The TV Zone

It's beginning to look like that much ballyhooed "Office" spin-off isn't actually gonna be a "spin-off" in the traditional sense but maybe a companion, that'll have the same tone, spirit, energy and style - but NOT any characters from the original. I direct your attention to this morning's Variety, which has a good story on the still-unnamed show's first casting move - show boss, Greg Daniels has hired Aziz Ansari, who stars in MTV's "Human Giant" (a pretty amusing show, by the way.) In his own blog, Aziz Is Bored, he confirms the hiring: "I’m very happy to announce that I’m going to be on the new 'Office' spinoff on NBC!! I haven’t been this excited since Lisa lost on 'Top Chef.'” Greg tells the trade that maybe the new show will be what's called a "planted spinoff," in which a character's introduced on the mother show and then segues onto something brand new ("Mork & Mindy" out of "Happy Days" is the example he cites.) Some in the ad community have wondered whether NBC ever even knew what the spin-off would be - they just went ahead and ordered something sight unseen. Anyway, here's a first look at the once and future star of "The Office-Spinoff-or-whatever-ya-wanna-call-it:"