Given the fanfare with which NBC is closing The Office after nine seasons (at least two too many), you'd think it was a Cheers or Seinfeld-sized hit from the "must-see" glory days, instead of the show that presided over the slow fade of a once-powerful comedy brand on the back of too many same-seeming niche comedies specializing in preciously arch irony. At its best (the Steve Carell and early Jim-Pam years), The Office had heart as well as range, as it found comic magic in its ensemble once the show emerged from the large shadow cast by the classic Ricky Gervais original series. But now it just hits the same beats over and over to lesser effect, which hasn't stopped NBC from pulling out the stops. The celebration (eulogy?) begins with an hour-long behind-the-scenes retrospective (Thursday, 8/7c) produced by NBC News — which didn't have more pressing business? — featuring interviews from cast members and producers. The main event is a super-sized finale (9/8c) that has swelled to an hour and 15 minutes, staged as a mock reunion of the Dunder Mifflin gang several months after the airing of the mock documentary that took nearly a decade to finish.
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It was a give and take for Kunal Nayyar on last week's The Big Bang Theory.
The guys (and later girls) played a hilarious and ultimately revealing game of Dungeons & Dragons, except Raj (Nayyar) wasn't part of it. Instead, he bailed for a date with his equally, if not more, socially awkward love interest Lucy (Kate Micucci), whom he ended up kissing through a chain-link fence.
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"When I knew they were writing a D&D episode, I was so excited. I was like, 'Yes, it's finally happening!' But then I didn't realize that I wasn't going to be part of it!" Nayyar tells TVGuide.com. "I was a little ...
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It's Luau Day on the set of The Big Bang Theory, with the crew adorned in Hawaiian flower-print shirts and the craft services table boasting a massive spread of island eats.
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Question: Two slightly related questions. First, in recent weeks, we've had the return of (at least) three classic TV stars guest starring on hit shows, with Bob Newhart on The Big Bang Theory and Patty Duke and Meredith Baxter on Glee. While a large part of me got a kick out of seeing them again (especially Newhart), part of me was kind of saddened to see how much they've aged. Newhart seemed fairly frail (granted, it has been almost 25 years since Newhart left the airwaves), though still funny.
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Scandal hit a series high Thursday with its reveal of the mole.
The drama drew 8.9 million viewers and a 3.2 in the adults 18-to-49 demographic, up six-tenths from last week. Lead-in Grey's Anatomy (8.6 million, 2.9) was down ...
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