LITTLE ROCK — Are you still watching The Office?
Or was the long-running NBC sitcom over for you once Steve Carrell bailed out at the end of Season 7?
Maybe the comedy had begun to lose its luster a few seasons before that. Shows have a natural life and there is only so much writers and actors can do with the material before it seems it’s being recycled.
The Office was sort of recycled from the beginning, being based on the BBC comedy created by Ricky Gervais when it debuted in 2005. Season 9 kicks off at 8 p.m. today and will be the last.
There will be a few new aspects about the final season. Gone from the cast is Mindy Kaling, who played customer service representative Kelly Kapoor. Kaling has her own highly anticipated sitcom on Fox this fall. The Mindy Project debuts at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Joining the cast for the last hurrah will be two new employees played by Jake Lacy (Better With You) and Arkansas’ Clark Duke. They remind the old hands at Dunder Mifflin of younger versions of Jim and Dwight.
Duke’s official NBC biography lists his hometown as Hot Springs, but we know he’s actually from Glenwood and got his start on TV as John Ritter’s son on Hearts Afire.
Duke went on to earn a degree (with honors) in Film and Television Production from Loyola Marymount University and star in the ABC Family comedy Greek.
On the big screen, Duke has starred in the films Sex Drive, Hot Tub Time Machine and Kick-Ass. Duke will film Kick-Ass 2 later this year.
What? You missed Kick-Ass? It was a superhero action film based on a comic book and starred Aaron Johnson and Nicholas Cage.
The poignant subtlety of Sex Drive, on the other hand, might be misunderstood in Glenwood.
Duke has been a busy, busy guy. He recently wrapped production on Identity Thief, which also stars Jason Bateman and Melissa Mc-Carthy, as well as Adult Children of Divorce, which features Jane Lynch, Amy Poehler and Adam Scott.
Before all that hits the theaters, you can watch Duke help take The Office to the finish line.
Most of the old familiar faces will be back at their desks in The Office.
Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) is still the new manager.
Answering to Andy are sales rep Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), the assistant to the regional manager whose responsibilities expanded after he bought the office building.
Pam Beesly Halpert (Jenna Fischer) is the office administrator and Jim’s wife. She’s also the mother of their daughter, Cece, and son, Phillip.
Up All Night. Returning at 7:30 p.m. today for Season 2 is NBC’s moderate success Up All Night.
How moderate? The network has only ordered 13 episodes. That’s hedging its bet.
The series follows the adventures of Reagan (Christina Applegate) and her husband, Chris (Will Arnett), and their unexpected baby, Amy.
They decide Reagan’s the one going back to work while Chris will be the stay-at-home dad. Easy, right? Well, not quite.
Maya Rudolph plays Reagan’s self-involved best friend and coworker, Ava.
Political season. It’s back to the bureaucratic shenanigans of Pawnee, Ind., when Parks and Recreation returns for Season 5 at 8:30 p.m. today on NBC.
If you sampled the series its first season and were not impressed, I suggest you give it another shot. The show, starring Poehler as the spunky parks department head of a small town in Indiana, has been tweaked and toned and is now one of the better comedies on TV.
How much better? The series may not be up for an Emmy this season, but Poehler is nominated for best comedy actress. She’s worth the price of admission by herself.
One to go. For those wondering, NBC’s 30 Rock will finally join the Thursday night lineup Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend, Pages 34 on 09/20/2012