Livin' and a workin'...
I will warn you now that this post is dedicated to the season premiere of The Office.
If you have not watched it yet and plan to... do not continue to read.
If you have no plans to ever watch it... you can continue if you want, but you may not be interested in the content here today.
If you have watched it and would like to chime in... please do!
Those of us who watched it know how the season two finale ended. With Jim (John Krasinski) professing his love for Pam (Jenna Fischer), she spurns him, and he then kisses her anyway despite her initial protestations.
It was, by far, one of the best, if not the best, finales we've ever seen. It was natural, it was well-acted, it was beautifully shot... it was televised perfection as far as we were concerned.
And it left us hanging for three friggin' months wondering what the heck was going to happen. Would they explore this possibility? Would she still marry Roy (David Denman)? Would he leave for Connecticut? GAH!
This is what good television writing is all about. It makes you want to tune in again.
Well, last night was our chance to find out what happened. Now, on to the spoilers...
Jim and Pam and Roy
First off, just the shock of seeing Ryan (B.J. Novak) sitting at Jim's desk and announcing that he took his job in the company blew my mind. That was the first ten seconds of the show. My heart dropped down to the level of the pit of my stomach. I knew it wasn't going to be good.
Even more stunning than seeing the continuation of the kiss scene or discovering that Pam got cold feet was seeing Roy in a confessional and learning about his DUI and wanting to win Pam back. He was actually passionate for once on the show and I really felt bad for him and even found myself rooting for him somewhat. As much as I've disliked Roy in the past, he was a good guy in this episode.
Michael and Dwight
I never realized, until last night, how much I hate Michael (Steve Carell). I know he's not necessarily supposed to be likeable. He's just supposed to be goofy and overly chummy. But, last night, he was just an ass. I have trouble believing that anyone can be that flippin' ignorant. How he still has a job is beyond me. He's such a liability to any company that you think they'd have canned him years earlier or seen, based on personal history, that he wouldn't be worth the risk and just never have promoted him in the first place. Is this a testament to Carell's acting, perhaps? I worry because I like Carell so much otherwise and I know I'm going to have his jackass Michael Scott character ingrained in my head forever regardless of his other roles.
But I did kinda dig on Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and how he was playing it up. The scene where he "cries" over losing Jim to Connecticut as well as him contemplating the thought of Angela with another woman? Classic. And, of course, the gay-dar. Can't forget that.
The Rest of the Crew
I seem to find new ways to hate Angela (Angela Kinsey) each episode and this one was no different. I seriously want to smack her.
But I liked how Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) handled the unexpected coming out. He's one of my favorite "other characters" on the show along with Toby (Paul Lieberstein) and I'd like to see some more focus on them. Perhaps it's time to bust out the season two DVDs and watch the summer Web-based shorts that came out featuring the minor characters.
Hey all you Boston Public fans, how cool was it to see Rashida Jones back on TV after nearly half a decade? Yeah, that was her in the Connecticut office with Jim, albeit it with dark hair, complaining about his weird looks.
Overall
It wasn't quite what I expected. My infatuation with the Jim/Pam/Roy triangle was tempered by Michael's over-the-top shenanigans even moreso than usual. But there are some interesting angles that can be pursued this season. Although I am upset they wrote out the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit so easily and quickly. They could've carried that one out a little bit.
Don't you worry, though, we'll continue watching.
Hey, is the original C.S.I. an iTunes downloadable show? I forgot to set the TiVo for it last night and would like to see it. What about Jericho? I may have to look into both.
Funny, I just sent you an email about downloading TV shows you missed. I do believe that CSI can be downloaded cause last year, we missed the much talked about season finale and watched it directly from CBS.com.
I did not see The Office yet but I watch in on again/off again because I prefer to like Steve Carrell, and like you, cannot stand Michael ;).
Posted by: Hilly | Friday, 22 September 2006 at 05:20 PM
I can only hope that the American version is better than the bobbins that was the British version. Ricky Gervais is funny - but he's better in Extras.
Posted by: Bec | Friday, 22 September 2006 at 08:04 PM
I could not stop laughing when Dwight got up to kiss Oscar. Hilarious!
