You're the kind of person who keeps buying a comic book every month even if it sucks for the sake of having a complete run, aren't you?

P.S.,

Maybe the reason so few of your fellow college students are sitting in front of the TV with you for 18 to 35 hours a week is because they're either A.) busy studying or B.) going out and having a good time with their friends. Do you have any friends? HINT: philthevoid doesn't count.

lololol

I cannot fathom trying to keep track of 35 different shows at once. Hell, it's tough enough remembering to turn on TV One for New York Undercover reruns at 2 PM.

Nah, never really got into comic books. Yes, I have friends but I'd rather watch LOST than sit in a room talking about absolutely nothing.

I'm going to tell you what my ENC 2301 professor told me 14 years ago:

You wanna be a writer? Go out and fucking LIVE.

Not that you'll get this or anything, but I now feel completely comfortable in calling you a complete waste of life. You sir/madam, are worthless.

That's your opinion. I happen to enjoy my life though. It actually seems like you're not too happy with yours judging from the hostility of all your posts.

lololol

I just got back from a week in Mexico and look forward to spending time with my fiancee as well going to some Cubs games pretty soon. My life is pretty awesome right, what without all of the sloth. Enjoy the banality of your life.

Bank, heed your own advice and stop while your ahead. He's the simplest form of troll, regurgitating the same bile over and over to draw people into arguments with him, just ignore him as I am trying to do.

Okay, I've been on vacation before too. Convicts can go on vacation. That doesn't mean their life is great.

I just checked out your Myspace for 5 seconds and saw it flooded with Cubs logos. It seems that you're obsessed with them (which there's no problem with as a lot of people are passionate about their favorite team). I don't understand how that represents anymore of having a life than I do, if the thing I'm obsessed with is TV. I've made it clear my dream job would be to be a writer, or actor, but I still go outside and do things. I actually just set a new personal high squat at the gym not 2 hours ago.

Good point. It's too easy to get sucked in I suppose.

Thanks for sharing. I did 500 push-ups in 20 minutes and then had sex with two girls at the same time.

Not bad.

Convicts get to go on vacation?

When they get out, sure why not? Although some prisons do actually let people out to go to family events and such. I guess that could also be classified as a vacation.

I thought the episode had great parts, but the show is really faltering as a whole. It's just not that enjoyable anymore.

I hate the character paths of Dwight and Jan. Jan's old frustrated character with Michael was great, her descent into insanity is hard to watch. Dwight in particular is a shell of the old character, I hope he gets back together with Angela just so they can move past this. I almost wish Dwight had got Ryan's job.

I agree with almost everything you said especially the part about Dwight. In the first few seasons even though Dwight sucked up and was a nerd it felt like just some guy at the office trying too hard to impress the boss and in Diwght's circles he was popular among other people. Now, it just feels like Dwight is a lonely, desparate man that is sad to watch and must create attention.

I think part of the problem is that the two main antagonists, Michael and Dwight have moved from being the catalysts of other people's misery to becoming sympathetic victims. In Michael's case he has lurched from being the villain of the office to being an over-idealistic man with a need for "family" to being a pure-hearted victim of a horrible woman. Dwight, similarly, has become more and more "misunderstood idealist" and less and less "asshole" while also becoming the victim of a horrible woman (issues, writers, issues...).

Meanwhile other characters who had existed mainly to react to Michael's weirdness are becoming weirder and weirder themselves. Jan is the most obvious example, but even a minor character like her assistant, who was originally a "normal" background face grimacing in discomfort at Michael's awkwardness is now a full-fledged freak himself...as delusional and embarrassing about his music as Michael ever was about his little films. Similarly with Ryan who, while always unlikable was at least normal, but has been laden with little Napoleon issues to the point where he is as much an embarrassment in some scenes as Michael.

This is a standard pattern, though in comedy. characters get more and more exaggerated and antagonists get softer and softer as a series wears on. If you remember the show CHEERS, for instance, think of how the character of Cliff Clavin went gradually from "know-it-all" to "genuinely dangerous and unstable" or how with each season of FRIENDS, the male characters got stupider, practically monosyllabic, and the women more banally screechy and obsessed with weddings. Louis DePalma (Danny Devito) on TAXI is basically the prototype for the "withering antagonist" who starts as an utter force of evil and is gradually turned into a "good guy at heart." (god, my parents let me be raised by NBC...).

Part of it is that the writers grow to enjoy working with all the actors so much that they want to give everyone juicy moments, which means making every character more like Steve Carrells and less like they originally were.

That said...pure office or not, this week's episode was fantastically funny. Jan's dancing was so frighteningly funny and Michael's reactions were like a master-class in comedic acting. And you can see the temptation, especially with this cast. I mean, however much it may have marked "too far" in one direction, it would have been almost criminal not to let Melora harden go to town. That was pretty astoundingly frightening, even if it was so obviously little more than a one-dimensional ghoul emerging from the ridiculous anxiety closet of the young male comedy writer.

And I still can't stop laughing at the image of Michael standing in front of his plasma t.v. watching MAN VS. WILD, eating a microwaved cup of...something or other...then wincing when Jan calls to him from the bedroom.

