The Office to become one-hour show?
Monday, April 30th, 2007 | 134 commentsCNNMoney.com posted an article today on NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker. Toward the end of the second page of the article is an intriguing tidbit about The Office:
At NBC’s “upfront” presentation to advertisers on May 14, Zucker says he expects NBC to unveil five new programs — three dramas, one comedy, and one reality show — for its fall schedule. Zucker and Reilly are considering stretching The Office to an hour and canceling the original Law & Order.
Link: Life imitates TV
Tipster: Luke
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how many minutes of commerical in a 1 hr. program
[from tanster: use punctuation and re-post. thanks!]
this would be AWESOME. ideally i would like 45 minutes including commercials, but more time is better than less! Some of the more recent episodes, like “Safety Training” and “Product Recall,” seemed really really short.
125-”I dont think its a great idea developing Creed, Meredith, & Stanley & co. because that just adds to the already large list of characters to keep track of.”
Actually the only characters that are truly developed are Michael, Jim, Pam, and Dwight. A show like LOST is so brilliantly done because the audience has in-depth knowledge about each character.
Obviously The Office is a different format than LOST, but comedies have in-depth characters as well (all 6 Friends characters were highly developed).
I think a lot of us would agree that seeing Jim’s apartment, Dwight’s farm, Pam’s art show, and Michael’s improv class add a lot to the story. I would PAY the writers to have them script an episode about Creed - where he lives, hobbies, family members, etc.
Extending The Office to one hour would be a stellar move. The show seems to produce enough content to fill an hour, hence all the left over deleted scenes that cannot make it into the 21 minutes that they have in the 30 minute slot. The time extension would allow for more awkward pauses, more story development and character flavor. It will also maintain the show’s realism. There have been some deleted scenes posted on NBC.com that I couldn’t believe were axed. (A deleted scene from “Safety Training” comes to mind). They are sometimes just as funny, if not funnier than what the producers edited into the aired episode, and would have lent more value to the full view of the storyline. I can only guess that they had to chop them for lack of time. One hour should would allow all this Jammy, Michael Scott, Dwighty goodness, and I would be in bliss for one full hour each week.
And also - an extra 30 minutes of John Krasinski, Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson and Jenna Fischer would make my week. :-) I hope we have some good news at the NBC Upfronts.
attn: 120 DrunkBiking i would hope for a three hour block of comedy move ER to another time and either bring back Andy Barker PI or get a new comedy but this is just wishful speaking
i hope they don’t cancel law and order but i hope they make the office an hour
124- well, Ugly Betty comes to mind. Or Freaks and Greeks (which was great). Of course these are more dramedys than sitcoms…but The Office is less a sitcom than it is a dramedy, so it’s perfect.
Jeff Zucker: make our collective dreams come true and we will follow you to the moon and back.
I would love if the Office was an hour long! 1/2 hour is too short, (20 minutes without commercials).
At first my reaction was heck yeah! But now I’m worried that it may be too much of a good thing. I love this show and don’t want to get burned out by it.
IT’d be great to be able to see an hour of The Office every week, but the formula they have now is gold. I dont think its a great idea developing Creed, Meredith, & Stanley & co. because that just adds to the already large list of characters to keep track of. Their consistant characters provide comic relief at perfect times. I think NBC should stay the course w/ The Office & spend some time developing new shows.
WOW - could they really do that?
has there ever been a one hour comedy in the history of television??
Drop Karen and get Pam with Jim and each episode can be 15 minutes. Not really, just drop Karen.
Attn: Jeff Zucker
This is a great move! Sell a few more ads and let the writers develop these awesome characters. Also, please consider dropping the idea of repeats and skipped weeks all the time. It gives viewers too many opportunities to channel surf and watch other networks. Keep the momentum going.
The 22 minutes it’s on now is not enough. If it were 29 minutes like most British shows, that would be perfect, but what they’re proposing (45 minutes) is too much.
I doubt it seat42f, I’d expect something more like this:
1st hour: Deal or No Deal
2nd hour: Scrubs/30 Rock
3rd hour: The Office
I actually HATE this idea!!!! Only because it most likely means Thursday night would look like this…. 9:00 hour is too jam packed as it is….
8:00 - 8:30 Earl
8:30 - 9:30 Office
9:30 30 Rock
That would be zoppity
I’m putting this up so more people can see it! We already have almost 100 signatures in 18 hours!! Keep ‘em coming!
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/hourlongoffice
I think the format of The Office is suited to an hour - not just because I want more Office (of course I do!) but because I think it is the kind of well-rounded show that can handle it. It’s not really a sitcom - it’s a character-driven show that has a storyline that develops over many episodes, and it has plenty of moments that aren’t funny but are sad, romantic, intense. There’s a reason The Office doesn’t have a laugh track - because it’s more than just a series of one-liners.