U.S. TV gets it right with “Britcoms”

TV critic Alan Sepinwall discusses what it takes to make foreign TV show sensations successful here in the U.S. The Office is used as a prime example.

An excerpt:

Where Ricky Gervais’ David Brent in the original was a sweaty, incompetent clod, Steve Carell’s Michael Scott is presented as a pathetically lonely man who wants everyone to be his friend. It doesn’t make him easier to work for, but it does make us — and, on occasion, the other characters — understand his behavior.

In the second-season premiere, Michael dragged the entire staff to Chili’s for his unbearable annual tradition of “The Dundies,” a gag award show. Everyone complained about having to sit through Michael’s lame, borderline-offensive jokes, but when a bunch of drunks at the bar began to heckle and shame him, the staff rose to his defense — a feel-good moment that never would have happened on the British show but didn’t feel false here.

Jump to U.S. TV gets it right with “Britcoms”.

The Saturday Tally

New blogs this week

Other notable items

  • A second Diwali deleted scene is available.
  • An item about the Nov. 30 episode of The Office has been posted in spoilers.
  • If you haven’t checked the Halloween post lately, there are now nearly 25 photos posted. Thanks to all who sent in pics!
  • Kate Flannery (“Meredith”) performs in The Lampshades, Hollywood, on Saturday.
  • Craig Robinson (“Darryl”) performs in Pasadena this coming Sunday and Wednesday.
  • Friday, Nov. 10 talk show visits: Rainn Wilson appears on ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ (thanks Mo!), and Jenna appears on ‘Late Show with David Letterman’. See the OfficeTally Calendar for the latest list of events.
  • Staples’ MailMate junk mail shredder is “integrated into the story line” of Nov. 16’s episode, ‘The Merger’. Read more here.
  • Casio calculator watches are apparently spurring bidding wars on eBay with Office fans. Read more here (scroll down to ‘Gooden: Rockin’ to Milli Vanilli’ item).
  • Here is an Evan Almighty video trailer. Funny!
  • Lastly, I heard that a promo clip of next week’s episode, ‘Branch Closing’, was shown during ‘Las Vegas’ last night, so chances are, it will be shown again sometime this weekend. If you see a clip of it uploaded anywhere, let me know! :)

Other Mindy/Diwali news

Welcome to the Mindy News Network. At least for today. :)

Rather than put each new Mindy/Diwali story in a separate post, I will list them here:

  • NBC.com: Interview with Mindy Kaling about Diwali. (Thanks Jill!)
  • Netscape: on the set of The Office, part 2, with Mindy Kaling.
  • Zap2it: Happy Diwali From ‘The Office’. Mindy Kaling takes center stage in episode about Hindu festival.
  • NPR Fresh Air: Interview with Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling (34 minutes).
  • KDWB radio, Minneapolis: Dave Ryan in the Morning Show interviews Mindy Kaling.
  • WKLH radio, Milwaukee: The Dave and Carole Show interviews Mindy Kaling. OfficeTally provided some of the questions!

SPOILER WARNING Any or all of the above may be spoilerish. I haven’t had time to check out each one, so this is a blanket warning. :)

Thanks to the many, many people who sent in tips on these tidbits, and a SPECIAL thank you to Marcus, Dave, and Carole over at WKLH!

Mindy Kaling throws a party

TVGuide.com talks to Mindy Kaling about tonight’s episode, Diwali, which she wrote.

I love this quote:

The thing about our show is whenever there’s like a sweet moment, we have to counter it with a grotesque moment. Otherwise we become the sort of maudlin sitcom that we as writers hate. We don’t ever want to be the show with the “very special moment,” or where two characters understand each other finally. It has to be cut with something that’s not right, so we can “reset the order of the universe.”

Read Mindy Kaling Throws a Surprise-filled Office Party!

SPOILER WARNING! The article is a little spoilerish. Read at your own risk.

Yahoo preview clips of ‘Diwali’

Yahoo TV has posted a whopping SEVEN preview clips of this Thursday’s episode, Diwali.

Click here, click NBC in the left column, and then click ‘The Office.’

SPOILER WARNING! If you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t watch. Comments may contain spoilers as well.

Thanks, Angelica, for the tip!

P.S. “Carolyn”? Get your characters straight, Yahoo peeps!

Diwali 2-minute preview video

TV Guide has posted a preview of this week’s episode, Diwali, and it is hysterical.

Watch the Diwali preview here.

SPOILER WARNING! If you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t watch. Comments may contain spoilers as well.

Thanks to GMMR for finding this!

P.S. I had a heck of a time getting the video to play all the way through. Finally got it on my seventh try! Hope you guys have better luck …