will ferrell

NBC has released a first look preview clip from Will Ferrell's upcoming four-episode 'Office' arc, and although the video's only sixteen seconds long, it's clear that the Michael Scott Farewell Tour is about to get kicked up several notches of awesome.

In the clip, Ferrell, playing an as-yet-unnamed Dunder Mifflin branch manager, shares an exceedingly awkward backwards hug with Steve Carell.

Ferrell is set to make his 'Office' debut on April 14th. Check out the clip after the jump.

It's almost that time, 'The Office' fans! Time to say goodbye to Steve Carell's Michael Scott and hello to his replacement. Thankfully, we have a few more episodes left. However, the cast and crew bid farewell to the actor already.

John Krasinski is the featured interview in the upcoming issue of Parade, where the shaggy-haired actor reveals how he really feels about Steve Carell's impeding departure from their beloved TV show, 'The Office.'

"[It's been] completely bittersweet," Krasinski told the magazine. "It's an insanely special relationship we have with each other on the show, and Steve's leaving is the first time we've been snapped out of it and had to think about how much we all rely on each other."

Carell, who shot his last episode of 'The Office' earlier this month, is leaving to pursue his movie career. "No one can replace him. That goes for him as an actor, because no one has the sense of humor he does, but also there's no person who has his incredible positivity and professionalism, and just a really good heart," he continued. "So we're losing a friend first and foremost."

Is Will Farrell stepping up to take the top job at 'The Office'? As Steve Carell prepares to bid farewell to the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, it's been announced that his 'Anchorman' co-star is joining the cast.

According to deadline.com, Ferrell has signed on for a four-episode story arc. Although NBC hasn't said when his episodes will air, it has confirmed that he "has committed to one episode beyond Carell's finale, to help create a bridge."

Ferrell, who's a big fan of 'The Office,' apparently called up the producers and offered his services as a way of commemorating his good buddy Carell's departure. He'll play a Dunder Mifflin branch manager from the home office who, according to NBC, is "just as inappropriate" as Steve Carell's Michael Scott character.

Could his character be leading the search for Scott's replacement? Or could he be Scott's replacement?

We all know the real reason entertainers appear on television's plethora of talk shows: to plug their new films, shows, books and albums. So it's always refreshing when stars break outside the usual confines of the standard interview and give us something different -- whether it's a wacky anecdote, a bizarre ensemble or a shamelessly humiliating performance. Check out our collection of oddball celebrity appearances from the past year, which features all sorts of bizarre hilarity from Christoper Walken, Steve Carell, Nicholas Cage and others, and be sure to vote for your favorite moment in our poll below.

On 'Hannity' (Weekdays, 9 PM ET on Fox News) Sean Hannity played an outtake from his recent interview with George W. Bush in which the former president had a humorous response to Hannity flubbing a line and then asking for a retake.

"They never let me do it again," Bush said, to the amusement of the studio audience. "It would have been underestimate, not misunderestimate. Strategy not strategery, I mean come on."

While Bush did once use the term misunderestimate, the mispronunciation "strategery" actually comes from a 'SNL' sketch, in which Will Ferrell was spoofing Bush.

However "strategery" has become so associated with our 43rd president, that it's entirely possible Bush now believes he really did say it.

Harry Smith and 'Megamind' star Will Ferrell clown around with props from the animated movie on 'The Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM ET on CBS). Smith actually starts the interview wearing a bulbous blue cap meant to simulate Megamind's gigantic head.

Will Ferrell has a musical soul. True, he doesn't have much musical talent -- but he makes up for it with his lack of shame. Plus, he's ready to sing anytime, anywhere ... even if it would be better to stay silent.

On 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' (weeknights, 12AM ET on ABC), the comic did a duet of John Lennon's 'Imagine' -- along with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao. The boxer is a nine-time world champion ... but he's not known for his vocal abilities either. Why were the two of them singing? Well, Manny is a recording artist in the Philippines. But English isn't his native language -- and, well, his singing career is a little sketchy.

Would Manny and Will score a "knockout" with their rendition of 'Imagine'? ... Not really. But they gave it their all.

Halloween always brings unexpected surprises on 'Today' (weekdays, 7AM ET on NBC), and this year was no different. Tina Fey and Will Ferrell appear as their characters from 'Megamind' while Matt Lauer and Al Roker show up as Clark Kent and Superman, respectively.

