The Office (US): official SEASON 4 thread...

Toby's been waiting all summer

http://www.tifaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/paullieberstein.jpg

www.creedthoughts.gov.www\creedthoughts

argh why does this have to be an hour long

There's a lot of situations that need to be addressed!!

I just hope they don't turn Ryan into Neil from the British series.

Did someone say... Dunder Mifflin Infinity?

lol http://www.dundermifflininfinity.com/faq#F

Coolest shirt ever.

Even if it doesn't look at all like the Schrutebuck used in the episode, still, COOLEST! SHIRT! EVER!

if you are a huge nerd

the cuet girl I saw was wearing this

http://www.80stees.com/images/products/Dunder_Mifflin-T.jpg

he was like draped all over her?

i think he was like date-raping her

"I thought she had more time!"

"Nope."

"I'm not superstitious, but I...I am a little stitious."

HA! All of the french fry bags in Angela's freezer were clawed apart.

carrell is single-handedly carrying this episode.

"It's ok, I'm robbing her"

Where's the tension now that Pam and Jim are dating? Plus this ep is not v funny.

it's a drama now

A+ performances from michael/angela/andy/dwight.

everyone else has been meh.

i like the idea of jim and pam being together.

a. it had to happen eventually, or else it would have been contrived. b. if any show can pull it off it's this show.

pam/dwight relationship, michael/jan relationship and ryan/kelly relationship were all done exceptionally well, imo.

Creed's 82.

Also, he's been both a cult member and cult leader.

I believe all of this is true because I don't think Creed lies.

Bleeding nipples.

That was a great episode. Hopefully the secrecy of Jim and Pam's new relationship (and maybe an appearance from Karen?) will maintain some of the tension of that situation.

i like the idea of jim and pam being together.

a. it had to happen eventually, or else it would have been contrived. b. if any show can pull it off it's this show.

-- Jordan Sargent, Friday, 28 September 2007 01:54 (4 hours ago) Link

Also it would have turned into this which would have been zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blog/tuned/uploaded_images/RossRachelKiss-706124.jpg

"The doctors tried to save her. They did the best they could.......... And it looks like she is going to be OK."

"Very cool you went back and got your degree."

the Jim-Pam thing is weak and getting worse.

Here's to hoping that Andy swoops in on Angela.

Creed on cult membership was the best: "been both a follower and a leader, had more fun as a follower but made more money as a leader".

This was slow and way too many of the jokes felt like JOKES. Like "oh, uh, we haven't had anything funny for Andy to say for 10 minutes, quick, what's something funny for Andy to say??"

This show should not be an hour long.

Why/how did Jim break up with Karen again?

the jim/karen breakup and subsequent pam hookup was reallly fumbled.

this didn't really feel like one hour long episode though, just two half hour episodes back to back.

Why/how did Jim break up with Karen again?

Hah, judging from the season 3 finale he drove back to Scranton after his interview and ditched her in NYC.

Rashida Jones did a pilot for another network and it got picked up (for maybe midseason) which I think is the main reason they "broke up"

uh...

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2007) (post-production) .... Hannah

Would've been a much better 30 minute episode.

And I don't care how much in love you are with someone, "Ooh, an estate sale! Want to go in?" would never escape a man's lips.

Why/how did Jim break up with Karen again?

Hah, judging from the season 3 finale he drove back to Scranton after his interview and ditched her in NYC.

Yeah, it all seemed kind of random. There didn't really seem to be anything leading up to it, although they could have used the interview storyline to bring out a psycho competitive streak in Karen or something.

And I don't care how much in love you are with someone, "Ooh, an estate sale! Want to go in?" would never escape a man's lips.

Then I am no man at all.

I kind of like how when they go out and about in "Scranton" it sure looks an awful lot like LA.

And I don't care how much in love you are with someone, "Ooh, an estate sale! Want to go in?" would never escape a man's lips.

why not?

xp

Oh, good grief. I forgot I was on ILX.

would you go to an estate sale, pp? why? why not?

Better than working.

Maybe they have some good records.

Plus it's always fun to wander around in someone else's house and make fun of their stuff.

oh, god! you guys, that shit is haunted!

i'd rather look at old shit than exercise at some stupid work event.

yes I think that was the point.

"If you don't know why that's awesome, you need awesome lessons."

(Trust me, it's a lot funnier than it sounds.)

fuck, i LOVE estate sales. about 6 years ago in oak park i thought i was gonna get a steal on a '60 or 61 lincoln continental with the suicide doors because while everyone was walking through the house, no one was going into the garage. i asked the surviving son if stuff in the garage was for sale too, he said yes, so i made an offer. he said he'd wait until the end of the next day and see if anyone made him a different one. i went by the next day but someone made him an offer out of my price range.

"i don't want garbage, i want SPRINKLES!"

Andy: "You're so money, but you don't even know it... but you do!"
Ryan [blank stare]: "So, I'll see you guys later."

I used to like Ryan, but now I hate him. Also, I used to like Kelly, but now I hate her too.

ryan going from the impotent temp to the self-obsessed corporate wunderkind ("i wouldn't say my rise was meteoric. but it was.") slowly getting drunk on his own power is a great development of character. he couldn't be the same clueless kid still enrolled in b-school if he's supposed to be michael's boss.

Yeah, I like how they're developing that character. I just don't like him (which I guess is the calling card of a tv villain).

I don't think he or Kelly was ever supposed to be likable, really. (I love Kelly, but I have overidentification issues.)

"THE MACHINE KNOWS"

tonight's episode was the first one where i didn't find kelly overwhelmingly annoying. which is the aim, i think, but man, tonight she was fucking top shelf.

Toby is still my favorite.

I've never really found Kelly to be that annoying. Her best line is still, "Why can't I name my baby 'Usher?'"

it was "what's wrong with 'Usher Jennifer Hudson Kapoor' as a baby name?" that was the line that made me have to examine my life because I am basically identical to a caricature on a tv show.

this episode was great. toby being a douche, creed doing some hardcore survivin', and the cartoonishness kept to a minimum except for the car thing which wasn't dwelled upon enough to ruin it.

I used to like Ryan, but now I hate him.
he's been an asshole the whole time! that's what's so great about him getting to lord over people now.

here we go, full scene:

Kelly: You are so mean.
Ryan: I don't know what you're talking about.
Kelly: Yes you do, Ryan Bailey Howard. You called me stupid.
Ryan: No, I called you an idiot, not "stupid."
Michael: Toby, come on. Let's go.
Toby: Where?
Michael: Where? I'm gonna smack you in the head with a hammer. Come on, let's go.
Kelly: What is so stupid about wanting to name a baby Usher?
Toby: Alright.
Kelly: Usher Jennifer Hudson Kapoor.
Ryan: Don't you see why that's insane?
Kelly: Oh, so I'm crazy now?

bailey is such a perfect middle name for that kind of dude.

Toby: Where?
Michael: Where? I'm gonna smack you in the head with a hammer. Come on, let's go.

That's actually my favorite dialogue exchange in the the whole scene.

Re: Ryan -- True, he's always been an asshole, but when he was an underling it gave him license to be one of the only really sane people in the company. But now he's been corrupted, and just reminds me of too many bosses I've actually had. Doesn't mean I don't want to see how his role progresses, it just means I'm not on his side anymore.

Ryan on the phone suggesting they downsize Kelly Kapoor, then outsource her job to India, then saying "yes, she is Indian, yes I see why that's confusing".

How exactly was Toby being a douche?

When Jim was asking if he and Pam needed to sign one of those corporate agreements, Toby was insisting they weren't really dating. That's douchey, but because it's Toby it's funny.

