One interesting note I forgot to mention is the show transferred from a scene featuring Michael at his new job in an effort to clear up his financial problems to a shot of Jim driving Pam to Schrute's Beet Farm in a nice, new Saab. Clearly, Jim is in the opposite financial situation of Michael, which makes sense given his promotion last season to Assistant Manager.

Plus I don't see Jim spending money on "multiple" magic sets. I do wonder how much it costs to stay at Schrute Farms.

The funniest part of the whole episode to me was the bit with Kevin.

First he announced that his new Band "Scrantonicity TWO" would be playing a show and everybody needed to show up because of the applause meter.

Then in the conference room, everybody is trying to figure something out and Kevin says "I KNOW, BUT I'M NOT TELLING BECAUSE NOBODY SHOWED UP LAST NIGHT".

I thought it was hilarious.

20 Shrute bucks a night. Or maybe beets are acceptable currency.

I just watched the episode, it was great.

Michael had his best line ever last night. "No one asked you anything ever so whomevers name is Toby why don't you take a letter opener and stick it in your skull."

Its been a pretty different season so far but I'm really enjoying it so far.

That whole "whomever" sequence was great.

"Ryan used ME as an object."

It's funny, because the guy who plays Toby was the guy who wrote and directed that episode. At least I think that is true.

Is anyone else going to the Convention next weekend?

Creed's spiel about bankruptcy was fantastic.

I thought the Ryan/Kelly/Darryl interaction was the best part of the entire episode. Especially "Why is Darryl in here? He works at the warehouse," only because I know everyone who watches the show has been thinking the same thing during every conference. Plus the look Ryan gave him when he left the room was fantastic.

I think that whole scene was incredible, and it pretty much showed you what each character was about.

The cold call to Stanley was the best part of the ep, though.

Jim's soliloquy was all kinds of touching and great, as was the big kiss and Pam's reaction. Although I kind of wish he had still be there when Dwight reached out to him just to milk another pop out of the segment. Great shit though.

This was a great episode not for the comedy, but for the sad and desperate moments that the characters had. It had real moments within what is often a somewhat zany comedy series, and that really fleshed it out even more for me, and made some of the other characters (especially Dwight) more 'real' than ever before.

I have to say that the look of pain on Dwight's face when he was crying in the stairwell was magnificent. The sound was obviously played for laughs, but that was an expression of pure agony.

The info on my cable guide for tonight's episode (the first half-hour episode of the season) reads as follows:



I'm really interested in this based on the info. While I appeared to be in the minotriy in not enjoying last week's episode as much as usual, I'm sure with it back to 30 minutes it will be greatness as usual.

Really enjoyed tonight's episode. That was a beautiful ending and not one I saw coming at all. I produce commercials for a living so this one kinda struck a chord, especially with the corporate "we got the money, but not the ideas" admen shown at the beginning.

Ignore the poor production work and the unlikeliness that a 90-second ad would ever air, and that was actually a pretty good commercial at the end. Certainly better than that "big box" crap. I'm glad to see Michael gain a few IQ points this week.

I actually didn't mind the first commercial, then again I thought Michael would make a piss-poor commercial. Imagine my surprise. But it's nice to see Michael show that he's still very competent

I missed some of the episode, but from what I saw I thought it was great. That whole thing with Dwight and Andy going nuts over "D" was great.

Best part was Jim saying, "Oh, there's losers." to Dwight. But then his avatar on Second Life was a built, guitar playing sportswriter from Philly.

I love the irony of Michael's commercial...the part where Stanley plays an ex-felon turning his life around to work for Dunder-Mifflin...the moral was that Dunder-Mifflin "gives people second chances" when it was Michael who made that poor transfer quit last season because he was an ex-con.

Great episode tonight. I really feel like there was a lot more to this story that could have been told. I think I would have preferred this as an hour long episode with an over-arching story rather than some of the other hour longs which were basically two 30 minute eps strung together. Really great though, definitely loved the commercial at the end and all the Second Life stuff.

Everyone singing Darryl's jingle made me think of that glorious old episode of WKRP when they recorded the jingle for Ferryman's Funeral Home:


Hey, you're young and swinging
no time to think about tomorrow
But there's no denying it
Someday you're gonna' buy it.

Ferryman! Ferryman!
He's the man with the plot
the man with the plan

Ferryman! Ferryman!
He's the mortician man who loves you...a lot!

I can't believe I remember that word for word...It's been like 20 years since I've seen that...Man, the power of a good jingle.

"Break me off a piece of that Football Cream."

I wonder if I'm over thinking the second life thing...where it seems they ended up revealing that while Dwight is miserable for one very obvious and easily remedied reason...Jim once again inadvertently reveals that he is harboring some deeper anxiety about who he wants to be vs. who he is. It was all cutesy and everything...but he seemed a bit genuinely uncomfortable when Pam picked up on that...like it hadn't even occurred to him what he was really doing on second life himself. Like when Pam asked if he actually plays the guitar. He actually seemed like he didn't know how to answer because the answer isn't "yes" or "no" but "I wish I played the guitar but if I actually committed to doing anything I would open myself up to failure and ridicule."

