The TV Zone

Superstars in NBC's future: Amy and Laser Cats...

Remember the "Office Spin-off?" Never quite had a name, and many people in the business kind of assumed there wasn't quite an idea there either? It is now officially on ice -- not dead, but in that place in the TV development process where a sense of urgency is basically non-existent. Ben Silverman, NBCU entertainment co-boss, told the inkstained assemblage that the network -- and Greg Daniels and Mike Schur -- will develop a new show with Amy Poehler instead; this one will not be a spin-off, and she'll never appear in "The Offfice," and her show will not "emanate" from "The Office," like "The Jeffersons" did from "All in the Family." (Interesting comparison...)

I dunno -- maybe Amy just doesn't like Scranton.

Simply put, getting Amy Poehler to appear in anything on NBC after she has her baby sometime this fall (she and husband Will Arnett are expecting, as you know) is the single biggest entertainment announcement at NBC's press tour because as Silverman rightfully pointed out, she could have easily headed off to the big screen.

So what will go in the post-Super Bowl slot? There were reports that the "Office" spin-off that is no more was going there, but the Poehler show won't be ready in time either (expect a March launch.) Silverman didn't completely rule out an "Offfice" something, although what that would be was terrifically vague; "maybe some iteration of 'TO' [could air there] or a tease of the [Poehler] show or it could be something else."

[If you have any ideas for a post-SB show, please send 'em to Silverman; looks like he neeeds some suggestions...]

What is the Poehler show about? Silverman declined to say, but this much we do know: Daniels will be developing it, and with all his time now devoted to this and whatever he has left over for 'TO,' I think it's a fair bet he won't have any time or energy left over to think about the spin-off.

So for now, I'm guessing the great spin-off that never quite was...is DOA.

But I have a suggestion: What about a spin-off for Laser Cat? The marketing possibilities are endless. Product placement? (Cat food. Duh. Or lasers. Those too. The above pix isn't exactly a Laser Cat, but close enough...You get the idea.)

Meanwhile, here are news release quotes from Daniels/Schur:

"This show suddenly got a hundred percent easier," said Daniels. "Amy shines in everything she does. She can make even bad material funny, and I know we can write bad material."

"I worked with Amy at 'Saturday Night Live,' " said Schur, "and she's one of the funniest, most talented people I've ever met. She is a terrible human being, but I am more than willing to overlook her many, many character flaws for the chance to work with her again."