The Office faces questions in new season

One of the most popular comedy TV shows around is back for a seventh season on September 23. The Office has been making people laugh for six years, and the seventh season will continue to do the same. The premier of season seven begins at 8:00 on NBC. The first episode is titled “Nepotism” and is the first of 25 half-hour shows in the season.

Season seven is the most anticipated season for the Office because of Steve Carell, who plays boss Michael Scott. The entire cast is back for season seven, though that will not be true for the next season. Carell has announced that this will be his last season on the hit-comedy, and that somebody will have to replace him as regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. It is not clear who will replace Carell, but whoever does will have big shoes to fill.

Office fan and Senior John Schraidt is not optimistic about the change. “I’m upset because he’s a good actor.”

Many different actors have been rumored to be the boss to replace Carell, but there has not been any confirmation on any rumors. Some actors whose names have come up include Harvey Keitel, Danny McBride, Rhys Darby, and a far-fetched candidate, Will Ferrell. They will officially introduce the new boss on the last episode of season seven. There is also a possibility that a current character will replace Michael, but it is unlikely that Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is the one to replace Michael.

The Office is based off a British TV show also titled The Office. The American version has been more successful as it is looking at a minimum of eight seasons, whereas the British show only lasted two seasons.

Like most TV shows, there was hesitation by NBC to air the show at the beginning.  They thought it wasn’t funny enough and that the actors seemed to be trying too hard. But after six solid seasons it is obvious that their views have changed. Now, there is little doubt that the upcoming season will be a successful one.

Conan O’Brien returning to television

At this point in time, I am sure you have all heard about the Conan O’Brien fiasco that happened around three months ago; how could you not? After all, this issue practically overshadowed the disaster in Haiti in terms of media coverage. 

But I am proud to say that the issue has finally come to a close. After bouncing around for a period of time, O’Brien has finally settled and now plans to be a part of the TBS late-night family.

Come November next year, Conan’s new show will debut at 11 o’clock, right before George Lopez’s late night show. In my opinion, it is good to have Conan back on TV where he belongs. His late night show was really good and it was a shame to see it cancelled just as it was really starting to gather momentum.

As with any show that isn’t completely scripted, it usually takes awhile to get used to itself and rise to meet its full potential. Unfortunately, Conan’s show was cut just as I felt that he had finally reached that point.

Of course, Conan hasn’t been simply sitting around this whole time. He’s begun dipping into the vast ocean that is the Internet for a way to get his material out there. He has been “tweeting, since he was let go from NBC and has now set up his new live comedy tour which is titled “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.” The tour is set to begin 4-19-10 in Eugene Oregon.

It’s fair to say that I am a member of Team Coco and am thoroughly glad to see his vibrant red hair back on the air.

“Bulldog Faceoff” ready for new edition

Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Participants in the new RBTV show Bulldog Faceoff can find out as they put their knowledge to the test. The gameshow returns for another round after a successful campaign the previous year.

Hosted by senior Max Weiss, the game show features teams of two competing against each other in a typical game show setting. The team that won the previous point gets to select a topic from which the host, Weiss, then reads a question related to that topic. Which ever team hits the buzzer first gets the first opportunity to answer that question. If answered correctly then they receive a point, but if answered incorrectly, then the other team can answer the question.

This show based off “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” and is very competitive and very fun for most contestants.

Several prizes were awarded to the winner of the competition, including a Culvers gift card, a free haircut and a Dr. Pizza gift card. Of course, with prizes came competition and controversy last year.

In a competition last year, eventual second place finishers George Suchy and Mark Swift were facing off against Jason Flam and Madison Jordan in the first round. Flam and Jordan’s team was winning by five points with one question left, so the game was in the bag. But Weiss decided to make it interesting, so that whichever team got the question right would advance to the second round. Swift got the question right, and he and Suchy never looked back. Flam was not pleased.

“It was an interesting format, but I felt that I was unjustly served a loss,” said Flam about his first round exit. Suchy on the other hand called their last second win a “landslide victory”.

The team that turned out to be the one to beat was composed of teachers Doreen Fritz and Jennifer Waldock called “Team Tall”.  They ended up outlasting Suchy and Swift to win the tournament. They received the prizes and all the glory that accompanies winning an RBTV gameshow.

Look for new competitors and plenty of knowledge coming up. Tune into RBTV in the future to catch new episodes of Bulldog Faceoff.