Mike Judge clogs Palo Alto streets for new pilot

The man who lampooned workplace culture in “Office Space” and catapulted snickering cartoon teens “Beavis and Butthead” to international fame is turning his lens toward Silicon Valley.

Camera crews are filming a pilot today in Palo Alto for an upcoming HBO sitcom directed by Mike Judge. Permits for the project called it simply “Untitled Silicon Valley Project,” while a sparse IMDB entry calls it “Silicon Valley.”

The plot reportedly focuses on six programmers who try to make it rich. In Judge’s 1999 film “Office Space,” a group of office workers bored with their jobs cook up a scheme to get back at their clueless employer.

CBS-SF warns of traffic delays in Palo Alto Tuesday while crews film the show. The biggest traffic delays are expected between 4 and 8 p.m. when crews film along University Avenue between Waverley and Webster streets.

Though most of the filming in this area will be on the sidewalks, there might be lane closures.

Earlier on Tuesday, crews wrapped up filming along El Camino Real and Page Mill Road. They were expected to begin filming on East Charleston Road between Alma Street and Middlefield Road around 2 p.m.

Police expect only minimal traffic delays along East Charleston Road, but suggest drivers to avoid the downtown area and take alternate routes this afternoon.