Jack Bauer Archives

Hollywood Discovers the Comedic Gold Mine That Is the IRS

No not a feature film. Introducing more than thirty minutes (we assume) of Doug Shulman would be too much for boob-tube enthusiasts to bear.

Ron Howard’s production company, Imagine Entertainment, is scheduled to shoot an unnamed pilot for Fox that will center around an IRS district office. It will star David Krumholtz, of Numb3rs fame, who will play Spencer, an agent who is “trying to find nobility in his work.”

This already sounds hilarious. Not to mention that the mere thought of accountants with guns is hysterical. Plus, the fact that the IRS Commissioner doesn’t prepare his own tax return because he thinks the tax code is too complex is just one example of the real sitcom that is the IRS.

Plus the writer of the pilot is Brent Forrester, a current writer and producer for The Office so we’re guaranteed the awkward scenes will be authentic in both words and actions.

The Hollywood Reporter states that the IRS sitcom is “Howard’s first passion series project since the Emmy-winning ‘Arrested Development,'” so now we’re double-excited. The subject matter on its own is hysterical but if you add Arrested Development passion with The Office awkwardness, plus the Numb3rs guy? This might be best non-Jack Bauer reason to watch Fox.

[h/t TaxProf Blog]

Raid at E&Y Hong Kong Was Probably Really Boring

We don’t know what to make of the raid at the E&Y offices in Hong Kong that occurred yesterday. We’d like to think that it was something out of 24 where Jack Bauer was “forced” into an impossible situation where he had to shoot a sheisty auditor in the leg to find out where the “certain documents” were.

Alas, it sounds as though it was considerably less dramatic, falling way short of anything worthy of the Absurd-o-meter.

The HK Fuzz probably even talked it over before going to the E&Y digs and said, “We’re going where? Accountants? We don’t even need our guns for this one. Let’s just take coffee and bagels and they’ll probably do whatever we ask.”

We’re probably not far off as E&Y was sure to reiterate their intent to ‘engage with and further investigations into the Akai matter’. Bor-ing.

Not that we were expecting much but it would have been nice that if just once we’d hear about accountants stonewalling some authority figures. Instead, the Head of E&Y China is stepping down, which is hardly the same as a vast conspiracy that may or may not involve the President of the United States. Sigh. There’ll be a next time soon enough.

Hong Kong Police Raid Ernst & Young [WSJ]
HK police raid E&Y offices over documents [FT]
Earlier: EY Doesn’t Want to Be Outdone By Anyone So They Went to Hong Kong for a Scandal