Jenna Fischer Steps Away From "The Office"...If Only Temporarily

[Brian Damage]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertai...he_Office.html

PASADENA, Calif. — Jenna Fischer's face lit up as she spoke not only of big plans for her character, Pam, in The Office but also of her Columbo-style TV project that's rooted in San Antonio.

Yes, Pam is pregnant, as we learned in last season's finale. She'll be walking down the aisle with Jim (John Krasinski) in the fourth episode of the new season.

Fischer also said she enjoys her work as a producer. One show she's developing for NBC is based on the adventures of San Antonio private eye Charlie Parker. She said the hourlong comedic drama will be like Magnum P.I. or Columbo in tone.

"I had a long, good conversation with Charlie. He's a fascinating man. He had so many good stories to tell," Fischer said after TV critics were taken around The Office set in Van Nuys, Calif.

She said the pilot is based loosely on Parker, 68; however, in this script, the detective character has a grown-up daughter, while in real life, Parker has no children. Fischer especially likes the fact that Parker started out as a lumber salesman who did detective work in his spare time. It's "perfect for our times," she said. "The different characters who work with Charlie all have to keep their day jobs to pay the bills and also solve crimes in their spare time."

These "characters" are part of a club formed by Parker when he was starting out in the gumshoe biz called Unsolved Crimes (the Web site is unsolvedcrimes.com). Members who helped him on cold cases included an attorney, a forensic artist/aerobics teacher and a fry cook/psychic.

No actors have been cast, Fischer said: "We're working on the first script. We're hoping the studio will like it and put it on the air."

Meanwhile, she has been trying on wedding dresses for her character, Pam, saying it's "really emotional and really felt significant. ... She's a person I've been rooting for for so long, and to see her finally getting her dream come true is neat."

As for Pam's pregnancy, Fischer has a real-life model: her sister Emily. "She found out she was pregnant the same time as Pam did," Fischer said, adding Emily tells her how she feels and she draws from that. "She hasn't had a lot of morning sickness, and neither has Pam," she said, "but that may change."

Whatever the case, fans have been there for Pam every step of the way. It started when the relationship (with Jim) was unrequited, Fischer said. "I would get a lot of fan mail from people who also were pining away for someone else in their office.

"And now I'm getting a bunch of mail, 'I can't wait for you guys to have a baby because we're expecting.' "