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"The Office" f inal episode; the star s weigh in !

&

"30 Rock" and "The Office" cross-over?

Inside Look at "Off ice" spin-off "The Farm "

FEATURES:

Farewell , Scranton

I n this spr ing t im e issue

of Television Today, we

are focusing on the

ending of what will likely

becom e an icon ic

Am erican television show:

"The Of f ice".

Set for May 16th, the f inal episode can leave fans "ext rem ely grat i f ied" says Mindy Kaling (who has created, wr it ten and

starred as Kelly Kapoor for ths show). I n this issue, you will be able to read exclusive com m entary f rom the

stars of the show as they say their goodbyes (and as we say goodbye to them !)

Here at Television Today, we are looking forward to shar ing this special issue and hope you en joy i t .

By Ciana Miller

1 | Televi si on Today

The stars weigh in..

At just 24 in 2003, Mindy

Kal ing got the job of a l i fet ime

right out of col lege: an

associate creator and writer

for the new series ?The

Of f ice?. She also got to star on

the show as the shri l l ,

Kardashian-wannabe (yet

loveable) Kel ly Kapoor. Her

huge parts on and of f the

screen have proven that Mindy

Kal ing is a force to be

reckoned with. Af ter leaving

the set of ?The Of f ice? brief ly

to pursue her very own show

?The Mindy Project?, she wil l

be returning for the series

f inale on May 16th. While she

wil l not have much screen

t ime, Mindy promises a great

conclusion for her character

along with her

on-again-of f -again co-star and

on-screen boyf riend Ryan

Howard (played by B.J Novak).

Mindy Kaling, a.k.a Kelly Kapoor

She told reporters ?I shot for a

day. I can?t say too much about

i t except that there?s a nice

unexpected reunion with

Ryan. There?s a very grat ifying

and dramat ic ending for the

two of them.?

It wil l be great to see

characters Kel ly and Ryan

come back. Series showrunner

Greg Daniels stated to

reporters that these two wil l

?def initely? be back af ter both

going their seperate ways

af ter Season 8. We are hoping

that the reunion wil l ensue in

more hilarious drama.

Check out Mindy Kal ing?s

new show ?The Mindy Project?

on Fox and Hulu.

A sneak-peek scene of the

Finale, where the crew watches

their long-ant icipated

docum entary "The Of f ice: An

Am erican Workplace."

2 | Televi si on Today

The L ast Episode

Af ter Steve Carel l lef t the series af ter Season 7, i t is no surprise that the show became a l i t t le wonky. A new company f rom Tal lahassee, Florida came to buy out Dunder Mif f l in and along with it came new regional manager Robert Cal ifornia. Af ter his demise, Andy Bernard (played by Ed Helms) became the regional manager. The audience and even the actors agree- things just weren?t the same without Michael Scot t .

It is not certain that Michael Scot t wil l appear for one last t ime in the series f inale, but certain ?Of f ice? spin-of fs may be in the works (sans Scot t , unfortunately). ?The Farm? is a possibi l i ty, centered around Dwight Schrute on his infamous beet farm. According to Huf fPost TV, "The Farm" wil l air on Thursday, March 14 at 9 p.m. on NBC. The backdoor pi lot features Dwight reunit ing with his sibl ings to run the Schrute beet farm and bed and breakfast . Guest stars include Majandra Del f ino, Thomas Middleditch, Matt L. Jones and Tom Bower.?

Also, as an editor?s note: how neat would it be if ?The Of f ice? and Amy Poehler?s ?Parks and Recreat ion? col l ided? There has been talk of Tina Fey?s ?30 Rock? joining forces with ?The Of f ice? but that was nixed awhile ago by Carel l . On an exclusive MTV interview, Tina Fey said that would have loved the cross-over. Here?s how it went :

?But Fey decided to run with the idea, ?80s sitcom-style, and came up with a concept : ?What if i t was a thing where we went to Paris??

Carel l cont inued with an equal ly famil iar crossover t rope. ?When there?s a snowstorm and three separate [shows] and they?re situated in dif ferent cit ies ? they al l end up at the same ski lodge, snowed in.?

?See, I love that ,? Fey said, before proposing the ul t imate ?Happy Days? homage: ?What if Liz Lemon and Michael Scot t go up against each other in a shark-jumping contest??

?Wouldn?t people love to see that?? Carel l laughed.

?Oh, Internet !? Fey agreed.?

(Excerpt taken from MTV Interview on April 8, 2010)

An "Office" Spin-Off?

3 | Televi si on Today

NBC has decided to not fol low through with the premiere

of ?The Farm?, a backdoor pi lot of ?The Of f ice? to fol low

the series f inale. According to Huf fpost TV, the pilot was

to fol low Dwight Schrute?s reunion with his brother and

sister (which is where ?The Of f ice? lef t of f towards the

end of Season 8 when he inherited a mul t i-mil l ion dol lar

beet farm f rom his aunt). The series was to chronicle

Dwight running the farm as a primit ive and quaint (albeit

st range) bed and breakfast .

The reasons for NBC?s cancel lat ion are primari ly that

fans are ready to put eight long seasons of ?The Of f ice?

behind them. TIME Entertainment?s James Poniewozik

states:

?Judging f rom the hal f -hour, or the hal f -hal f -hour

devoted to the Schrute farm, it would have been a loopy

f reakshow that would have foregrounded the most zany,

least grounded aspects of The Of f ice in an ef fort to keep

t i l l ing the f ranchise l ike an exhausted f ield. It was a

terrible idea.?

Suf f ice it to say that , ?The Farm? could have been a

much bet ter idea had it waited a l i t t le while longer to be

more wel l -thought out and produced. Many crit ics of the

init ial pi lot also ment ioned that the show focusing on

only Dwight would experience numerous shortcomings. I

hope to one day see ?The Farm? t ry again or another

spin-of f of ?The Of f ice?? perhaps a crossover with

another relatable show that centers around a group of

"OFfice" spin-off, continued5 | Televi si on Today

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