Like high tide at Omaha Beach, Chris and Bri break down “Baby Shower,” a solidly built episode, much like a $1,200 stroller.

No, we won’t be singing any wildly inappropriate lullabies, but if things run long one of us may need to take a quick nap on that couch in the back.

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It wasn’t as bad as the plug for the restaurant that won’t be named, but the latest episode of The Office didn’t quite measure up to the season premiere two weeks earlier. Our prescription: Bring back Pam.

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We’re back and so is vintage Office. We break down “Weight Loss,” the Season 5 premiere, and lament the eventual departure of DJ Hollis Flax. Oh, and we’re down 1.3 pounds this week! Take that Nashua!

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By the way, check out the second deleted scene and more after the jump…

It’s been a long time so we talked The Office for a long time.

From Webisodes to Season 5 predictions, Chris and Bri touch base on all things Dunder Mifflin, a mid-summer’s foray we like to call The Office Podcast.

Pay no attention to the troublemakers behind us.

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With title screens and everything!

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Hicks is a great sport, but the message the singer really wanted to spread at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck yesterday was support for Autism Speaks, which held its 10th annual New York Celebrity Golf Challenge and raised $1 million for the cause. He was a very kind and thoughtful interview, whose clips and quotes I’ll post in the near future.

And I can personally vouch for his drive off a tee, but that should be no surprise considering he told me he started golfing when he was 13.

(Photo by Joe Larese/The Journal News)

When it comes to Office finales, it’s the last few minutes that get you every time.

Like a stolen moment, everything you thought you knew slips away and leaves you sitting there, jaw-dropped, ring in hand. Where do you turn next? Well, who’s to say? The summer hiatus is upon us, and that applies to your loyal vodcasters.

Surely we’ll find an excuse to mug for the tiny webcam before September. But we can’t promise one of us won’t already have a ring on our finger by then. (Though it’s safe to say we won’t be venturing next door to the IHOP for any reason.)

Don’t worry, though. If you miss anything, we’ll show you a flashback.

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Will Jim propose? What will Pam say? Will Ryan get fired? Or will he fire Jim first? And what of Dwight and Angela? Where’s Toby going? Is he going at all? If not him, who?

Chris and Brian answer none of those questions. We were up late hitting 1,200 golf balls, and our prognosticating skills are slightly impaired by blisties. We got our vodcast on anyway, because it’s too good an opportunity to miss.

You know, like a trip back to Pam’s old high school or an afternoon alone for two estranged lovers. Who wouldn’t make the most of either situation. Oh yeah. That’s right.

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Just like Jack, stuck in the mire of a lame-eagle administration, we find ourselves in the bleak morass of an early summer hiatus, where the only laughs are of the repeat variety. At least that’s true as far as 30 Rock is concerned.

But Chris and Brian have an all-new episode, even if Liz Lemon is halfway to the Hamptons by now. Nah, she’s the Jersey shore type, no doubt someplace family-friendly, like Long Beach Island, with her Beeper King.

Memo to Dennis, better pack a copy of Gorgasm for those rainy days at the shore.

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It’s time to put down your crossword puzzles and pay attention, because Chris and Bri are adding some zing and some pep to The Office Vodcast. In fact we might even go one better and add even more zing and pep to our recap of “Did I Stutter.”

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In other news, OfficeTally reported earlier that Angela Kinsey gave birth Saturday to a girl, Isabel Ruby Lieberstien.

Ed. note: This mention and apparently others have been taken down from other online outlets, so considered this news unverified.

2nd Ed. note: Now it’s back up again. Go figure.

3rd Ed. note: TVGuide.com is reporting weighed in at 6 lbs., 14 oz. and that Kinsey’s mom, Bertie, and Office cast mate Jenna Fischer were reportedly at the hospital with her. And according to People.com, the baby arrived at 12:50 p.m.

Oh, and tanster continues to post her weekly Q&A’s with The Office writers, this time with Brent Forrester and Justin Spitzer offering insights into “Did I Stutter.”

By the way, the third deleted scene is up, and Ryan is still a loser.

As soon as we finish our sandwiches, we will give you our breakdown on the penultimate 30 Rock of the season. Anything to put off facing the end of new episodes for four long months.

Jack is spiraling down to the dimly lit, eyepatch-clad 12th floor while Liz is spiraling toward boyfriend-less oblivion. So pull up a seat and take that penny out of your ear as we break down “Sandwich Day.”
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Knee-slapping laughter is a good thing, but linger too long on that knee and the awkward tension will be palpable. Before you know it you’re hopping a fence and hopping a flight to Costa Rica.

Why didn’t they hop that fence earlier, though? Or call a cop? Or Bob Vance? Or smash the padlock?

