In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« Kate's Office Blog
In Praise of the SNL Parody
Hello, all. It's been another great week for The Office and the Office drunk. I'm the redhead at the corner desk. Wild week. Not the typical Meredith-takes-her-top-off wild. Just interesting-and-jam-packed wild. The Office has now crossed a new threshold: An SNL parody! That is a milestone. Rainn Wilson hosted this past week and kicked some major ass. He is one of the most talented actors who I will ever work with. The Office sketch in the opening was pretty cool. Lorne Michaels was more like "Lorne Michaels Scott." No Meredith, but that's OK. (It could have been a guy in drag. I love drag, but I am sure it would have been subpar drag.) Anyway, as a comic actress who has had my own SNL "almost" story, I was really happy to see the Office opening. When I was in Chicago in 1991, I was touring with Second City and I did a show called The Miss Vagina Pageant (directed by Jill Soloway, a writer-producer from Six Feet Under) at the Annoyance Theater, and Lorne Michaels came to see it and asked me to lunch. He also asked my cast mates, Beth Cahill and Melanie Hutsell. They were hired, not me. Even though I didn't get the job, it was very validating to be considered. I mean it! I felt like I was on the map. That was the biggest thing that ever happened to me at the time, and it gave me a lot of hope. I am SNL adjacent. It's weird that Lorne Michaels came to that show I did with Quincy Jones, and now I am working with Rashida Jones, who plays Karen. Wild. No accidents? You tell me.
OK. I did a photo shoot with Angela [Kinsey], Melora [Hardin] and Phyllis [Smith] for OK! Magazine last Sunday. We had a blast. It was at the Sweet Lady Jane bakery and there were cupcakes involved. Publicity is a whole new form of self-criticism for me. I sometimes suffer from "Does this dress make me look like I'm trying too hard?" or "Why did I say that?" syndrome. I am a college graduate and I have a fairly quick wit, but sometimes in interviews I feel like I am being tested on a book I never read. I did a bunch of publicity this week. The Adam Carolla Show with Danny Bonaduce, and the TV Guide Channel's What's On. That was a blast because I know John Henson and I know Nikki Boyer, who is actually David Denman's wife. (David plays Roy on The Office.) The coincidences never end.
This past week was Oscar week. Steve Carell presented at the Oscars and he had a great part in the movie that was up for best picture, Little Miss Sunshine. I thought he was great. Rashida Jones was with her father, Quincy Jones, in the box with the special Oscar recipient whose name I couldn't possibly pronounce. Not too shabby. I discovered that though I was not in a major motion picture this year, I am somehow Oscar adjacent.
Our cast got invited to a few Oscar-related publicity suites. Melanie Segal's suite at the Sunset Hyatt was really cool. (She and her brother went to high school with John Krasinski and B.J. Novak.) I also got to go to the "green" gift suite put on by Nicole Landers. She's great because she has an agenda to raise the eco-consciousness of Hollywood. All gift suites have an agenda. Usually it's shameless bribery for promotion using a recognizable actor, a product in hand, and a photo to seal the deal. But they used terms like "green" and "sustainable materials" along with "fabulous" and "must-have." I have to say, it was a refreshing change from the greed and slim fest that some of these events can become. The products she promotes are also promoting Oscar winner Al Gore's agenda. Nice! I enjoyed myself. I got a great vegan lunch and I got to drive an electric bike. (I am not a vegan, but it was tasty.) Yes, I smiled for the pictures with that old self-criticism.
Back to The Office. This week is another airing of the "Branch Closing" episode. For you Office fans who don't have TiVo and haven't purchased the new episodes on iTunes, this is your chance to see this episode again. If you've already seen it twice, it's time to re-examine it Thursday at 8:30 pm/ET on NBC. If you didn't see Rainn host SNL, you can catch it on NBC.com. Thanks for all your comments and keep 'em comin'.
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 3:00 PM
|
Hey, Kate!
Another great blog--and on a repeat week! Niiice. [/Kevin]
So how cool is it to be adjacent to SNL AND the Oscars?! Seems very cool.
And I'm not too sure about coincidences...I think it's all about your amazing talent and that it has very little to do with coincidences.
Thanks for the blog and cheers!
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 3:32 PM
|
OMGosh, I loved The Office paradoy on SNL. Rainn did awesome as host, too.
And I loved "Branch Closing," too and don't mind watching it again. HI-larious! 
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 4:02 PM
|
|
Reading this blog got "It's A Small World" stuck in my head And yes, The Office Parody on SNL was all kinds of awesome! I'm glad to see a new blog despite the weeks of repeats. Thank you!
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 6:09 PM
|
Another great blog, Kate! Thanks for taking the time. And I guess the operative word here would be "adjacent," no? Someday, others will tell stories of being adjacent to YOUR successes.
