Latest news with #workplacecomedy
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Stephen King meets The Office in the best Literary Fiction out now: THE EXPANSION PROJECT by Ben Pester, WATCHING OVER HER by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, BLOODY AWFUL IN DIFFERENT WAYS by Andrev Walden
THE EXPANSION PROJECT by Ben Pester (Granta £16.99, 224pp) Pester's first novel follows his standout 2021 short story collection, Am I In the Right Place?, in which a series of oddball scenarios rendered corporate work life dystopianly strange. He follows suit here with the story of a communications officer who loses his eight-year-old daughter in his office after taking her to a Bring Your Child To Work event. It turns out not to be happening and may never even have been scheduled in the first place. Then colleagues say his daughter was never there . . . but their various testimonies don't fit together either. This funny, inventive and unsettling debut has elements of J.G. Ballard as well as Stephen King, plus cringeworthy workplace comedy made familiar by The Office. WATCHING OVER HER by Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Atlantic £14.99, 544pp) In Frank Wynne's translation from the original French, readers have a chance to enjoy this smash-hit historical epic ahead of the forthcoming film adaptation. Set in Italy, it centres on the undying love between a downtrodden sculptor, Mimo, and a wealthy aristocrat, Viola. We join Mimo on his deathbed at a monastery before winding back to his birth at the turn of the 20th century to see how he and Viola re-encounter one another over the decades after a romance buffeted by two world wars. When, in 2023, the novel was awarded the Prix Goncourt – the equivalent of the Booker – there were grumbles it wasn't literary enough. My guess is the judges were swept along by its timeless narrative gimmicks – who can blame them? BLOODY AWFUL IN DIFFERENT WAYS by Andrev Walden (Fig Tree £14.99, 352pp) Translated by Ian Giles, this coming-of-age debut was a big seller in Sweden, but it's a bit of a mixed bag. Set in the 1980s, it's about a boy whose put-upon mother pairs up with a succession of terrible partners over seven years. Each of the seven men gets their own chapter, each named for the quality that strikes the young narrator most: The Thief, The Artist, and so on. Walden grips your attention with darkly comic verve, and there's a truly ugly undertow to his portrait of toxic masculinity, rendered all the more shocking by the narrator's partial understanding.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New CBS Show Coming This Fall Has Fans Saying They'll Watch for One Reason Only
New CBS Show Coming This Fall Has Fans Saying They'll Watch for One Reason Only originally appeared on Parade. CBS is taking fans to the most dreaded place this fall—the DMV. The new sitcom series, joining current comedies Georgie & Mandy's First Wedding and Ghosts, is a workplace comedy based on a short story by award-winning author Katherine Heiny. Titled DMV, it takes place at the DMV, obviously, turningeveryday chaos into charm as a crew of lovable misfits tackle bureaucracy, bad attitudes, and busted printers—all with minimum wage and maximum sarcasm.' It's the job nobody wants, but the hangout you won't want to miss,' the synopsis notes. While not everyone was convinced that CBS had the next Office on their hands, everyone seemed to be in agreement that they'd be watching for one reason only—Tim Meadows. If Tim Meadows is in it I'm down,' one wrote, as a second echoed, 'Tim Meadows! Love that guy. Only watching it for him.' 'Tim works a ton but is still somehow criminally underutilized. Hope this show is huge for him!' another stated in a Reddit thread, while someone else emphasized, 'Tim Meadows is long past due for his flowers. I wish him well in this, and I plan to watch.' 'I love Tim. This makes me happy,' another commented, as someone else added, 'It's crazy Tim Meadows hasn't led a sitcom before.' 'Tim Meadows' + 'DMV' and I was already chuckling. PLUS Molly?!?' someone quipped, referring to Molly Kearney, while many more praised the addition of Harriet Dyer's casting after enjoying her role on Colin From Accounts. There seemed to be plenty of people willing to give it a shot, with comments like, 'A show about the worst place on the planet,' 'Okay this is a good concept,' and 'Looks like a funny show! Can't wait!" 'Surprised a tv network took almost a century to make a sitcom set in a department everyone dreads having to go to... I hope it's funny,' someone else underscored, as another posed a similar question, 'How has it taken this long to get a comedy about the DMV?' Even real DMV employees chimed in, with one stating, 'Working at the DMV as an examiner....I'm kind of looking forward to this. Always regaling my wife with stories,' and another offering their services, 'I actually work at the DMV, I'd like to be cast and tell you all the stuff that happens..' While many felt that comedy sitcoms seem to be a 'dying genre," it's clear that there's plenty of interest in finding the next promising one—particularly following CBS's disappointing cancellations of Poppas House and The Neighborhood (airing its final season). The cast also includes Tony Cavalero, Alex Tarrant and Gigi Zumbado. DMV will air Monday nights at 8:30 pm, after The Neighborhood and before FBI and CBS Show Coming This Fall Has Fans Saying They'll Watch for One Reason Only first appeared on Parade on Jul 9, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