I don't think I'm the only one who wasn't enjoying the episode like I would have before the strike. It's weird, I was so used to it when it was on every week, and I was almost expecting a little lighthearted episode to ease me back into it. The dinner party from hell kind of took me by surprise. I need to see this again though as maybe I'll like it better the second time around.

I don't know maybe I'm just weird, but when I was watching this...I had to actually look away from the TV...it was that uncomfortable and embarrassing.

Add me to the side that really didn't enjoy the show. I can respect the opinion of everyone who liked it for the drama and uncomfortability and all that jazz but I began watching this show b/c I found it funny. I kept watching b/c the comedy was great and the Pam/Jim storyline was intriguing without going too over the top with the drama. There was just nothing funny about Thursday's episode aside from the tripod gag and the ending was something I'd expect to see on ER or Grey's Anatomy or whatever the new hospital drama is.

Rob

I agree with all of this but that's something that I've really LIKED about the show, rather than finding it to be a problem. The characters have developed and morphed and changed.

I think Paranesi hit it right on the head. The Office is really a show whose format wasn't meant to run as long as it has, and as a result, a lot of the things I loved about it are becoming rarer and rarer to find. I liken the turnaround to NewsRadio which went from being a smart sitcom with the occasional odd element to an odd sitcom with the occasional smart element.

Though the Cheers comparison is pretty appropriate since Jan has become the series' Rebecca Howe: the cold business woman who magically transforms overnight into a neurotic, pathetic mess.

Though The Office is still the best comedy on network TV, the hit-miss ratio has been a lot higher this season. The dinner party was a let down to me solely because the lawsuit episode before it was the best it has been in a long time, and I really thought the show was heading back in the right direction.

Someone had mentioned a few posts ago that The Office would be a lot better if it stopped pretending to be a documentary and just did the Arrested Development route, a show that just happens to have cameras around. It might freshen it up a little, and not be so reliant on the "look awkwardly into the camera" route that has REALLY worn its welcome out.

Bah, Piranesi is always right, but honestly...it's still a great show. I don't feel as though it's generic and if you know anything about Rickey Gervais' humor, it's all about un-comfortable situations....hell, just watch EXTRAS and you will see that. I'm the moron that suggested the departure from the "mock"umentary format and I stick with it. Arrested Development was a great show...and the office could be too still.

Season 3 still had some good stuff like Mock Trial with J. Reinhold, but it was definitely a lot more outrageous than the previous two seasons. I think they desperately tried to survive and starting banging out crazy cutaway scenes to an almost Family Guy level to try to do that. It was still the best comedy on TV at the time, and it still had clever writing, but it was somewhat of a different show than the first two seasons.

I think part of the problem could be attributed to peaking "too early", but I don't see that as an excuse for The Office. I think there's a lot of stuff they can still do in that actual office, and with the talking head segments.

The beginning of the 4/17 episode is defined by the subtle details. Michael’s referring to Oscar’s homosexuality and/or gayness as a condition. Also, his saying that Oscar would never touch a woman shows how out of touch he is with manly beyond my wildest expectations culture. Dwight’s look while Michael was waiting for Phyllis’ answer and Creed having solitaire on his monitor with no reference to it were both classic.

Then there’s Michael’s fetish for catalog chair girls. The proposal tease was perfect for that relationship, and one day I will do the same to some lucky girl. This works even better since we know Jim already bought a ring. The suspense, I hope they draw it out. As long as possible with a break up at some point.. Good to see this more Office-based, yet I still fee that a ½ hour is too short and leaves me wanting more. There’s always next week.

I really hope Steve Carrell’s movies start to flop worse than Howard the Duck, but not so much as Water World, so this shows continues forever! My only complaint is the lack of Stanley this episode, although it never gets old seeing his motionless, gruff head in the background for confessionals.

Stanley did get his customary great line in: "I don't hate any woman enough to put her down on this card."

I like that this ep seemed to be a reaction to the last one. All the stuff that wasn't there last week- the Creed/Stanley one liners, Michael being a despicable person as opposed to just a wacky one, the ever-present cameramen- was here in spades.

Really can't wait to see what awful, awkward thing trashes "the proposal".

I absolutely loved Kevin's intensity when talking about the Five Fathers, or however he put it.

Tonight's episode was excellent. It really is more enjoyable when the office is the main location of the episode and workplace-related issues are focal points of the show.

Also, Michael referring to Oscar as "Oscar Mayer weiner lover" came out of nowhere. Is Toby still around? I half-expected HR to get involved after that one.

Liked this much better than last week, which I guess was the intended purpose. I loved when Kevin wrote down the number for Wendys and when Michael found out he ordered from there anyway. And part of me actually hopes Jim's proposal goes off well. But hey, if they're up for some awkward twist then what the hell.

You know what would be nice? If the Jim/Pam relationship was normal and they just stayed together and had no drama. They could be the quiet harbor in the chaos that is Dunder-Mifflin Scranton. I'm wondering if that's too much to ask. From all indications so far, the writers haven't done too much with them, they've just let them have those cute little moments, and that's perfect.

