TBS Picks Up 'The Office'

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - TBS has snapped up cable rerun rights to a pair of critically acclaimed NBC hit comedies, "The Office" and "My Name Is Earl."

Reruns of "The Office" will also air on the Fox-owned station group, beginning in fall 2009 in such major markets as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando and Baltimore.

TBS' off-network rights to both series kick in during fall 2009. However, it will be able to air episodes from the first three seasons of "The Office" in the fall, when the series will be entering its fourth season on NBC.

With fewer off-network comedies coming down the pike as broadcast networks scale back on their comedy series -- and many of those not making it to a second season -- "Office" and "Earl" have been closely watched for months in the syndication industry. Sources said TBS paid $600,000-$700,000 per episode for each series. All parties declined comment on the financial terms of the deals.

Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin, who oversees TBS, said the network was "very aggressive" in pursuing "Earl" and "Office" to join the other off-network comedies on its schedule, including "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Seinfeld," "Sex and the City," "Family Guy" and "Friends."

"These are the best comedies of the past decade, and to have them all in one place is very appealing," Koonin said.

He added that the "Office" episodes will be used to build TBS' original series, with an hour a week of back-to-back "Office" episodes leading in to "The Frank Show," a new late-night sketch comedy featuring Frank Caliendo, and then "10 Items or Less," the returning late-night scripted/improvised comedy series.

"The Office," which won the Emmy for best comedy series last year, stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer. "Earl," which stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee and Jaime Pressly, is heading into its third season in the fall.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter