May 15, 2008
The romantic twists of The Office finales. We're used to it by now. Season 2, it was “the kiss.” Season 3, it was Jim rebuking the New York job in favor of a date with Pam. This season, well, The Office tricked us a little. Pam and Jim were involved, certainly, but the big romantic twists involved a number of other characters. More so than any other Office finale (or random episode, for that matter), tonight's fourth season finale contained tons of significant story developments. It truly was a case of The Office writers setting themselves up for the entirety of season 5. It's hard to believe that so many massive personal events would happen in the span of one day, but this is a comedy. These things can be forgiven.
May 8, 2008
The Office is often a depressing show. The characters have been built up over four seasons to the point where the audience truly cares about them. It is sometimes difficult to watch these people toil away in their dead-end jobs working for an incompetent (if not well-meaning) boss. Then, you kick yourself in the shins and realize it's a show. But, then later you realize that The Office is probably more true to life than any other office setting in television history and that it actually is a little depressing. There are Michael Scotts and Jim Halperts and Pam Beesleys and Dwight Schrutes in the world, only the real ones don't make people laugh; they just go home and get ready to go back to work the next day. Sorry for the Debbie Downer intro here - the first half of tonight's Office episode made me think about these things. That probably wasn't the writers' intentions.
May 6, 2008
Pregnancy rules the day in the world of The Office. Angela Kinsey (who plays Angela on The Office) gave birth to a baby girl on Saturday. Kinsey and her husband Warren Lieberstein welcomed their first child, Isabel Ruby Lieberstein, into the world. Kinsey, 36 years old, continued filming on The Office while pregnant, though her screen time was knowingly reduced (the first time you could kind of tell she was pregnant was during last week's episode). Kinsey is the sister-in-law of Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby on The Office and is also on the writing staff. However, as great of news as this is, there is bigger news in The Office world. It is being reported that by the end of the season, viewers will learn that a character on The Office is pregnant. Who could it be?
May 1, 2008
The Office can be serious. It has to be, sometimes, because its comedy is all borne from these characters. They have to change, and for this change to occur, reality has to kick them in the shins from time to time. The episode tonight was a peculiar one, not particularly in a bad way, but in terms of the story structure. Stanley the Manley is finally given a meaty arc and, let's be honest here, more Stanley is always good. Also, the insubordination of Stanley was a necessary plot point to cover – without it, too much Stanley being Stanley becomes unbelievable. His character is obviously always upset with Michael in some way – it's difficult to fathom that someone as outspoken as Stanle wouldn't loudly mouth off from time to time.
April 24, 2008
The Office doesn't spend much time in the office anymore. Since the beginning if the season, most of the episodes have kept a majority of the action outside the actual office setting, where most of the first three seasons took place. This makes sense – as a series progresses, they have to open up the playing field and give themselves story flexibility. The Office is all about the characters anyway; placing them in the close quarters of the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch is merely a way of forcing disparate personalities to interact. As long as that dynamic stays intact, inside or outside, The Office will succeed. None of the out-of-office endeavors we see involve employees who get along – we're not seeing Jim and Pam's domestic life, we never even really saw Michael and Pam without other Office characters around. Tonight's episode had A and B stories that not only took place outside of The Office, but also occurred in one night.
April 17, 2008
The Office is sharp as ever. One of the trademarks of The Office throughout its run is the out-of-nowhere emotional weight that bubbles up amid constant hilarity. Plot lines often revolve around truly sad moments in the characters' lives, and from this is borne the sometimes “uncomfortable humor” that The Office is known for. Last week's “The Dinner Party” was a perfect example of this. The first remark from every one of my Office-watching friends regarding the episode was along the lines of “Oh my god, that was hard to watch.” And it wasn't a criticism. If a show can make you laugh consistently while you squirm, then it's hitting some kind of nerve. Tonight's Office, “Parking” continues Michael's downward romantic spiral as he searches for a Jan replacement.