I had forgotten the whole Toby has a crush on Pam thing. Remember he spent that one entire episode trying to win her a stuffed animal out of "the claw"?

this show is becoming less and less funny to me. i swear to god, if michael calls one more meeting that they have in the conference room about some stupid idea he has. . .the show is much better when they do stuff like go on sales calls (and wow, we find out that michael and dwight and jim are great salesmen, awesome) or they all go crazy betting on different things around the office. the car in the lake thing was totally lame.

I can't make it through these hour long shows. It's just too much.

yes! that's the other thing. it does not need to be an hour.

what's the deal wit the one hour, anyway? is it going to be like this all season?

yeah it seems a little shaky, now that the original situation is gone, so much change in the premise...but there's still def. some good stuff, i'd love to see a punchy half-hour edit of both these episodes...young creed cracked me up "sometimes you gotta ride the bull, you know what i mean?"

but yeah the gift basket thing was lame, sort of bad retread of the sale call episode...also, driving the car in the lake was just stupid, michael's an idiot, not retarded.

How many more hourlongs are they gonna do? Each one is like 2 eps glued together.

I think the hour thing is for the first four episodes or something.

http://blog.nbc.com/CreedThoughts/2007/10/creed_thoughts_20.php#more

"You need awesome lessons."

it was "what's wrong with 'Usher Jennifer Hudson Kapoor' as a baby name?" that was the line that made me have to examine my life because I am basically identical to a caricature on a tv show.

-- horseshoe, Friday, 5 October 2007 05:23 (Yesterday) Link

<3 <3 <3

i really miss karen philipelli!

i mean she'll be back.

i guess they're smart for replacing the jim/pam will they won't they? with a dwight/angela will they won't they?. the latter relationship's funnier a lot of the times anyway.

Just realized this - the whole car going into the lake thing was one take with a single camera. If you have that in mind while you watch it, it's pretty awesome.

Holy shit The Office is the Children of Men of TV!

(srsly tho that's pretty cool)

i swear to god, if michael calls one more meeting that they have in the conference room about some stupid idea he has. . .

so rong, the conference room is the most dependable source of laughs in the show

i like toby cause he always has the same look i have on my face when stupid people in the office are being... stupid.

You know, there's a sense of perfection in the way they designed Ryan's facial scruff to signify "hey, this guy is 100% douchebag, by the way" that totally blows my mind.

the whole car going into the lake thing was one take with a single camera

to me that made it even more of a bad idea. It was dumb to begin with, and they tried to distract us by using a gimmick shot.

the first half had some funny stuff esp the jim/pam announcement and kevin calling jim tuna. and the ryan stuff is a good development i think. but the second half of the episode with them driving around was pointless and not funny and the driving into the lake gag was esp dumb.

lake = bad. conference room = so so stale. michael asking what is ageism is so telegraphed and writers just sleepwalking

and what, horseshoe, you know about this right: http://mindyephron.blogspot.com/

You know, there's a sense of perfection in the way they designed Ryan's facial scruff to signify "hey, this guy is 100% douchebag, by the way" that totally blows my mind.

-- Clay, Saturday, October 6, 2007 9:43 PM (Saturday, October 6, 2007 9:43 PM) Bookmark Link

10 billion percent OTM.

rw I check her blog every day /crepe

Hah - thanks for the link - her blog is GREAT! Love the review of the Arcade Fire show.

wait until the 1:34 mark...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFZsrs32Co

(1:31, sorry)

theres still 20 minutes of greatness in every show they just need to trim the fat

(also, that season premiere was some tepid stuff. this hourlong bullshit is going to kill this show dead. )

he's grebt around 1:50 too!!

Yeah, especially around 1:50. He still makes those same faces.

(also, that season premiere was some tepid stuff. this hourlong bullshit is going to kill this show dead. )

Luckily, there are only two more of those hour-long episodes.

Whoever said that sitcoms were meant to be half-hour shows is 100% OTM.

whatever

One of my fave bits of the show are what you could call "moments of surprise competence." Stuff like the rest of the staff being really good at basketball, Michael showing up to Pam's gallery show and saving her night, and all of the Sales episode. It's both a change-up from the usual cringe-inducing behaviour, and I find it helps to enforce the humanity of the characters, other than just stock lolz-generators.

hey kingfish otm.
this works best w/ michael, who obviously has the highest amount of wtf boneheaded moments on the show. kinda adds a lot of weight when he does something (awesome) like show up at pam's art gallery thing.

well the weakest link of both shows(uk moreso) is the notion that either boss would last more than a couple hours at the helm of an office, one can suspend disbelief on a regular basis if it's an otherwise good episode but it is a distraction. David Brent makes 0 positive contributions to his company over the course of the series and Michael is constantly seen at both extremes(in keeping with us sitcom dictates). iirc there's some allusions in both series as to why their placement is advantageous for the company somehow but more (funny) explanations should be proffered on a very regular basis if they're going to play it this broad.

you're nuts. one of the funniest things about the uk show is how despite his incompetence brent never gets fired and indeed sort of thrives. it's kind of the satirical point!

explanations should be proffered on a very regular basis if they're going to play it this broad.

sounds hilarious!

nothing sounds hilarious until it is

thrives?

thrives is hilarious. everybody laughs when they see things thrive.

i mean with the uk version there was (or i imagined) a subtext where the guy has been competent for a while and the bloom was coming off the rose very quickly, fair enough.
Michael is a much more volatile agent heading an ostensibly important hub of the company, if it doesn't strain comedic credulity for others, more power to them, but it's on my mind.

david brent was able to survive as long as he did because there seemed to be very little oversight from upper management. it's only when the two branches merge and that hugh-granty manager takes over that he starts to be held accountable. and...don't forget david was eventually fired. that scene where he begs for his job was amazing, btw.

what the u.k. version never addresses though is how david brent got to be boss in the first place, whereas the u.s. version at least shows that michael wasn't half bad as a salesperson.

OK, so tonight's episode was an absolute classic. The best one since "The Injury." Andy's an ABBA fan!

Yeah, when the background singers came on over the speaker phones, I lost my shit.

I wish the Dwight/Computer prank would've paid off a little better, though, but the accidental kidnapping more than made up for it.

Creed and random solitaire

Wow, Angela was awesome in this one

Jim signing the cast should have been the cold open.

Oh man Darrell: "How about instead of yelling at our sweet little Miss Kapur over 500 sheets of paper you get back to your desk and start selling multiple reams - like a man."

"So, you still missing Ryan?"
"Not so much anymore."
"Mmm."

Jim signing the cast should have been the cold open.

No way! That DVD screen saver thing was genius!

These one-hour episodes are so weird, cuz key plot points get totally dropped for twenty minutes and then randomly resurface just as you're starting to suspect that they might never return to them.

That being said, this was still funny as hell.

The Seinfeld "NBC BEETIME JUNIOR TV MOVIE THING" is amongst the worst ideas ever presented on television.

Jim signing the cast should have been the cold open.

No way! That DVD screen saver thing was genius!

I agree with both of you, and move that this stupid one hour of the Office be gotten rid of, and they make those the two cold openings for the two episodes that should instead exist.

Seriously, my love for this show is strong, but one hour is too long.

I fell asleep around the 40 minute mark. ;_;

Woke up in time for ABBA. ^_^

OMG the drama on this thread, and on TVGuide.com, and everywhere. If I was an NBC executive I'd schedule every single show as an hour just to teach y'all a lesson. "Oh so you are unhappy with our gift of increased free television fun? TAKE THAT MWAH HAH HAH."