Jesus, if they make Pam the heel in this relationship (you just know she's going to hesitate or just outright say no) to go with Jan and Angela…the writing room is not your therapist’s couch…and your mother is not listening in.

What a great hour. That 30 ROCK was amazing. I was just thinking we were about to see the first Thursday upset where Fey beats Carrell. I haven't laughed over and over again at the same joke the way I did at least five times at that 30 ROCK episode in a long time.

"I knew she was 18. She tld me her last boyfriend was Asian and that stuff doesn't start until college."

"Wait you failed the Firefighter's exam?" "Yeah, but that test is biased against the Irish." which is doubly funny because you KNOW Tina Fey has watched like seven documentaries about Brenda Berkman.

...but what a fantastic episode of "The Office." After I saw that "rowboat" joke about nine times on the commercials i was already rolling my eyes as they were setting it up, but Phyllis' giving in was so perfect.




This is a big problem with comedy today. Everyone in show business who achieves a certain level of fame is pressured to make the move to film. Really great comedy, however, has always required a regular recurring weekly vehicle. A truly deep and subtle comic character takes years of familiarity to build. From Jack Benny and Fred Allen to Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newheart.

We're three years and, what, 60 hours into “The Office” and Carrell is still adding layers. You can’t do that in 90 minutes, even with multiple films. Few film characters will ever be "classic" in comedy in the same way as the great recurring t.v. or radio characters have been. and most of those (Chaplain, Keaton, Woody Allen) find ways to bring back the same character year after year, something that can't be done well nowadays with anything but the broadest slapstick sequel-vehicles. I hope Carrell realizes this.

I thought they were also working in a little left hand reference to Dean Winters' role in Rescue Me.

The bit with Dot Com arguing that today's Republican Party would be unrecognizable to Lincoln had to be the best moment on "30 Rock" this week.

As for "The Office", it had to be Creed: "Then I'll have two chairs. Only one to go."

I guess I'm really out of touch with the general consensus here now. I was scratching my head as everyone tore the show apart last week (I thought it was one of the better episodes they've done, certainly one of the best this season), and I'm doing the same with all the praise for this episode. Short on laughs (outside of the ending at the graveside, which was amazing), long on bland.

What was Jack's line after that? Something along the lines of an incessant urge to be the smartest person in the room or something.. I forget. But it was great.

I also liked this week's Office. Pretty good episode, with some great lines. The already-mentioned "Oscar Meyer weiner lover" line cracked me up.

After reading this interview with John Krasinski

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/john_krasinski

I think Carrell knows what's up. It's mentioned that Carrell says that The Office is "what we're all going to be remembered for" and that kind of thing.

I think you must have missed a few pages of comments, because for the most part the reviews here were extremely favorable, almost a little too much in my opinion, hence the backlash towards the end.



Not the best episode, but I prefer the ones in the actual office since we get the interactivity of all the supporting cast.

I liked "Dinner Party" more than this episode, but this was good and definitley moved Jim and Pam along. Maybe this was obvious, or maybe it's just me, I'm not sure, but are we supposed to think that Pam is not sure if she wants to marry Jim? Because he kept saying "it's gonna happen" and she was all smiles then he turned around the smile kind of faded. Am I reading too much or this common knowledge?

That's the vibe I got. In the very least, I think she feels it's too early in the relationship to even begin thinking about marriage, especially coming off the heels of a long relationship w/ Roy that ended badly. Jim has shown signs of being a bit immature at times (see: willing to leave Pam at the dinner party after he couldn't get both of them out of there), so I can see Pam pulling the "everything is a joke to you" card on him at some point.

Jack said it was "off-putting" and Dot Com replied, "I guess that's why I'm still single" and then walked off forlornly.

Except for Creed's line, another thumbs down episode for me. The blind date seemed like it had potential, and it instantly reminded me of David Brent's date at the pub, but then it went nowhere, before ending abruptly.

You're in college and it's Friday night. Don't you have somewhere else you can go?

I loved this week's ep - it felt like an S2 ep in that it had some funny stuff (Michael butchering "American Pie", Andy's moonwalk) along with some emotional parts, some uplifting parts (the Jim/Pam proposal stuff), and it had a fairly small scope as well, and the characters were treated like real human beings. After last week's really broad episode, it felt good to have a nice, relaxing subtle episode. Plus, Michael got to sing "I dreamt that we had a lot of kids...drinking whiskey and rye...".

Heard rumor, don't if there's any validity to this, but:

Best episode in awhile tonight. Dwight talking to Ryan's friend about his powers was funny as shit. Was this the end of Toby?

Wow.

Loved the episode tonight. Definitely as cringe-inducing as any of the recent eps for me. Really funny a couple of times too. As for Toby's fate:

I think tonight's was the best of the new batch. They got a lot of details right with Ryan on this one, unfortunately knowing a few people who live that "lifestyle."

Nice reversal of characters with Dwight becoming cool by accident and Jim's coolness blowing up in his face.

As for *SPOILER*: