Posts Tagged ‘Will Ferrell’

For the past seven seasons, we’ve enjoyed punching into “The Office” every Thursday night. But this coming May, Massachusetts native Steve Carell aka Michael Scott will be punching-out for the final time.

Dunder Mifflin will be seeking a full time regional manager to replace the unique Michael Scott which clearly will be a challenging task for the small Scranton, Penn paper company.

And it just so happens, that NBC announced that the super funny Will Ferrell has signed on for at least four episodes and will be there for Carell’s  final exit from “The Office”. Ferrell is rumored to be playing a branch manager from the home office, who rivals Michael Scott. Ferrell to replace Carell?

“We found Steve Carell when he was nothing but a movie star and we turned him into a television star,” executive producer Paul Lieberstein said. “We are proud to continue The Office‘s tradition of discovering famous talent, and we hope that once America gets a good look at Will, they’ll see what we see, tremendous raw sexuality.”

According to Ricky Gervais’s Blog, the British creator of the hit sitcom, “Had a little meeting with NBC about various things and recommended Will Arnett for a regular in The Office”. He’d like Arnett to fill the void left by Carell when he leaves the series later this year. Okay, so maybe Arnett to replace Carell?

Either way, Michael Scott will be truly missed but the paper company must keep printing. “It’s bittersweet,” Carell tells TVGuide.com. “I’m excited about the prospect to be able to spend more time with my family, but these are some of my best friends on the show, and I will miss them.”

We will miss you Michael Scott!

Coming off a hilariously entertaining role alongside Will Ferrell in the summer hit, The Other Guys, Mark Wahlberg has landed a role in another upcoming comedy. Ted, the directorial debut of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, stars an average guy from Boston (Wahlberg) whose childhood wish brought his stuffed bear to life;  years later, the life-size, walking-talking teddy is still his best friend.

However, as one might guess, having a teddy bear best friend poses a dilemma —  a carousing, irresponsible slacker, the bear gets in the way of his buddy committing to adulthood and the girl he loves.

Ted draws inspiration from Neil Swaab’s acclaimed comic, “Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles,” which appears in various magazines including the New York Press. Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the film last April, and Media Rights Capital agreed to finance the $65 million budget. MacFarlane’s partners in “Family Guy,” Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, helped write the script for Ted, crossing the line of “racy sitcom” and earning the film an R-rating.

It will utilize a mixture of live-action and CGI to bring the bear to life, and MacFarlane himself will provide the voice-over for the animated character. Some who have predicted a “Family Guy” feature-film in the works believe the success or failure of Ted may be a good indicator of future big-screen projects for the young director.

Dorchester, Mass. native Wahlberg has been busy lately; he also will star as Boston wrestler “Irish” Mickey Ward in David O’Russell’s The Fighter, which will hit theaters in the U.S. on December 10, 2010. According to an interview with Mike Fleming for Deadline New York, Wahlberg comitted wholly to the film.  The moment he learned that the role was his, nearly 5 years ago, he built a boxing ring his backyard, hired two trainers out of his own pocket, and worked out extensively to prepare himself. According to Wahlberg, playing the role of Micky and filming the movie so close to his hometown brought back memories of his own childhood. “There were so many comparisons to my life, my story, my upbringing,” he said. Check out the trailer for The Fighter below.

Walhberg will also appear alongside Kate Beckinsale in Contraband, a remake of the 2008 Icelandic crime drama Reykjavic-Rotterdam. Wahlberg hopes to follow the release of that picture in 2012 with MacFarlane’s Ted.

Can you feel it, Hingham? We did too. On Tuesday evening, actor Mark Walberg hit the red carpet looking ever so handsome at his brother Paul’s restaurant Alma Nove for the second premiere of his new flic, The Other Guys, also starring Eva Mendas and Will Ferrell. Ferrell’s rumored appearance was all the buzz in the shipyard that night but unfortunately was a no show.

Alma Nove, named after their mother and the nine Walberg children, just opened this past Memorial Day and had no problem becoming one of the hippest places in Hingham. The restaurant was host of the post premiere party, where not only Mark was in attendance but Patriots player Teddy Bruschi, Milian Lucic of the Bruins, and Lowell, MA boxer Micky Ward. The movie’s screening benefited the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, a program that gives every child a chance for a better future. Tickets to the event were also rumored to be a $1000 bucks a pop.  Check out our highlights of the red carpet event below!

Mark Walhberg, a Dorchester Ma. native, has big clown shoes to fill starring alongside Will Ferrell in the action-comedy cop flick, The Other Guys, out August 6th. The two play bumbling second-rate NYPD cops who are constantly living in the shadow of detectives Christopher Dansen and P.K. Highsmith (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson). They finally get their chance to shine when they bust open a case that no one else wants and it turns out to be one of the biggest cases in New York history.