I have no problem with an expanded version of a show I like a lot, IF IT IS GOOD. If it is bad, just being short is not a virtue either. If it is too long for your personal attention span, why not just record it and watch it in two shifts?

OMG I'm being a big jerk.

A big jerk who is OTM, tho.

Andy's an ABBA fan!

Nah, I just think that is one of those acapella group standards. So he called in some Cornell buddies for back-up.

And if Darryl ends up with Kelly I want a two-hour special about their first date(s) and perhaps a spin-off series that would last 200 years.

This week's episode was much better than last week's, I thought. More funnies (and newer, different funnies than the standard gags I thought they were falling into) than the previous two weeks.

Ryan is such a fantastic douche.

The only thing that could have made the Andy song better is if he'd busted out with the banjo.

Wow, Angela was awesome in this one

-- kingfish, Friday, October 12, 2007 6:45 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Link

OTM x1000

Dwight growing a beard/not shaving=grear great touch

The Angela/Phyllis stuff was super-awesome.

Phyllis was great!

between 'take a chance', the oompa-loompa song, & 'have you checked your butt?' andy's had some of the biggest laughs on this show that i can remember

No Toby though.

We let out a brief and tasteful cheer for Phyllis when she delivered the big smackdown.

i like what they are doing with Jim and Pam, too. it's not too cheeseball or lovey dovey. On the roof was great, esp. Pam telling Jim she knew she liked him when he said the thing about her yogurt.

Wait the Office is free television fun? Why am I paying for cable if it's so free :(

because you are greedy and you want tons of channels that you'll never even watch, go freegan and hoist up a salvaged antenna

(LOL WE HAVE DISH TV SO WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF BOGUS CHANNELS)

for the love of god go back to the half hour episodes stat....there's good stuff in these episodes but goddamn this season has been brutal so far.

I like Jim and Pam, but they are a bit obnoxious sometimes. They're the type that would be pleasant to your face, but they'd be super cliquey and you'd always feel as if they're talking about you behind your back. They're always a bit too good for the usual office BS. They just rub me the wrong way sometimes.

I liked how Oscar has really been a part of the entire office lately(incl. going for beers with Stanley & Creed), instead of being alienated(deliberately or accidentally) from everybody else last season. He shares in the DVD logo enjoyment, helps to research hostage-taking, argues for pizza along with everyone else, etc.

Also, I did like the bit about everybody in the office trying to figure out exactly if they could be arrested or not. It reminds me of Toby sitting in on the salary negotiation and taking notes for the eventual deposition. There's something funny about the office finally realizing that the weird stunts that Michael does having probable legal ramifications.

"What do you think of this shirt?"
"Is that why I'm here?????"

okay, this episode is hilarious. when pam shined the flashlight on mose in the outhouse it was like in the tenant when roman polanski sees all those egyptian symbols in the bathroom. also, michael's attitude with his boss was priceless.

"runaway train, never coming back..."
OMG

i like reading these random bits before it airs on the west coast. keep it cryptic plz

there is nothing more terrible than these seinfeld ads

I go find something else to do when I know one is coming on.

This episode of The Office is remarkably melancholy and oddly touching in a way they usually aren't. Also, Darryl is my fucking hero!

That "women be shopping" line is making me imagine ILX as the world's worst, most dysfunctional non-military workplace

I actually started to tear up just a little during the Jim/Dwight stairwell scene. oof!

The conference room scene with Kelly/Daryl/Ryan = awesome

I actually started to tear up just a little during the Jim/Dwight stairwell scene. oof!

that's because you're a 12 year old girl.

Shut up dood, I'm sensitive! Also, I got dumped last month. :(

Also, I got dumped last month. :(

tell the truth, you have that in autotext don't you.

http://www.pizzabyalfredo.com/

so, real or not?

that pizza looks good!

Fake, but very detailed.

that pizza looks good!

it's been so long since i've had pizza i actually went through that site reading the menu and lingering in the photo gallery.

i was waching mighty ducks today and there is this part where they are in school and the teachers asks one of the kids, "what makes up 95% of your body?" and he responded, "pizza" and i was loling until i realized that this is probably true for me.

jam yumminess

"ryan used ME as an object!"

don't forget:

http://www.alfredoscafe.com/

Also, had to laugh at Ryan's entrance & over-cheeriness, with the red bull in his hand

The clinking wine glasses and orchestra swell that comes up on every new page is hilarious.

alfredo's cafe is scarily legit: http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=12123025

also:

http://www.pizzabyalfredo.com/testimonials.htm

Designed for and best viewed with Netscape 4
Download Here!

^^^^^the best part of pizzabyalfredo.com

http://www.pizzabyalfredo.com/images/emailanimated.gif
Email us: m✧✧✧@pizzabyalfr✧✧✧.c✧✧

^^^second best part

(lol ilx)

much like the office, the humor w/ this website lies in the details.

Ryan's character is hitting all cylinders.

Daryl rules.

The farm thing wasn' that funny. The whole ep was bereft of funny, actually. Sometimes they make Mike too stupid.

the 2nd half was better.

end this hour-long madness now.

SCRANTONICITY II

i'm dissapointed there hasn't been any references to angela meeting mose.

I wanted to see Kevin's band again!

"I know the answer, but I'm not telling because you're all jerks!"

Very weak episode. The "Pam and Jim at Dwight's B&B" storyline didn't go anywhere and the "Michael goes bankrupt" storyline wasn't developed enough.

Still, I'll be sad to see the one hour episodes go (the rest of them for this season will be 30 minutes). More Office is better Office if you ask me..

I felt like they were going somewhere embaralarioussing as usual with Michael and his nice new hipster friends at the telemarketing job, instead it just sort of ended, and not really in a touching or compelling way.

Can someone get a screengrab of Creed's alternate identity's paperwork!?!?

"Toby, nobody asked for your advice... ever. So why don't you get a letter opener and jam it in your skull?"

Yeah, when he's the underdog instead of the boss, people actually like him!

xpost

OMG guys okay he transferred his debt to WILLIAM CHARLES SCHNEIDER, the real name of Creed Bratton who plays Creed Bratton. Wiki says so!

xposts haha poor Toby ;_;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed_Bratton

This can't be all true, right?

Why not?

I don't know, because it's too cool! What dream of dreams to parody yourself on television.

"table-making never seemed so possible"

tom cruise and katie holmes had a baby and they named it suri and angelina jolie and brad pitt had a baby and they named it shiloh and both babies are AMAZING!

u guys totally missed this: http://www.pizzabyalfredo.com/alstremezza.htm

^^^LMAO

i'm 100% convinced Alfredo's Cafe is real. No way they went into that detail making a fake pizzaria. Pizza By Alfredo on the other hand...

that's really meta

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0105588/bio

Date of Birth
8 February 1943, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name
William Charles Schneider

"Who says exactly what they think? What kind of sick game is that?"

Ryan is an unbelievable dick, but Kelli keeps him completely in check.

http://www.creedbratton.com

lol

http://www.creedbratton.com/html/guitars.html

Creed stated that he transfers his debt to another identity named William Charles Schneider, which is the actor's real name.

I like the vintage videos on Creed's site but keep wondering if this is not some very elaborate hoax.

I hope not because I spent ten minutes boring the crap out of someone the other day explaining the whole creed/real name/not real name/famous band connection and I don't like to think i was..er..wasting my time.

"I'm not arguing with this guy."

so much andy to love in this one

"You have a son and it is me."

"break me off a piece of that FANCY FEAST"

I cried at the end of this one. Just a little.

