The Office running thread

Again, that is not the "transformation" of Ryan's character that Waymon is alluding to. They did a good and believable job of transforming him into a douchebag the first few seasons. That was legitimate character progression.

The failure is in his second transformation from a rationale self-aware straight man into cartoon character buffoon the last couple seasons. Not believable at all.

 

Shit, because I love for the whole thing to be believable, even though characters turn to the camera to explain what they're doing and, you burn, burn their feet on a George Foreman grill.

 

First and foremost, just wanted to point out that Ed Helms' portrayal of Andy Bernard finally asking Erin out was one of the most authentic and gut-wrenching TV scenes I've ever watched. I watched it eight times, bawling throughout. Yeah, every wannabe cool guy thinks he's the Jim of his office, irreverent and funny. And yeah, Jim is awesome, and I'd love to play pickup hoops with him. If he were real.
But I have this empathy for Andy's character, always getting in his own way, neutered by Angela, a sad caricature of that nerdy guy who tries too hard. And when he looks at Erin with tears in his eyes...shit, that's awesome.

That being said...the prevailing thought that Ryan is somehow acting out of character is ignoring the massive leaps that his character has taken in the past. From temp to business school student to...executive? From executive to douchebag to...cokehead? From douchebag to cokehead to...bowling employee? I mean, what do you really want out of a guy who is essentially a minor character?

If the show has slipped at all, it's in not continuously highlighting racial, gender and socio-economic elements of the show. The Darryl/Michael race stuff? Gold. Kelly Kapoor and "Diwali"? Perfection. Instead, because this is supposed to take place now, and the economic landscape is what it is, the show has had to focus on that, and it's suffered.

It's still in my top 5, though Modern Family has become my favorite comedy. Oh, and if anyone on this board isn't watching Friday Night Lights, that's just sad.

 

They established the documentary trope from the outset. Yes, it requires some suspension of disbelief, but that's the storytelling mechanism they chose and at least it's been largely consistent. It doesn't give them a license to do anything they want now. I mean, by your logic, why not just have aliens show up? Why not just make Erin a shape shifter like "True Blood"?

 

I'm pretty sure that was the real Ben Franklin.

 

Oh, over time everything loses it's fastball. Some just hold onto it longer than others.

 

Maybe it is getting a little absurd and "slap sticky" but I don't care. I laughed -- a lot.

Erin: "I didn't know we had a tape measurer."
Dwight (showing off his initials taped to the tape measurer): "We don't."

Awesome.

 

Guess I didn't know we had so many slapstick fans here.

You guys should go rent Wile E. Coyete and Roadrunner. If you think Dwight kicking a bridesmaid in the head is hilarious, just wait until you watch this stuff ...

 

Good grief. Some people disagree with you. Get over it.

 

I was just joking. Geez. Get over that.

We can't have a discussion about what works on a television show and what doesn't? I thought this was a discussion board.

 

I don't think I ever laughed at any one thing ever done on I Love Lucy, but it was still a very successful comedy in many circles.

 

Right. And that's why I've been trying to keep the argument here focused. Smartass comment aside, I don't necessarily think we need to argue about whether slapstick or absurdity is, on its face, funny. It can be. "Arrested Development" did it well. "30 Rock." "Family Guy." Lots of shows. It's largely a matter of taste. I thought it was stupid when Kramer would slip and fall on "Seinfeld." The audience typically roared. Some people like physical comedy. Some don't. Whatever. Different argument.

The argument, as I see it, is about whether "The Office" cheats now to get laughs, whether it betrays the internal universe it created to begin with, thereby becoming largely a typical sitcom rather than something much better and richer and lasting. I say that it often does, and I haven't seen any convincing arguments otherwise. People think it's hilarious that Ryan is a completely changed character now, but I think they're fooling themselves when they try to justify that within the context of the original Ryan on the show as "character development." That Ryan would have rather died than worn a tilted Justin Timberlake fedora to work. It's not the same character. It's just not. It isn't the guy whose worst nightmare had come to pass when he burned a pastry in the microwave, thus earning a work nickname, or was trapped in a relationship that worked as a perfect metaphor for his fear of being trapped at this soul-crushing job.

Some people say they don't care about these changes. At least they're being honest. I care, though.