The Office Discussion Thread

I liked 5, but I still say 3 is the best.

Looking forward to what comes next.

Yes, three is when things really clicked. Dwight and Andy rivalry bloomed, Jan hadn't become crazy yet so that relationship still produced an "awww" from me, Micheal's fake suicide and Creed.

And please...let Jim and Pam get married at Schrute farms.

Ohmygod.

Andy and Oscar. Brad Pitt.

Haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Ed Helms kills it.

Pure awesome.

"How long have you known about the pregnancy? A week? A month? A year?"

Creed killed it as well.

The fact that Kevin was so worried that people might actually believe there is a smaller person inside of him moving him with controls is STILL kind of killing me. Also, Jim's advice to Andy on how to decide if he's gay.

"i'm julia stiles"

"i'm alan thicke"

It was so obviously telegraphed, but Andy falling through the top of the refrigerator box still killed me.

And the interplay between Jim and Pam when Jim was talking about it not being a shotgun wedding is one of the most charming things this show has ever done. Pam's "Keep it up" at the end was just perfect.

Really? I found that scene...gross. Gross and unfunny.

Thankfully, the episode improved and towards the end actually succeeded in making me laugh. That's an improvement over most of the episodes from season 5.

I love that Michael's damage-control plan came this close to actually working.

"What up, Cynthia?"

Did everyone get a rumor? I don't recall any for Angela or Kelly.

Kelly had the eating disorder. Angela had one too but I can't remember it.

Hahahahaha. Wait, what?

The Toby/virgin thing was great. And it's almost just a throwaway line, too.

"I bet you like tea as much as you like men's butts."

Good times. Fun episode, glad to have it back.

And, yeah. Shotgun wedding talking heads gross? The fuck? Funny and cute was my reaction...

Gross and unfunny? You sir are a fool.

Nice opening, it's like it was never gone. PARKOUR! was great. Exactly the type of thing a bunch of bored middle-aged dudes would do when they see a cool trend, no matter what year it's from.

Loved Toby's addressing the virgin rumor by pointing out that he has a daughter, and Kevin's rumor of having a smaller person inside of him working him by controls. The one person in the office I could believe that about is Kevin.

Angela kills me - she's just so frosty and judgemental, it's hilarious! "You know, a child conceived out of wedlock is still a bastard, even if the parents do get married." I was in tears!

That was one of the most laugh-out-loud episodes in a while. Loved every second.

I liked bringing the interns in for that episode because it's always fun to see how a sane outsider reacts in such an insane environment.

Pam and Jim are just way too cutesy for me, especially in the fake interviews (which I kinda hate anyway...they've long worn out their welcome). It's like the couple at work that can't stop holding hands and giving each other looks and telling everybody else all their exciting plans for the weekend. Go fuck yourself.

I find the other characters funny, but they're falling into a particular model and its frankly pretty boring. Michael innocently does something terrible in trying to make up for his mistakes. Dwight makes a farm-boy joke. Andy does his Cornell shtick. And repeat.

Glad it works for you guys, but the series peaked with season 3. I think there's a reason why the British version ended early. I think the shows funniest when it mixes things up a bit, like when Jim left the branch, or when Ryan became the CEO, or when Michael actually has a shot at romance (which of course they smartly yanked away from him, because nobody wants to watch two smarmy people in love on a comedy show: ie, Jim and Pam).

Oh...and Parkour jokes? I mean...I know they tried to cover this by making fun of the characters coming into the trend too late...but this is the end of 2009 folks. Parkour jokes? Really? This show used to be fresh.

I've always found this objection to Pam and Jim a little odd, as I just don't see it. They rarely touch one another at work, tend to avoid sharing details about their life outside of work with their coworkers (with good, good Michael Scott-based reason, I think), and tend to be working when we see them, not mooning over one another. In fact, I was a little annoyed last season by how infrequently they interacted. I mean, I didn't want them making out in the supply cabinet or anything, but it's worth noting that they interacted and flirted a lot more when they weren't together.

Its boring. It's just boring. Actually, if they touched each other more that would be interesting. Anything would be interesting then seeing them constantly happy and in love. I'm happy for the characters. I was glad that they ended the "would they/won't they drama." I'm glad they got together and thought that was a great end to their story. But it was an end. Everything since then has felt forced (Pam goes to art school? Jim and Pam get into a fight about Pam's dad?). There's no conflict so there's no drama with those characters. So everything they say/do are glib reminders that they're the "perfect" characters.

I will say I liked the "sacrifice" they made this week in terms of the baby news. But the whole 'shotgun wedding' joke wasn't funny or charming to me. Just overly cutesy and glib. No thanks.

Okay, Eeyore.

Well, after that thought out and reasoned response, I've turned around and can totally see why people LOVE Jim and Pam.

Sean, why do you even bother? I disagreed with Zooey. She made her case and I made mine. We might not like each others argument, but she had one, and a good one. You come back with Pooh jokes. Are you writing for the Office now?

Fwiw, I do see what you're saying, Parker. I just don't agree. I think we can live with that, right?

However, I did giggle at your being called Eeyore.

Forgive me.

