The Office season 5 - Page 3

Re: The Office season 5

For everyone's info, my local digital station carried the show in widescreen.

This last episode made me laugh out loud - Michael's "auction voice" was so ridiculous, but he was so earnest in its execution. I also liked Roy's appearance... maybe because I associate him with some pretty classic episodes. He seems to be the same ol' Roy...

Dwight is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters... I think the attempts to humanize him have been pretty successful. Although Rainn Wilson has been accused of one-note performances, I think he's stretching that one note for all it's worth lately.

It's nice to see Michael in such a sweet relationship, but after the last line of the episode, it's probably going to end badly.

So far, this season is going pretty well. I just wish they'd lay off all the romances... it's getting pretty cluttered.

Re: The Office season 5

"Did Darryl touch you?"

"What?"

Re: The Office season 5

The most telling line for me was: Michael's "I'm not strong enough! I'll end up going back to Jan! And I hate Jan!"

Everybody was suprised that Amy Ryan wanted to work on "The Office" after her standout work on the critical hit and dramatic epic "The Wire", but she's honestly the best new character the show's had, I feel. I thought she nailed the breakdown when "Life is a Highway" came on the second or third time.

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Isn't she literally the only new character that the show has had? I'm probably misremembering but it feels like everyone else has been there from the beginning.

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Andy was introduced when the branches merged.

Re: The Office season 5

Loved Creed's joker. He nailed it. Made Kevin and Dwights costumes hilarious in comparison.

Re: The Office season 5

Yeah, but Dwight had the voice of the Joker down.

Re: The Office season 5

Amy Ryan's also really shown her strong acting ability, IMO, through this. Holly seems like the perfect match for Michael in his goofiness and Amy pulls it off so well. I haven't watched The Wire so the only other thing I saw her in was Gone, Baby, Gone in which I think she stole the show. That the same actress could make my wife and I think that she was just being natural instead of acting when playing that trailer trash character and the Holly character really shows her abilities.

It is definitely sad that her episode arc on the Office is coming to an end.

Re: The Office season 5

She was a good character (piss poor HR rep though). However, I would love to see Toby return to Scranton. Michael and Toby's interactions are usually great. Does anyone know what the deal with the actor who plays him is. Was his character written out because he was leaving the show?

Re: The Office season 5

He's a writer for the show so he never actually left, just moved behind the camera. My guess is that he left to make room for Amy Ryan's character. I would be surprised to see him back soon.

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^ I don't think Paul Lieberstein has been credited as a producer since the first episode (which also featured Toby). My guess is that he moved to the spinoff series but I could be totally wrong.

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It's true that Lieberstein, who was always primarily a writer, is still on the show. (as a writer)

There isn't an office spin-off anymore, that eventually turned into Amy Poehler's new sit-com.

Re: The Office season 5

If you watch the deleted scenes at NBC.com, you'll notice they've tried to work in a couple voice cameos from Toby...

Re: The Office season 5

Did anyone catch what had to be the inspiration for Ryan's costume? It had to be intentional. Everything is right; colors, patterns, and even the type and placement of the tie tack. Even the coffee mug! As soon as I saw Ryan I said "He's Bill Lumbergh!!" to my wife.

Re: The Office season 5

He was supposed to be Gordon Gekko. He told Kelly that. Gekko is a better fit for Ryan.

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I know, but there is an uncanny resemblance to Lumbergh down to the colors, patterns and coffee mug. Wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional.

Re: The Office season 5

I thought that was the weakest episode of the season so far. The only part I really enjoyed was the opening with all the Halloween costumes(and yes, Creed's Joker was awesome).

Pam: "If I take the hat off, then I'm Hitler".

Re: The Office season 5

Agreed. Dwight trying to be Jim (tweaking Andy about Cornell) was out of character for him, and the scene with Michael and Daryl "singing the blues" at the end made me cringe.

I admit I did chuckle with the Andy bit about "Bernard Beet Farms" and Dwight's Joker with glasses on.

Re: The Office season 5

i liked the episode. Daryl calling whoever on the cel when Michael was pleading to Holly was hilarious.

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I liked Pam's excitement over getting a good "That's what she said" line.

I may be going to hell but I laughed out loud at "You can't say 'I was raped' and expect all your problems to go away."

