the office news

No big shocker, but NBC officially announced yesterday that they are renewing THE OFFICE for the 2009-2010 season (along with 30 ROCK).

As for the still unnamed Amy Poehler non-spinoff show, TV Guide gives a few more details:

This much we know: NBC's new and as-yet-untitled comedy starring Saturday Night Live alumna Amy Poehler as the chairwoman of the Department of Parks and Recreation in a small Indiana town is not a spin-off of The Office â even though that is what Office exec producer Greg Daniels originally was asked by the network to explore.

According to the article, the show will use essentially the same "mockumentary" format used on THE OFFICE and will share much the same comic sensibility (Poehler's Leslie Knope is also a clueless boss with an exasperated staff). Thankfully, the two shows will never interact with one another:

"Actually, theoretically, we can't," Michael Schur, an exec producer on the new show, tells TVGuide.com, "because Rashida Jones is playing a different human being â unless [the new show's] Ann Logan and Karen Fillipelli are identical twins who don't know the other one exists." Are the new show's bosses at all bummed that these worlds can never collide? "The network might be more disappointed than I am," Daniels tells us, adding, "I've never been a huge fan of those kinds of stunts."

The article also confirms that Rashida Jones will reappear on THE OFFICE in an episode airing some time after February 1st. Poehler's new show is set to debut on April 9th.

Will there ever be a TRUE spinoff to the show? Greg Daniels had this to say to the folks over at EW:

"It's not possible, physically, for me to be involved in it right this second, but I'm talking to people over at The Office about another idea, and [The Office's British creator] Stephen Merchant came back and directed an episode of The Office so were were talking about the idea," Daniels told critics at NBC's annual Television Critics Tour on Thursday. "It's possible that some combination of other Office people could produce it without my giving blood for it."

Michael Ausiello over at EW.com is reporting on what he calls an "exclusive" -- Greg Daniels admitted that they want Amy Ryan to return to the show.

"She will come back," says Daniels. "We haven't written it yet, but we're discussing her coming back for the season finale. We're hoping she'll be available."

Daniels went on to say that he's "very open" to working out a more permanent Office arrangement with Ryan. "Because [Michael and Holly] have such a deep connection, I don't think she can blow in and out every so often," he explains. "It would be too hard for him as a human being. So, we're hoping to find some very significant things for them. And if we can get her to sign on for a really long period, we'll do it."

While this is good news, and I am all about Holly returning, IS this truly a confirmation of anything? They WANT Amy Ryan to return, and they're TALKING about it, but nothing has been officially decided.  I'll exude more geek-joy when something is down on paper.