Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

August 22, 2012

People & Entertainment
'Office' facing ultimate layoff

From news service reports

LOS ANGELES — "The Office" will end after next season, executive producer Greg Daniels said Tuesday.

In a conference call, Daniels said the veteran NBC comedy would come to an "exciting" close in May, after its ninth season, which begins Sept. 20.

"All questions will be answered this year," he said during the call – one of them being who is behind the documentary that has been chronicling the lives of the paper hustlers.

Daniels also teased that some familiar Scranton-ites – though he would not name them – will make appearances as the show nears its end.

If you're hoping for a return of "that's what she said" master Michael Scott (Steve Carell), keep those fingers and George Foreman-grilled toes crossed: "We would certainly wish for it," Daniels said.

Still NBC's highest-rated scripted series, "The Office" underwent a ratings slump last season following Carell's exit.

Some other players have also left. James Spader and others are focusing on new projects.

Mindy Kaling, who played fast-talking Kelly Kapoor for eight seasons, is headlining her own comedy on Fox in the fall, though she will make a couple of "Office" appearances in the upcoming season.

Rainn Wilson is concentrating on helming an "Office" spinoff about Schrute Farm but will still appear in the final season of the show.

"If we didn't let it end this year, I don't think we would have been able to tell the ending stories of so many characters," Daniels said.

Kimmel taking on Leno, Letterman

LOS ANGELES — "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is moving into the thick of the late-night fight against Jay Leno and David Letterman, ABC said Tuesday, bumping "Nightline" from its longtime perch.

Starting in January, Kimmel's talk show will shift from 12:05 a.m. Eastern to the 11:35 p.m. Eastern time slot long held by the news magazine, taking advantage of Kimmel's ratings growth and the potential for greater ad revenue, the network said.

"Nightline" will swap places with Kimmel's show and get a weekly prime-time hour starting in March, ABC said.

Swift joins Kennedys on sad visit

BARNSTABLE, Mass. — Country singer Taylor Swift joined several members of the Kennedy clan, including boyfriend Conor Kennedy, in a somber weekend visit to the grave of his mother on Cape Cod.

Swift and Kennedy held hands and at one point appeared to bow their heads in prayer, as did his siblings, while visiting the resting place of Mary Richardson Kennedy on Sunday.

The New York Daily News reports that Conor Kennedy also got down to clear some overgrown grass from the unmarked grave. He is the son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The 52-year-old Mary Kennedy hanged herself May 16 in a barn behind the couple's home in Bedford, N.Y., amid bitter divorce proceedings and a battle with depression and addiction.

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