hollywoodnews.com: Big news on NBC’s hit comedies The Office and 30 Rock, and their newest Law & Order series from today’s executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour. Angela Bromstad, President of Primetime Entertainment talked about Steve Carell’s replacement on The Office and a big event for Tina Fey’s comedy.
It’s been known for a few months that this season would be Carell’s last on The Office. Bromstad knew for a while though, so they planned ahead. “Greg Daniels and Paul Lieberstein do have a plan in terms of who is going to replace Michael [Scott],” Bromstad. “So there will be a lot of storylines leading up to that and there will be some mystery as to who that will be.”
Later, Bromstad added that the main issue of replacing Carell will be dealt with creatively on the show. Will Dunder Mifflin promote one of its own or hire somebody new? Likewise, will NBC promote one of the Office stars or bring in new blood. Either way, The Office isn’t going anywhere.
“Would we have ended ER when George Clooney left?” Bromstand postulated. “That would’ve been a shame so this is a tremendous ensemble cast. Like I said, we’ve known about it for some time and planned for it. I would be very sad to be ending the show and I couldn’t go home and face my 14-year-old son if The Office went off the air.”
30 Rock is doing a live episode this season. It’s probably more in Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels’ wheelhouse than filming the weekly episodes. “Tina’s up for it,” Bromstad said. “Coming from Saturday Night Live, Lorne and Tina are very up for it. We’re just doing as much as we can to garner attention for the shows and stay true to them creatively. Tina and Lorne agreed to it and we think it’s a great idea.”
It was NBC’s request for a live show, and there will be the standard delay of a few seconds in case of any FCC issues. Each time zone will get their own live broadcast. “You’ll see an east coast original and a west coast [version].”
NBC announced more comedy guest stars too. “Drew Carey on Community, Kathy Bates returning to The Office and Rob Lowe has joined the cast of Parks and Recreation as a regular.”
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