Creed's Apostles

At the 'Office' Convention, Character Actors Get the Rock-Star Treatment

IF YOU don't know about Scranton, Pennsylvania's place in contemporary pop culture, then you, friend, don't know pop culture. The small city in the Keystone State's mountainous northeastern region is the setting for NBC's The Office, and this weekend it's playing host to a convention devoted to the show. Because I've done work for the University of Scranton, which is the site of most of the activities, I'm here lending an extra PR hand. Yesterday morning the Today show kicked off the festivities with Al Roker on campus doing weather cut-ins and nine of the show's actors arriving to jack up the crowd, which consisted mostly of college kids who had been up for hours in anticipation of getting on live TV.

Indeed, when I arrived on campus at 5:15 a.m., I could already hear the chants from the hundreds who had gathered behind the barriers where Roker was going to do his thing. "We want Roker," clap-clap-clapclapclap, it went, over and over, and when Al finally popped out, the students exploded. Likewise when the actors came out, in groups of three. Normal-looking people (with the exception of Angela Kinsey, who is hotter and less severe-looking than she comes across on camera, and very, very tiny) who received rock-star ovations and clamoring for autographs and attention, none more so than Creed Bratton, who clearly reveled in the adoration. And all of them extraordinarily gracious and friendly, with Lesley David Baker and Bobby Ray Shafer coming up to introduce themselves to me. (Though, to be fair, Shafer shook my hand while saying, "Hi, Bob Vance -- Vance Refrigeration.") It was a cool and singular experience, an only-in-America, or, perhaps, an only-on-a-college-campus kind of moment.

More updates later in the weekend, I hope, time permitting.

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