OFF CENTRE

'''Off Centre''' is an American television comedy created by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, and Danny Zuker. Heavily promoted as "from the guys who brought you ''American Pie''", the show was centered around the lives of two friends, British stud Euan Pierce (played by Sean Maguire) and play-it-safe American Mike Platt (played by Eddie Kaye Thomas), after they move into the posh Hadley Building on New York's Centre Street. Rounding out the cast were Mike's girlfriend, Liz Lombardi (Lauren Stamile), their wacky friend, Vietnamese restaurant employee Chau Presley (played by John Cho), and secretly sensitive gangsta rapper Status Quo (Jason George).
Among the shows notable guest stars were Carmen Electra (as herself), and ''American Pie'' alumni Eugene Levy (as urologist Dr. Barry Wasserman), Jason Biggs (as Rick Steve, the man with two first names) and Shannon Elizabeth (as Dawn, a girlfriend of Chau's who adores seeing him get beat up). The show also featured one-off appearances by Jenna Fischer in "The Backup" and Zachary Quinto in "Diddler on the Roof" before they found fame on ''The Office'' and ''Heroes'', respectively.
The series aired on The WB network from October 14, 2001 to October 31, 2002.

Contents

Characters

Other characters

Cancellation

Controversy

Episode list

Trivia

External links

Characters

'Euan Pierce' - A womanizing graduate of Oxford college, suave Brit Euan works as an investment banker and is reckless with money, as seen in the lavish apartment he shares with Mike, which includes of all things, a $1,200 airplane propeller. Among the skeletons in his closet are his "fruity" middle name (Crispin) and the fact that he used to riverdance.
'Mike Platt' - Unlike his Oxford roommate Euan, Mike is hardly financially stable, and for most of the series he worked for a non-profit organization, writing letters on behalf of political prisoners, protesting overfishing of the ''delicious'' Chilean sea bass, and performing other deeds that he cared little about, as he chose the job because it was close to his apartment. Mike went on to a short-lived career at a video game company before working as the sound guy for porn films, and later into unemployment. Mike dated Liz for over a year, and his attempts to break up with her during the first episode of the second were thwarted when she dumped him first.
'Liz Lombardi' - Mike's girlfriend for over a year, Liz was frequently seen trying to get Mike to better himself and take more control of his life.
'Chau Presley' - Considered by most fans as the best part of the show, Chau is Mike and Euan's wacky Vietnamese restauranteur friend. His restaurant is called Qui Nhon. Some of his wacky antics consists of accidentally burning Mike's apartment, making money betting at illegal cock fights, and dating a homeless girl. Chau's ineptness around women combined with the lack of a social filter to create some of the funniest moments and lines in the show. He is the most free-spirited of the group. He is frequently looking for new schemes to attract the ladies, some of which work (such as claiming to be an MTV director when Cribs profiled Status Quo, and starting a fake band, The Chau Project, and booking a gig, despite not having any songs), and some of which don't (buying a parrot and carrying it on his shoulder for a week). His excuses and explanations are frequently outlandish. He once claimed that Euan had a bedspread made of puppies in order to woo a contestant on The Real World away from him. Chau later took over Mike's job doing sound on porn films, made a fortune in cockfight winnings, and briefly dated a homeless girl, although he prefers the term "outdoors-y." It should also be noted that he has a third testicle.
'Status Quo' - Real first name: Nathan. A Grammy-Award winning rapper often followed by his "posse people" MC French and DJ Cheddar, he lets down his tough facade around his friends. He secretly enjoys cooking, owned a fastidiously groomed standard poodle named D'Artagnan, is close friends with Martha Stewart and once briefly dated Cher. He had a long-time crush on Liz, but, they refrained from pursuing a relationship, realizing that they couldn't risk their friendship and Scrabble games.

