Anyone who’s complaining about these hour-long episodes of The Office we’ve been treated to these first four weeks of the season really needs to just shut it.

I know that’s harsh, but either these people aren’t fans of the show or they’ve forgotten what a 131-day summer hiatus feels like. After that, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing.

I’ll admit, the pacing has been slow at times. The conference room scene in “Fun Run” felt padded, for instance. And some of the bizarre sights we’ve been treated to, like Michael driving into a lake because his GPS told him to in “Dunder Mifflin Infinity”, seem like potential cutting-room-floor material from shorter episodes.

But man oh man, it’s just short-sighted and ungrateful to bite the hands that are feeding us all this Office goodness by complaining. (I’m looking at you, TVGuide.com’s Matt Roush.) After this week, we’re back to just a half-hour weekly fix that won’t be broken up by super-sizing even once before the one-hour finale seven long months from now.

Besides, the one thing that 60 minutes of The Office (or 41 or so minutes after my DVR zips through the commercials) gives us is the one thing fans have been hankering for since The Pilot: more Jim and Pam. Last week was a perfect example. Amid the insanity of a pizza delivery guy’s abduction, these two sneaked off and recreated the rooftop scene from “The Client,” replete with a callback to “The Pilot” about mixed berries yogurt.

And that brings me to my next point: If you don’t like seeing Jim and Pam together, you are, in the words of Dwight Schrute to people who don’t watch Battlestar Galactica, an idiot. Claire Zulkey of the LA Times knows what I’m talking about. I’m being harsh again, I know. But I get steamed when I read silliness like that posted by Bruce Fretts at TVGuide.com.

There’s nothing more boring – or less funny – than a happy couple, which is what NBC’s sitcom has created by bringing the long-delayed lovebirds together this season.

Seriously, Bruce, shut it.

I had my fill of angst and disappointment in Season 2 and of melodrama and contrived obstacles in Season 3. It’s time. And the best part is that we get to see Jim and Pam together without the show being about Jim and Pam. They’ve taken a back seat to Michael’s gradual breakdown, Dwight and Angela’s mercy killing-driven separation and Ryan’s meteoric corporate rise (and inevitable downfall).

These are two of the most likable characters on TV. It wasn’t fun to see them miserable anymore. It also wasn’t fun to see them nearly morph into the next Ross and Rachel. It is still fun watching them pull a prank on Dwight, though, which they did with characteristic flair.

The John Henry-against-the-machine showdown between Dwight and the company Web site transcended secondary storyline status when Jim and Pam began instant messaging him under the guise of the newly self-aware DunMiff/Sys. It was like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, only snarkier.

Dwight, scruffy and despondent without his Angela, ultimately defeats the machine, though it’s never acknowledged that he probably blew all his sales leads while the Web site will probably continue to rack up sales.

That’s a nit-pick, though. You don’t get such a classic scene if Jim’s moping, Pam’s weeping and Karen Filippelli’s chewing up scenery. Too bad Steve Carell’s been doing just that quite a bit lately. I didn’t like when he drove into the lake and found it nearly as bad when he took the snotty pizza guy hostage.

The earlier gag worked when Jim realized Michael misread the VIP party invitation for the Web site launch, not realizing it was an online party. And I got it that Michael was projecting his anger at Ryan onto the pizza guy. But don’t hold the kid against his will. You’re committing a felony, and that’s not funny even if the kid had it coming. The writers acknowledged as much by having Jim try to talk Michael out of it and by having Kevin, Oscar and Stanley busily Googling the relevant penal codes.

I can only assume Michael is gearing up for something big. Living with Jan is driving him crazy. Working for Ryan is driving him crazy. He’s doing crazy things on a weekly basis. And from the preview for “Money”, things are going to keep getting crazy. I just wish they wouldn’t sometimes be so stupid.

Thoughts on “Launch Party”

The cold open, in which the staff is engrossed in watching a screensaver box bounce around a screen during Michael’s presentation was not only funny and relatable, but it was also nice to see these people enjoy being together. That really isn’t a classic staple of the show.

The cameras barely left the office at all in this one. That always was a staple of the show—and a good one.

Angela may never be able to go back to being a supporting character. Her grief over her cat and her anger at Dwight is so well conveyed. I loved her early talking head too:

“How do you tell someone it’s over? You send them a notarized letter, right? Well what if the recipient is your notary?”

Phyllis’s research into how to deal with Angela reminded me of Michael’s researching negotiating techniques at Wikipedia. And again, every one of them backfired, particularly when Angela explained to Phyllis what a spoon is. Phyllis had it coming after her nasty comment to Pam last week, though. So, double jeopardy.

Ed Helms has come into his own as a character. He buddies up perfectly with multiple characters, notably as Dwight’s man-vs.-machine cheerleader this week. His admitting that he can’t ignore Jim’s taunts unless he knows he’s being mocked was great. And his wooing of Angela via speakerphone a capella was easily his best moment since he joined the show a year ago.

Of course, he only tried singing when his best pick-up line failed:

I know this is weird because we work together, and because up until and possibly including now, I’ve repulsed you, but I like you.

He did steal her an ice sculpture, though. Dwight never did that.

When Meredith asked Jim to sign her pelvic cast, John Krasinski’s facial expressions perfectly caught the unease of the moment. The only thing missing from the scene was Pam’s reaction. You know that never would have made it into a 22-minute episode. By the way, did you notice he signed his real name rather than Jim Halpert? Watch it again closely.

Darryl and Kelly are a great potential match, even if I’m tired of all the matching that goes on with this show. Craig Robinson’s delivery when he says “You still missing Ryan? …mmmmm.” was worth the price of admission.

Ryan’s jargon during his talking head interview makes me think his position at Corporate is not nearly as secure as he’d like to believe. And that’s not just because he gets tossed out by an obvious higher-up. What was with the pseudo-office jargon?

“Look, at the end of the day, apples to apples, flying at 30,000 feet, this is a paper company. And I don’t want us to get lost in the weeds or into a beauty contest…convergence. viral marketing. We’re going guerrilla. We’re taking it to the streets, while keeping an eye on the street: Wall Street. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel here. In other words, it is what it is. Buying paper (tap tap) just became fun.”

Michael’s best line:

“The Web site is the brainchild of my brainchild, Ryan. It’s my brain grandchild.”

I also loved his new names for Angela: Pipsqueak and Booster Seat; and the way he said, “If you are not this tall, you may not ride the rollercoaster.”

Dwight was Salesman of the Month 13 of the last 12 months.

Kevin’s right, 7 p.m. is a little late for a lunch party. Or a lanch party.

Michael wore woman’s clothing again. And he asked Jan if he could ask out Carol.

In the breakroom, when Michael invites Jim and Pam to go to New York City and they realize he meant one or the other of them, Pam says, “Tie goes to the girlfriend.” Pretty cool, I thought.

You’d think Kevin would eat anything. But pizza from the wrong Alfredo’s? “It’s like eating a hot circle of garbage.”

1 Comments:

At 10/14/2007 06:58:00 PM, Michelle said…

Yeah, Bruce. Shuuuutt it. Go eat a hot circle of garbage.

Brian, I totally agree with your column, especially the stuff about Jim and Pam. Well done.