Other projects from 'The Office' cast that are worth your time

We have to start with “Parks and Recreation,” a show that owes everything to the success of “The Office.” For starters, like “The Office” it was created by Greg Daniels, this time in collaboration with “Office” writer Michael Schur. It included cast members from “The Office,” including Rashida Jones. Most of all, “Parks and Rec” is an NBC sitcom done in the mockumentary style that “The Office” popularized for TV. It’s also a great show in its own right, just as good as “The Office” in fact.

It started with Craig Kilborn, and it continues with Trevor Noah, but in between there were the glory years of Jon Stewart. Several future stars came out of the satirical news show, including Ed Helms, who played Andy on “The Office.” However, there were truly two big stars that rose above the rest: Stephen Colbert and his frequent comedic collaborator Steve Carell.

Speaking of Carell, pretty early on in run of “The Office” he found himself becoming a bona fide movie star. Many credit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” for breaking him, but before that he stole the show as Brick Tamland in “Anchorman.” His absurd lines became part of the cultural lexicon, and made it clear there was a future star in Carell.

“Get Smart,” based on a Bond-spoofing sitcom from the ‘60s that doesn’t always hold up, is far from a perfect movie. However, if you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. Carell stars as Maxwell Smart, while Anne Hathaway plays 99. Dwayne Johnson has a nice turn as well. It’s got some good jokes in it, especially if you ever saw the old sitcom growing up.

Carell never won an Emmy for “The Office,” which is a surprise. You know what else is a surprise? The man who played Michael Scott becoming a respected dramatic actor. He may not have won a Emmy, but he’s been nominated for an Oscar. That nomination came for “Foxcatcher,” but “The Big Short” is a better movie, and Carell still gives a strong dramatic performance.

Dwight K. Schrute made a massive impact on “The Office,” but outside of the show Rainn Wilson has had a somewhat limited career from a success standpoint. Maybe the right project is coming his way. He does have a pretty fun turn in “The Meg,” however. It’s a dumb monster movie about a giant prehistoric shark, but it’s a fun one.

Nancy Meyers makes movies about well-to-do ladies with elaborate kitchens, but there is a market for that which she serves to a tee. Many consider “It’s Complicated” arguably her best work. It does feature a lead trio of Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin, for starters. Also with a noteworthy role? John Krasinski, who was in the middle of his run as Jim Halpert.

Much as Carell surprised us with his turn to Oscar-nominated dramatic acting, Krasinski made an unexpected move as well. He starred in and directed “A Quiet Place,” where he costarred with his wife Emily Blunt. The film was successful enough to garner a sequel, which is not too shabby for a horror film filled with silence.

While not a box office success, “Walk Hard” has developed a strong cult following, and with good reason. The film is a hilarious sendup of biopics, and John C. Reilly is absolutely fantastic as Dewey. His first wife is played by a pre-game Kristen Wiig, but his second wife – the June to his Johnny – is played by Jenna Fischer, aka Pam Beesly.

B.J. Novak wrote for “The Office” and co-starred as Ryan, who began life as a temp and went from there. Outside of “The Office,” he seems too busy himself these days writing books and being a humorist. However, he also had a significant role in Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist World War II flick. He may have been overshadowed by the likes of Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz, but Novak does a solid job as one of the titular Basterds.

It’s funny to go back to watch the original appearance of Kelly Kapoor on “The Office,” as over time more and more of Mindy Kaling’s actual personality made its way into the character. Kelly started to pop, and as a writer on the show as well Kaling was in demand in Hollywood. Eventually, she would get her own sitcom vehicle, “The Mindy Project.” It was a little hit-or-miss, and ended life on Hulu after starting of FOX, but “The Mindy Project” definitely had its quality episodes.

The “Hangover” trilogy turned Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis, and Andy Bernard himself Ed Helms all into stars at once. Personally, we think those movies are a little overrated, and honestly you probably don’t need us to recommend them to you anyway. They all made massive box office. So let’s go with a smaller, more reasonable Helms comedy in “Cedar Rapids.” It’s still an R-rated comedy from Helms, but one that went a bit under the radar.

Did you enjoy “Wet Hot American Summer?” Do you like romantic comedies? They you are the target audience for “They Came Together.” The movie is an absurd, joke-a-minute parody of romcoms starring Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd. However, included in the cast as Helms as well as Ellie Kemper, who played Erin on “The Office.”