It’s best not to ask too many questions, especially when dancing with hobbits at the sexiest pre-school in New York. But remember sometimes too many trips to the powder room can be a sign of more than just a bladder infection.

These and all thing awkwardly Office-y or on tap when Chris and Bri break down “Night Out.”

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If ever there was an opening for Will Arnett to return to prime time television, Don Geiss’s diabetic coma is it.

Of course that means rooting against Jack Donaghy, just as he’s gotten microwave programming back. The fictional head of GE is on his back and Arnett’s Devon Banks is next in line to the throne after his homely fiance Cathy. And Jack is reeling from being outmaneuvered.

He should take Tracy’s example and find a project to work on. That’s just what Chris and Bri have done with this week’s 30 Rock Vodcast. Enjoy!

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The good news is the Beeper King is back. The bad news is he’s still the Beeper King.

Shutup, dummy. The same old Dennis Duffy is a hero now. And he’s aiming to win back Liz’s heart. The exonerated Dateline predator is the second weirdest guy roaming the halls of 30 Rock. That distinction goes to Buck Bright, aka Dorf, aka Tim Conway.

So pull up a chair for your sandwich girls, ponder the concept of “Tracy Jordan, GOP spokesman” and savor el sabor de soledad as Chris and Brian tackle the Subway Hero.

And yes, we were feeling a little punchy during this one.

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It was classic Office and in so many ways the best choice to launch the new mini-season.

Alas, that wasn’t to be, any more than Michael was to unite with his one true love, the office supply catalogue model he’d never met. There’s never enough parking, especially when someone hogs all the business park spaces. But some people just shouldn’t be made to walk any distance.

Jim, on the other hand, would walk 500 miles for Pam (and he would walk 500 more. Remember that song?!) Question is, when he gets down on one knee, what’s a girl to do?

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Some things just go without saying, like the title of Thursday’s episode of 30 Rock, but abbreviations seem to be OK with network standards and practices at NBC.

Chris and Brian break down “MILF Island” and look ahead to “Subway Hero” and the return of The Beeper King, here in The Remote Access 30 Rock Vodcast.

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It feels like forever, but it’s only been since January.

Good thing NBC held back that last episode of 30 Rock for a couple months so the writers strike didn’t feel as long as it might have.

But it was long enough. Chris Serico and Brian Howard refresh your memory about what went down the last time we checked in with Tina Fey and Co and what’s to come this Thursday and beyond. (Hint: Reality TV is about to get very interesting.)

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It’s been 145 days and two remain until the return of The Office.

Chis Serico and Brian Howard return with their weekly videopodcast about all things Office. We look back into the deep past at the last episode way back in the fall, “The Deposition,” and glance ahead at what the Dunder Mifflin folks have in store.

In response to rumors, we’d like to confirm Chris will not be leaving for a spin-off of The Office Vodcast. We may just have a curveball for you before this is over, though.

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Many viewers, myself included, were amazed by the four young men who were at the core of last year’s season of The Wire.

Duquan “Dukie” Weems, the desperately poor boy whose family takes everything anyone ever gives him to help feed their addictions, was portrayed by Washington, D.C., native Jermaine Crawford. Though the focus of the series shifts from the schools to the media this season, it doesn’t lose sight of the teens and we get to see more of Dukie, Randy, Namond and Michael in this, the fifth and final season. (By the way, if you haven’t watched The Wire before, check out this handy-dandy summary of the first four seasons. Then thee to a video rental store and rent ‘em!)

Myself, I was struck by the hopefulness of Dukie’s character. Even when his supposed friends — and everyone else — is mocking him out for being unwashed or withdrawn, there was still a glimmer of … something. He blossomed under the care of Mr. Pryzbylewski (“Prez”), who quickly came to understand that bringing Dukie’s clothes to his own house to wash them was a better option than collecting clothes and bringing them to Dukie’s house. If he did the latter, all he’d be doing was providing Dukie’s family with a way of feeding their addictions.

Crawford was in New York this week and spoke to Remote Access via cell phone while he was riding a cab.

Turns out his first role was playing a young Michael Jackson in a community theater when he was 7 or 8 years old. The play was written by a local, called “Michael Jackson and the Ghost of Ben,” and was about the King of Pop and his beloved pet rat.

I didn’t have the time to write out a comprehensive “Chuck” blog post this week, so I just did a video wrap-up instead. Enjoy!

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Looking back at last week’s 30 Rock, we still can’t believe they landed Al Gore AND David Schwimmer AND Meredith Vieira AND Tina Fey. Well, OK, they had a leg up on the last one since its her show and all.

Party with your colleagues at your own risk. Ignore global warming at your peril (free-market remedies notwithstanding). But interrupt Schwimmer like Vieira did and he will burn the earth and we’ll need a new one.

Chris and Bri break it down.

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