I could see Pam pushing Jim to try all these new things...to keep up with her and Jim pulling away. "Being with Jim" always seemed to translate to "following your ambitions" in Pam's mind...but if it turns out that it really means "staying here at this safe, warm desk until I die" that may be the big crisis for them.

It's really unusual how much Michael was positioned to be right in this episode. That corporate commercial was a disaster. Those ad guys were assholes. Everyone had fun making the commercial...and it was basically a decent concept. Hell even his idea about the girl in the desert that's an oasis that's in the middler of a resort...was good up until "then it pulls back some more to reveal that it's actually a playground...in the worlds largest prison."

and even his phone mess up was effective. Calling Ryan a little bitch to his boss...that's fantastic.

You may be on to something here. It kind of paints Jim as a pathetic figure, but I would certainly assume at the eventual end of the PBJ story arc that he would man up finally and take the gamble, which would seemingly be a logical closure point that has been set up all along.

Excellent episode - it wasn't packed with jokes, but it built the characters up. Michael was shown to be not only competent, but actually quite adept at using technology, something that Ryan chastised him about earlier this season, Pam was shown to be following her dream, while Jim's desire to play guitar (if memory serves, he actually does have a guitar in his room in the E-Mail Surveillance ep) on a seemingly regular basis was brought up very well. Maybe he'll join Scrantonicity 2.

Jim saying that Dwight's Second Second Life was for people "even more removed from reality" was hilarious, and i like that he wanted Michaels hard work to be seen by the folks in the bar just to make him feel better. It showed that he really cared, while him having a Second Life avatar showcased one of his flaws, and Pam's mention of his avatar being a fantasy version of him reminded me of his realization in one S2 ep that his pranks on Dwight weren't as funny as he thought they were - he realized his fault, and maybe now we'll see what he does to try and correct it.

Maybe he'll pursue being a guitar player or become a sports writer in order to live his fantasy out in real life so he doesn't need the avatar to live it, or he could just be like someone said, where both Jim and Pam could be content to stay with his present, comfortable position.

This one has the potential to be a really big episode depending on whether or not the writers build on any of the ideas they've started in this ep.

"Break my off a piece of that FANCY FEAST!" - God bless Andy.

The funny thing is that I could definitely see corporate saying yes to Michael's commercial - if only it didn't end with a black man in a prison uniform being "given a second chance" and showing the same man now working at the local paper company Scrantonites should love and trust.

Besides the racial implications and the idea that former inmates can work at the company, the commercial would have worked well. Well, that and it was too long to be a real commercial.

I also loved this episode and the fact that Michael finally "won" in a sense against corporate. Corporate's commercial really sucked.

Speaking of Second Life, the game was also featured heavily in C.S.I. N.Y. Wednesday night. I've never played it, but I haven't seen a computer game get mainstream publicity like this in a long time. Sure, World of Warcraft has been parodied numerous times, but on C.S.I. N.Y., Second Life wasn't even treated as much of a joke.

Any Ed Helms scene where he's involved in 4 part harmony is gold and I don't know why....

"Shrek! Shrek! I'm a donkey Shrek!"

It was really time for Michael to appear reasonably competent again.. And it was actually a bit of a surprise that after setting him up to fail because of his overblown sense of creativity, he actually IS a creative guy.

Speaking of Michael.....Didn't he stake his reputation on this commercial? What exactly did that mean?

"You have a son, and it's me."

"Break me off a piece of that.. apple sauce."



Sorry I have nothing more to offer.. Such a great episode.. I actually like the 30 minute format better.


Dave

And with that, Michael Scott sealed his destiny...but in a good way.

I know that they keep coming out and saying that Steve Carrell loves his job on The Office, but I'm thinking more and more that his character is going to be moved up to corporate (Jan's old job, Ryan's new job). On one of the last episodes, Ryan was using another guy's office at corporate to talk to the camera crew, and got yelled at. Last night Michael said to his boss, "Ryan's being a little bitch again", which makes me think that it's not the first time he's made that call, and the boss (can't remember his name) has said in the past that he really like Michael. I can seriously see Ryan crashing and burning out of his job and they install Michael, which allows for Steve Carrell to still appear on the show, but only every now and then instead of every episode.

I don't really know that the show would work without Michael in the actual office everyday. Having Jim, Dwight, or anybody else really as the manager just wouldn't work.

Kevin doing the Kool Aid Man face was one of the best things I've ever seen.

Man, that analysis of the Jim/Pam scene really makes me think. It had never even occured to me while watching that scene that if Pam finds out that Jim embodies the same sad sack qualities she hates in herself, then they might be in trouble. Wow.

It's weird about the whole Jim/Pam scene with Second Life. I remember the scene with them on the roof this season and it was more subtle than this was in terms of how Jim feels. No matter what's going on around them, the story with them is the most realistic and continues to be. It's cool to see Pam who's always been low-key step it up in terms of appearance and attitude and yet Jim doesn't take charge of his life like he used to.

