The Office Has No Idea What It's Going to Do Without Steve Carell
Luckily we have a plan. And it's a good one. Also today: Tim Allen would like a job please, a Marilyn Monroe movie finds a male star, and the bizarre Spanish-language Will Ferrell movie finds some sexy native speakers.
What's old is new again! Beloved, pleasantly cantankerous film critic Roger Ebert announced today that he is reviving At the Movies, the show that made him and the late Gene Siskel the most famous critics in the country back in the '80s. While the show lurched on without Siskel and Ebert — Richard Roeper and A.O. Scott did an OK job, Ben Lyons should be put in jail for the rest of his natural life — it was nowhere near the smart stuff of its beginnings. So now Ebert has tapped the AP's Christy Lemire and NPR's Elvis Mitchell to host a new version of the show, on PBS. Nice and classy-like. Ebert will have an occasional segment on the show, but he won't be doing the thumps-up stuff. So good. Isn't that good? Good. [The Wrap]
What's old is new again. Tim Allen, monkey-hooting star of Home Improvement, the apotheosis of the men-are-stupid '90s sitcom trend, wants back on your teevee. He's taking "a few select meetings" in Hollywoodland, including with Greg Daniels, the uber-producer/writer behind The Office and Parks & Recreation. So, OK, whatever, it'll be big. What's really interesting is the list of other "perennial" casting favorites that people really want on their TV shows: "Kevin Bacon, Lisa Kudrow, Claire Danes, Ashley Judd, William H. Macy, Susan Sarandon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Duhamel, and Scott Speedman." Haha, WHAT? In what world are Susan Sarandon, Elisabeth Shue, and Scott Speedman on the same list? Why are Elisabeth Shue and Scott Speedman "perennial favorites" and yet NOT ON TV SHOWS? Guys, I looked at your IMDBizzles. Y'all ain't workin'. Get on the TV!! Apparently you're as wanted as Susan fucking Sarandon!! Also, if Kevin Bacon is on that list and so is Josh Duhamel, can we start calling him Josh Bologna? He is to Kevin as bologna is to bacon. Seriously: Can we put all of those people on the same show? The Nutty Nine. Nine Simple Rules for Being a Drunken Casting Director. I would watch that show til it hurt. [EW]
Ha, speaking of weird casting. Did you know that Will Ferrell is doing a telenovela-style movie entirely in Spanish? Si! He really is. And Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal just joined the cast. Oohhh. Is there going to be a diving board scene? A car scene? Any kind of Tambien-esque scene? Not involving Ferrell, though. Just them. Maybe throw in Maxxie from Skins or something. Sigh. Don't you wish they'd throw Maxxie from Skins into everything? Sorry, my sister just asked me about Skins and now alls I can think about is Skins. From Y Tu Mama Tambien to Skins. Really stressful Friday you're having there, Richard. Really deserve that weekend coming up. Anyway. Will Ferrell, Spanish movie. Weird! [THR]
News of Toronto! A movie called Every Day starring the oddly matched couple of Liev Schreiber and Helen Hunt found a distributor. The movie also stars Carla Gugino and Brian Dennehy, so it's totally one of those New Yorky theater movies. Which is fun! Eddie Izzard's in it too, so I guess it's also one of those transvestitey movies. Still, nothing weirder than the thought of Schreiber & The Hunt being a couple. Something's just off about that. Anyway, Jenna Fischer's ex-husband James Gunn directed an action comedy called Super that stars Ellen Page, Rainn Wilson (awkward!), Liv Tyler, and America's next big TV star, Kevin Bacon. Josh Bologna sadly did not make the cut. That got bought in Toronto too. [Deadline]
So they still have no earthly idea what they're going to do once Michael leaves The Office. Who will replace him? No, not a new television series, as it should be. They are going to keep the show but just with a new boss. Only they have no idea who. They do know that they're going to spend the first half of the season highlighting individual characters per episode. OMG, just like Skins. I can't wait for the "Maxxie and Jim" episode! "Hey Maxxie." "Hey Jim." [They make out for twenty-three minutes. Credits.] Great episode. Move over Kaling, I'm the new writer of The Office. Don't buy your plane ticket yet, Amelie Gilette. They just offered your new job (srsly) to me. "Hmm... this show, and all shows, should be more like Maxxie episodes of Skins. Someone get Lawson on the horn!" That's what they say in Hollywood, all the time. [Yeah, uh, there's an item in there somewhere. THR]
New Tony winner Eddie Redmayne (who does not have a red mane) has landed a starring role opposite Michelle Williams (child of Capeside, not of Destiny) in My Week With Marilyn. Yeah, Williams is playing Marilyn Monroe. And Redmayne is the lucky joker who gets to meet her. You know what's too bad? That this movie wasn't already made with Jason Priestly and Jerry O'Connell back in the '90s. It's really too bad that neve— What? What's that?? There was a movie about that called Calendar Girl and it's tremendously terrible/great? Yay! You have weekend plans now, guys. You're renting Calendar Girl and, hell, while you're at it go full-gusto and get 8 Seconds too. Stephen Baldwin's in that one. Also Luke, duh. Sounds like you're going to have a great weekend. Can I come over? [Daily Mail]