The Office running thread

One small line I liked when Dwight gets pulled over - the cop immediately knows who it is and says something like "You can't impersonate a cop, Dwight." I liked the episode for the most part (maybe it helped that I have kids, I don't know). Anytime a comedy show goes for an hour rarely will you get 60 minutes (minus commercials) of gold.

 

All I can say is:

I don't know what some of you expect. I have become emotional invested in the characters, don't care about if it's perfect to the characters and all that shit.

It's funny. I chuckle. I enjoy it. And that's it.

I was so happy they had their baby.

 

ditto. just finished watching. thought it was excellent. really excellent. 8) 8) 8)

 

The concept that they aren't true to all the characters is weak, I think, and doesn't allow for progression from any of the characters.

Is having a baby out of wedlock an Angela move? Hell no. But what have we seen from Angela since she, a very private and proud person, got publicly dumped by two guys and shown to be a cheating slut in front of the whole office? We haven't seen much. It doesn't seem crazy to me that she would be desperate to get back with someone after losing everything.

People compain about Ryan changing, too. He also went through a hell of a lot. Seems like it would almost be more weird if these people changed nothing in their lives.

 

It's not "weak." They've completely changed characters for cheap laughs or plot contrivances. So Ryan and Jan go from self-aware straight men to oblivious Michael Scott-level loons. Ryan is used as a sight gag these days and that's it. The character ought to be on "30 Rock" instead.

I buy Pam's character development - woman dumps fiancee and comes out of her shell. I buy Jim's development - getting more serious about life and his job as he begins to settle down. I'm not against character progression. In fact, one of the most frustrating things about "LOST" right now, for example, is that the characters never, ever, ever progress.

But I don't buy a sight gag like Dwight tossing an axe out the window of his car as he's getting pulled over by the police. When you introduce that kind of slap stick into this world, then the kind of subtle everyday humor doesn't work any more because it's no longer stretching any kind of real boundaries of acceptable social behavior. What made the show funny was that you couldn't believe someone would do that in an office, but it was at least possible. Now they've made it so that just about anything goes, as long as it gets a cheap laugh. That's the kind of b.s. that made me dislike the British version, i.e. people tossing a huge inflatable penis around the office or the British Jim and Pam tossing sexual double-entendres at the British Dwight.

It's funny when Kevin spills a pot of chili. We can all relate. It's funny when Dwight sabotages everybody's health care plans. That's completely in character - Dwight is the anti-hippie: he loves the system. It's not that funny when Dwight traps a vampire bat on somebody's head. It's not funny when Dwight kicks a bridesmaid in the face during an absurdly unrealistic choreographed line dance down the aisle at a wedding. It's not funny when Dwight brings in a cleaning crew to bash apart somebody's kitchen without their permission.

 

Kevin dropping the chili is probably my favorite opening.

 

Definitely my favorite. I think I played it back at least five times.

 

Undercook those onions.

 

Ryan's new character is hilarious.

I love that my avatar eats second breakfast, second lunch and first dinner.

The thesaurus line was great, the ice cream cake line was great, Andy with the newspaper was great, the wrong baby moment was great. Dwight was at his finest, especially when Jim and Pam got home and Dwight acts like nothing is wrong. Jim just shrugs his shoulders and walks by.

 

A lot of that is lowest common denominator garbage, and not the show that they created in the first two seasons. The Ryan character isn't "hilarious." It's silly slapstick. Obviously the creators decided after the first two seasons to go for a wider audience, and it's worked. But for the most part the show is a shadow of what it was in the first couple seasons.

 

Everybody is going to get to know each other in the pot.