For their September issue (the one with J.Lo on the cover), the magazine polled their readers about everything from beauty products to fictional characters. A couple of their questions touched on workplace stuff. A majority of readers chose Liz Lemon as the boss they’d like to work for over Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Miranda “The Nazi” Bailey. Wow – you mean people might want to have a boss who is usually too busy dealing with her own weird personal dramas to care what you do over one who who regularly yells at and berates you in front of colleagues? Color me shocked.
As for “Who Would You Most Like to Share a Cubicle Wall With?,” the results were:
- Pam from The Office: 45 percent
- Betty from Ugly Betty: 42 percent
- Mary from The Mary Tyler Moore Show: 13 percent
I like all three of these ladies, but two of them are on shows that have been cancelled. (To be fair, Ugly Betty was only cancelled last year, so Betty is still pretty zeitgeisty.) Does this mean we need some more examples of strong women in the workplace on TV? The answer to that is pretty much always “yes.”
Receptionist Pam Beesly of “The Office” was recently crowned “Employee of the Year” by Us Weekly. Well, more specifically, it was Pam’s portrayer, Jenna Fischer. She was one the honorees on Us’ “Hot Hollywood” list, along with American Idol Kris Allen (“Victor of the Year”), The Soup’s Joel McHale (“Comic of the Year”), and Leona Lewis (“Chanteuse of the Year”).
I love Pam, and Jenna Fischer seems pretty awesome too.
That said, does Us Weekly know there is a difference between actors and the characters they play on TV?
John Krasinski is best known for playing the Jim on The Office, but it turns out he has a pretty impressive resume. In addition to majoring in playwriting at Brown University, he studied acting at various places including The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and The Actor’s Center in New York City. Not only does the guy have technique, he also put in time doing less-than-glamorous work before finding TV stardom. He spent some time working as a script intern on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Not only is this guy yummy, he is willing to work hard. If I wasn’t already planning to go check out his bearded hipster hotness in the movie Away We Go, learning this information would have totally pushed me over the edge.
Have you ever watched an episode of The Office and wondered what it might be like to actually have to work with Dwight Schrute? I mean, the guy’s hilarious on TV, but would he amuse the hell out of you in person, or make you want to kill him?
A researcher at Brigham Young University, Dr. Katie Liljenquist, had that same question. She did a study about “socially distinct newcomers” and their effect on offices. She believes that “Dwights” can make cause offices to become more cohesive and work better as a team while they deal with the weirdness or intractibility of their new coworker.
Insecure and conflict-averse employees who are comfortable in their groups often bristle when a newcomer arrives.
That’s because their social cohesiveness is threatened, says Prof. Liljenquist… If one person agrees with the outsider, the group is spurred to brush aside that discomfort and sharpen its focus on the task at hand. Members will open up to new ideas, have a few productive, yet civil boardroom tussles, and voilà: A higher-quality team session will ensue.
Not sure I buy it, but an interesting theory nonetheless.
As The Office’s US version continues to succeed commercially and with critics, there are more reports of a potential spinoff. Today the very funny and cool Amy Poehler (who just scored a Supporting Actress nomination for her many roles on Saturday Night Live and who is married to the equally funny and cool Will “GOB” Arnett) has been confirmed to star on the show. Comedian Aziz Ansari is the only other actor who has definitely been cast so far, and there’s no definite plot/location/character list for the show. Since both Saturday Night Live and The Office are NBC properties, it makes sense for the network to work with someone they already have a relationship with–after all, Amy’s former SNL cohost (and Baby Mama costar) Tina Fey writes and stars in NBC’s 30 Rock, a project which has worked out really well so far. That said, I’ll miss Amy’s great delivery on Weekend Update, but no matter where she ends up she’ll be funny. And imagine if she played an assistant! We’d be honored to count Amy as one of our own.
There’s always a distance between a boss and the employees, its just nature’s rule. It’s intimidation mostly. It’s the awareness that they are not me.
Careerbuilder does a year-end list with a roundup of the worst bosses on TV. Aside from the expected usual suspects (Wilhelmina from Ugly Betty, Ari from Entourage), there are a couple of very funny–and accurate–choices on the list. We especially liked the inclusion of Dr. Kelso from Scrubs, and Ben from Lost, about whom they said the following: “Evil genius or saint in disguise? While viewers may enjoy trying to figure out which one of these personas is the real Ben Linus, apparent leader of the Others, the guessing game is torture for his underlings. Though Ben claims to be a good guy doing what is best for the island and its inhabitants, it doesn’t help his case that he has homicidal tendencies, a flair for manipulation and takes orders from a mysterious and violently temperamental being named “Jacob,” whom only he can see.”
You may not be able to tell in this picture, but Ben Linus has the Scariest Eyes Ever. For more on him and other evil TV bosses, go here.
We love NBC’s The Office, and the way they portray a typical working environment. So we definitely perked our ears up at rumors that the network is considering a spinoff to their hit show. The most prevalent rumor seems to be a spinoff based around beloved Officer Dwight Schrute, played by the hilarious Rainn Wilson. There’s more in this article, but we would like to offer our own humble suggestion: more assistants.
You can thank us later, and we’ll let you know where to send those royalty checks.
Do you love NBC’s “The Office”? If you do, you might want to head to Scranton, PA (where the show is set) next weekend for an “Office” convention. You can meet actors from the show, get your picture taken near Scranton landmarks that have appeared in various episodes, and maybe meet other cute “Office”philes to trade Dwight-isms with.
For more info, click here.
For their September issue (the one with J.Lo on the cover), the magazine polled their readers about everything from beauty products to fictional characters. A couple of their questions touched on workplace stuff. A majority of readers chose Liz Lemon as the boss they’d like to work for over Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Miranda “The Nazi” Bailey. Wow – you mean people might want to have a boss who is usually too busy dealing with her own weird personal dramas to care what you do over one who who regularly yells at and berates you in front of colleagues? Color me shocked.
