Man, oh man. Just a couple more days, and The Office returns.

The writers strike only lasted 100 days. The far more significant and devastating Unannounced Mid-Season Office Hiatus lasted half again as long.

But in two days, we’ll all be gathered around the table for “Dinner Party”, a breaking of bread with old friends and awkward acquaintances. Here’s the episode summary from NBC…

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER—Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) find they have run out of excuses and are forced to go to Jan (Melora Hardin) and Michael’s (Steve Carell) house for dinner. When Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) are also invited to dinner, Dwight’s (Rainn Wilson) jealousy gets the best of him.

Oh the possibilities. I’ve said it before, but every time I think they can’t come up with an enticing and plausible scenario for an episode, they do. Dinner at a co-worker’s is eventually part and parcel to any job, and awkwardness isn’t always out of the question.

I don’t mind spoilers, but I don’t watch clips before an episode airs. If you’re so inclined, though, have at it, courtesy of NBC.

Jenna Fischer made an appearance in the OfficeTally Chat Room Sunday night. That tanster so has the goods when it comes to The Office. I was in there waiting along with a huge group of fans. But I got impatient and logged out. When I came back, I was locked out, probably by the hordes of fellow dimwits like myself who didn’t arrive early and wait it out.

The next best opportunity comes Thursday after the episode when Greg Daniels and the writers live blog for the fans.

I won’t steal tanster’s thunder, but here’s a couple tidbits from Jenna’s conversation that I found enlightening. Read the entire transcript here.

On the funniest episode from a behind-the-scenes standpoint (Kudos to GMMR’s Kath for a great question), Jenna said…

The new episodes are SO GREAT! Well, I loved doing Dinner Party. That is the one that runs this week…It is fun when we go on location. People hang out on the set more and we joke around more it seems…John, Melora and I have a scene in Dinner Party that we could not get through. We were laughing SO HARD. She creeps up on us in a hallway and every time she said her line we lost it.

Asked about the so-called “curveball” of a plot twist Fischer hinted at on the Leatherheads red carpet…

“Well … as far as the curveball remark…I was originally told that they weren’t going to do much with Jim and Pam because of the small amount of time. I guess they had a big arc planned but didn’t have time to do everything with the shortened season. But then, at our second table read there was this thing that happened and I thought, “Well, so much for not doing much with Jim and Pam”. But that’s all I think I’m allowed to say.”

And about the one-hour finale next month (italics and bold added by me for dramatic effect)…

Yes … I believe there is a nice cliffhanger. But, who knows. Seriously, things change daily. In one of the episodes you learn something about Pam that no one knew before. It’s a cool little fun fact about her. Makes for a fun episode…Someone leaves Dunder Mifflin at the end of the season. A series regular. I think that is still the plan.

Yikes! That’s big-time scoop! Speaking of which, the cover of the next issue of TV Guide is dripping with just that. I don’t know why Fischer, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson look so waxy, though. The fine print reads: Office Secrets revealed! Will Jim propose? Will Pam accept? Will Dwight finally crack? All the latest dish from Dunder Mifflin

Want more? This is from Entertainment Weekly. I’d hyperlink it, but I don’t know how to do that with a magazine that’s next to my bed. Here’s the next best thing.

“The Office finally returns after a too-long hiatus this week and star Jenna Fischer promised major plot developments when EW caught up with her at the March 31 LA premiere of costar John Krasinski’s Leatherheads. “You don’t want to miss the second episode back,” she hints. “Big stuff happens for Jim and Pam.” Also ahead for American’s favorite paper pushers: Pam will set Michael up on a date—perhaps Bob Vance has a spinster sister?—and on May 1, ” You find out something new and big about Pam that you have never known.”

There’s something like 1,243 videos over at NBC.com that feature Fischer and Angela Kinsey on a road trip to New York. They’re all identically charming and funny. This one below is similarly charming but a bit more substantive. The time delay suggests the interviewer is on another continent.

A little more spoilerishness? Okey doke. That’s Kristin dos Santos’s specialty over at E!Online.

Nina in Cape Cod, Mass.: On The Office, I can’t wait to see Michael and Dwight go clubbing with Ryan!
You’re not alone. And by the way, I’m hearing they might be accompanied by one of Ryan’s corporate coworkers, and the character has much hilarious potential. I guess he is in his 20s, supershort and a serious party boy.

And about that Office spin-0ff I told you about the other day. Seems Greg Daniels and Ben Silverman, NBC’s entertainment boss, had lots more to say about it than I realized. This is from iF Magazine.

“We are keeping a tight lid on that,” says Silverman. “All THE OFFICE scripts are watermarked. We are keeping all the information quiet. There’s clearly a huge ensemble on THE OFFICE now, and part of the reason we are able to do the hour-long [versions], is we have so many characters.”

That combination means the new spin-off will “likely be some combination” of the existing cast, but confirms that executive producer/American creator Greg Daniels will be the “driving the creative decision on the show.”
That said, Silverman also confirms, if the spin-off doesn’t hold up to the original, the show will not hit the air either.
“One conversation we’ve had endlessly [with Daniels], we will not go forward and put it on the air unless it’s exactly what we want it to be and doesn’t damage the mothership,” says Silverman. “We will only bring it to market if it’s ready to market if it’s as good as the original.”

Just glancing at the episode titles and summaries for the next four weeks (all that have been released by NBC so far), I noticed “Parking” (4/17) is not “The Chair Model”, an allusion to a certain female for whom Michael apparently develops an unhealthy obsession.

Then, following “Night Out” (4/24), the next episode will be the atypically titled “Did I Stutter?” I wasn’t going to post the summary so soon, but I just read it and can’t keep it to myself.

TAKING ON THE BOSS—When Stanley (Leslie David Baker) snaps at Michael (Steve Carell) during a meeting, Michael tries to give Stanley an attitude adjustment. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) decides to buy Andy’s (Ed Helms) car. Meanwhile, Pam (Jenna Fischer) deals with an unexpected inconvenience after spending the night at Jim’s (John Krasinski).

As wiser speculators than I have noted, that confirms Pam and Jim aren’t co-habitating full-time yet. And for my part I’d add that Dwight trading the Trans Am for Andy’s X-Earth is a major shake-up for him. I do not, however, expect that Stanley’s attitude will be adjusted one bit.

Photos: NBC Universal