Quick Takes: ‘The Office’ sets closing date

“The Office”will end after next season, according to the show’s executive producer Greg Daniels.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Daniels said the comedy would come to an “exciting” close in May, after its ninth season. “All questions will be answered this year,” he said during the call, one of them being who is behind the documentary that has been chronicling the lives of the paper hustlers.

Daniels also teased that some familiar Scranton-ites — though he would not name them — will make appearances as the show nears its end.

Still NBC’s highest-rated scripted series, “The Office” underwent a ratings slump last season following the exit of star Steve Carell. Some other players have also left to focus on other projects.

Mindy Kaling, who played fast-talking Kelly Kapoor for eight seasons, is headlining her own comedy on Fox in the fall, though she will make a couple of “Office” appearances in the upcoming season.

Rainn Wilson, along with recent inductee James Spader, made his exit last season to concentrate on helming an “Office” spinoff about Schrute Farms.

— Yvonne Villarreal

Nashville gets a Grammy nod

The Grammy Awards are getting cozier with country music in 2012. The Recording Academy revealed Tuesday morning that the nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards telecast will be unveiled in a prime-time special to be held for the first time in Nashville. The concert / news conference will be staged in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and air live on CBS on Dec. 5 at 10 p.m.

This marks the first time the cumbersomely titled CBS special “Grammy Nominations Concert Live: Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night” will be held outside of Los Angeles in its five-year history. The Recording Academy, the industry body that hosts the Grammy Awards, launched the special in 2008 to help drum up excitement for the telecast of the February awards show.

The Grammy Awards themselves remain parked in Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live from Staples Center on CBS on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. EST. Both the Grammy Awards and “Grammy Nominations Concert Live: Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night” will be tape-delayed for West Coast audiences.

“This announcement further validates that Nashville is a destination on the rise, and our rich musical heritage has once again put us on the national stage,” said Nashville Mayor Karl Dean in a statement.

Typically, the hourlong nominations concert features about five musical performances. The 2011 edition hosted Lady Gaga and country stars Sugarland. The “Grammy Nominations Concert Live” has struggled to find an audience, averaging around 5 million viewers, compared with nearly 40 million for the 2012 Grammy Awards.

— Todd Martens

SAG to honor Van Dyke

Seeing Dick Van Dyke give Mary Tyler Moore the Life Achievement Award at last year’s SAG Awards clearly sparked an idea with someone at the Screen Actors Guild. SAG announced Tuesday that Van Dyke will receive the guild’s highest honor at the 19th Annual SAG Awards ceremony on Jan. 27.

“Dick is the consummate entertainer — an enormously talented performer whose work has crossed nearly every major category of entertainment,” SAG-AFTRA co-President Ken Howard said in a statement. “From his career-changing Broadway turn in ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ and his deadpan humor in the Emmy-winning ‘Dick Van Dyke Show,’ to his unforgettable performance as Bert in ‘Mary Poppins,’ he sets a high bar for actors.”

During more than five decades in show business, Van Dyke, 86, has won five Emmys (three for “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” which featured Moore as his on-screen wife), a Tony Award (“Bye Bye Birdie”) and a Grammy (with Julie Andrews for the “Mary Poppins” soundtrack).

— Glenn Whipp

Allen to return to the stage

Best recognized for her ability to match wits and fists with Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, Karen Allen is returning to the stage in an off-Broadway production of Jon Fosse’s 1999 play, “A Summer Day.”

Known for roles in two installments of Steven Spielberg’s action-adventure franchise (including 2008’s”Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), Allen had an early career full of recognizable turns including “Starman” and “Animal House,” which marked her film debut in 1978.

Though Allen’s career began on a trajectory toward movies, in 1982 she made her Broadway debut with a role in “The Monday After the Miracle,” as well as an off-Broadway production of “Extremities” in a role that became most associated with Farrah Fawcett.

Allen currently teaches theater at Bard College and recently turned to direction in a production of Michael Weller’s “Moonchildren” at the Berkshire Theatre Festival.

— Chris Barton

Diller’s last recording online

Music collective Pink Martini has released the last song Phyllis Diller recorded, Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” as a tribute to her memory.

The voice of the late comedian is immediately recognizable on the recording, perhaps a little more wizened, but still strong and full of emotion. Diller died Monday in Los Angeles at age 95. The song was recorded last February by Pink Martini bandleader Thomas Lauderdale for the Portland, Ore., collective’s next album.

It’s available on YouTube and Soundcloud.

—Associated Press