The Office and MySpace

Posted by Maggie February 22nd, 2006 at 09:58pm In Blogworld The Office

So I’ve discovered that there’s only one thing that has the power to draw me to MySpace, and it is only marginally less creepy than stalking people you went to elementary school with: obsessive interest in television. Before today I had never opened a single page of the extraordinarily popular networking site. Today, I spent hours — HOURS — reading the MySpace blogs of cast members and writers of The Office.

The thing about The Office, which I have learned today, is that during shooting, a lot of time they’re just sitting in their office set, where they have actual computers hooked up to the actual internet and not much to do. Just like a real job! So they do what thousands have done before them — they make MySpace profiles and post blog entries. Now I kind of love each and every one of them, and not just as a fan, but as someone who has read their personal thoughts and opinions and has deluded herself into thinking she knows them.

Here’s a tour through The Office blogosphere:

It all starts with B.J. Novak. He’s a writer on the show, and plays Ryan the temp, and is a very funny man. His blog focuses on comedy, like whether or not he should develop a short-term crush on Sasha Cohen (answer: yes) and other amusing thoughts and stories. His blog is like a stand-up routine, in blog form, which is a nice change of pace from most blogs.

The obsession then leads to Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam on the show. Jenna seems like an extremely sweet and funny and fun person. She talks about what it’s like to go on the Tony Danza show, how she has the cast over to watch the shows when they air, and what sort of thought goes into Pam’s hair styles. She thinks Steve Carrell is the nicest man in showbiz and John Krasinski (Jim on the show) is a cutie, and I have no reason to doubt her on either point. Her blog is conversational and friendly, and I love it. And her.

And back to writers again, with Paul Lieberstein, who also plays Toby the HR guy. A sampling:

The commonplace “I am bored” blog title…I love it. It makes me want to read more. I want to enjoy your boredom vicariously because I am soooo bored. What are you doing? Nothing? That’s fantastic.  Are you sitting? Dammit, it’s like we’re the same person.

His blog is a humorous study in the way that people tend to write boring blogs. Also, I imagine Toby saying everything in his bored deadpan, while he’s asking me to fill out some sort of insurance form in triplicate.

And there are more. They are all linked as Pam’s (Jenna’s) friends. I hope more television writers and actors start blogs about their shows. This may be the greatest thing ever to happen to the internet.