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I laughed even harder at "You've got to stop saying that."

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Agreed with regards to the rape comment, but like above, Pam's excitement over that's what she said was my favorite part of the episode.

Re: The Office season 5

Best line belonged to Darryl. "He's not engaged. I was there. I haven't been big on therapy, but I'll go into my own pocket for his copay."

I loved the practice sales call between Dwight and Jim, moderated by Michael. I loved how worked up Dwight got, and then when he handed the phone over to Michael and Jim said he'd like to buy $1,000,000 worth of paper products, Dwight pumped his fist like they'd made an actual sale. And I loved Michael covering the phone mouthpiece to talk to Dwight in private about it.

And Pam's "That's what she said! That's what she said!" was great too. :-)

The sly grin on Angela's face when Andy was working a deal with Dwight to hold their wedding at Schrute Farms was priceless. And was one of the sample wedding photos that Dwight showed taken in a graveyard? Poor Andy thinks he got a good deal.

How long before you can order a personalized mug from Kelly's party with your face on it from nbc.com?

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And Michael's phone call to tell his mother he was getting married. "Mom, how come you never believe me when I'm getting married?" "Are you getting married." [Pause] "No."

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i don't know how the writers are going to handle Andy and Angela's wedding. if it had been earlier in the series, i'd have had no problem with Angela stabbing Andy in the back. but since then, Andy has kind of become endearing and less annoying. it'll be sad if/when he gets his heart broken.

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The scene with Jim and Dwight's "phone call" was just as funny as when Jim moved Dwight's desk into the bathroom and called him.

I agree that Pam's enjoyment over getting a TWSS line was adorable. Oh Jenna Fischer, why must you do that to me?

I'm glad that the writers didn't turn the scene between Pam and What's his name from Mad Men into a revealing of feelings that I was afraid it was going to be. Smart writers they are.

Re: The Office season 5

Still annoyed by all the relationship drama. There's just TOO MUCH right now. And Pam / Jim haven't had the sorts of talks that Harry-from-Mad-Men had within such a short time of knowing Pam? Really, writers? They spent years trying to get together, and they still can't communicate about those issues?

My favorite part of the episode was the fake sales call... absolute gold. This is "The Office" at its best.

Last week's episode, with the trip to Holly's new place, was just not very funny, though it had some well-acted dramatic moments. It felt like a forty-minute episode cut to fit time - it just seemed to sort of meander. Dwight and Andy's "being each other" was kind of funny, but way too reminiscient of Dwight and Jim's "switch" from last season. Andy's "beet farmer" at the end of the episode was also funny, but also too zany, too cartoony, for my tastes.

Re: The Office season 5

Yeah, in a past episode Dwight said...

"The Schrutes have their own traditions. We usually marry standing in our own graves. Makes the funerals very romantic. But the weddings are a bleak affair."

Re: The Office season 5

No opinions about this week's episode? (Michael goes to Canada!) I don't know how to feel when the dramatic moments outweigh the moments of comedy. I respect the drama - Michael's breakfast shut-out was kind of heartbreaking, and I liked the Oscar/Andy interaction - but Creed's creepy behavior towards Jim was the only laugh-out-loud moment for me.

It's not that I just want laughs (I really don't), but these out-of-office episodes highlight how "The Office" is starting to be written (and shot) more like a sitcom-without-a-laugh-track than a satire, with emphasis on typical sitcom relationship angst.

Poor Jim and Pam. Poor Andy. Poor Michael. Poor Ryan (but we're supposed to be glad about that one). These sad relationship stories are the center of the series now... rather than using these relationships as accents (good moments) inside more ingenius plots, they ARE the plots. "Will they end up together? Will they be happy together?"

I guess I expect more out of "The Office". The microwave plot next week sounds pretty funny... we'll see.

Re: The Office season 5

That's my big complaint with the show nowadays. Except for a goofy subplot every three or four episodes, the only characters that get airtime are the ones involved in relationships with each other. The glory days of this show are long gone; the realism that made it so much fun for the first two seasons vanished by season 3. It's still worth watching but the way the relationships dominate the show nowadays, it's more like a soap opera with jokes. They've even started to cut down on the talking heads.