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TV Lookout: Highlights for the Week Ahead

Posted on: Sunday, 17 October 2004, 06:00 CDT

The bad news: David Brent, the comically cringe-worthy hero of "The Office," was laid off from his job as a manager of a paper-supply company on season two of this hilarious BBC mockumentary series.

The good news: He took his termination money and financed a rock video starring himself.

The bad news: Nobody bought his record and he lost everything.

The great news: Brent is back in a two-hour special that will bring "Office" fans up to date on everyone from the Wernham Hogg company, while bringing closure to these losers with remarkable grace.

Ricky Gervais (also co-writer and co-director) is back as Brent, who now sells cleaning products door-to-door while milking what he pretends is fame from prior TV exposure on "The Office" series.

He also has a way of often popping into the old workplace with appalling frequency.

"He's here more often now that he doesn't work here," David's former colleague Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) tells the camera.

Airing Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT on cable's BBC America, "The Office Special" finds David at his insufferable best, and never more so than on his video, included here (he performs the long-ago hit, "If You Don't Know Me By Now").

All in all, this is a real "Office" party!

Other shows to look out for:

- Should she live or die? Pick your favorite ending for the episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" airing Sunday. Two versions were shot, in which a female murderer will either live or be killed. One ending will be telecast to viewers in the Eastern time zone while the other will be seen in the Central, Mountain and Pacific zones (including Alaska and Hawaii). Immediately following the episode, "Great Barrier," viewers can log on to www.nbc.com to view both endings and cast their vote, determining the official fate of the character - villainous Nicole Wallace (Olivia D'Abo). In the episode, Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) track a mysterious young diamond "swallower" (Grace Shu) who is being manipulated by Nicole, Goren's murderous, chameleonlike nemesis. The most popular ending to "Great Barrier" will be revealed during the series' Oct. 24 broadcast. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" airs at 9 p.m. on NBC.

- At the time, it was called "the most important sporting event in history." On June 22, 1938, as the Great Depression raged and war was in the air, 70,000 fans jammed Yankee Stadium to see German Max Schmeling and American Joe Louis square off for the heavyweight championship of the world. The pressure on each fighter was enormous, with Louis not only defending his country's honor but also, as a black man, the promise of black America. For Schmeling, the fight was meant to be a showcase for Hitler's demonic racial theories. "The Fight," a 90-minute documentary recalling that momentous clash and its implications for the world, is on PBS' "American Experience" airing at 9 p.m. Monday (check local listings).

- Shades of "Some Like It Hot" and "Tootsie"! A new comedy-reality show that's really a drag, "He's a Lady" pits 11 guys in a competitive crash course to learn what it's like to be a gal. Made over into ladies, the contestants each week will learn something new about life as a woman. The climax of the series? What else - a beauty pageant! Judges include Morgan Fairchild ("The Seduction"), John Salley ("The Best Damn Sports Show Period") and Debbie Matenopoulos ("Good Day Live"). "He's a Lady" premieres on TBS Tuesday at 10 p.m.

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Frazier Moore can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org

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