This and My name is Earl had a common theme tonight in establishing the story of what's going on and what the characters are all about. Both went in different directions last week (MNIE had a ton of random fun while Office had a very somber tone). Tonight was like a reminder of sorts that "Hey, this Earl guy likes doing good deeds" and "Hey, that Michael guy is a smart guy" I really like that.

I'm with Michael; the commercial that Corporate went with sucked. The one Michael directed had such purpose -- showing the importance of paper in today's world of technology. Brilliant. Dwight and Andy "bonding" over Angela never fails to be funny.

If "Get Smart" is a huge hit he might reduce his role on the show but if it pulls a "Evan Almighty" at the box office he will be on "The Office" for the long haul.

GET SMART is going to do crazy money. The trailer is perfect, it has one of the best casts I've ever seen, and it's actually FUNNY. The thing about Evan Almighty was the budget ballooned out of control so there was no way it would make a profit. If they could keep it to 100 million, and then done 100 million at the boxoffice like it did, it would have been considered a hit and they would have probably greenlit a 3rd Almighty movie.

I enjoyed the episode more than any others this season. It was funny as hell the half hour time slot does wonders for it. I'm probably caring about the detail way too much, which a fan of wrestling shouldnt do, but i have one complaint about this episode. A couple weeks ago Dwight thought instant messages from Pam were being sent by his computer. Now he is addicted to a game where communicating with other people is very common. Did he just wise up and learn the ways of the internet and communication on it since then?

I think he figured since he beat the computer, all is well.

It wasn't that he didn't know what an IM was (the first thing he did was ask the "computer" to prove that it wasn't Jim messing with him), he knows, but he's a giant sci-fi/fantasy nerd and tends to be really gullible, so the whole idea of the computer becoming self-aware really sucked him in.

Jim as the (horrified) voice of reason was hilarious. Again, Dwight and Mike go a little too far into Homer Simpson territory, but it was funny just the same. Some really great lines here too. "I cut my penis on the lip." "The eyes are the groin of the head." "Other than have sex with men, the Finer Things Club is the gayest thing I do."

Andy's reaction to Jim getting invited to the Finer Things Club was hilarious.

"oh..OH C'MON!"

Tonight was probably my favorite episode of the season. So many funny lines and facial expressions - I felt like I kept on one continuous laugh for 30 minutes.

Karen catching Jim hiding in the car and their interation throughout the episode was so hilariously awkward.

I love Michael's current streak of being so dumb, but still succeeding with his goal in the end. When he comes out on top, he doesn't end up looking like nearly as much of a buffoon. I know that is a really obvious statement, but dumb Michael in this episode is much better in comparison to dumb Michael driving his car into a lake.

I also enjoyed tonight's episode. I kinda forgive Michael's stupidity in this one since most of it was done off-screen.

But they really need to drop the "character quits / relocates from Dunder" plotlines, since almost the entire cast has left and come back at this point.

And did Toby's crush on Pam get dropped or was it just that subtle? I was ready to cringe during the meetings, but it never happened.

Toby was right behind him giving his own version of that same reaction.

"Get on top of her and think of Stanley."

Jim went to Connecticut.

Oscar went on a leave of absence.

Dwight was fired and went to Staples.

Ryan got promoted.

Am I missing anyone?

Michael and Dwight's hijinks, with Jim as the straight man, and Oscar doing the second-gayest thing in his life made this episode so very great. Andy as a secondary character has been working out very well, and Karen's back... sorta, so I guess Rashida Jones finished filming her pilot for Fox and can now do some Office work again.

Given how much bitterness she showed towards Jim, it's going to be interesting to see just how things go between them this season, and I like that Jim didn't rat Michael out for his insane plan. He could've to save himself, but chose to just go along with it as best he could and show some support for Michael. Good stuff.

Jim was of two sides in this episode. He was totally unselfish in not bailing on the panty raid on Utica (to the detriment of his standing in the post-breakup relationship with Karen) in order to make sure that Mike and Dwight didn't do anything totally monumentally stupid (which they sort of ended up doing anyway.) He was really selfish in that he didn't really apologize to Karen for using her to get over Pam and just let Karen go off and not get a straight answer out of him, and he joined a group just to make his usual jokes and really only wanted to be in because of his girlfriend (and maybe a need to be the Popular Guy of the branch - involved in everything, and beloved by everyone.)

Jim is a fascinating character at this point, and I'm interested in where this is going. Is he going to overcome being a sad sack stuck in a job and company he doesn't like, or is he going to take a chance? Is Pam going to put up with this, or is she going to encourage him to branch out?

Well said. I really like the way the PB&J relationship is evolving in ways that I never foresaw. I definitely just sort of assumed that once they got together everything would be peachy. This is a lot more intriguing.

I was under the impression that it's the only reason why he was involved in Pam's club.