Will Ferrell is joining "The Office" in a four-episode arc that will see him playing a Sabre branch manager.
The announcement exemplifies NBC's pattern of cleverly leaking big “Office” news late on Wednesdays before new “Office” episodes air the following day.
The strategy worked brilliantly last week when on Wednesday we learned Ricky Gervais will fleetingly appear as David Brent on this week’s installment. The news may -- just may -- have elevated “The Office” to its best ratings of the season.
"The Office" last Thursday even bested a new episode of CBS megahit "The Big Bang Theory"!
And the big "Office" number helped “Parks and Recreation” to its best score ever and “30 Rock” to its second-best score of the season.
Get this. "Parks" beat "CSI."
And kindly note that "30 Rock" beat every episode of "The Apprentice" -- which once fell to a 0.9 and never got above a 1.6 last fall -- airing in the 10 p.m. Thursday slot last year.
(It wasn’t all good news last week, with “Outsourced” – now no longer immediately following “The Office” – falling to a new all-time low.)
Thursdays, Sept. 16, 2010 – Jan. 20, 2011
Adults 18-49 finals (repeats in gray; previous finals in parentheses):
7.8 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) American Idol
4.7 (4.4) (4.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (1.8) (3.1) (2.8) (2.7) (3.4) (3.1) (2.0) Jersey Shore
4.5 (1.5) (1.7) (1.7) (1.0) (1.8) (3.7) (3.7) (---) (3.8) (3.6) (3.8) (4.0) (3.4) (3.8) (3.5) (3.7) (4.4) (1.2) The Office
4.2 (3.0) (4.4) (2.3) (1.9) (4.0) (3.9) (2.4) (1.6) (4.3) (4.2) (4.7) (4.2) (4.1) (4.3) (4.1) (4.4) (4.9) (2.4) Big Bang Theory
3.5 (1.3) (1.0) (1.2) (---) (1.4) (2.2) (2.4) (---) (2.7) (2.6) (2.5) (---) (---) (2.6) (2.7) (2.5) (2.7) (---) Bones
3.2 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Parks And Recreation
3.1 (2.0) (3.3) (1.6) (1.4) (1.9) (3.0) (1.9) (---) (3.1) (2.8) (3.3) (3.3) (3.4) (3.1) (2.7) (3.1) (3.4) (---) CSI
2.8 (1.9) (3.1) (1.6) (1.5) (1.8) (2.4) (1.7) (1.4) (3.0) (2.8) (3.0) (3.2) (2.9) (3.3) (3.0) (3.0) (3.4) (1.7) Mentalist
2.8 (2.9) (2.9) (1.8) (1.6) (2.9) (2.7) (1.9) (1.5) (3.0) (2.9) (3.4) (3.1) (3.1) (3.2) (2.9) (3.3) (4.0) (---) Shit My Dad Says
2.7 (1.2) (1.2) (1.1) (0.8) (1.4) (2.1) (2.3) (---) (2.2) (2.4) (2.4) (---) (2.2) (3.1) (2.1) (2.6) (2.6) (---) 30 Rock
2.6 (3.7) (3.8) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Wipeout
2.2 (1.2) (1.0) (0.9) (0.7) (1.2) (1.9) (1.9) (---) (1.9) (2.0) (1.9) (2.4) (1.9) (2.2) (1.8) (1.9) (2.2) (---) Community
2.1 (---) (---) (---) (---) (1.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Perfect Couples
1.8 (---) (1.2) (1.2) (0.8) (1.5) (---) (---) (---) (2.6) (2.6) (2.7) (2.7) (2.3) (2.6) (2.5) (2.8) (3.6) (---) Outsourced
1.6 (4.3) (4.2) (0.8) (---) (1.2) (---) (4.0) (---) (4.3) (4.0) (4.3) (3.9) (4.0) (4.6) (4.6) (4.6) (5.4) (1.8) Grey’s Anatomy
1.5 (1.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Beyond Scared Straight
1.4 (1.1) (1.1) (0.8) (---) (1.1) (1.0) (1.1) (---) (1.0) (0.9) (1.0) (0.7) (0.7) (0.8) (---) (---) (---) (---) Real Housewives BH
1.1 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Royal Pains
1.1 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Fairly Legal
1.0 (1.1) (0.9) (---) (---) (0.9) (0.7) (0.7) (---) (0.7) (0.7) (0.7) (0.7) (0.7) (0.8) (0.7) (0.7) (0.6) (0.7) The First 48
1.0 (---) (2.7) (0.8) (---) (1.0) (---) (2.9) (---) (2.9) (2.9) (3.9) (2.7) (2.7) (3.0) (2.9) (2.8) (3.2) (---) Private Practice
