The Office running thread

Absolutely. There's a ton of depth to the characters and the storyline that is closer to real life than most shows because it doesn't involve heroes like an ER, CSI or Army Wives, it's just people with regular Joe Schmo jobs.

 

Really? So you think a TV crew would follow a company around for what 7 years?

 

And that no one would ask "Why are there cameras here?" when said crew comes to an important out of work function (I.E. Wedding) or intensely personal one (I.E. Hospital visit).

 

Obviously we accept the the contrivance of the presence of the cameras as what the show is. But the characters generally at least attempt to act in their own interest -- to that extent, it's realistic.

Wallace has been presented as a capable, smart businessman. Michael has established himself in front of Wallace as a social buffoon who's always making a ridiculous scene. I just thought it was absurd that Wallace would say, "Hey, let's bring Michael to the hospitality suite with the CEO, and put a microphone in front of him at a meeting of investors for our crisis-ridden company."

 

Well, the CEO did say at one point "All you were supposed to do is wave." Seems like in "real life" this would be more of a CEO decision than Wallace's - our company is going bankrupt, let's bring in the one guy who is making money for us.

I did like how they had Oscar be all blustery and confident, saying how things were bad and here's what the company needs to do - but when push came to shove he backed down when he had the chance to actually speak up (while Michael, albeit not having that filter in his brain to think things out), actually tried to solve things, in his own sort of way.

 

Was there ever an attempt to explain the cameras?

"Does he have an off button"

 

Desperate times.

 

Yes, in the plot summary of the pilot.

"A documentary crew arrives at the offices of Dunder Mifflin to observe the employees and learn about modern management. Manager Michael Scott tries to paint a happy picture, while sales rep Jim fights with his nemesis Dwight and flirts with receptionist Pam."

http://www.tv.com/the-office/pilot/episode/396579/summary.html

 

This sets up the rest of the season nicely.

 

Props to former Scranton Times Tribune ASE Randy Shemanski for getting his byline on the Scott's Tots story.

 

That was hard to watch, though I'm a wuss like that. I honestly flipped away from a few seconds at its most awkward.

 

"My Diabolical Plan" by Dwight K. Schrute

And Dwight's phone impressions of Kevin, Stanley and Toby were hilarious.