This one just struck me as a bit odd. HBO has signed long time NY Times columnist Frank Rich on as a creative consultant. The two are tight-lipped about what projects he may or may not be working on already, but his new position is described as contributing to original program development. Apparently there will also be the opportunity for Rich to become a producer of projects that he helps with.

He's going to keep his gig at the Times while working with HBO, although he will avoid writing about the network, or their corporate overlords (and ours), Time Warner. Hiring creative consultants isn't the usual modus operandi for HBO, and programming group president Richard Plepler added that "it is not something the network is looking to do on a regular basis." Odd as it sounds on the surface, Rich did spend 13 years as the Times' chief theater critic, so he has some background for the gig. And anything that gets us closer to Jay Black, creative consultant to The CW, has to be a good thing, right?

It's been a number of years since I've seen the original version of The Office, but a certain scene from last night's episode of the American version immediately reminded me of Ricky Gervais' classic.

Remember that last night Pam, out of pity for Michael, set him up on a coffee date with her landlord, who she thinks is really nice. So when the landlord -- who Jay called "a stunningly plain woman" in his review of the episode -- showed up, Michael let out a disappointed groan. A huge feeling of déjà vu came over me, and I realized something: this was the same reaction David Brent had to his stunningly plain date on the British version. Now I just had to find out in which episode this happened.