The Office season 7 thread (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Hewell]

She probably figured if it was okay for Kelly to change her costume then she could too.

They sure didn't explain well how Angela morphed from her penguin costume into the sexy nurse...but that's okay!

 

[Brent M]

Originally Posted by joshEH


If the entire show becomes retooled around Olyphant (to whatever extent) and Robinson, I'd be really happy.

Me too. However, I think Olyphant will probably be too busy with Justified to be a full time cast member of The Office.

 

[joshEH]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking, too. At least he seems to be poised to come back occasionally as a future recurring character, à la Todd Packer (though hopefully with slightly more frequency).

 

[joshEH]

I was afraid it was going to turn into yet another episode where Michael feels slighted and ruins everyone else's fun, but thankfully, they went in a different direction.
And I loved Toby's pitiful plea in front of the stained-glass window. It would've been so great if this was Carell's last episode. But what ended up happening just makes too much sense. I honestly thought he'd get caught up in the whole church-bus scene for the rest of the episode, and we'd see some sort of illegal-immigration bit for the kicker, where he has to deal with a "coyote" in Mexico...or have him trying to mail himself back to Scranton.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by joshEH


And I loved Toby's pitiful plea in front of the stained-glass window.

That particular moment struck me as very sad.


I need to watch this episode again via my DVR. I watched the episode on a TV in a hospital ER...and was being constantly interrupted. It was hard to keep up with it. You can imagine how hard it was to keep up with 30 Rock. THAT show flies.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I always re-watch 30 Rock on Hulu. That way I can catch all the goodness that flies by at light speed.

 

[joshEH]

I hate Gabe, but I love his soundscapes. Discuss.

(Also, Kelly bitches about Glee's sloppiness, while being obsessed with it at the same time. Of course.)

 

[Jim_C]

You won't find a bigger fan of the show but I have to say that I'm beginning to think it should end after this season. I feel like I've seen this episode about 3 times now. Some funny moments but overall it was a so-so episode. I thought last week's was the same; the Toby and Dwight portions were fantastic but overall it was predictable. I do like that they've turned Angela into a closet nymph.


The soundscapes were funny, but I've also seen that before. Ross on Friends did practically the same thing.

 

[joshEH]

This entire episode would have played better if Michael's outburst had to do with his dislike for Gabe, instead of his dislike of simply not being the usual center of attention.
Gabe, taking away the remote, and changing the volume, and telling Michael how to make a pizza, and not letting Michael get his way, frankly could have been anyone from the cast. Yeah, we're told that Michael just doesn't like Gabe, but nothing about the episode's plot has anything to do with Michael disliking Gabe, any more than it has to do with Michael being a giant baby.

It's a shame, because his moment with Erin at the end could have been wonderful, if the episode preceding it had actually and genuinely built on Michael's disdain for Gabe. But Gabe isn't a particularly real character, and the writing doesn't do enough to foster the idea that Michael dislikes Gabe for Gabe, rather than for the more generic reason that Gabe's presence takes the spotlight off of Michael. The shit of it is that Gabe actually is a whiny, irritating twerp of a man, so making us believe that Michael really just hates him because of who he is rather than what he represents wouldn't be all that terribly difficult.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I liked that they had a good "Glee" show to watch.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I wonder how difficult it was for the show's producers to get NBC to go along with having an entire episode built around their characters watching a program that airs on another network?


Couldn't have been too easy, I wouldn't think. And to show images from the show, too!

 

[joshEH]

For a split second, I actually thought, "Wait, is Erin actually Michael's daughter!? It makes so much sens -- oh..."
I fear that the attitude right now is basically, "Lets replace Wacky Michael with an even CRAZIER manager!!" He should leave and let the characters we still actually like pull together and attempt to make the show work on its past strengths. Jim was already co-manager, so why isn't he filling the void again? This is my problem with the show. They make it look like a character will go off in a totally new direction, but then things always go right back to normal -- Dwight might start dating Pam's sister, Michael and Jim as co-mangers, Ryan's promotion, etc. I still think they could have done more with the "co-mangers" story line. Jim starting to act like Michael, and seeing things from his point of view, would have been great material. Instead, they just did a couple of episodes with it. With Steve Carell leaving the show, it would be perfect to have Jim complete the evolution, and become the boss.

 

[WillG]

I wonder how difficult it was for the show's producers to get NBC to go along with having an entire episode built around their characters watching a program that airs on another network?

They kind of did it before in Seinfeld with "Melrose Place" They didn't show actual clips but did discuss real plotlines.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

And Kramer (NBC) ended up as one of Murphy Brown's (CBS) rotating stable of secretaries.

 

[TravisR]

My knowledge of social networking sites is, at best, limited but Wuphf.com actually seems like a good idea and I'm surprised something like it doesn't already exist.

 

[Derek Miner]

Originally Posted by joshEH

With Steve Carell leaving the show, it would be perfect to have Jim complete the evolution, and become the boss.

I think, if anything, the original subtext is that Jim's evolution is to finally get out of Dunder-Mifflin. But the time to pull the trigger on that POV was three years ago, so I suppose anything goes now.

 

[Bryan^H]

Originally Posted by joshEH

For a split second, I actually thought, "Wait, is Erin actually Michael's daughter!? It makes so much sens -- oh..."

It's hard to say this, but Erin is the only reason I'm watching The Office. The scene between her and Michael was awesome. She is such a sweet clueless girl, and it's obvious that she looks to Michael as a father figure. All other characters on the show have become bland. Pam, and Jim are now the most annoying characters on the show. Hard to believe they were the glue for the first 4 seasons.

Certainly not "must see" tv anymore, but I might as well stay with it through this season anyway.

 

[Derek Miner]

What show was I watching tonight? Did the writing staff of The Office trade jobs with the writers of Outsourced or something? Too many standard sitcom shenanigans, taking these characters further down the road of being robotic buffoons with two dimensional quirks.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I was actually thinking the cold open was a return to past form for the show (Dwight doing something inane and Jim egging him on and pushing him to take his actions to funny results).


Granted, hot coffee in the crotch is pretty standard sitcom fare. But it's how they got there that I thought was amusing. Phyllis' attention to the developments out of the corner of her eye really added to the moment.

 

[joshEH]

Sad to say, this show has pretty much just become background noise for me. I don't feel any investment in it all anymore. Coming on the heels of Community and 30 Rock, which have both been on fire lately, this show is kind of an afterthought these days.
If it's this bad now with him, how can NBC bring it back once Carell leaves?