Holly Flax (Amy Ryan). I adore Holly as she left a memorable impression as the “major dork” who has a sense of humor much like that of Michael. Producer Greg Daniels already confirmed that we haven’t seen the last of Holly (and she might even end up as a series regular) so I’m hoping that she’ll resurface in the near future to join Michael’s mission.
Whether Michael hires more people or not, The Michael Scott’s Paper Company remains an interesting plot on The Office, and I’m going to savor every scene in the windowless office with a vent in the ceiling from the bathroom of the second floor where periodic flushing is heard, as well as Toby’s odd conversations about Damages, which makes the situation much worse for Michael. Meanwhile, you can read more about The Michael Scott’s Paper Company by visiting their website.
The Office airs every Thursday at 9pm on NBC.
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Charles Miner (Idris Elba) may be taking the fun out of The Office, but everyone’s least favorite soccer fan’s reign of terror may be over soon. Creed Bratton teased to E! Online that there will be a casual friday coming up where Jim and Creed play chess. Wait, a casual Friday under Charles’ rule? Yeah, our theories are either his days are numbered or maybe Kelly or Angela figures out a way to loosen this man up. Meanwhile, in much jucier The Office spoiler news, we got our hands on the following picture of Pam:
Is it just us or does Pam look like she’s back at Dunder Mifflin and not as a receptionist? Maybe Pam’s little move will make her return as a saleswoman.