Dwight and Andy chanting "Oooh D!" to each other was the best.

Second Second Life didn't really go anywhere.

The shots of Dwight flying his avatar around Second Life was a bit sad.

"And in a fast moving world, where good news moves at the speed of time..."

The good bit of the Second Life stuff was Pam's mercilessness to Jim about his own (nearly identical to Dwight's) fascination with it.

And his avatar just wearing a guitar around.

I kind of expected the homemade commercial to be way shittier than it was.

I think that's what they wanted you to expect, but then they remind you that the Scranton branch actually isn't as inept as they seem for the other 19 minutes of the show.

Also, Darryl writes a decent jingle.

so excited about Darryl and Kelly, you guys!

Darryl's jingle was soo tight and the fact that Michael HATED it just made it even better. God, I loved this episode. The self-made ad was great!

Second Second Life didn't really go anywhere.

-- n/a, Friday, 26 October 2007 14:00 (3 hours ago) Link

this cracked me up at first. then i realized i had already made that joke years before at a party. this girl was really high and was talking about Sim City or The Sims or some shit. i guess she was really into it because she answered all my questions about it sincerely, i couldn't wrap my head around it. she mentioned her "family" had just gotten an addition to their house with big screen tv A/V room. i asked her if you could buy a computer in the game and she said yes. then i asked her if you could play The Sims while playing The Sims and she immediately got a wtf look like a deer in headlights.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/1799590416_2ee68725e4.jpg

a whole lotta amazingness here.

Hope this works (Creed rockin' out).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2414/1778953325_228a8f1cae.jpg?v=0

Creed rocking out and Darryl singing Creep (the Radiohead song)

Over the weekend my son wrote "You have a son and it is me" on a piece of paper and handed it to my wife. She was not expecting to have to do a Phyllis impression at 7 a.m. on a Saturday.

Wow best episode in a long time. Is it me or am I seeing the first signs of Pam and Jim's downfall (e.g. her staying at the office to work on the logo)?

Apparently NBC is developing a spin-off. New characters will be introduced in a "special" episode of the office then the new show will start with all new characters ie all current characters will remain where they are.

I wish they'd spin off the warehouse.

Spin-off seems like a terrible idea, but this show seemed like a terrible idea initially as well.

"Scrantonicity, the spin-off"

Scrantonicity II! Do *NOT* spin off Scrantonicity I.

the ad was hilarious until the end, with the "endless paper in a paperless world." that was so dumb it wasn't even funny. "you have a son and it is me" cracked me up rereading it BOTH TIMES in this thread, though, and the office hasn't made me laugh out loud this season until this episode.

New characters will be introduced in a "special" episode

Bleh, NBC, do the words NIKKI and PAOLO mean anything to you?

This sounds stupid, unless one of the new characters is Will Arnett, in which case I am 100% behind this concept.

"Just climb on top of her and think of Stanley."

"THE EYES ARE THE GROIN OF THE HEAD."

okay that final shaming-of-Jim-by-Toby-and-Oscar scene is my favorite thing that ever happened.

ilu Mindy Kaling!

best ep of the season. i needed this to renew my faith.

I do kind of think that if they weren't just going for funny, the Jim/Karen scene could have really gone someplace. You know, if he was honest with her about

1 - why he was in Utica ("You know these idiots - they're on some kind of revenge trip about Stanley and dragged me along")

2 - about his emotions upon seeing her again ("I'm not sorry I broke up with you, but I am sorry I lied to you - and myself! - about my feelings for Pam. And I'm really glad to see you doing so well.)

And then she could have rejected all that and tried to get him back as both a salesman and boyfriend. But they went a traditional sitcom route with that scene. Granted, that would have been a long scene, but they could have put it in one of the hour-long episodes, thus justifying the hour.

Ah well, backseat driver, etc.

straight-forward honesty isn't exactly jim's thing...

HA! True enough.

Horrible episode.

But I did laugh at "Besides having sex with men, the Finer Things Club is the gayest thing about me." and "I have no words." and the Uncle Remus line.

jim was on fire.

Half hour episodes - why do you hurt me, Office?

I thought the Karen/Jim scene was amazing, totally raw and honest and awkward and pretty realistic.

Deleted Scene #2 on nbc.com is one of the best deleted scenes ever. They should've included that in the episode and ditched the entire Finer Things Club plotline. Oh well.

The going to the car scene was funny, but nothing else in that clip bested The Finer Things club by a longshot.

Ya. I loved the microwave popcorn exchange especially.

that sucked

Once again, Oilyrags, you are RONG and a hater.

having some standards does not make me a hater.

Anyway, I blame "Green Week" - the whole thing seemed written to fit a formula from outside the creative team rather than a desire to actually write a 'Michael goes camping' episode.

Well, considering that you are a show insider, I defer to your superior knowledge of NBC and the creative team of "The Office".

the fuck, dude? Why take it so personally? We disagree, and I have a suspicion about why this episode was made the way it was. If my differing opinions are so traumatic for you, maybe you should hide under the bed and stick your fingers in your ears and shout "lalalalaicanthearyou." Just imagine if I'd called you names, like oh let's say 'hater.' You'd probably just wither away into nothing, fragile elf-flower that you obviously are.

Seriously, get some skin. Any skin, doesn't even have to be that thick.

Jesus Christ, it's a tv show.
Not one of the best episodes this week.

and apparently only one more week in the can, then this goes on hiatus till the strike gets worked out.

I think I LOL'ed at this weeks ep. I just can't remember at what parts.

i liked michael "fashioning" macgyver-like gear out of his pants with a knife and duct tape.

What kind of mushrooms was Michael eating?

I was hoping for a Michael Scott psilocybin trip. ;_;

Guys FUDGY THE WHALE. Didn't jess once tell us he was called that as a kid?

wtf

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/#mea=181650

that was one of the worst episodes ever. The only redeeming segment was the last one.

Oilyrags, that was awesome. Nice post, above, there; my point couldn't have been made better. And so glad that you and DDW agree.

As for having a thick skin: a) better check out the man in the mirror, and b) I think I just officially need to stop talking about tv on ILE, it's turned into a whole bunch of Comic Book Guys trying to be the first to register their disdain for the new McBain movie. Ah well, it's been a great run.

The Office is one of the few shows I watch on tv.
This episode was not good at all.

the stuff with Jim becoming the asshole boss was good!

I love the show but it's been fairly average this season. I don't think that the show works well when it tries to operate outside of cube-ian office life, particularly when it involves Michael on an extended absence. The Survivorman concept was too narrow and in the end I don't think the show works well when it beats Michael's stupidity into the ground. There needs to be an air of believeability about Michael or his position at manager is simply too absurd and it undercuts the rest of the characters.

Dandy Don OTM

i liked it

oilyrags is all sorts of messed up

I loved when Michael had to refashion a pair of pants out of the remains of his pants & duct tape.

Andy is I think my favorite character this season.

The Jim turning to Michael stuff was nicely done, I agree, but I'm penalizing it for being too much like the british show. I like it better when they do their own thing. Novelty whore, I guess.

this wasn't a very good episode, maybe the strike break will be good for the show

Dwight voguing w/dangerous weapons=GOLD (always)

Yes, this was a weak imitatation of the episode of the British series where David Brent goes out into the forest by himself to imitate a reality TV show, while Tim has to deal with setting up a birthday party back at the office.

That was a series 6 episode over there, right?

PS, every time Oilyrags complains about something not being funny, this gets reposted:

I always thought that if I was a writer on this show, whenever the character's needed something, I'd send them to a big-box store with a name that riff's on the show's title:

Liquor Store: Hoocherama
Emergency Room: Suturama
Short Term Loans: Moocherama
Whorehouse: Coocherama
Dog Breeder: Poocherama

etc.

