Melora Hardin is Busy Everywhere but The Office

By Kevin Crossman

We haven't seen much of Melora Hardin and the character of Jan Levenson since the infamous "Baby Shower" episode earlier this season. We know that Hardin has been busy appearing in the Broadway cast of "Chicago," but with recent news and several projects hitting the marketplace right now it's definitely "The Month of Melora."

Hardin's first project of note is this weekend's box office champ, Hanna Montana: The Movie. And while I'm willing to spend a lot of time checking out Office related movie projects (and even like most of them), guess what movie I'm not seeing?

Coming up next weekend is the high school fantasy film 17 Again with Zac Efron and Matthew Perry... and Melora Hardin. As much as I have no interest in Efron, I do like Perry and some of other costars including Leslie Mann and Thomas Lennon. So, remind me to NetFlix this when it comes out on DVD. (remember... support TWSS with a two-week trial to NetFlix).

We also have more details of You, the labor of love from Hardin and her husband Gildart Jackson that we mentioned on the last TWSS episode. According to Hardin's Twitter post, "Download @YouTheFilm for Mom May 8th at youthefilm.com, itunes, and amazon!".  You can learn more at youthefilm.com.

Of course, what we're most interested in is whether Jan will return to "The Office." Well, if history is any indication then just as fans of Team Karen were bummed to learn about a new pilot for Rashida Jones, those fans of Jan can't be excited to learn about "Lights Out," a new FX drama pilot that will star Melora Hardin. Hardin will play a surgeon in the series pilot that will start filming this week.

"Lights Out" centers on Patrick "Lights Out" Leary (McCallany), an aging former heavyweight boxing champion who struggles to find his identity and support his wife (Hardin), a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, and three daughters after his fighting days are over.

That leads him to take a job as a legbreaker, collecting on unpaid gambling debts. He is diagnosed with pugilistic dementia (a neurological disorder that affects boxers who receive multiple blows to the head), so he decides he'll need to make another big payday to support himself and his family before his brain turns to jelly.

According to the article in the Hollywood Reporter, Hardin will not return to "The Office" this season, but "is expected to guest on one or more episodes" next season.

Learn More:
www.melora.com