The Office: Season Four (1 Viewer)

New episodes start on Thursday at 9 PM.

SO glad to have the Office back.
I've been keeping myself busy watching random episodes to get my Office fill during the summer.

Can't wait to have Jim, Pam, Michael, Dwight and the rest back

ONE OF THE BEST COMEDIES!

REMEMBER: HOUR LONG episodes, for the first few

My most anticipated season premiere of the fall. Can't wait for another year of the gang from Dunder-Mifflin.

Holy Christ...check out the AICN spoilers for the first four episodes (and The Temp's man-growth).

Josh: great avatar!

I can't wait til tonight. Watched all 3 seasons' DVDs in time for tonight.

I was chuckling through most of the episode, though Andy's bleeding shirt was totally disgusting.

Kevin's indignation over a wasted couple nickname for Pam and Jim was hilarious.

Just so glad that The Office is back. Great episode. Michael hitting Meredith with his car was totally unexpected and set up a hilarious episode.

Great episode! Or two! It was billed as an hour-long episode, but it felt like a two-parter shown back-to-back. Everything was hilarious though.

Kevin's "You have got to be kidding me," in response to Jim and Pam's "we're just friends."

I loved the 5k (that's five kilometers, NOT five thousand miles). Andy running behind Kevin to reduce wind friction. Toby winning, asking Kelly where they were, her saying 5k from the office, and his "You couldn't make it a circle?" Stanley and company stopping for drinks and taking a taxi to the finish line. The "nurse" and the $200 giant check.

Jan's warning to Pam not to touch Michael, whose penis she saw. "I didn't see where it started but I saw where it ended."

MYTH: Three people die every year from rabies. FACT: Four people die every year from rabies.

Michael: I hit someone with my car. So sue me.

Ryan: Was it on company property? Michael: Yes. And it was WITH company property.

I loved that Kelly didn't know the difference between Hinduism and Buddhism.

The Dwigt and Angela dead cat subplot didn't do much for me. :-(

I liked Creed asking Meredith about all the different pain medications she might be on, and Jim's reaction.

Wow, was it possible for Jenna Fischer (from my home town of St. Louis!) to be even more attractive than she was last year? Yup.

But the cats have cliques!

By the way, who checked out their local Target to snarf up some Office goodies from the $1 bins? I picked up a bunch of stuff like notepads, pens, post-its, etc. with the Dunder-Mifflin bunch on them to take into my workplace... Lots of Michael, Dwight and Jim, not enough Pam.
Some lucky people could find some Office mugs there for a buck. Haven't seen these in the two stores I went to.

Didn't think much about the setup, but the run itself was comic gold.

This episode was alright.

Michael was just too much.

Pam wasn't looking so good.

Nice to see Creed get some good screen time.

~T

"Kitty Heaven is a beautiful place, but you can't get there if you've been euthanized!!"

I watched a new episode of the Office last night that few of you saw. It was technically the same episode, but for me, it was bursting with dark, subtle and absurd humor. Last night's season opener kept the broad, breathless comedy stuff at a minimum. It's a matter of preference, I suppose.

Stanley giving up that he's a Catholic was a great bit of biting commentary.

Michael's rambling, surreal speech proclaiming 'God is Dead," that descends into descriptions of animal gods with monkey heads, walrus heads, deer antlers... all because he fears no one will like him. Just amazing.

His eating Fettuccine Alfredo (provided by Dwight of course) without water, possibly the worst possible thing one can possibly do before a run.

Kevin hiding in the back seat of his car as Pam leaves the office.

The the single, brief shot of the bleeding nipples was possibly the most disgusting and hilarious punch line I've seen in a long time.

Pam's admission that she saw Michael 'where it ends, not where it begins' and Jim's TMI expression.

The Dwight/Angela subplot was alright, but the standout was Dwight's opinion that unless an animal provides a useful utility (wool, milk, etc.), then it is essentially worthless. I was horrified at the description of Sprinkles having clawed up the inside of the freezer. Just horrifying and awful, but it's the dark humor that the Office does so well.

The whole premise of last night's episode, and the common foundation for many strong Office episodes, was all about Michael Scott's paralyzing fear of not being liked, and the ways he goes overboard to save the 'reputation' he feels he needs to maintain. Carrel's performance continues to amaze me.

I'm confused. What was it about Stanley admitting his religion that was so biting? -- if in fact he was telling the truth, I wouldn't know.

Anyone know why my text looks different from the text in all the other posts?

Don't quote me but I'd bet that it was counted as two episodes (especially since they're making 30 episodes this year).

One of my favorite lines was Kelly saying that "If there was a god, me and Ryan would still be together." And of course, everything Creed does or says is gold.

"I've been in several cults, both as the leader and a follower. It's more fun being a follower but as a leader you can make more money"

Huh?!? One man's trash is another man's treasure I guess.

Many fans used to the "sweet" humor of the show forget how messed up the writers can be. This double-backed episode was darker than most (perhaps the darkest in this show's history), with some truly twisted moments.

The characters' behavior is getting more and more "out there" as the show continues, but that's a trend that started last season, not last night.

Anyone who thought Dwight's behavior was out of character should recall "Grief Counseling" from last season (and also remember his comments in another episode about "picking the prisoner who would die"). Through it all, he thinks he's doing the right thing, which is what makes it so twisted. I could see how cat lovers would be upset, though... it's disturbing.

Many who love the show mainly for the various "sweet" aspects of the show's relationships probably feel sucker-punched (or hit by a car) during the more twisted or absurd moments of the show.

People have noted that Stanley was too assertive in his comments to Michael after misleading the office about Meredith ... because usually he is so "low-key". But recall last season in "Grief Counseling", when he threw the "grief ball" violently back to Michael - ("I will NOT!") ... He tends to take trivialization of life-and-death matters very seriously. It is completely in character.

The sequence with Michael's "existential crisis" and the animal gods was brilliant (my stomach hurt from laughing), but I though while watching it that "most people will find this too absurd".

Joseph, I, too, would be curious to know why you thought Stanley's comments were "biting commentary". Maybe I missed something...

Wow. Maybe I have a special filter on my tv or something, but I thought she looked great.

Steve Y, I, for one must agree, this was a very dark episode, and for that, the humor really stuck with me. The wife was asking me questions about what happened in the episode, and I kept cracking myself up thinking about it.

Please, more people should think this way! Jenna Fischer's single again and I'd like less competition.

Check out the cover of the latest Entertainment Weekly:
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/covergall...007_957_lg.jpg
I've never thought this before, but on this cover, Jenna looks like Emily Watson to me.