-- Oilyrags, Thursday, November 8, 2007 7:36 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Link

I don't know, Suturama actually made me laugh.

n/a otm

I can not for the life of me figure out how it came to pass than every time I express a negative opinion of anything, its the cue for a gang trolling to begin.

Also, I don't care. Knock yourself out, guys!

I thought the best part of the Jim-becoming-Michael shtick was the transference of the irrational Toby-hate. Although Jim kinda makes a good point, there.

The UK thing is that Jim just mostly skated through or opted out altogether and now he's in a more uncomfortable place where that doesn't work so much anymore, esp when it's with the "real" people on the show and not just the cartoony characters.

i thought michael and jim sitting together at the birthday party talking about jim's rookie mistake and "thats what she said" was sweet.

also creed getting so into dancing around the circle.

this was a fine episode but totally overshadowed by the amazing 30 rock ep

apparently NBC fired the entire production crew...this strike could last for a long time...

wau

If these are the kinds of episodes we're stuck with this season, maybe the strike isn't such a band thing. This week was worse than last.

what max said

Wow, I loved it.

I'm with Oilyrags. I thought this was an amazing episode. Except for the ping pong bits. Not a bad way to close out the series (assuming this is the last-ever episode).

Michael pushing Toby's tray off the table was one of the funniest moments of the entire season.

Toby laughing at Brian's mancrush had me rollin'. Not that bad, all in all. I like that they're starting to delve into the soul-crushing sadness of their pathetic lives a bit more.

exactly - like the nonchalant betrayals.

agreed on the soul-crushing sadness. what other show on tv would dare end with such a depressing (and terrifyingly real) car ride home?

i hope the strike doesn't last much longer...

You know, as a Swinburn myself, I'm really curious about that handle of yours.

oh! you're the person who emailed me. Its just a take-off of the poet. no relation :-)

For YOU maybe!

Thanks for clearing that up.

yeah, sorry i never emailed you back...

Not a big deal. It's just not a name like Smith or whatever.

"Dwight, thank god you're here..."

Michael pushing Toby's tray off the table was one of the funniest moments of the entire season.

the whole scene was hilarious imagining the seething monologue in Michael's head while Toby was being all cool.

I thought the table Ryan was seated at, with two other guys who looked exactly like him (black shirts, stubbly beards) was hilarious too.

Yeah, the lunchroom was brilliant. I'm sure there were details I missed, but just picture walking into a room full of people reading photocopies of your diary. They stack the deck against sympathizing with Michael a lot, but that kind of humiliation would put you on anyone's side.

sorry to be so clueless, but is the season over?

writer's strike.

Go see Walk Hard for a Jenna Fischer and Ed Helms fix.

And go see Employee of the Month if you wanna hear Jenna Fischer say, "Do you want a blowjob or something?" and "You can jerk off on my tits if you want."

IT'S COMING BACK

New episode tonight!!

Come on, am I really the only one excited about this?

Absolutely I am excited.

damn.

Oh dear. That was not good at all. Way too sitcommy. The Pam and Jim chemistry is totally gone. This show is getting worse and worse.

"I bet you eat tuna every night." Hur-hur.

But Angela's thing with the ice cream cone was hilarious.

god fucking awful

not funny when they leave the office!

Man you guys are negative. The crux of the show - that incredibly uncomfortable, unable to turn away-situation - was great tonight. Very happy to see the show back.

yeah i thought it was great very in line with the deposition episode...super uncomfortable but damn i laughed a lot..."The Hunted" CD thing was great....seemed more in-line with some of the more brutal UK episodes than the American version....but yeah I think the last two have been MUCH better than the bloated hour long ones that were just ridiculous Michael and Dwight acting like tards, driving cars into lakes etc etc

If Pam doesn't dump Jim over that running-away bullshit, she deserves whatever pain she gets. What an asshole.

THAT WAS FUCKKING HYSTERICAL

If Pam doesn't dump Jim over that running-away bullshit, she deserves whatever pain she gets. What an asshole.

-- Oilyrags, Friday, April 11, 2008 4:41 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

don't worry she'll realize you two are made for each other eventually : )

jim made up to her by buying her a burger and stealing that awesome cd

this was all about jan.

this felt way more polished and less thrown together than 30 rock last nite, which i was kinda disappointed by.

don't worry she'll realize you two are made for each other eventually : )

-- M@tt He1ges0n, Friday, April 11, 2008 4:46 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Sadly, I'm probably closest to Andy in personality.

i guess 30 rock did feel a little haphazard (vending machine gag was pretty lame), but it made me laugh more.

This is my office... and this is my workspace.

(misquoted, I'm sure)

"Do you know what all those vasectomies do to a man?!??"

yeah i laughed a lot more during this than 30 rock. I liked the $200 flat screen TV

it's up on hulu

you took me by the hand, made me a man
that one night (one night)you made everything all riiiight
so wrong so right all night all right, oh yeah, oh yeah
so wrong so right all night all right, oh yeah

want a full mp3 of this made available

If Pam doesn't dump Jim over that running-away bullshit, she deserves whatever pain she gets. What an asshole.

-- Oilyrags, Friday, April 11, 2008 4:41 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

nu-pam what walked through the fire let jim know straight up what the stakes were if he made the wrong choice. she trusts herself enough now to allow jim some wiggle room to redeem himself without allowing herself to be walked all over and that's why she's not just cutting him right off. she's negotiating their relationship from a position of strength, not capitulation or self-pity.

also on re-watching noticed jan has a rather large faux-warhol of herself hanging in the stairwell.

want a full mp3 of this made available

truth bomb

so fucking funny

Best episode of the season. Whoever OTM about the bleak UK feel of it. Best moment = blue light of the neon beer sign

This episode got WAY better after repeated viewings.

My biggest complaint is that after such a long absence, I wanted to see more of the characters from the office itself. My jones for Stanley, Creed, Toby, Phyllis etc, was just not satisfied. Really though, none of the returning series have come back @ 100%.

mmm oaky afterbirth

next week looks good:

Michael's (Steve Carell) fascination with a woman modeling a chair in an office supply catalog makes him feel things he hasn't felt in a while. With Michael distracted, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) and Andy (Ed Helms) team up to win back Dunder Mifflin's stolen parking spaces, forcing them into a showdown with the bosses of the five businesses of the office park

that DOES look good

"Did I Stutter?" looks even better:

When Stanley snaps at Michael during a meeting, Michael tries to give Stanley an attitude adjustment.

omg <3 stanley

Michael's (Steve Carell) fascination with a woman modeling a chair in an office supply catalog makes him feel things he hasn't felt in a while.

oh yes yes, that sounds promising.

noticed jan has a rather large faux-warhol of herself hanging in the stairwell.

Total beer-spilling moment for me.

Post-Jan/Michael Office is still just as good as pre-Jan/Michael Office. I think we've narrowed it down to a singular rotten ingredient!

Also, fake Jim proposal was awesome.

OSCAR MAYER WIENER LOVER!!!!

The coffee shop scene was excruciating, in a good way. Good to see asshole Michael make an appearance again.

Pam and Jim were so cute. Jim bought a tiny ring!

cemetery fake-out was also genius if i read the set-up right.

more andy + kevin storylines, plz.

It is really great to see complete asshole Michael again. Fakeout proposal was really nice too.

It reminds me... that must be the first time in a long while since they've gone back to the original series for a show concept (the blind date for coffee).