Add to the plot that Walhberg and Ferrel’s characters can’t get along to save their lives or the lives of others and the cosmic comedy stars are sure to align. Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes star, and Derek Jeter even makes a cameo appearance to give it a true New York City flair.

While the proverbial NBA battle of Hollywood East versus west may be over, we saw a plethora of celebrities and other famous faces packing the stands, cheering their favorite team on.

So which stars cheered for which team? On the Boston Celtics side, “Access Hollywood”  cohost, Medford-born Maria Menounos, a graduate of Emerson College, Cambridge-born comedian Dane Cook, retired New England Patriots linebacker (and recent Health Expo attendee) Tedy Bruschi, Boston-born actor Mike O’Malley, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, Red Sox owner John Henry, Everett’s Ellen Pompeo, Watertown’s Eliza Dushku, and Dorchester’s Donnie Wahlberg. Chief executive of DreamWorks Animation and film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who donated $1.25 million to Boston University in 2006, was also assumed to be cheering for the Celtics.

Rooting for the Lakers, as always, was Jack Nicholson, singer Justin Timberlake, Sylvester Stallone, director Spike Lee, Sean P. Diddy Combs, Snoop Dogg, actor Leonardo DiCaprio who spent some time in Boston in 2008 while filming Shutter Island, Kevin Connolly, and Andy Garcia. Stars of the E! reality show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” Kris, Kim, and Khloe Kardashian, wife of Lakers forward Lamar Odom, attended the games in L.A., but were absent on the east coast. Khloe did, however, find herself the target of some unique taunting by Boston fans at the TD Garden; fans were seen waving cardboard cutouts of her in hopes of distracting Odom.

Others famous faces that have been spotted at some of the games, included, First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia, singer Christina Aguilera, Olympic gold medalist from Jamaica, Usain Bolt, musicians Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh of the Eagles, “Saturday Night Live” performer Seth Meyers, singer Anita Baker, and comedian Will Ferrell. Actors Chris Rock and Adam Sandler, who have been heavily promoting their movie, Grown Ups, throughout the games, also spent time in Boston last summer filming their new flick, and were spotted sitting courtside in L.A.

The stars in the stands weren’t the only TV and film personalities in attendance. Lakers star Lamar Odom has been featured numerous times alongside his wife on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” as well as its spin-off “Khloe and Kourtney take Miami”. Celtics star Ray Allen, who began his college career at the University of Connecticut, has also starred in a number of films, including Spike Lee’s He Got Game, and Harvard Man. At a press conference after game 4, Celtics players Nate Robinson and Glen Davis even likened themselves to characters from the popular Shrek movies. Perhaps we’ll see them on set at the next film shot in Hollywood East during their off season!

Ever wonder what your favorite musician likes to cook? Do you need a review of Twilight or do you just want to watch someone awesome having awesome adventures?  Independent video network, Plus1TV offers all of that and more.  It features original online video content series and “prime time” viewing hours with shows averaging three to five minutes in length and seasons of six or eight episodes. Unlike YouTube or Hulu, however, Plus1TV focuses solely on content that is meant to educate the viewer in a fun and interesting way.

Created by Jim Gilbert, a Massachusetts resident and former bassist for critically acclaimed rock band The Sheila Divine, Plus1TV originated while Gilbert was serving as an associate producer at Cambridge Community Television.  Gilbert wanted to develop informative content that would be available to more people.

Plus1TV provides video content in four broad channels of music, film, food and humor.  The Film and Music channels offer interviews from movie stars such as Will Ferrell and bands like Man Man and The Juan MacLean.  The Food channel offers Cooking with Rockstars, where musicians such as Spoon and Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie spill the details on their favorite meals, while the Humor channel features a funny original series called “The Awesome Adventures of Admiral Awesome.“

We spoke with Gilbert about the process of creating and maintaining his video site, which he has found to be “very rewarding.”  Speaking of his experience, Gilbert stated, “I have learned so much about myself in the past two years professionally and creatively.”

With any venture, however, Gilbert has faced some challenges in running his website but has overcome them by finding different ways to make it work.  To others who are interested in starting their own venture, be it a website, film or any other project, Gilbert advises to set realistic goals and figure out a different way to work in order to achieve what you ultimately want. “I’ll guarantee you will learn a lot about yourself if you take some good calculated risks,” he told us.

If you have video content that you would like featured on Plus1TV, they are currently accepting content submissions as long as it fits into their music, film, food or humor channel themes.  For more information on Plus1TV and how to submit work, make sure to check out their website.

It just may be the outlet you’ve been waiting for.