Scranton Seeks ‘Office’ Zealots
Pa. City Hosts Convention for Fans of NBC Sitcom
By Multi Channel News Staff -- Multichannel News, 10/10/2007 9:12:00 AM
NBC’s The Office successfully transplanted a British comedy, won Emmy and Peabody awards, renewals and has a second life on TBS – but can it lure fans to a convention to a former coal mining town in Northeastern Pennsylvania?
Organizers of “The Office Convention” on Oct. 26-28 certainly hope so.
Some fans of the show already come to town and have photos taken near some of the landmarksfrom the opening montage of the show, actually shot in Los Angeles in a faux office but fictitiously set at Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. in Scranton.
Convention backers are trying to add to that by having actual cast members in attendance, including Angela Kinsey (Angela), Melora Hardin (Jan), Leslie David Baker (Stanley), Brian Baumgartner (Kevin), Creed Bratton (Creed), Kate Flannery (Meredith), Mindy Kaling (Kelly), Oscar Nunez (Oscar), Phyllis Smith (Phyllis), Andy Buckley (David Wallace from Corporate) and Bobby Ray Shafer (Bob Vance -- Vance Refrigeration).
“Think of it like a Star Trek convention, but with nerds wearing Dwight Schrute glasses instead of Spock ears,” convention organizer Tim Holmes said in a release.
Some events are free and open to the public, while others require limited-admission passes that range from $50 to $250, the organizers said.
Another draw is The Scrantones, who perform the show’s theme song and will be playing their first gig in Scranton. Band members include Bob Thiele (who’s played with Bonnie Raitt and Lou Reed) on guitar and vocals; Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello & The Imposters) on bass; Brian MacLeod (Sheryl Crow) on drums and Roger Manning (Beck) on keyboards.
The Web site is theofficeconvention.com.
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I am originally from the Scranton Area so I am pretty much addicted to The Office. In fact, my Thursday night schedule revovles around it. But hey if you ever miss it, you can catch it on NBC's website, so as not to fall out of grace with The Office! And by the way- Scranton ROCKS! It makes me so happy to see how people are on board with the show and sending memorabilia, organizing this convention, and giving the writers "Scranton Buzz-words"...Cooper's, Lake Scranton, etc. On another note: I hope they did away with the whole Chili's reference. Now if we can just get the cast to come to Parade Day 2008, they would really get a feel for our town! So anyway, GOOD STUFF and CHEERS to THE OFFICE!
Laura Ryblewski - 10/12/2007 9:15:00 AM EDT -
I think this will be a fun event! Certainly, if we lived in the Scranton area, my husband and I would be a part of it.
We are newbies to "The Office" crowd. We don't watch any other television (sans football), except for "The Office". What does that tell you???
We spent three weeks catching up on all the episodes within each season on dvd from our local library. When the fouth season started two weeks ago, we were ready. Our Thursday nights are centered around watching "The Office" at 9:00.
Janie Alexander - 10/11/2007 10:41:00 AM EDT
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