First laugh of the night was Creed turning around from his PC when Michael made his big announcement without bothering to hide the Solitaire game he was playing.

Second laugh: Creed saying that now that he'd secured a second chair, he "only needs one more".... for what exactly?

so he can join a detroit techno supergroup

This show badly needed a BJ Novak-written episode.

i want to see more Evil Ryan.

Wow. The awkwardness meter was in the red tonight. Toby putting his hand on Pam's leg! Ryan the cokehead!

aw man, Toby is leaving?

still, had to laugh at the blown-out Ryan.

Fence jump = awesome.

"These women all look like white slaves."

aw man, Toby is leaving?

i think his "i'm moving to costa rica" was part of his fence-jumping panic that happened after he realized he just put his hand on pam's knee in front of everyone.

omg what if they all go down to costa rica to find him??

Maybe Toby in Costa Rica will be the spinoff. Or maybe it will be Ryan and his awesome life in nyc

The executive said the network planned to show “30 Rock” at 8:30 p.m. in the fall, partly because an “Office” spinoff is planned for 9:30.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/arts/22arts-NBCRELOCATES_BRF.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"His species probably has a higher tolerance."

I checked around about the spin-off-- Inital reports were that it was centered around Dwight but now it seems likely to star Andy.

i heard it's set at vance refrigeration

actually it would be kinda awes if it was set at a different business in the same office park.

I don't like the idea of an Office spinoff much. Assuming they'll be using the same writing pool, it's only going to dilute the potential goodness of both shows. :(

michael watches the Wire

...but he doesn't understand what the characters are saying.

I don't like the idea of an Office spinoff much. Assuming they'll be using the same writing pool, it's only going to dilute the potential goodness of both shows. :(

yeah, it's kinda overkill-ish empire-building syndrome. but, at the same time, andy is an awesome character, so...

ppl grumbled at the prospect of the one-hour episodes, but i thought they were great. probably not a fair parallell to draw, but ppl also grumbled about the colbert report when it was threatened, but it turned out to be pretty great, i think, (though, granted, if i had cable at the moment i don't think i would bother to watch daily show too often at this point...)

Almost all of the one-hour episodes have been terrible, though!

(re: The Daily Show - it was in a slump for a while, but the past two weeks have been GREAT!)

the one hour eps sucked

i was worried it was going to be some dumb michael/dwight silly "mission" episode like a lot of the hour long ones, but the instant Ryan was actually happy to see them instead of embarrassed things got great.

evil ryan is by far the best thing on the show lately.

the hand signs for 2.0 was the best.

Go Dwight Go!

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/images/photos/scet/1894/NUP_130220_0146.jpg

I love coked-up Ryan! Especially the bit at the end about his "friend" having the drug problem and "what should I do to help him?" etc.

Also loved Dwight pouring out the drink and saying "you'll have to try harder" somehow increasing his sex appeal in the basketball player's eyes!

Also, Michael telling the woman he was a bank teller because Ryan said you should always say you have a career in finance. HA!

really good ep. pleasantly surprised

where were the cameramen supposed to sleep, ryan?

a spin-off following any of the office characters would be weird because the documentary/ reality show hasn't actually aired in officeworld yet, as far as i can tell, so they'd be filming a spin-off of a show nobody's seen yet.

also, i thought dwight's "getting closure with the woman who was important in your life and who left without saying goodbye" spiel meant we were supposed to initially think it was michael's mother (the source of his relationship/ abandonment issues) whom they were going to visit in the cemetery (even though michael being michael, getting closure w/ catalogue woman actually was the best stopgap move, and as much insight as either of them could be expected to achieve). but she's alive in this episode, so i read that wrong apparently.

Michael called his mom in "The Injury" too. Another thing I liked about this ep was the little exchange between Ryan and Jim about the last Christmas party, which of course we never saw.

a spin-off following any of the office characters would be weird because the documentary/ reality show hasn't actually aired in officeworld yet, as far as i can tell, so they'd be filming a spin-off of a show nobody's seen yet.

i think we're just supposed to forget about the implications of the "documentary"

the stuff about the sexual predator on the website was good

also the other implications that the website was tanking, like the fact that they had to pretend their sales were made on the web?

we're gonna get laid

WITH SEX!!!

All of that is SO OTM, there's not a better critique of "web 2.0" then the idea of someone like Ryan thinking people are going to want to hang out with their friends and social network via the site they buy paper from.

I do love the idea that Jim keeps thinking he's having smart, reasonable ideas that totally backfire and make everyone love Michael...working late, the combined birthdays...

i think we're just supposed to forget about the implications of the "documentary"

The writers have said that they're going to get as much mileage as they possibly can until the point where the documentary airs and the characters see themselves on TV and start acting weird around the camera. Because, really, once that happens there's no going back.

Ryan kinda reminds me of Prince with the hair-do and stubble

Toby fence-jump --> Jim reaction shot was classic

They've been doing a good job of hiding the very-pregnant Angela Kinsey. I assume she'll be behind copiers and desks the rest of the season.

haha watching recent episodes OAKY AFTERBIRTH

anyway, a question. series 3 i think.

Pam sends Jim a text from the Diwali party. Jim is drunked and you see the text arrive but he's asleep and doesn't notice. Pam goes outside and gets all emo with the proposal-rejected boss. she keeps glancing at her phone like the text was v important, an outpouring of her heart or something.

but, then what? nothing is ever said about the text again and it must still be on his phone and he must sober up eventually.

she probably just said "lol"

i think you should write a fanfic about it

yeah, pam's first message would have have been incidental, something like "i have to tell you what michael did" or whatever, as an excuse for reconnecting w/ jim, which then would have led to her telling him how she really felt at some point. since he didn't respond the moment was gone and the revealing of true feelings never happened and then jim hooked up with karen and then the rest of season 3 happened.

Loved
- Michael reminding Ryan that hey, "It's Michael and Dwight from Scranton" after Ryan over-enthusiastically greeting them.
- Creed being the only one who knew the security guard's name.
- the facebooking of the dunder-mifflin website.

I like that the website is dundermifflininfinity.com, presumably because dundermifflin.com was unavailable.

Hmm...I don't like where this Ryan/Toby vs. Jim thing is going.

But the Stanley/Michael "showdown" was actually really nice, and oddly not tv-ish.

The Toby hate no so irrational anymore.

Fantastic episode. Loved Dwight's charts. Michael's talk with Darryl about gangs. Pam's glasses. Really, everything about this episode was just awesome.

I am really enjoying the dry and dark turns this season is taking. The writers seem to be spiking their Christopher Guest routine with hints of Larry David and Todd Solandz. The Michael/Stanley showdown was brutal and I'm digging Ryan's descent into Patrick Bateman sociopathy. They seem to be handling Dwights character a little sloppily, though. This episode saw him running dangerously close to Urkel/Fonzie levels of comic buffoonery. Next thing you know they'll be giving him a catchphrase.

fluffy fingers

maintaining a straight face during the "fluffy fingers" talk = EMMY

lol @ Daryll. One of the gangs he was in was "Newsies".

Don't forget the Warrrriors!

"Can you say 'These are due back Thursday'?"

Hmm...I don't like where this Ryan/Toby vs. Jim thing is going.

I'm assuming this is how they force Jim to another (better) job for the spinoff.

The whole Daryl gang thing was great. Bloods AND the Crips. I watched this pretty bad korean movie called "Dragon Wars" and Daryl played the lead actor's sidekick.

He's also going to be in Pineapple Express, can't wait!

jim is going to get fired in the season finale mark my words

Seems likely. Right as he's going to (or just has) proposed to Pam, too, I betcha.

