The Office running thread

I liked the conference room shot of Creed wearing the big '70s-styled glasses.

Also the sales staff's willingness to share their money, only to find the others are fine with getting treats.

 

Wow, I thought this episode was possibly the weakest of the entire run. Didn't find any of it the least bit funny.

 

Not even Andy and Erin playing hot/cold? Not even Dwight licking the garbage bag and saying, "fresh?" Not even Stanley's reaction to Ryan and Kelly?
NOTHING was funny?

 

It wasn't a very good episode as a stand-alone, but we're clearly witnessing a re-set of the series right now. Ryan didn't look like an obnoxious idiot any more, he looked like a really well-dressed guy in his early 30's. And between him arguing with Kelly about the Kardashians and another moment where he was annoyed at something one of the more buffoonish characters did, it was like the Ryan from 2006 had returned.

The arrival of Michael and Dwight as idiot pals at the end after their heart-to-heart was another signal that the show was pressing the reset button on a lot of the old dynamics that they had wandered away from.

Also, some of you laugh out loud at somebody licking a garbage bag? Seriously? To me, the best Dwight moments were when the badass front would be punctured, either by a Jim prank that frustrates him out of his cool demeanor or something like his subtle jealousy over Michael liking Ryan better than him. He was a relatable character in those ways - we've all been around somebody who so badly wants to command respect and be a no-nonsense leader, but just doesn't have it. Licking a garbage bag? Eh. Just slapstick crap that I don't really find clever or humorous.

 

My favorite part was when the cookies were enough to buy off the accountants, and Stanley still almost blew it.

Hated the Andy-Darryl wrestling match and the Michael-Dwight garbage-throwing dump. People honestly laugh at that kind of silliness?

 

Waylon, all due respect, but your obsession with Ryan week-to-week is now bordering on the bizarre. At this point, it's like gnashing teeth over Cheers betrayal of Paul's character.

That said, this episode sucked, save Pam's line about Michael wanting to hang under a lamp he thinks was in Casablanca.

 

I think that the state of that character is emblematic of where the show stands and a good litmus test.

 

With the implication that he took them from the Lost & Found.

 

The Lost & Found is now lost as well.... good stuff...

Again... I laughed at parts and that's why I watch. All this obsessiveness over being true to characters is crazy.

 

Why is it crazy? You keep saying that. Why is it crazy? It's distracting to me. And unfunny. When you change characters at your whim, it changes it from a show with continuity to "Saturday Night Live," where the characters are created in service to the jokes, and the jokes don't just flow naturally from the real characters.

I don't buy the "just a TV show" line. TV shows are as open to serious criticism as any other art form.

 

Because everyone does out of character things from time to time. On the show and in real life.

Granted people trend one way but the idea thatangela or Jim can only react a certain way is silly
Sure some of the show is un funny. Its not going to be a hit every ep.

 

Of course people aren't relegated to reacting one way. But for any fiction to work it seems like the characters have to be anchored in something. Any good character is going to be multi-dimensional, which is why Tony Soprano can believably be a mob boss who also visits a psychiatrist.

"The Office" has abandoned nuance and subtlety of situation and character, which was its strength, for broader characters and slapstick. That mystifies me.

I don't understand why broad comedy is so appealing to the LCD. Because at that point, one show is no different than another.