0.7 (0.9) (0.5) (1.0) (---) (0.8) (0.5) (0.8) (0.3) (0.5) (---) (0.8) (0.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) NBA Basketball (11pm)
0.7 (0.8) (0.6) (0.7) (---) (0.8) (0.6) (3.2) (0.3) (0.5) (1.7) (0.9) (0.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) NBA Basketball (8pm)
0.6 (---) (---) (0.6) (---) (0.5) (0.6) (0.4) (0.4) (0.5) (0.5) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (0.7) (0.6) (0.5) (0.4) (0.4) TNA Wrestling
0.6 (0.6) (0.5) (0.4) (0.4) (0.7) (1.3) (1.6) (0.4) (0.6) (1.6) (1.6) (1.7) (1.7) (0.9) (1.6) (1.5) (1.6) (1.4) Vampire Diaries
0.5 (0.7) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Police Women Cincinnati
0.5 (0.5) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (---) (0.8) (1.0) (0.4) (0.4) (1.1) (0.9) (1.0) (1.0) (0.6) (1.1) (1.1) (1.1) (1.2) Nikita
This week’s late Wednesday news was that Ferrell, Steve Carell’s co-star in perhaps the last decade’s funniest movie, will be joining “The Office.”
Remember that another “Anchorman” co-star, David Koechner – who started on “Saturday Night Live” the same day as Ferrell – also recurs on “The Office” as a fellow employee of Michael Scott.
The announcement would seem to fly in the face of an old “Office” policy that dictated no famous names would play characters on the series.
Look! Press release!
1/26/2011 07:15
WILL FERRELL TO GUEST-STAR OVER ARC OF EPISODES ON NBC’S ‘THE OFFICE’
Appearance Marks Reunion with Series Star Steve Carell (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”)
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – January 26, 2011 – Comedic actor/producer/writer Will Ferrell will guest-star over an arc of episodes on NBC’s Emmy Award-winning “The Office” (Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET) as a branch manager who arrives from the home office and proves to be just as inappropriate as Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell).
Ferrell will re-team with Carell, who co-starred with Ferrell in the feature film “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”
"We found Steve Carell when he was nothing but a movie star and we turned him into a television star,” said executive producer Paul Lieberstein. “We are proud to continue ‘The Office's’ tradition of discovering famous talent, and we hope that once America gets a good look at Will, they'll see what we see: tremendous raw sexuality.”
Ferrell, who began his career with The Groundling improvisational troupe, later became a featured star on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” where he created a host of popular characters. While there, he ventured into many hit feature films that also include “Wedding Crashers,” “Elf,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Bewitched,” “Old School,” “The Producers,” “Step Brothers,” “Semi-Pro,” “Kicking & Screaming,” “A Night at the Roxbury” and “The Other Guys.”
Ferrell and partner Adam McKay launched “Funny or Die,” a well-known comedy video website. He is also executive producer of the comedy series “Eastbound & Down,” and "Funny or Die Presents" with Gary Sanchez Productions for HBO.
And remember, you needn't watch NBC's shittier sitcoms if you know how to work that DVR.
"Community": 8 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
"Wipeout": 8 p.m. Thursday. ABC.
"The Office": 9 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
"Parks and Recreation" 9:30 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
"30 Rock": 10 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