I thought it was funny that Ryan used Jim pulling pranks on Dwight as one example of his recent slacking off. Maybe it's just my memory, but Jim really hasn't done anything to him in a while.

Wiki sez the last one was the website IMs during the sales contest, which was really more of Pam's baby.

uhhh i highly doubt the spinoff is going to be about jim.

dunno; this most recent episode seemed like a messy abomination of sorts. the writing seemed tossed-off, like it was cobbled together under pressure and/or under the influence of the wrong drugs or something. there were a lot of "wtf are they even going on about with this??!" moments for me, and not in any good way

f'rinstance, the michael/dwight stuff was just going off into overdone caricatures of what their characters had been previously. all in all, barely lol.

Really? This one gets better for me the more distance I get from it. A lot of things keep coming back in my head.

i didnt laff too much at this one.

I could see Jim getting fired or (forcibly?) transferred in the finale....maybe to Karen's branch?

Dwight's charts

"then you said PAM PAM PAM, and you sneezed in my tea and then you said, 'Don't worry, it's just allergies'"

AMY RYAN NEXT WEEK!!!

another really good episode-- andy is one of the best characters the show has ever had

I liked it, but I do find something odd: Michael's "love me, I'm a great salesman!" episodes came off more much sympathetic than Jim's, who to me just seemed annoying and pushy, when I assume it was supposed to be plucky and charming. Was it just me?

i didnt laff too much at this one.

i thought jim was supposed to come off as annoying, pushy and inexperienced

Yeah, they're great at making you think Jim is adorable and then letting him FAIL at everything.

except he triumphed!

By being an annoying salesguy type, which is what he's been fighting becoming for the show's entire run.

he's doing it for luv, tho

"i would never say this to her face, but she's a great person and a talented artist"

"why wouldn't you say that to her face?"

WAU how many good things are happening in this episode?!

seriously! so many great one liners too.

wow. that was bad. like last episode of seinfeld bad.

except for kevin gag and the new hr lady

kevin thinking he could bang new chik was only laff really

i really enjoyed that one.

Amy Ryan is lovely. Is she going to be a recurring character on the show? That would be awesome. Yes, I liked the episode very much.

GOD I FUCKING LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! What a great episode! "Special" Kevin. Creed not having the slightest clue what his job is. The new HR lady. Ryan's bust. And Michael! Oh my God, Michael was AMAZING tonight! I don't think he's ever been funnier.

Things I didn't like:
- Angela is way too much of a prude to cheat on Andy like that.
- Preggers Jan. I'm sick of Jan and wish she'd be written off the show.

"i don't want your foot money"

also for some reason i laughed really hard at steve carell's delivery of, "i put it in my shoe and forgot about it until just now."

First post OTM

I'm agreeing with Snrub on this definitely. Tonight was one of Steve Carell's best performances as Michael in the history of the series. Not in just a dumb yuk-yuk way. He was all over the chart and every scene was perfection.

fantastic episode

Angela is way too much of a prude to cheat on Andy like that.

Nah, Angela has never been as morally upright as she claims to be. She's always calling other women sluts and whores, but we've seen plenty of evidence that she and Dwight were having creepy pre-marital sex.

This episode was wonderful, and I agree that this was probably Steve Carell's best work so far. When Amy Ryan did the Yoda voice back at him, the kind of stunned look in his eyes was amazing.

the delivery of "you cheated on me... when i specifically asked you not too" was lol

"Mister Andrew Bernard!"

Very painful ep, as usual. I wonder if they'll ever do anything with Toby again, as he was the one character with the weirdest power dynamic on the show; he had the most power in the office(more or less), but was always the saddest guy and couldn't even do anything about his attraction to pam, except to hate Jim for it.

I did like how Kelly had one scene and completely nailed it.

Special Kevin was great.

I like how Mose always appears when the most fucked up things are going on, which he usually participates in.

Ryan getting arrested was deeply satisfying.

I found it interesting that they fucked with almost all the main relationships on the show right at the end of the ep.

Needed more Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.

great episode

is the actress who plays Angela pregnant? they never shot her standing up

i liked darryl's band doing 'just my imagination'.

I can't stop seeing her as Beadie Russell, but Amy Ryan was great. I hope she's a permanent addition to the cast. And yeah, definitely some of Carrell's best work as Michael yet.

My fave bit was Andy's proposal. High pressure sales tactics, man.

i liked that most of the awkward situations weren't based on michael being a tool (unlike early on in the show).

there is a space needle song called "beers in heaven" btw

a really good space needle song

yeah it is, isn't it?

Space Needle!

so wait: TOBY is the spinoff?

i don't think anyone knows (including the people who do the show; they just greenlighted the idea of a spinoff but actually apparently have no specific plans for what it will be)

I can't stop seeing her as Beadie Russell, but Amy Ryan

I just finished season 2, disc 2 of The Wire mere moments before watching The Office and kind of freaked out to see her there. Between her and Lt. Daniels on Lost, people from the Wire are on 2 of the 3 shows I actually watch regularly.

i guess michael has to grow up somewhat anyway but the epic struggle between the forces of fun vs. the forces of no fun that he was waging in his own mind was kinda key, if only because it made toby's life that much more intolerable on a day-to-day basis and toby was the locus for the miserablist aspects of uk tim that us jim didn't pick up.

I enjoy the 'human' side of Michael (last week's heartbreaking talk with Stanley behind closed doors), and I think it's smart they're avoiding going the Homer Simpson route with the character.

Still, last night's episode was the pits. Sorry

Not enough Andy, not enough Ryan...

Wasn't Michael just talking recently about how he watches "The Wire" but can't understand what the characters are saying?

- Angela is way too much of a prude to cheat on Andy like that.

no way she's a lady in the streets and a freak in the sheets! remember the episode where they went to the paper convention and jim was going to play a prank on dwight and he ended up walking in on angela dressed all hookerish in dwight's hotel room?

also i think they got it on at a party that jim had in maybe season 2?

lol at Ludacris Angela.

Supposedly the spin-off will involve Ed Helms and Amanda Peet(!?!), but yeah, there really aren't many details afloat yet. I'm wondering if Lieberstien and BJ Novak will be involved at least in the production end, since their characters are both more or less written out of the mother show.

also i think they got it on at a party that jim had in maybe season 2?

Not only did they get it it on, they did it outside, on Jim's deck.

wtf w/ jim and pam, i am sick of that relationship being in jeopardy, i just want them to get married and be happy so that drama isnt the focus of the show

Of all the different lines going on in the show, Jim/Pam is probably somewhere around the middle. It's hardly overwhelming.

I was just looking for Ryan's bust video on Youtube to see if it's actually there, but I can't remember what the title was.

Meh, it's actually on the NBC site, but it's not as good as it could have been (no speaking): http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/#mea=252007

I was rolling at Michael going off about lady bakers.

wtf w/ jim and pam, i am sick of that relationship being in jeopardy, i just want them to get married and be happy so that drama isnt the focus of the show

-- max, Friday, May 16, 2008 12:37 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

dude they have been totally happy and kind of in the background this season. jan and michael have been a much larger focus.

ok lady bakers was lol also. 1 hr episodes are just dire mostly tho

is the actress who plays Angela pregnant? they never shot her standing up

Yeah, she just gave birth like two weeks ago, so she would've been very, very pregnant at the time of filming. You could kind of see it in her face. They've been using artful angles on her for all the post-strike episodes.

Back in the early days of the strike, they were talking about writing the pregnancy into the show if they came back soon enough, but I guess it was not meant to be. Angela and Dwight getting caught by the cameras works as a similar device for exposing Angela's rampant hypocrisy.

