Ricky Gervais Office
British comedian and co-creator of the U.K. series Ricky Gervais also made a cameo — via webcam — to vie for the position of regional manager.
Gervais, never one to shy away from his true opinions (see: this year’s Golden Globes hosting stint), took to his blog to voice his thoughts on the Season 7 finale of The Office, comparing the star-studded lineup to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s random cameo on his HBO series Extras.
“If you’re going to jump a shark, jump a big one,” Gervais wrote.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Doctor Who alum Catherine Tate, who also appeared in the finale, was the producers’ top choice for the new Dunder Mifflin boss. One insider said producers have discussed possibilities of longtime Office cast members Ed Helms, Craig Robinson and Rainn Wilson taking over as office manager: “They are all movie stars, any one of them could do it.”
Gervais then explained later on in the blog entry the different reasons behind doing the original British series and the Americanized version, which has surpassed the 150 half-hour episodes mark.
“I assume most people know I didn’t do the US remake for the art. I did my version for the art. That’s why I stopped it after a few hours of telly,” Gervais wrote. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m very proud of the US version. It was not only a very very good network comedy but it was also a massive success story. But you know, I did it for different reasons, ambitions and with slightly different emotional attachments to the project.”