actually i'll give you that one, the last episode was the first one since the break that i thought was up to par.

10/26/2008 2:10:52 PM

yea seriously usually i'm very critical but the office still does it for me

compared to most shows in their later seasons its still staying very fresh

10/26/2008 5:38:04 PM

The Office is simply an excuse for everyone to watch a soap opera and not feel guilty about being gay/lame. It's got the same bullshit drama, same random plot twists, same sappy love triangles, same characters, etc.

Imagine if you were hanging with your buddies at work and you said "OMG can you believe what happened with Adam Chandler and Erica Kane last night??" They would fucking slap you silly and never talk to you again. On the other hand, it's somehow cool to be all "Dude, I think Jim and Pam are totally gonna break up next week." Instant high-fives and camaraderie.

Just admit it, people - you love a soap opera

10/26/2008 6:17:10 PM

except for the fact that the office has phenomenal writing and soap opera's don't

10/26/2008 6:23:48 PM

Quote :

"The Office is simply an excuse for everyone to watch a soap opera and not feel guilty about being gay/lame. It's got the same bullshit drama, same random plot twists, same sappy love triangles, same characters, etc. Imagine if you were hanging with your buddies at work and you said "OMG can you believe what happened with Adam Chandler and Erica Kane last night??" They would fucking slap you silly and never talk to you again. On the other hand, it's somehow cool to be all "Dude, I think Jim and Pam are totally gonna break up next week." Instant high-fives and camaraderie. Just admit it, people - you love a soap opera"

10/26/2008 6:24:45 PM

I agree to a point

the show stopped being about the funny and more about the drama to pull in the casual viewer who is looking for another Friends or OC with the whole Jim/Pam and Dwight/Angela and the Michael/Jan/Holly bullshit. It's the same thing that's happening to How I Met Your Mother, which is really disappointing to see to two of my favorite shows

yeah, it's still better than a lot of shows on tv but that isn't saying much


I'd much rather watch a show that doesn't give a fuck about all that other shit like It's Always Sunny

10/26/2008 6:38:46 PM

i actually quit watching about 2 episodes into the 2nd season because it was too much drama and not enough funny so i kind of agree with you. i started watching again cause i have a couple friends without dvr who are busy thursday night, so i record it for em and usually end up watching while they're watching.

10/26/2008 7:20:52 PM

The Pam/Jim storyline is going to blow up at some point.... the writers are really backed into a corner here. They are forced to take a storyline that would fit best over 2 seasons and almost definitely no longer than 3 seasons and stretch it over 5+ years. They are really screwed now, and will have to set a date for a Pam/Jim wedding before this season is over, then some kind of contrived drama to make it more exciting and stretch it as long as the show stays on the air

10/26/2008 8:56:11 PM

Jim's fake proposal/shoe-tying was hilarious.

Andy's proposal was funny as hell.

The relationship aspect of the show only strengthens the humor. It gives the writers more joke opportunities.

One of the biggest differences I see between the UK and US versions is that you get to know the characters a lot better in the US version.

10/26/2008 9:16:41 PM

Quote :

"One of the biggest differences I see between the UK and US versions is that you get to know the characters a lot better in the US version."

nobody would argue that point, but the reason for this is also the same reason the Pam/Jim relationship is causing so much trouble - because the UK series was only planned to be 14 episodes from the beginning, and the US series is opened ended and will continue as long as NBC renews it (at 72 episodes so far). So with so many episodes, the US version has lots of time to develop really, really great secondary characters and B-plots, but they're also a victim of their own success in that it is making it so hard to keep the original A-plots still interesting.

10/26/2008 9:24:35 PM

^^^Pam gets really drunk, cheats on Jim, she tells Jim out of guilt, it was just a one time thing, I really love you, why are you even mad, and you spend the rest of the season in will or won't reconcile mode.

Gotta catch up on my Guiding Light though.

[Edited on October 26, 2008 at 9:33 PM. Reason : -]

10/26/2008 9:31:46 PM

^^ yep

if it was just Jim/Pam in a relationship storyline, that would be one thing. But now my 2 favorite characters look to be heading into an annoying storyline that doesn't have a clear end in sight with Angela, and now Michael/Holly have an annoying relationship angle going

[Edited on October 26, 2008 at 9:32 PM. Reason : .]

10/26/2008 9:32:33 PM

^ hence, the soap opera comparison.

10/26/2008 9:38:05 PM

Quote :

"I agree to a point"

10/26/2008 9:54:46 PM

[Edited on October 26, 2008 at 10:26 PM. Reason : ...]

10/26/2008 10:25:46 PM

I actually mentioned the same thing to my friend earlier, seems like several shows are turning more and more toward the soap opera-ish angle to keep things lively and interesting. House is also more and more developing characters and exploring their relationships this season, but they have to do something when they've been through ever exotic disease in the book, even lupus

[Edited on October 26, 2008 at 10:36 PM. Reason : ]

10/26/2008 10:36:09 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "One of the biggest differences I see between the UK and US versions is that you get to know the characters a lot better in the US version." nobody would argue that point"

I would argue this/that point. In a mere 14 episodes, I get to know, as a fully formed character, Tim way more than Jim. Jim and most everyone else on The Office (US) are generic, one-note characters. I watch the show and it produces a reliable number of laughs, but I think your pride is mostly responsible for you deeming it, and by extension you, smart.

