ec/dc talks to Rainn Wilson

ec/dc, a Scranton publication, got a chance to talk to Rainn Wilson (“Dwight”):

The Office may be a vehicle for Steve Carell but some would say that the real star is Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight Schrute, the sycophantic No. 2 to Carell’s cluelessly self-important branch manager. ec/dc caught up with him in Vancouver, where he’s currently shooting an E.T.-esque family film called Mimzy. Wilson made a pair of calls to Scranton — he was interrupted by an emergency page to the set, and by his 1 1/2-year-old son Walter — to chat about the “cult of Dwight.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

Thanks to Life in the Office for the tip!

Jenna Fischer TV Guide blog: The Fight

From Jenna Fischer’s TV Guide blog, dated April 20, 2006:

Inside The Office’s “Fight” Club

We are airing another rerun this week [Thursday at 9:30 pm/ET on NBC]…. This time it’s “The Fight.” I know what you are probably thinking: “I want a new episode of The Office! Why should I watch a rerun?”

In this episode Dwight earns a purple belt in karate and wears it to work. This sparks an argument between Dwight and Michael about who is tougher, which escalates until they agree to meet at Dwight’s karate studio at lunch to duke it out. You should watch this rerun because it is so packed with laughs it will leave your head spinning. Don’t believe me? Our director of photography, Randall Einhorn, used to work on Survivor so nothing surprises him — he’s a total pro. He never laughs while shooting. He can’t, the show is shot entirely on handheld cameras, so if he laughs, it’s over. But during the scene at the karate studio where Michael and Dwight are fighting, Randall was laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his face. He had to take the camera off his shoulder and hold it away from his body so it wouldn’t shake during the scene.

And if that’s not enough to convince you to watch a rerun, I’m about to tell you a bunch of often-missed jokes and insider trivia to make it even more fun. And I’ll even throw in some answers to your frequently asked questions along the way. You can keep this with you while you watch the episode… like a cheat sheet!

1. Rose from Warrington, Penn., wrote, “You’ve played a lot of jokes on Dwight. Which one is your favorite?” It might be the one at the start of this episode when we put Dwight’s desk in the bathroom. Look for Kevin in the background at the end, when he leaves one of the stalls. He has a lit candle and a newspaper. For all of you Office geeks, it was this moment that lead to Kevin’s line in the “Office Olympics” episode about the bathroom candle smelling like cookies. It really did smell like cookies.

2. Pat in Fox Lake, Ill., asks, “What is it that B.J. Novak holds up in the opening credits? It looks like a plastic bag or something.” That shot is from the Season 1 episode called “Basketball.” B.J. is holding up a bag of gym clothes to show Michael he is ready to play basketball at lunch.

3. Does Dwight’s sensei Ira look familiar? He’s Lance Krall, the guy who played Kip on The Joe Schmo Show. Clayton from Minneapolis, Minn., wrote in to ask, “Since your show is somewhat of a ‘mock reality show,’ do you have any other favorite mock reality shows?” Yes, I do, Clayton: The Joe Schmo Show. It’s the greatest. I was very excited to work with Lance. I spent an entire lunch grilling him about The Joe Schmo Show.

4. Jane from Los Angeles wants to know: “It looks like you guys have a lot of fun on the set, but I’m curious, was there a scene where the cast just couldn’t go on without breaking?” Well, I’m very bad about laughing during scenes; I ruin a lot of takes with Steve Carell because I end up laughing in the middle. Before this episode, I made it a personal goal to make it through one show without breaking. My first scene after that with Steve was the scene where he tells Ryan to start an emergency-contact list. Meanwhile, I confront him about signing some overdue forms. I was so concentrated on not laughing at Steve that when B.J. Novak looked at me and said the line “updating emergency contacts,” I lost it. We had to do the scene about 20 times because every time B.J. looked at me I started to laugh. The only way I got through the scene was by not looking him in the eye. It was a mess. A fun mess, but a mess.

5. The way Kevin says “Stacy” when asked about his emergency contact is an often-mimicked line among the cast. We really like the way Brian Baumgartner said this line. It’s one word but it goes through about four octaves.

6. I love the way John Krasinski’s fingers move when he reveals that he stole Dwight’s purple belt. For some reason it reminds me of when Mr. Burns from The Simpsons says “Excellent.”

7. Some often-missed jokes: Did you catch the name of Michael’s “gang”? The Damn Rascals. Did you catch that Michael and Dwight spent a New Year’s Eve together watching Armageddon? How about the fact that Dwight’s grandfather was a Nazi? Listen to his interview: His grandfather was a World War II vet (normal); he killed 20 men (OK); and then spent the rest of the war in an Allied prison camp (Nazi).

