‘The Office’ Spinoff Chatter: Aziz Ansari and Rashida Jones

There are two breaking developments on the Office spinoff front, one confirmed, another still basically grist for the rumor mill.

This week, the first official cast member was hired for the new sitcom, and he is Human Giant star and Flight of the Conchords guest star Aziz Ansari. Says spinoff co-executive producer Greg Daniels, “We met him pretty early on and thought he was very funny.”

Variety speculates in its article on Ansari’s casting that the new show will not be a spinoff in the traditional sense because it appears that none of the regular characters on the original series will morph into starring roles on the new series. However, a character from the new show might appear on the older one first before showing up on the spinoff.

Meanwhile, over at E! Online, there’s a rumor report claiming a possibility that The Office’s Karen Filippelli, known in real life as former Unhitched star Rashida Jones, might score a starring gig on the spinoff. Yet there haven’t been any official confirmations of that information — sources have actually given conflicting details, stating that Jones has and has not been offered a role — which is why it remains a rumor at present.