Speaking of Kemper, she ended up in a show created by Tina Fey, whose “30 Rock” was a contemporary of “The Office” on NBC. For her followup, Fey (and co-creator Robert Carlock) went to Netflix back before that was something every TV producer did. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is a dark, if hilarious, comedy about a woman (Kemper) rescued from captivity after years in a bunker. Kemper is pretty much perfect as Kimmy, which helps keep the show from getting too heavy, even in darker moments.

As “The Office” went on, more and more new characters popped up, and not all of them were hits. Gabe, played by Zach Woods, has his moments, but he also represents a muddied time on the show. Robert California is involved. It’s not great. However, Woods, an excellent improviser, was part of “Silicon Valley” from the beginning. Mike Judge’s tech comedy is exceedingly raunchy at times, but it’s also very funny and managed to adapt around unplanned cast changes on multiple occasions.

Somehow, “They Came Together” may not be the silliest thing on this list. That honor goes to “Angie Tribeca,” a truly absurd show in the vein of “Police Squad.” The show was created by Steve and Nancy Carell (the latter of whom played Carol on “The Office), and starred Rashida Jones as Angie. The TBS show was perfect for people who love bad puns and total absurdity.

Karen was only on “The Office” for a couple seasons, but she made a big impact as Jim’s love interest that gave way to Pam and Jim finally getting together. Jones’ character has a better romantic arc in “I Love You, Man” which also marks another appearance by Paul Rudd. The R-rated comedy features Rudd and Jones as a couple engaged to be married, and the film mixes raunchy jokes and some actual moments of maturity quite well.

This time, we’re hitting you with back-to-back movies co-starring Jason Segal, who is also in “I Love You, Man.” “The Muppets” reboot was something of a pet project for him, and it was fortunately greeted fairly well (aside from perhaps Walter). Jones is in this movie as well, and Krasinki has a cameo as himself. Oh, and Amy Adams costars. Don’t forget she had a run of a few episodes in the early days of “The Office” before she got huge.

Michael Schur, who we mentioned  co-created “Parks and Recreation,” also had an acting role on “The Office.” You surely remember him (and his beard) as Cousin Mose. Schur is primary a writer, and he created and ran “The Good Place,” a sitcom that asks some big questions on NBC. It’s maybe not as funny as “The Office,” but it has more ambitious as well.

Yes, Schur also co-created the workplace sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” However, we aren’t just including this for Schur. Craig Robinson, who played Daryl on “The Office,” has a recurring role as Doug Judy, also known as the “Pontiac Bandit.”

Be sure you know what to expect before watching “Hot Tub Time Machine.” It’s a raunchy comedy with a lot of ‘80s pop culture references. The movie does not try and rise above its station. It’s all in the title “Hot Tub Time Machine.” The movie costars both Craig Robinson and Clark Duke. You may remember Duke from the final season of “The Office.” Or maybe not.

“Monk” was at the forefront of USA procedural shows that built what was called the network’s “blue sky era.” The show is primary about Adrian Monk, the brilliant, if neurotic and troubled, detective. One of the driving forces behind Monk’s job, and issues, is the murder of his wife. In flashbacks, we see her several times, and she’s played by Melora Hardin. Hardin really made quite the impact in her time as Jan Levinson, especially in “Dinner Party.”

Do you remember that Idris Elba was on “The Office?” The ladies of Dunder-Mifflin definitely remember Charles Miner’s time in Scranton. Elba, of course, played Stringer Bell on “The Wire,” the seminal HBO show. On top of that, Amy Ryan also pulled double duty on “The Wire” and “The Office.”

“Whose Line is it Anyway?” introduced short-form improv (and Colin Mochrie) to a lot of people. The primary performers on that show may be Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady, but there were other improvisers that showed up. That includes Charles “Chip” Esten, who has been on 45 episodes of “Whose Line.” He also played Josh in season three of “The Office.”

We probably don’t need to tell you about “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” It’s an iconic sitcom. However, it’s also been off the air for decades, and if you are young enough you may have missed it. We also wanted to recommend “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” because you might not know why it has an “Office” connection. Do you remember Irene, the older woman that Erin lives with down in Florida? She was played by Georgia Engel, who played Georgette on 56 episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She even got an Emmy nomination.