Finally Some Real News on THE OFFICE Spinoff

The blogs were all a buzz last night with rumors of Rashida Jones joining THE OFFICE spinoff. But this morning, courtesy of Variety, we have the first real news about the show including the first cast member to officially sign on as well some news about the new writing staff.

Aziz Ansari, best known for his work on the MTV comedy show “Human Giant” is the first official cast member for the yet to be named OFFICE spinoff. No word yet on who he will be portraying, we only know that he will be part of a larger ensemble cast.

THE OFFICE showrunner Greg Daniels and current OFFICE producer/writer/guest star, Michael Schur, will be the EP’s on the spinoff. The producers said they’re “excited about the message they hope Ansari’s casting sends to the comedy community and “Office” fans”.

About Ansari, Daniel tells Variety,”We met him pretty early on and thought he was very funny. We loved his work in ‘Human Giant,’ which I’m a huge fan of, as is Mike, and we have a good character for him.”

As for the show itself, it [still] seems all a little up in the air right now. The exact premise of the show has yet to be nailed down. But it seems that the show will be a traditional spinoff as it’s unlikely that any current cast members of THE OFFICE would be leaving their show (a sigh of relief for OFFICE fans everywhere). According to reports, things are so yet undefined that perhaps the new show won’t be a spinoff as much as another comedy from the creators and writers of THE OFFICE that shares the same sensibilities.

“We’re focusing on making the best show we can make as a companion to ‘The Office,'” Schur said. “We’re trying to come up with the best concept and hire the funniest writers. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be making the final move to one specific idea.”

I for one am very happy to see that the spinoff isn’t poaching writers from THE OFFICE. I’m sure there will be some crossover, but I don’t want to sacrifice the quality of the original to help along the spinoff. So far three writers are on board for the new show: Tucker Cawley (Everybody Loves Raymmond), Dan Goor (Late Night with Conan O’Brien) and Alan Yang (South Park).

This whole spinoff has seemed a bit sketchy to me from day one. As I’ve said before, I never got the sense the the new show was a result of Greg Daniels need to tell more stories as much as it was NBC’s need to capitalize off the success of THE OFFICE. I mean the fact that the network made a big to do about a show that didn’t even have a concept yet sounded a bit odd. I think Greg Daniels and Michael Schur are geniuses and would never want to put something out there that would hurt their credibility or the credibility of THE OFFICE franchise, but at the same time, I can’t imagine that great comedy comes from being backed into a corner.

Either way, you know I’ll be watching. I support Mose Schrute!