[Edited on October 26, 2008 at 10:48 PM. Reason : ...]

10/26/2008 10:38:28 PM

10/26/2008 10:45:43 PM

^ yep.

10/26/2008 10:55:25 PM

New promo for this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi9_oqiklW4

Halloween episode, first since season 2. Of course somebody is the joker.. check out who!

10/27/2008 11:38:19 AM

hahaha

10/27/2008 11:50:00 AM

lets put a smile on that face

10/27/2008 1:16:04 PM

^^^That was Creed, right?

10/27/2008 1:43:57 PM

^^^^^^, you cant just claim "jumping the shark" just because you don't like the show or the direction it's going in.
Do you have an actual event where you think they've jumped the shark?

10/27/2008 2:13:44 PM

yeah creed

10/27/2008 3:19:59 PM

^^ the dinner party episode was it for me.

10/27/2008 4:53:16 PM

i really did not like that episode, but there have been plenty of decent episodes since then

10/27/2008 5:20:18 PM

We really need Todd Packer one of these episodes

10/27/2008 5:27:32 PM

lol that's exactly what the office does not need.

different strokes, i suppose.

10/27/2008 5:32:27 PM

^^^ I agree with ^^ in that I really did not like that episode at all, but still..... don't see an parallels to jumping the shark

10/27/2008 5:32:44 PM

I think the public is just too hard to please. "Dinner Party" was my favorite episode of season 4. It was like the ultimate awkwardness throughout the whole episode. I thought it was hilarious. Fact is, to keep the story fresh, they have to leave the office setting and venture to new locations. That's why we see Michael's condo for an episode.

10/28/2008 11:09:01 AM

Quote :

"I think the public WolfWeb is just too hard to please."

10/28/2008 11:13:30 AM

^^ see that's the problem, having people do stupid shit just to make it "awkward" is not funny to me, at all. there needs to be something clever said, which they have done less and less.

10/28/2008 11:31:32 AM

well, actually Jan's completely batshit-insane crazy behavior for the past 2 seasons might be considered shark-jumpy.
Remembering all the way back to S1E01, Jan was almost a typical, high strung, bureaucratic manager. Of course we didn't see much of her home life, and as soon as we started seeing her outside of the office we did get hints of her strange personality. But I do agree that recently it seems like they've been saying "now..... we need to do something wacky and zany and completely unpredictable.... i know! let's make Jan a completely sociopathic headcase!"

10/28/2008 11:39:15 AM

Oh, well. I try not to get philosophical about it and just watch. Some aren't gonna be as good as season 2, but that's the way it is I suppose. They still continue a lot of the wittiness and awkwardness that the show was initially based upon.

"SEVEN HUNDRED.. AND ONE PENNY"

10/28/2008 11:52:40 AM

yeah... Jan went from high strung boss to insane pretty quickly.. it's a huge stretch.. there were also parts of last season (especially the dinner episode) where Michael Scott's character was just way over the top and everything seemed forced

10/28/2008 12:33:57 PM

Quote :

"there were also parts of last season (especially the dinner episode) where Michael Scott's character was just way over the top and everything seemed forced"

man where have you guys been? i've been trying to tell them this for months.

10/28/2008 12:37:51 PM

yea i'll agree michael/jan's relationship is the weakest part of the show

10/28/2008 12:50:32 PM

Quote :

"Where did Holly come from?"

10/30/2008 2:27:56 PM

[Edited on October 30, 2008 at 2:28 PM. Reason : double post ]

10/30/2008 2:27:56 PM

lookin forward to tonight

10/30/2008 4:16:05 PM

I'm going to have to steal Jim's Halloween costume.

10/30/2008 5:58:33 PM

hahahaha

"Did Darryl touch you?"

10/30/2008 9:23:46 PM

not what i was expecting........kinda disappointed in tonights episode. Thought it was just weird throughout. Did not bring the funny......

10/30/2008 9:39:42 PM

welcome to the last two seasons of the office.

although i got a great laugh out of 'it's pronounced colonel, and it's the highest rank in the military'.

10/30/2008 9:42:14 PM

i liked creed's joker

10/30/2008 9:44:59 PM

i lost it with stanley's costume

10/30/2008 10:00:47 PM

so.... when Jim says "I'm off to New York. My brother Pete and my brother Tom are taking Pam and I out for lunch", is it because the actor, John Karakjksjdflj doesn't know proper grammar and botched his line, or because the writers, who are are probably half English majors, don't know when to use "Pam and me"?

It's amazing how many shows and movies that is messed up in.... (or, uhh.... amazing how many shows in which that is messed up)

10/30/2008 10:02:05 PM

You people have really run out of things to bitch about, huh?

[Edited on October 30, 2008 at 10:11 PM. Reason : about which to bitch!]

10/30/2008 10:10:00 PM

watching it on DVR. that was the first thing I noticed...... the "I" vs. "me" is just my big grammar pet peeve.

loved the cold opening - i was hoping that would go on longer

10/30/2008 10:14:01 PM