I think it's refreshing to see a romantic couple who DON'T have some kind of relationship drama every damn week. Friends fucking milked Ross and Rachel for eight damn years and threw out every contrived situation imaginable to keep them apart to the point where I just didn't give a damn when they finally ended up together. Jim and Pam are together. Move on.

Yeah, great opening. One of the interns kinda looks like Matt DAmon.

I don't care if it's lame or three years too late, Dwight and Andy tripping over furniture while yelling "Parkour!" is really funny.

I think the only reason Jim and Pam seem perfect is because everyone else in the office is so crazy. As the only beacon of normalcy in the office, I think they do a pretty good job of NOT being annoying or overbearing in their normalcy.

"If I can't go scuba diving, then what has all this been for?"

The crazy eyes sell it. God, I love Creed.

Are these the first baby steps to the long awaited Andy/Oscar romance?

Forgiven! I actually like Eeyore, so I kinda take it as a compliment. I'll take Eeyore over Pooh, Tiger, Roo, Piglet and Rabbit any ole' day.

And like I said earlier, to each their own. I recognize I'm in the minority here, and while nothing I'm saying is really all that revolutionary, I'd rather have it be discussed in a thread about the Office to break-up the constant show fellatio.

Confession 1. I was once given a stuffed Eeyore toy. When you squeeze his bottom half, he makes a sighing/wheezing noise. It was given to me by a close friend in high school. She was also my prom date. I still have this Eeyore.

Confession 2. I was half in the bag when I got bitchy at Sean. And I'm fully in the bag now. Sorry, Sean!

Dwight riding Andy in the hallway yelling "Parkour!" and Andy's subsequent Looney Tunes accident was among the funniest, if a bit broad, sequences in the whole series.

And I really can't stress enough how pleased I am with the way the Jim/Pam relationship is handled.

Just re-watched, and it was the first fake rumor: "Dating an 81-year-old billionaire who owns a Quizno's on the turnpike." I need to pay better attention.

Also: "I've seen that movie a half-a-dozen times and I still don't know who Spartacus is."

Some funny bits for sure, but I still find Michael so unlikeable that it kills me that he ruined someone's life (technically Stanley did it to himself, but Michael pushed it into high speed) and people just go "That's Michael!" I don't care that he's an idiot and thus doesn't know what he's doing. He's still still a major fuck-up with very few redeeming qualities.

And the Jim and Pam stuff was simultaneously funny and sweet. Their rapport is amazing.

I see we're still exactly on the same page when it comes to this show. Hahahah. Gahr, I hate Michael and dig most everything else so much!

Poor, poor Andy. "Michael...am I gay?" It was all in the delivery. I love the heck out of Ed Helms.

And I don't know why, but I loved the short scene when Michael confronted Jim & Pam in his office after finding out they were pregnant. When Pam says, "You're right---you ARE a major part of this," I laughed out loud. She gets away with being snide & sarcastic to Michael's face more often than any other character.

It was nice when Stanley realized that Michael had concocted this elaborate plan to cover up the affair rumor he'd started, Stanley actually had a bemused look of respect towards Michael. Then they had Michael step in it, make Jim and Pam save the day so that Michael can't even have that victory. So as far as that goes, I agree with you.

Indeed...interested to see where this goes.

Didnt they do the thing where Jim was in charge for an episode or two already and he realized nobody respected him as an authority figure? I dont remember any specifics so its entirely possible Im making this up completely but I could swear this mini arc was covered maybe the season before last or so.

The best thing about that was when he started hating Toby for no reason.

Laughed more during the opening bit with Oscar than at tonight's SNL Update, Parks & Recreation, and Community combined.

I dont think it was a lack of respect towards him, it was more of him getting frustrated trying to make everyone happy, be relatively popular, yet still lay down the law and make things more effecient.

God I hate Michael. Loved everything with Dwight and Toby. And I could have sworn Darryl's sister was played by Tracy Morgan.

Tonight's ep was great. The cold open was great, loved the Dwght, Toby, Darryl b-story and I'm really interested to see where the co-manager thing takes us.

The Office is definitely off to a good start this year. Nice to know the writers have still got some "office"-centric plot threads up their sleeves, unlike last year's never-ending Angela/Andy/Dwight triangle.

Last night's episode was more "awkward & uncomfortable" than laugh-out-loud funny. Jim really had the hangdog face going on for the entire last half, and I found myself feeling sorrier for him than I have since he was pining for Pam. Is anybody else curious as to whether Jim really had another job offer elsewhere, or was he claiming that as leverage?

The Toby/Dwight/Darryl subplot was hilarious; nice to see that Toby ends up being the butt-monkey of the ENTIRE office, not just of Michael.

The cold open and Dwight's incredulous reaction when asked how he could confuse Darryl and his sister were the highlights. Toby also killed with the barely audible "That's a terrible Darryl" in response to Dwight's "impersonation".

Also Pam's "Please don't talk about my breast milk."

I also really really enjoyed Andy's presentation of the faux "cheese tray." Coupled with Michael's bizarre entrance/exit from said cheese tray. Cheap, maybe, but it made me laugh. Ed Helms=my hero.