Take care,
Brad
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 6:11 PM
|
Wow, instead of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", they should call it "Six Degrees of Kate Flannery"!! 
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 6:14 PM
|
I went to college in the town next to the town where John and BJ grew up! Does that make me "Office" adjacent? (Okay, I could be reaching just a little.)
I felt so proud of Rainn when I was watching him on SNL! Our boy Rainn hosting SNL, and during sweeps, no less. He was fantastic. And the "Office" parody was great! I think what I most appreciated, aside from Rashida's second-long cameo, which left me shrieking happily, was how exactly Kristin Wiig nailed the Pam posture. Her slouch was perfect!
I hope the rumors of the six week hiatus aren't true. We're one week into it, and it's already way too long! A Thursday without new "Office" is nothing more than...a Wednesday. (Especially for those of us who have seen "Branch Closing" more times than we should EVER admit!)
|
|
Feb 28, 2007 6:17 PM
|
I loved this blog! Reading about all your cool connections was fun because I also believe there are no accidents in life.
And I love Jill Soloway! She wrote "I'm Sorry, I'm Lost" which was one of my favorite Six Feet Under episodes! And her essays 'Tiny Ladies In Shiny Pants' were incredible. (And here's another connection-you were in 'The Miss Vagina Pageant' and Meredith talks about how she still has one in the 'Health Care' episode of 'The Office', lol. OK, it's a stretch, I know!)
Rainn was an SNL rock star, by the way! He was truly hilarious.
I cannot wait for new episodes with you guys! Hopefully you will still blog and get us through the coming weeks of repeats.
|
|
Mar 1, 2007 12:55 AM
|
Rainn was a great host because he's so committed to the material. Some of SNL's hosts are great actors on films but because they're so self-conscious and worrying about how they'd look that they stop being funny.
Kristin Wiig was perfect as Pam and I love that sketch.
Kate, I just discovered your blog and I really like it. I must say that the bat scene with you and Rainn is absolutely my favorite of the season. I have seen it over and over again for countless time. Keep up the good work.
|
|
Mar 1, 2007 8:58 AM
|
|
Thanks kate! Love the Blog!
|
|
Mar 1, 2007 3:36 PM
|
That SNL sketch was perfect. They had Pam and Jim nailed!
Technically, I don't think that Al Gore is and Oscar winner. Doesn't the Best Documentary Feature award go to the director or producer (I think it's the director)?
|
|
Mar 1, 2007 5:11 PM
|
I loved the parody of "The Office" on SNL and all of the actors were so dead on with the characters they were playing, I almost felt like it was a real episode!
So, what's this about a photo shoot with cupcakes?? I bet Jenna is sorry she missed that! 
|
|
Mar 1, 2007 11:11 PM
|
I read the blogs put up by Tanster and Kathy from GMMR and I was surprised I didn't see any pictures of you in them. They both said how nice you were and I wouldn't doubt it. You seem so down to earth but yet are a minor tv celebrity :p (wait MAJOR celeb ) I'm kind of bummed that there will be no new offices the month of my birthday but I can just rewatch all the season from itunes which I have purchased Can't wait for more new episodes.
Again another great blog by kate, thanks for sticking with these blogs because this is the only reason I come to this site :D
|
|
Mar 2, 2007 3:50 PM
|
Miss Kate !! I am THRILLED at yr success, I well remember you telling me about Lorne M passing you over for Beth & Melanie, how hard that must have been but now - it's SO SO gratifying to see you doing so well! My 2 daughters (w/Noel) think you are hilarious too - and the show is FABULOUS. I was only 2 hrs ago today treating myself to a manicure and opened a piece of junk food journalism to peruse, and there YOU were in OK! Mag with your castmates. Shut off those inner demons, you looked great (I liked yr dress) and it was so wonderful to see you there.
Please know you have another family full of rabid fans here in Boulder COLO. Look me up if you ever make it out here again (Aspen Comedy Festival redux?) - I'm in the book! Again, I celebrate your success - you SO deserve it, the nice person that you are.
Much love to you - and tell Vigg I miss him too -J9
|
|
Mar 11, 2007 8:45 PM
|
Hey Danny Bonaduce has Red hair too! Can you put two Redheads together like that?
I loved Rainn on SNL!
This is a milestone for THE OFFICE indeed!
The Office is more than just simply "on-the-map"! It's getting to be very well known.
Your Lorne Michaels connection is awesome. I wanna see you on SNL many times in the future!
Rashida had a short but funny cute moment during the SNL opening segment.
Some of the audience didn't make the connection. I thought it was hilarious!
I hope you still stay in-touch with all you second city friends!
All of your coincidences are no accident. Your comic actor friends all travel in the same circles, so it's a small world.
|
|
Mar 11, 2007 10:52 PM
|
|
|