8. One of my favorite scenes from our entire second season is the scene when Michael and Dwight face off in the kitchen. John and I almost started laughing about a million times. I like the constant misuse of common phrases: catch-22; “Two hits: me punching you and you hitting the floor”; and my personal favorite: tit for tit.

9. When we all pile into the elevator, be sure to check out Kevin’s face as the elevator doors close.

10. It was really hot the day we shot the scene at the karate studio, and the air-conditioning in our trailers wasn’t working. Trailers are metal, so it was like changing your clothes in a sauna. I was supersweaty, but I had to wear a sweater because we had established it earlier inside the office. I felt bad that John Krasinski had to get so close to me and lift me up. I’m sure I smelled. He says I didn’t, but I think he was just being nice.

11. Randall lost it when Michael pinned down Dwight in the fight and started to spit on him. If you notice, in the extra fight scene after the show is over, Lance Krall was laughing in the background.

12. As a former secretary, I really relate to the dynamic between Pam and Michael in this episode. During one of my early secretarial jobs, I had a boss take so long to do his end-of-the-month report that I had to drive to the airport to send it FedEx because the airport has the latest drop time.

Whew! I hope you enjoy rewatching “The Fight.” Next week we’ll have an all-new episode!

Oh, and many of you have written asking me if you can get a Dwight bobblehead. Well, now you can. They are available in the NBC online store for $15.

Dwight Schrute bobblehead available for pre-order!

dwight schrute bobbleheadThe Dwight Schrute Bobblehead that we all know and love from the episode Valentine’s Day is now available for pre-order at the NBC Universal Store!

“Now you can have your own Dwight Schrute bobblehead on your desk to console you during the workday doldrums. You can also rock the house of any other Dunder Mifflinites by giving them this gift of Dwight. This bobblehead is exclusive to the NBC Universal Store.”

$15, shipping around May 20.

Use DUNDER10 at checkout for a 10% discount.

Thanks to OfficeTally reader Jane for the tip!

The latest Office gossip from E!’s Kristin

In yesterday’s chat with Kristin of E! Online:

From Lynn: What happened to The Office?!

Fear not! It will be back. And the Jim and Pam storyline is heating up — big time! We won’t find out whether she marries Sir Doofalot before the season ends, but Jim will finally give her a very good reason not to. Yes, the feelings are coming out — and it’s gonna be squeal-worthy!

Hmm, what do you think “squeal-worthy” means? Another kiss perhaps?!

I can hardly freaking stand it!

Bid on autographed Office DVD, script, and photo!

The NBC Universal’s All-Star Charity Auction, which takes place April 19-25, will be auctioning off many cool show items and experiences, including this item:

The Office signed Season 1 DVD, Script & Photo

(Too bad The Office isn’t auctioning off a walk-on part, like “My Name is Earl” is doing. I think I’d mortgage my house for a chance at that one!)

For more information on the auction, click here.

To bid, go to NBCUniversalStore.com starting April 19.

Update: to see a photo of the winnings, head over to Northern Attack.

The Office receives Rose d’Or nominations

Rose d’Or (“Golden Rose”), the international festival for entertainment television programming, has announced its 2006 nominees.

Among them:

  • Best Sitcom: The Office
  • Best Male Sitcom Performance: Steve Carell

The Office and Steve Carell are the only U.S. nominees in their respective categories.

Oh, and it’s nice that Ricky Gervais, executive producer of The Office and star and creator of the original UK version, will be given an Honorary Rose d’Or Award “in recognition of his exceptional creative talents, his originality and his innovation.”

The awards ceremony will be held on April 29 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

(Never heard of Rose d’Or until today? Me either! But it’s been around 43 years and is supposed to be the most prestigious competition for international television programming. Learn more here.)

So this brings up the question: in which countries is the U.S. version of The Office broadcast? — please post a comment!

OfficeTally Calendar now powered by iCal

The OfficeTally Calendar, which lists upcoming Office episodes as well as talk show appearances by the Office cast and other noteworthy events, is now powered by iCal.

What does this mean?

It means that you can now subscribe to the OfficeTally calendar using any website or application that supports the iCalendar (.ics) format.

This includes (but is not limited to):

Just use the following address: webcal://ical.mac.com/tanster/OfficeTally.ics

Thanks to OfficeTally reader JOJOFACE for the suggestion to move to iCal!

This feature is no longer available.