There’s no way in the world The Office finale tomorrow night could possibly top last season’s capper. Right?

“Oh yeah, please, Casino Night? Oh my God. That was a huge moment in my life,� admits Stephanie Judge, one of three moderators at the show’s main LiveJournal community, a busy online gathering place for die-hard fans to share Office news and views.

“Oh my God, I am so nervous, so nervous,� says Judge, a 22-year-old Wellesley grad who works in technical support for a Boston finance company. “I have no idea what’s going to happen, and I can’t really stay spoiler-free because I have to approve the posts. But they haven’t really released anything for the episode.�

All she knew as of yesterday was what NBC released in the episode summary. Based on that, though, she suspects Jan is pregnant.

(Part VII in a series. Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV. Part V. Part VI.)

There are dozens of Office-related LJ’s, most focusing on specific aspects of the show: Jim, Pam, Jim & Pam, fan art or fanfic. But theoffice_us, as the community is labeled, is LJ’s original and main catch-all for all things Office.

“So it’s a nice little gathering point for fans where everybody has a voice within the community,� Judge said.

The community is as old as the show, having been founded in March 2005 by a user named Marisa who goes by the screen name futurism. There are two other moderators, or “mods�: spell and thecolorbetween, a.k.a. Farah and Claire, who toil to ensure posts don’t contain objectionable content or unhidden spoilers.

Judge, whose screen name is stepliana, is responsible for posting East and West Coast discussion threads for each episode, so those out West don’t stumble in by accident, as well as a consolidated thread after the West Coast broadcast. A speculation thread goes up the next day where spoilers are permitted.

Those four threads for last week’s episode, “Beach Games”, garnered over 900 comments combined as of this morning.
The community switched to moderated posting fairly recently, and Judge, a frequent visitor already, volunteered to be a moderator. The challenge is to keep things cohesive, friendly and spoiler-free without being heavy-handed.

“This way we make it safer for everybody to read the community,� says Judge.

A self-confessed TV addict, she spends hours each day surfing the Web for information on shows like Friday Night Lights, Lost and others. The upfronts have kept her particularly busy this week reading TV news.

Given her TV passion, it’s no surprise she was one of The Office’s early cheerleaders.

Back in spring 2005, the ratings were low and the show was on few viewers’ radar. Judge saw its potential to be something great but feared it would be canceled before it caught on.

“It’s going to be a huge pop culture thing for years to come,� she said. “And just being able to be a part of that is something that makes me really happy.�

The show’s current season has its naysayers, those who feel the Jim-Pam storyline has been dragged out or gotten off track. Judge is not one of them.

She started the season firmly in Team Pam and loves the development Jenna Fischer’s character has taken since Season 2. She trusts the show’s writers. They’ve created three stellar seasons, she says, and they know what they’re doing. In the end, she’s confident people will be satisfied.

“I’m not going to lie. Season 2 is very near and dear to my heart because I consider it one of the best seasons in television,� Judge said. “But I think Season 3 has held up as well as it can under more fan scrutiny now that (more) people are watching. There’s always going to be more discontent.�

She credits cast members’ accessibility, particularly through their mySpace blogs, as well as iTunes episode downloads with spurring the show’s online following. A prized possession of hers is the yogurt-lid-and-paper-clip medal used in the Season 2 episdode “Office Olympics� that she won in an auction at Angela Kinsey’s blog.

That they would give away props on their blog is just a really cool thing, she said.

“And that makes it much easier and more fun to watch the show, knowing that ‘You know what? I bet after the show, Angela’s going to update her blog, and then we’re going to see some behind-the-scenes stuff from the episode.’ And it’s totally cool,â€? she said.

Judge had seen the original British Office before watching the U.S. pilot. She was hooked by the second episode, “Diversity Day�.

The moment that sold it for her was where Michael made each character wear on their forehead an outward-facing card with the name of a nationality written on it. Then each had to guess that nationality based on stereotypes portrayed by one another. When Dwight managed to turn a silly ethnic stereotype into a sillier sexist comment, the show instantly became her favorite of all time.

She likes that the writers manage to make the show funny throughout. That’s why she’s glad it won’t be an hour-long this fall. The dialogue is quick and snappy; that could suffer if they had to fill 44 minutes instead of 22, she fears. It’s a matter of quality over quantity.

But what about this finale? Can they top “Casino Night�?

“It’s going to be interesting,� Judge said. “I think they’re going to be able to do it. I don’t want there to be a huge Jim-Pam cliffhanger. Because where Season 2 was really all about Jim, Season 3 was definitely been all about Pam. And she had her big speech last episode. So I want something to happen. I don’t even care if it’s ‘Jim, I love you.’ As long as it’s something like ‘Hey Jim, do you want to go get some dinner or something?’ Something like that. She put it out in the open that they’re not friends anymore. I just want to see a rekindling of their friendship.�

Really? You’ll be happy with friendship?

“As long as they’re on their way back to being friends,� she said, “because you really can’t top ‘I’m in love with you.’�

BONUS ROUND

1. Jim or Dwight: Jim. He’s the reason I fell in love with the show. But Dwight as Jim, also pretty good.


2. Jam or Karim: Jam. It’s the heart and soul of the show. We’ve lost it a little bit, but I feel like it’s on its way back. You can count on it.


3. Dwangela or Jachael: Dwangela. They are like the creepiest, most adorable couple on television. She almost let someone drown for him. How awesome is she?


4. Poor Richard’s or Chili’s: Poor Richard’s. That’s where they played the ‘Find the Quarter’ game.


5. Pink the color or Pink the person: Pink the person, just because I really hate the color.


6. Stamford or Scranton: Scranton. It’s all about Scranton. Stamford is like the shiny happy place, but Scranton is that little town that we all know and love.


7. The Conference Room or the Parking Lot of Doom: The conference room. The Parking Lot of Doom, you’ve got some classic moments there like Michael’s bouncy castle, the whole ‘I love you’ speech. But the conference room, it’s so classic. So much has happened there. I mean, Dwight got locked in there for a day once.


8. Season 2 or Season 3: I’m going to say Season 2 just because I can look back on the whole season. Ask me after the season finale. I could change my mind.


9. Beet farmers or volunteer sheriff’s deputies: Beet farmers. They plant their seeds in you.


10. David Brent or Michael Scott: Michael Scott. David Brent, he is the original, he is classic and I love him. But Michael Scott, you can pity him more. David Brent is just ‘Wow, look at you.’


11. Jazz Babies posters in the office or JamaicaJanSunPrincess posters in the warehouse: Jazz Babies. They’re so cute and so creepy. I love the Jazz Babies. Plus Toby got it for Angela, and I love Toby.