Oscar was barely in this but I loved his talking head about Ryan. "The real crime was that beard."

i thought this was a terrific episode, 100x better than other recent ones i could name. i lolled a bunch.

creed and andy playing a song for angela's baby http://www.hulu.com/watch/19498/the-office-creed-and-ed-perform#s-p1-st-i1
andy totally shredding on the banjo

Okay, this is a minor detail,andkind of random, but I'm so happy they used DMB! Even if it was Micheal! Anyone else been waiting for that?!lol
PB
May 17 - 12:09am PT

Did anyone else notice that Michael has a certificate of authenticity hanging on his wall? I couldn't tell what it was for though. Maybe his watch.

That's hilarious. He seems like a compulsive eBayer to me...hahahaa

it's for a seiko watch!

quamity... ASSurANCE?

creed and andy playing a song for angela's baby http://www.hulu.com/watch/19498/the-office-creed-and-ed-perform#s-p1-st-i1
andy totally shredding on the banjo

i'm not used to seeing angela smiling so much!

Whoa, that was awesome. Am totally crushing on Amy Ryan's character, as well. Yikes.

hooray for this

Amy Poehler says she's bound for 'Office' spinoff
By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) _ Amy Poehler confirmed to The Associated Press that she'll be joining the planned "Office" spinoff, paving the way for her eventual exit from "Saturday Night Live" and promoting the comedian to primetime.

Speaking by phone Thursday shortly after her Emmy nomination for outstanding actress in a comedy series on "SNL," Poehler said she will join NBC's spinoff of "The Office." She's expected to star.

"I can kind of confirm that I will be working in some capacity on that show," said Poehler. "I don't really have any other details yet."

The 36-year-old Poehler has been a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" since 2001 and in recent seasons has served as a co-anchor on "Weekend Update."

Poehler, whose husband Will Arnett also received an Emmy nomination Thursday (for his guest performance on "30 Rock"), is pregnant and due this October. She plans to be part of the expanded fall schedule for "Saturday Night Live" during the election, but that what happens in the spring isn't clear.

"It's been quite a week," said Poehler of the negotiations. "I'm very excited about all the good stuff that's coming down the pike."

A spokesman for NBC said the network had no comment.

___

WOW YAY

I read that they decided it wasn't going to be an office spin-off.

Amy Ryan is lovely. Is she going to be a recurring character on the show? That would be awesome.

Yes it would be awesome!

haha I'd forgotten the "Kevin is slow" story line. I hope they run with it the whole season

you hope they run a good joke into the ground?

hell yeah

Season Five tonight folks!

is there a way i can watch this online or something

I think NBC.com streams shows to US residents but I'm sure there's a bit of a waiting period for the episode to be posted?

well thats just dumb frankly

well, I'm also talking out of my ass. Torrents? All those illegal online TV websites? I just torrent stuff for my iPod

i want to watch it live

then plug your TV in?? I don't have cable but I get the Office. Where do you live?

ya, try plugging your tv in

hey einstein i dont have a tv

Well, get one and plug it in.

PROBLEM SOLVED, UR WELCOME

it's against the law not to have a television, yr gonna go to jail

max get a slingbox and use someone elses cable

hulu

or just use your tv

max doesn't have a tv? next he'll tell us he only has a cell phone and not a land line!

OR MAYBE YOU HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN NOT BEING ABLE TO WATCH THIS SHOW TONIGHT

why dont you have a tv max? thats kind of ridiculous.

you should get a tv (for shows)

hey einstein

sorry max, I'll try to stalk you better in the future

max doesn't have a tv? next he'll tell us he only has a cell phone and not a land line!

― Mr. Que, Thursday, September 25, 2008 7:34 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

now now buddy, I do this, but I bought a TV so I wouldn't have to wine on the internetz about not being able to watch TV SHOWS as they air

this is all pretty hilarious but unless i can build a "slingbox" which i assume is like a flux capacitor i still cant watch this live tonight and if matt is right im going to jail

also i think jeff threatened to kill me

on the bright side: they have TV in jail : )

ya well unless i can get to jail by 8:30 eastern im shit out of luck ;-)

and it'll be harder for me to stalk you, so there's that concern erased too

I'll liveblog it for you maxster, but only because you share a name with my dog

im going to make slocki call me and tell me everything thats happening on the screen while it happens

http://www.earlytelevision.org/images/r&tv_10-390006.jpg

good idea.. you should find some videophones!

max im gonna be out but i can leave my tv on and point my macbook's isight at it. you can watch it over skype.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

max go to craigslist and buy some shitty 13" tv for $20 already

u dont even know my situation fool

tv

yeah, you don't know me

sweeet episode.

fuck putting toby in a halo

tho i dont think i really worked through 9/11

What was up with Meredith's face in that one scene?

I was kinda wondering that too.

What was that scene with Jim closing the door and saying something about Pam's art? I missed that.

He distracted the cameraman so he could bang her ha ha

jan's bit about the candlelight vigil isnt as funny now as it seemed at the time for some reason

poor poor toby. at least Ryan is off the drugs and he might write himself to be a likable character again.

Jim's sopping wet clothes probably cost them the vacation days. As usual, Stanley is the most sensible person on the show.

i fell asleep 10 minutes before the end :(

aw, you missed the cutest part

hehe http://www.angelaandy.com/

lol

"buttoned up bliss"

also : ""I have a nice comforter and several cozy pillows. I usually read a chapter of a book, and it's lights out by 8:30. That's how I sleep at night.""

was a nice LOL

I hope we see more of Black Panther Stanley.

Also Angela (the character) is totally pregnant.

i got the preggo vibe too. UHOH

"...at least Ryan is off the drugs and he might write himself to be a likable character again."

Keeping a list of everyone that wrongs him so he can get revenge later = probably not gonna happen.

The Ryan/Kelly thing is going to continue to entertain this year, I can tell.

What's been making you guys think she's pregnant? The actress herself WAS pregnant if there was perceived weight gain.. but they shot around her stomach last season.

That's why I specified Angela the character, because I know Angela Kinsey just had a baby. Anyway, thought the character looked very uncomfortable at the weigh-ins. Just a vibe, really.

Oooh, right, that could be a good reason for everyone losing weight and yet them not going down much en masse.. this may be unrelated but Angela (the character) also did say "My doctor wants me to weigh more"

Yeah, I thought that was telling.

Also, Michael came sooooo close to doing the right thing (buying the concert tickets and then turning around and asking her if she'd like to go with him), but he tore them up! I love that they absolutely REFUSE to redeem his character more than twice a season.

btw, do we need a Season 5 thread?

The expression on her face when he tore them up, too!

Another superlolworthy moment: "DON'T CALL HIM STUPID! HE IS TRYING AS HARD AS HE CAN WITH HIS MENTAL DISABILITY!"

Sounds like a good idea.. no one uses my Top Model thread so I'm a little post-shy, haha.

The ripping tickets thing, oh man. After that rap they did!

The Office (US) — Season 5 thread

reading this thread is hilarious ... everyone just leaping @ the chance to say the show jumped the shark, episode after ep

Oh nobody ever gives this show a chance. Look at the original thread for the show. It goes from "How DARE they Americanize the British office!" for about 200 posts, then it's like "See? I told you! That pilot episode was terrible!" to "Hmmm.... that Diversity episode wasn't too bad." to "BAHAHAHA!! Anal fissures!!" to "Wait a minute... this show is freaking amazing!!"

aside from the hour long eps being too long (but not necessarily awful) s4 was pretty great