paul feig

In the victory lap that has preceded his exit from 'The Office,' Steve Carell once again proved how vital he has been to the success of the NBC comedy.

Now that 'The Office' is in its seventh season, it's not as consistently funny as it was in its earlier years, but Carell is the reason that season 7's best moments worked so very well. Because Carell made us root for this incompetent Dunder Mifflin manager, Michael Scott's proposal to Holly Flax -- and even his worshipful groping of her -- provided the show with its most memorable moments in ages.

The actor leaves the show for good in Thursday's super-sized episode, and Paul Feig, who directed the episode and many other fine 'Office' outings, recalls the evolution of the character and talks about Carell's exit in the Q&A below.

Created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, 'Freaks and Geeks' is one of those rare television treasures that no one saw or appreciated until it was too late. Okay, that's unfair. Critics, the press and the loyal fans who did find the show on NBC immediately knew that it was something special. Unfortunately, it didn't find wide enough appeal to last beyond its first season.

Ironically, the show's cast of virtual unknowns now reads like an all-star comedy troupe, which is a testament to the brilliant casting that went on behind the scenes of the show. Finding such talented kids, and then coupling them with brilliant writing crafted on of the most revered television shows of all time.

Rumor has it that Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly mastermind Joss Whedon will be directing an episode of The Office. Considering that Scranton is situated right over a Hellmouth, it makes perfect sense. The rumor first surfaced on both Televisionary and FilmIck, but has been confirmed by Joss himself over on Whedonesque. (Scroll way down to see his two cents.)

As connoisseurs of the Whedon oeuvre may remember, Joss got his start writing for the sitcom Rosanne. He earned his television directing chops care of Buffy, Angel and Firefly. What should we expect from this most inspired of pairings - long master shots through the entire office, sequences done entirely in silence and lots of Pam's feet? Probably not, but I bet we're in for at least one guaranteed heartbreaker of a moment between Pam and Jim. Whedon's awfully good at bringing the funny and the waterworks, but so long as he's not actually writing the episode, I feel relatively safe. I wouldn't want anyone to die on us. It's not that kind of show so don't get any ideas, Whedon.

Thanks to reader Brendon Connelly for the tip.

If you've ever wondered how the networks manage to trap a team of otherwise intelligent writers in a room for sixteen hours stretches to punch up jokes on some lame sitcom that you can't even bare to watch, the New York Times has your answer. It's the food.

This Sunday's Times magazine had a ton of great comedy revelations in it. There was the How to be Funny compendium put together by sometime Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman with two cents from TV scribe and director Paul Feig and, of course, the comedy writer's snack attack article.

Writers from Knights of Prosperity, Everybody Loves Raymond and How I Met Your Mother all confessed to the terrible eating habits of the writer's room and the accompanying weight gain. How I Met Your Mother's Chris Harris even relayed a story of how the staff of Joey "apparently weighed themselves at the beginning of what turned out to be a grueling season and then again at the end. The net gain was around 125 pounds - more than what their lead actress weighed."