Other characters

'Dr. Barry Wasserman' - appears in "The Unkindest Cut" and "P.P. Doc II: The Examination Continues." Played by Eugene Levy, Wasserman is a urologist that inexplicably has a large cult following. Dedicated to his work, he calls his car "The Penismobile" and its license plate reads "PPDOC," and he frequently has to explain to people that he's not joking. He is allegedly the urologist of choice for P.Diddy, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, which makes him irresistible to women. Wasserman moved into the Hadley building after his wife committed suicide. He frequently makes jokes about his dead wife that no one finds funny but him.
'Jordan' - Introduced as a sort of female counterpart to Chau, Jordan is Liz's friend, who, according to Mike, has no social filter. Jordan says whatever is on her mind with no concern for the people around her, which creates several embarrassing situations, especially in restaurants. She and Chau briefly dated, before an argument about who was hotter - Owen Wilson (her choice) or Luke Wilson (Chau's choice), ended their relationship. She works as an assistant to Dr. Wasserman.

Cancellation

The show aired on The WB network on Sunday nights, and despite dismal ratings, was renewed for a second season. However, the move to Thursday did not help the show, and it was cancelled seven episodes into the second season, leaving two episodes ("Scary Sitcom" and "Chau's Hard Iced Tea") unfilmed.

Controversy

While it aired, the show was controversial for its raunchy content, as topics addressed included threesomes, circumcision, pornography, masturbation. On March 4, 2002, as the show faced pressure from watchdog groups such as the Parents Television Council (which voted ''Off Centre'' the second worst show for family viewing in 2002), The New York Post printed a memo from the WB's Standards and Practices Department to the creators of the show that stated: "It is essential to reduce and/or modify the significant number of uses of 'penis,' 'testicles,' 'foreskin' as well as euphemisms for the same, such as 'your thingie,'" the memo says in part. It also orders the exclusion of such references as "covered wagon," "unit," "turtleneck," "little fella," "anteater," "diddy," "cloaking device" and "my pig is still snuggly, wrapped in his doughy blanket."

Episode list

	Number	Title
1.	1.01	Let's Meet Mike and Euan
2.	1.02	Feeling Shellfish
3.	1.03	A Stroke of Genius
4.	1.04	Trust Me or Don't Trust Me
5.	1.05	Euan's Brush with Love
6.	1.06	A Cute Triangle
7.	1.07	Swing Time
8.	1.08	Money or Brother Can You Spare a Ski Trip
9.	1.09	Marathon Man
10.	1.10	Guy Gone Wild
11.	1.11	The Good, The Bad, and the Lazy
12.	1.12	Gas Crisis
13.	1.13	Why Chau Lives Alone
14.	1.14	Mission Im-posse-ble
15.	1.15	Faking the Band
16.	1.16	Hear No Evil, See No Package
17.	1.17	The Backup
18.	1.18	Mike & Liz & Chau & Jordan
19.	1.19	Addicted to Love
20.	1.20	The Unkindest Cut
21.	1.21	Diddler on the Roof
22.	2.01	Love is a Pain in the A ★ ★
23.	2.02	Cockfight
24.	2.03	Unflushable
25.	2.04	P.P. Doc II: The Examination Continues
26.	2.05	The Deflower Half Hour
27.	2.06	The Guys' Guys
28.	2.07	Little House on the Bowery

Trivia

★ Eddie Kaye Thomas was not the first choice for the role of Mike. Both Will Friedle (''Boy Meets World'') [1] and Josh Radnor (''How I Met Your Mother'') [2] were attached to the role at one time.

★ After the series' end, Sean Maguire and Jason George both joined the cast of ''Eve''.

★ In Chau's restaurant, Qui Nhon there is an ''American Pie'' poster. The poster's Vietnamese wording, "Di Bui Va Bahn" translates to "Boy Puts Penis In Pie".

★ In the episode "Little House on the Bowery," the tire is credited as "and introducing Steve the tire as himself."

External links

★ Episode Guide

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