Only 114 days to go until Season 4

The folks who generate online Office-content all season long aren’t so willing to let go just because summer’s upon us.

Elyse over at LITO.com has one sure cure for Office withdrawal: Throwback Thursdays. The feature, which launched last week, takes a weekly look at a classic episode from the first three seasons, complete with recap, commentary, deleted scenes, links to related content like cast blogs and Wikipedia entries and homework. Yup, readers are encouraged to give feedback, write episode-related haiku and vote for the following week’s throwback episode. Last week it was “The Client”

Along the same lines, the That’s What She Said and Office Alliance podcasts have both hinted at classic episode editions over the summer. OA already has a one-hour season 3 wrap-up edition up at iTunes too.

Filipelli peace summit

Yeah, few people are sad to see Karen Filippelli hit the road, but Rashida Jones’s ties to the show remain murky. I mean, we don’t know she didn’t get the job at corporate. We didn’t even see Jim dump her, so who’s to say what the deal is?

So it’s worth making peace with the fact Filippelli is likely still part of the office. And with her new pilot slated for a spring 2008 pickup, Jones is also still a part of The Office.

Kathie over at GiveMeMyRemote.com has made her peace with Jones after spending an evening with the actress at last week’s Peace Games in Boston. It’s a good read with insights into the actress behind the role.

There’s a clip from Jones’s new show, The Rules of Starting Over, here.

Shakeup at the Peacock

Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke reported over the weekend that NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly would be replaced by Ben Silverman.

NBC’s cellar-dwelling ratings make this little surprise. For Office fans the news might sound worrisome, though, considering Reilly has been a big cheerleader of the show and of 30 Rock, both of which benefited from his patience. At the same time, it was Silverman’s Reveille that produced The Office, as well as ABC’s Ugly Betty.

I’ll admit it’s beyond my expertise to size up what these kinds of moves mean long term, but I think the ratings dictated changes. (Note, The Office ranked 68th, averaging 8.3 million viewers.)

Speaking of 30 Rock, by the way, the Season 1 DVD is due in stores Sept. 4.

The end of The Office?

I’ve heard it argued, and convincingly at that, that if The Office had ended after the Season 2 finale, it could have gone down as a perfect and complete bit of television. Instead of a cliffhanger, the “Casino Night” kiss would have provided satisfaction and closure to the story of Jim and Pam.

I don’t quite agree, nor do I subscribe to the latest “end it now” diatribe being floated, though again, pretty convincingly.

Last season’s ending was pyrotechnic, furtive, dramatic and fraught,” writes Eric Zorn at The Chicago Tribune. “This season’s ending was pitch-perfect ordinary, which is how lasting love is and must be, really.

This writer has, and they’re not making many friends in The Office fandom by saying so.

What began as a witheringly accurate account of modern American business incompetence and interpersonal awkwardness (following the lead of its British progenitor) has been shanghaied and derailed by this fixation on love.

It’s a fair criticism, and I sometimes do feel like the Jim and Pam saga has hijacked my favorite workplace comedy. That said, I think the writer takes the point too far, especially when concluding that Jim would be better off with Karen than Pam.

That’s just silly.

Emmy fever

The 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards are a long ways off—Sept. 16—but the judging is under way as shows have submitted episodes to be considered for nomination.

OfficeTally.com has culled The Office’s complete submission list and it looks like Jenna Fischer has swapped out “Grief Counseling”, her initial submission, for “The Job.” That’s definitely an upgrade for showcasing her considerable talents, though she couldn’t have gone wrong with “Beach Games” either.

I don’t get “The Coup” as the Best Comedy Series submission, though. There’s a lot of slapstick laughs there, but it’s few fans’ favorite of the season.

Jenna update

The update is that there is no update, which is probably good news as she recovers from a back injury suffered after falling in New York two weeks ago.

On the bright side, donations to Rover Rescue, the LA-based animal shelter Fischer asked fans to support in lieu of letters and flowers, has received a whopping $1,997 as a result, founder and Executive Director Cathy Rubin tells me this morning.

As the owner of a rescue dog myself, I’m glad to share the link.

Carell Almighty

NBC is giving a boost to Steve Carell’s upcoming Evan Almighty by dedicating a page at its video site DotComedy to clips of Carell’s comic genius, from The 40-Year-Old Virgin to The Office. Check it out here.