Will Ferrell is a man of many talents. But singing is not one of those talents. Still, on the 'Late Show' (11:35PM ET on CBS), Mr. Ferrell does his best. He belts out an incredible ballad -- and he does it all for a friend.

Who is Will doing his performance for? Why, singer Celine Dion, of course! As you may have heard, Celine recently gave birth to twins. Unfortunately, this meant she could no longer sing at her live Las Vegas show. Luckily, Ferrell is here to pick up the slack.

Will tells David Letterman that he and Celine have been best friends for years. They met in Quebec, while sitting on a bus, while Will was in Canada during his college semester abroad. ... It's a fascinating tale that never suffers from the fact that it's completely untrue.

In honor of that All-American tradition of the summer state fair, 'Lopez Tonight' (weeknights, 11PM ET on TBS) featured some standard fairground munchies -- and recruited Will Ferrell to taste them all and name a champion. Turkey legs, hot dogs, apple pies and other baked goods were absent: This was a fried-foods contest.

Among the contenders: deep-fried pizza ("I feel like I'm in Sicily," said the actor) and deep-fried cola. Both he and George Lopez sampled the chocolate-covered bacon and gave slices to audience members.

A deep-fried Twinkie, which Ferrell slathered in mustard, proved too much for him. But, good sport that he is, Ferrell managed to keep down the rest. The winner? A bacon cheeseburger between two buttered Krispy Kreme donuts.

When Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell were fellow comedians on 'Saturday Night Live,' Fallon admitted that he couldn't keep a straight face around his co-star. Well, it was just like old times when 'The Other Guys' detective visited the host on 'Late Night' (weeknights, 12:37AM ET on NBC).

They "reminisced" about appearing together in a Canadian soap opera called "Jacob's Patience," and recalled that in one scene, Ferrell refused to use his arms.

"Yeah, I was doing a ton of freelance arm modeling back then. In fact, my arms were insured by Lloyds of London," Ferrell dead-panned.

At that point, Fallon just couldn't keep it together. They rolled the clip of their "scene" involving Ferrell's fake arms, and in it, Fallon's giggled continued.

Will Ferrell has been making the rounds of various talk shows to promote his new movie 'The Other Guys.' And in almost every appearance, the subject of his kids' names has come up. His kids are named Magnus, Matthias, and Axel, and he told 'Live with Regis and Kelly' (weekday mornings, check local listings) today that the reason they have those names is because his wife is Swedish and they wanted to give the kids strong names.

But he has no intention of having a girl, unless his wife wants to have the kid with someone else.

Celebrity-wise, these are actually rather normal names. It's not like he named his kids Moon Unit or Apple.

Will Ferrell made a grand entrance on the 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS) wearing what he called a "summer suit" of shorts, suspenders, suit coat, dress shirt and white bow-tie. His white crew socks had little NBA logos on them.

"And what grade will you be in this fall?" quipped David Letterman. Ferrell replied, "You know a lot of people can't pull this off. Seeing myself in the monitor, I don't think I can either." Letterman agreed: "You do look like something's wrong somewhere in your life," he teased.

The host then asked if the comedian/impersonator would indulge the studio audience with his impression of Harry Caray, the legendary baseball broadcaster. Ferrell obliged, and let's just say, Florsheim Shoes owes him big for the free publicity.

Will Ferrell usually doesn't take interviews too seriously, and it was that way this morning on 'Today' (weekdays at 7AM ET on NBC). He and 'The Other Guys' co-star Mark Wahlberg couldn't end the interview without dumping on each other. When Matt Lauer calls Wahlberg "intelligent," Ferrell says that he actually isn't intelligent, he's a buffoon.

Wahlberg doesn't let that go by though. He says that when he started working on the film he thought he was going to work with Owen Wilson.

Not sure why Lauer has to call Wahlberg intelligent and serious every time he interviews him though. Why does he feel he has to do that?

Don't you hate when you feel the thrill of discovering a new show and realize you're deep into its second season?!

If that was you after last night's season 2 premiere of 'White Collar' -- you're definitely in luck today. The complete first season comes out on DVD. Just in time for you to catch up and look like the uber-fan around the water cooler.

Other honorable mentions in stores today are DVD collections of some comedy greats, including The Lucy Show and The Best of Saturday Night Live Will Ferrell and Tracy Morgan.

Find out the rest of the titles out today after the jump!