Ed Helms and Angela Kinsey
In last season's finale of The Office (Thursdays, 9 pm/ET, NBC), not only did Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) accept a marriage proposal from dimbulb rageoholic Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), she also got caught in flagrante delicto with Dwight by Phyllis. This season, with Angela and Andy's wedding plans under way (see their hilarious wedding website here), Angela's passions remain divided. Will she make it to the altar, and who will be at her side? Kinsey and Helms talked to us about all the wedding and pregnancy rumors, how fun it is to have a meltdown on TV and how the wrapping-paper section of Kinsey's closet helps her get into character.
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No office party is complete without swans carved in ice. Angela Kinsey and Ed Helms by Justin Lubin/NBC.
Apparently Michael goes to the corporate party in NYC while the rest of the gang is left with a much less impressive bash back in Scranton. One wonders: was Michael invited or is he crashing the festivities? Is Jan coming along as his date? And will someone - most likely Meredith, if she's fully recovered - get loaded and embarass themselves? Post your thoughts on who will kill the party buzz and check back after the episode for my recap.
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In this episode titled "Oleander," we gather for a meal at one of the hottest new eateries in L.A. The food is great, and the people are very cool. I love doing the group restaurant scenes because you get a nice taste — pardon the pun — of each of the characters and how they all relate to each other. Plus, when we’re not rolling we get to catch up and try our best to crack each other up. Melanie Paxson gets the award for the best, most embarrassing story. It didn’t happen to her but to a friend of hers, and it took our breath away. All I can say is, it involved a girl, a guy and a city. Sad that I can’t go into detail, but I fear Melanie might sue me. This is the thing about blogging... I start to write just for myself and then I realize millions of people are reading my blog. Millions! And I need to be really careful about what I write. It’s very precious. I worked on Evan Almighty last summer and I loved when we were shooting, but I also loved when we...
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Question: I was wondering what you thought about Ed Helms being made a series regular on The Office. For me, The Office seems to be a show with split personalities. On one hand, there's the show I really like with Jim, Pam and the assorted cast members. On the other hand there's the show that is way over-the-top with Michael and Dwight, which I don't really enjoy. Helms' Andy character definitely falls into the latter category for me, and I have to admit to being a little disappointed to find that he'll be back at all. True, the back-and-forth between Andy and Dwight was fun for a moment, but in the end he's just a meaner version of Dwight, which makes the existence of both characters redundant. Worse, it shifts the focus of the show further toward the world of Michael and Dwight, and I can certainly do without that.
Answer: An interesting observation. The Office truly does feel like two different shows with clashing tones, from sly, realistically played comedy that feels uncomfortably
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Apparently all that brown-nosing with Michael did pay off. Daily Show alum Ed Helms, who joined NBC's The Office this season in a recurring capacity, has been upped to series-regular status, says the Hollywood Reporter. Rashida Jones, who plays the Stamford office's only other remaining "survivor," meanwhile remains on recurring status. (How much you wanna bet Pam "misplaced" Karen's paperwork? That Beesly is a minx, I tell you.)
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Kate Flannery, aka The Office's Meredith, here. Just a quick word this week. "The Coup" is showing this week and it is a rerun with some of the best Michael/Dwight scenes. I love the Dwight/Jan scenes. Melora Hardin (Jan) is so hilarious. She plays her comedy straight up. No mixer, no ice. Neat. Like a three-finger pour. Dry. I am thirsty.I am just coming down from the Golden Globes high. I returned my borrowed jewels and wiped the residual eyelash glue out my eyes. Being an actor is so insane. This week has been really fun. We have been shooting a very big episode this week that I can't speak about yet, but it involves love and cake. My costume was reminiscent of that NBC classic comedy, Golden Girls — you know, shoulder pads and gold thread. Meredith is as real as the woman behind the desk at your local DMV. Reality in fashion. That's The Office.The Office is getting bigger and better. Last week's episode put the ratings through the roof. The Office was the No. 1 sitcom last ...
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Now there's a line I never imagined I'd find myself typing: "In Praise of Dwight Schrute." Before I explain further, can I just say: How awesome are Thursday nights this season?This week, I truly needed escapism (I have a number of friends who are directly affected by the Time Inc. cutbacks that were announced Thursday, a very sad development for a very battered business), so I opted to watch the ABC lineup in more or less real time, and was richly rewarded.First, Ugly Betty. Sheer delight. Couldn't be happier for its, and America Ferrera's, Golden Globe wins. In especially fine form this week: Becki Newton as Amanda, who's a scintillating hoot even when she's manipulated into planning treachery against Daniel or calling our Betty a "stumpy troll." I also love how Betty is introducing Daniel to the finer things in life, like slices (although that looked like a full pizza) at the corner parlor and, gulp, karaoke. Took the sour taste of this week's American Idol auditions right out of...
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Question: While watching last Thursday's Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant-penned episode of The Office, I finally figured out one of the reasons why the show has been so good lately. When the show premiered, pretty much everyone agreed that the Michael and Dwight characters were the weak links out of the four leads. While Steve Carell steadily improved, Rainn Wilson continued to play like he's in a cartoon. Now along comes Ed Helms (Andy), who in my mind completes the quartet. By maintaining the right balance between annoying and entertaining, he blows Wilson out of the water. Plus, he has the same kind of little brother/big brother relationship with Jim that their British counterparts had. It almost seems like there are two Dwights now, and I prefer the new one. I say, get rid of Wilson.
Answer: It would hardly be a surprise for me to admit that I prefer Ed Helms' frat-boy spin on an unctuous suck-up buffoon over anything Rainn Wilson does as Dwight, but that doesn't mean I'd expect the
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Two weeks, and two Stamford employees who simply couldn't take the leadership of one Michael Scott. I'm disappointed to see Wayne Wilderson leave us already (and while we're on the topic, there was some disagreement last week as to whether we should refer to him as Purple Grapes or the WaMu guy — I have to confess, in my heart of hearts he'll always be the OSHA rep from that one episode of NewsRadio where Matthew hurt himself playing a rousing game of "Who Can Get the Paper Cup Off the Light Fixture" with Joe). But I'm putting my money on Nursing Mom to be the next to hand in her resignation. We can only hope Andy's here to stay — Ed Helms rocks my socks. If you changed the channel before the end credits, you missed something special: a super-falsetto serenade to Pam of "Rainbow Connection," complete with banjo accompaniment, with a wonderfully sweet two-shot of Jim and Pam letting us know that everything's gonna be OK. Sure, Jim is dating Karen (and it's hard to admit it,...
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Hello, fans of The Office. Meredith here."The Merger" is coming up this Thursday at 8:40 pm/ET on NBC. Last week was nail-biting. Thank god the Scranton branch didn't close. It's pretty wild. Now the Stamford, Connecticut, branch is about to merge. Michael has some very intense techniques for initiating the new people. This was a really fun episode to shoot. The new actors on our show are really fun. We all had a blast. Rashida Jones, Ursula Burton, Wayne Wilderson, Ed Helms, and Mike Bruner as Tony — all hilarious. They double the size and they double the comedy. I sound like a commercial for gum! It was like a party all week shooting this episode. I'll drink to that!I hope you all had a chance to watch the NBC.com producer's cut of "Branch Closing." I had a few really fun scenes in the producer's cut — which is the one for sale on iTunes, FYI! I loved doing the possible love scene with Steve where Meredith asks Michael if he's the guy she made a deal to have sex with o...
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