Mindy Kaling, Michael Schur, and Jen Celotta at Comic-Con’s Office writers panel.
Update 8pm: okay, live blogging from Comic-Con today was kind of a dismal failure. Mostly because Matt and I were so completely busy after The Office panel in the press room with Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, Jen Celotta, Rainn Wilson, Justin Spitzer, and Lee Eisenberg. We’ve got some good Season 5 scoop for you, including information about upcoming episodes. We’re exhausted, so we may not post until tomorrow …
I will tell you that the crowd that came to attend The Office panel was massive — so massive that many fans decided to attend the two panel discussions that occurred prior to The Office panel just to get into the room and secure good seats. (Comic-Con does not clear the rooms between sessions.)
Matt and I had that very same idea — we started waiting in line around 10am to get into the Sarah Connor Chronicles panel, which started at 11:30am. Our seats weren’t great, but as soon as the panel ended, we rushed forward as fast as we could to secure fourth row seats for The Office panel, which started at 12:45.
Rainn did an awesome job of moderating the panel with his ascerbic wit and silly comments, some aimed directly at fans that had lined up at the microphone to ask questions. One young lady had clipped a Dwight stress ball to her hair, to which Rainn remarked, “is that a Dwight tumor on your head?”
Anyway, NBC.com should be posting the entire panel very soon, and I will link to it here as soon as they do!
We will attempt to live blog from Comic-Con on Saturday as we face throngs of people dressed as characters from shows we know nothing about, stand in endless lines, attend The Office panel (our MAIN EVENT!), and hopefully, get some face time with the writers.
If you have an interesting question, please post it (along with which writer the question is for, or if it’s for Matt or me) in a comment below.
Don’t know if any questions will actually get answered, but remember the last time we did live blogging, Mike Schur promised he would name a Tallyhead’s dog!
I have a question for anyone- it’s unrelated (maybe) to The Office…what’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen at Comic-Con?
Oh, and what did Mike end up naming the dog?
extra awesome- last year there was a great LOST video posted and it was totally out there
This question would be for any of the Office writers I suppose, but did Pam have a car before she bought the Yaris? In my mind, she didn’t, which would have made her all that more dependent on Roy, but I could be very wrong. Just curious. Thanks for reading!
That was my dog he promised to name! I was thinking about that the other day. We haven’t picked one out yet, but I’ll send you the picture of him when we do, tanster, so you can send it to Mike.
Question for any Office writer: How have you seen the writing progress from season 1 to season 4?
I was watching the Comic-Con event live on G4 yesterday, and it looked bananas! I hope you guys make it back safe.
For everyone- Are any certain writers like certain characters on the show?
TALLYHEAD PARTY UP IN THIS JOINT!!
mattttttty. (:
Totally unrelated but Tanster, you look so pretty!!!
You have a large writing staff on The Office. How is it decided which writers scripts and ideas are used, and once its decided is there alot of editing by the writing staff as an ensemble?
Has the increased popularity of the Office affected the writing, do you guys feel more stressed to put out really good material every week? How much fan input do you factor in when writing the show?
“We’re exhausted, so we may not post until tomorrow . . .” You’re killing me!
Seriously, though, I hope you guys had an amazing time. I can’t wait to read/chat all about it!
[from tanster: i know, i’m sorry! :( you have to have serious reserves of stamina to blog at Comic-Con. i’m exhausted and we only covered one panel; i can’t imagine reporting on multiple sessions!]
Was Mindy and B.j. there?
[from tanster: yes!]
Love the photo of tanster and matty! I’m sure you guys had too much fun! :) Can’t wait to hear all about it.
tanster! I saw you at the front of the line for Sarah Chronicles and slowly began to grow sad as i went to the back of the line. which wrapped around rooms 6, and then outside, and then around some stairs, down them, then up again. I was waiting in line for an hour and fifteen minutes and just barely got in at the back, but it was way worth it.
For people who weren’t there, don’t worry. Something that all the writers mentioned is how much they loved being at Comic Con so I’m sure they’ll be back.
Hey Tanster! It was great meeting you today! I was the one who sat next to you, and I’m sorry I never got to say goodbye… I was too busy trying to rush to get any sort of autograph haha. Anyhoo… I hope you had a great time today! I’m totally jealous that you got to hang with them afterwards!!
-Lindsay
[from tanster: lindsay, thanks so much for the bathroom break tip. you totally saved me. :) ]
I went! Thanks to my friends and their sneaky ways I managed to make it in time to grab a seat. Tanster, I saw you from afar. I was going to say hello but I ended up rushing to the front in a frenzy to get my Dwight poster signed by BJ. It was … awesome. I hope you had a great Comic-Con experience.
I’m so excited to live vicariously through your reporting. Can’t wait to read the report tomorrow. Thanks for being super awesome.
I’m so mad that I got sick yesterday and had to come back to LA today :(. I really wanted to see this panel!
too tired!??!! what happened to Matt’s after party?! haha
awww man… I’m so jealous of you guys. I can’t believe you got to be in the press room…. well I can believe Tanster did, cause she’s awesome like that, but Matt!! Holy crap!!! Were you just freaking out when you met Greg & Rainn or what?
what a great day! that must’ve been a blast =D
Hi Tanster! I didn’t get to meet you but I did shout out your name with a few other tallyheads seated upfront center. I was one of the few to show up at around 6am to line up for the 12:45pm panel. I had B.J. Novak and Michael Schur autograph their panel placecards. I also acquired Paul Feig’s autographed placecard. He was in the panel after The Office panel. The panel discussion and the autographs totally made up for the hours of waiting in line. Were you able to make it to “The Rocker” screening?
[from tanster: yes, i remember! you guys were so sweet! nice job getting the placecards!]
I’ve already looked on nbc.com…it’s all “Heroes” stuff…I can’t wait to find out what information the writers shared about season 5!!! :)
I’ve heard that Comic-Con is absolute madness. Glad to hear that you guys got extra awesome seats! It’s so cool that our writers received a hearty welcome… Office fans love the actors AND the people behind the scenes :)
Why did you decide not to show how Jim and Pam got together in between the end of Season 3, when Jim asked Pam on a date, and the beginning of Season 4, when they are already dating? Did they ever talk about the past? In their Season 4 relationship, it’s weird — it’s as if Roy, Karen, and all of the missed connections had never happened.
I was shocked that they put them in 6a. It is such a small room that I have a feeling several hundred people were turned away. They could have filled a much larger room. I was in line for well over an hour and just made it in, but I know that many others were not as lucky.
Can you pass that along to any of the show staffers? They should know how many people wanted to get in, but were unable.
Waiting through terminator was totally worth it! And I got that awesome picture of Dwight and Mose together!
[from tanster: that was you? nice! please send the photo and i’ll post it here!]
Thanks for the effort…waiting for the news.
“It’s not so much the horniness as it is the loneliness” Michael Scott
Glad to hear everyone had a nice time! I wish I could have gone. And season 5 scoop? Please spill! :)
I’m glad you made it to the screening. I was seated next to my cousin, who was seated right next to the sleepy guy Rainn kept pointing out.
sounds like you had an awesome time..how exciting, want to hear more of what it was like
at least you guys tried! my friends & i were in the second row, and we screamed out your name when you passed by. haha
[from tanster: i remember! that was awesome.]