Television

TV Bits: 'Parks & Recreation', 'Bates Motel', 'Arrested Development', 'The League', 'The Office'

By Angie Han

Some quick TV hits for you after the jump, including:

  • Bates Motel adds Max Thieriot as a big brother to Norman
  • Jeff Garlin will also return to Arrested Development
  • FX getting sued for copyright infringement over The League
  • Parks & Recreation looks funny as ever in Season 5 trailer
  • Watch an 18-minute blooper reel for Seasons 2-7 of The Office

    • Executive produced by Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights), Bates Motel explores the messed up familial relationships that caused Norman to get all mad and murder-y in his adult years. The series will air on A&E in 2013. [THR]

    Here's another name to add to Arrested Development's growing roster of returning characters. Jeff Garlin is set to reprise his role as studio exec Mort Meyers, boss to Alia Shawkat's Maeby Fünke. Like most of the show's stars, Garlin's playing coy with plot details, confirming only that he's been filming. "I don't even know if I'll make the final cut," he told Paste. "I don't know if I'll end up being in it, they might cut everything with me. But I am filming some episodes."

    What makes Garlin's casting a bit more intriguing, however, is where his story left off. The very last scene of Season 3's finale has Meyers and Maeby pitching her story to Ron Howard, who shrugs that he doesn't see the concept working as a television series — but adds, "Maybe a movie." So could this mean Meyers' reappearance is setting up an Arrested Development, as some fans have speculated? Who the hell knows? Either way, I'll just be happy to see him — and the show — come back when Season 4 hits Netflix in 2013. [via Screen Crush]

    FX's The League has picked up quite a devoted fanbase over its four seasons, but could it be that the offbeat comedy isn't quite as original as it seems? That's the allegation being raised by writers Joseph Balsamo and Peter Ciancarelli, who say the network stole the concept from their treatment titled The Commissioner. The pair have filed a civil complaint pointing to similarities between The League and The Commissioner, both of which revolve around a circle of friends involved in a fantasy football league.

    Balsamo and Ciancarelli originally submitted The Commissioner to the WGA in 2006, then put the script online to gain attention. In the suit, the plaintiffs claim that "given the numerous and striking similarities between the two works, there can be no dispute that Defendants Schaffer and/or FX had access to and copied protectable elements of the Treatment." Click here to read the complaint. [Deadline]

    On a much happier note, NBC has dropped an utterly charming new trailer for Parks & Recreation which shows Leslie, Ben, Ron, and the rest of the gang up to their usual shenanigans — only this time, some of them are in DC. No sign yet of Xena, Warrior Princess or Mike Ehrmentraut, though.

    Parks & Recreation's fifth season kicks off this Thursday. [via Screen Crush]

    And in other NBC news, we also have an 18-minute blooper reel from Seasons 2-7 of The Office. It's great to see the cast had as much fun making the episodes as we did watching them. Maybe even more, in the case of the uneven later seasons.

    The Office also returns this Thursday. [via The Daily What]

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