While it's been known for months now that Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler has a new comedy coming at NBC, from The Office's Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, one thing hasn't been known – the title. So far, the project has simply been referred to by the network as The Untitled Amy Poehler Project or Untitled Daniels/Schur/Poehler Series. Last week, at the Television Critics Association press tour, I had the chance to ask Poehler what it's like to have her name now be notable enough to use in such a context.
"It's so cool!," Poehler exclaimed, adding, "Yeah, now when I go into coffee shops, I'm like, 'I would like an Untitled Amy Poehler Coffee.' And when I go in the diner, I'm like, 'What are you having? I'm having the Untitled Amy Poehler Breakfast.' It's pretty cool!"
While we don't know the title yet, we do know the show is about the world of local government, with the focus on mid-level bureaucrat Leslie Knope (Poehler), who works in the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Poehler explained to me that Daniels and Schur, "Kind of came to me with the concept. We wanted to work together. They had a fully formed concept, and then we talked a bit more about character stuff together. So it kind of came together [both] fast and slow."
The series will use the same mockumentary style as The Office. Poehler said she was a fan of that style and noted, "Those guys are the best at it. I'm such huge fans of The Office." She then laughed as she realized, "I just said it like I was two people! Me and all my multiple personalities are really a fan of The Office. And I love that style and I love the idea of finding a different world and exploiting that style a little bit and making things smaller and more precise."
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