Posted by: nicole | Friday, 22 September 2006 at 09:35 PM
Michael is real. He DOES exist, and he DOES proliferate in middle-management. I don't know why. Peter Principle, I guess. The whole concept flows and jibes nicely with all those Scott Adams books about corporate idiocy.
And I definitely think that what you're experiencing is a testament to Carrell's acting. He's very good. It's interesting the difference between the British series and this one. Ricky Gervais' version of that character was still very dislikable, but it was because he was completely and totally socially inept, not all of the above PLUS an ignorant, bigoted jerk. Part of what made the character work is that they allowed him enough humanity that when you winced at his behavior, you winced FOR him as well as AT him. Somewhere last season they started taking that quality out of Michael's role, and I really don't understand why. For the whole concept to work, we don't need to HATE him.
I'm trying to remember if the Brit version of "Pam/Roy" ever got married, and I can't recall. They did move to America for quite some time, and she was gone to the "Jim" character; out of his life forever, as far as he knew. Then she came back, all tanned and confident, but still with the guy...need to Netflix those again, I guess.
Personally, I LOVE the British version. Both takes are good, for different reasons, but they're definitely not the same.
Posted by: Belinda | Friday, 22 September 2006 at 11:49 PM
Belinda is so right. Michael does exist, I've met him before. And he is unfirable (is that a word?) for some reason. It is so weird.
Posted by: Brandon | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 03:16 AM
Hilly, yeah, CSI is an iTunes show. And they also just added Jericho so I nabbed it. I want to be able to watch it. So I'm good. I'll still watch The Office on a regular basis, but I'm going to have to build up an immunity/tolerance to Michael if they keep him this bad.
Bec, I couldn't get into the Brit version either. If you want to try the US version, go for it. But I wasn't much of a fan of the first US season. Start at #2. You'll still get it.
Nicole, that was good, but so was the scene where he's watching out the blinds and imagining Angela with another woman.
Belinda, I tried watching the British version but could not get into it. From what I've been told, the first season of the US version is a frame-by-frame reshoot of the Brit version and, honestly, I didn't much care for that either. It wasn't until the second season that I started liking it. I attribute that to the idea that they finally started writing original episode scripts. Maybe that's not the case. Oh, and yeah, I don't see the need to hate Michael either. But they seem to be pushing us in that direction. His bigoted ways are just too over the top.
Brandon, yeah, I do know he exists. But, occasionally it makes me feel better to try to convince myself that he doesn't. Makes the working world more tolerable.
Posted by: kapgar | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 06:39 AM
I don't know if you can get CSI or Jericho on iTunes...but if you're desperate enough...there are other avenues you can persue. Come young Jedi, let me show you the darkside of the force (read: torrents).
Posted by: Dustin | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 01:34 PM
I found them both on iTunes. So I don't need to take the Darth Dustin route just yet. Torrents freak me out for some reason. I don't know why. I tried it once, but it didn't work, so I gave up and have never tried them since.
Posted by: kapgar | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 01:46 PM
Torrents, mmmmm. For those non-iTuners among us, they are the stairway to heaven.
Hey, that might make a good song title!
Posted by: SJ | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 02:05 PM
"Stairway to Heaven," huh? Nah, that would never work as a song.
;-)
Posted by: kapgar | Saturday, 23 September 2006 at 03:01 PM
Oh man, I LOVED the season premiere of The Office. I couldn't to find out if Pam would go through with the wedding, and I'm so glad she didn't. I mean, yeah, we want her to be with Jim, but I think it's cool that she called the wedding off and didn't just rebound with Jim. Shows real maturity. That asshole Roy did NOT deserve her.
The whole thing with Michael outing Oscar was so over the top. I thought it was really funny, but TOO much at times. And yeah, Dwight's reaction to Angela possibly being with another woman was classic.
All in all, I think it's going to be a great season.
Posted by: Eve | Sunday, 24 September 2006 at 07:59 PM
I'm also curious what it is going to take to bring Jim back to Scranton. That should be interesting.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 25 September 2006 at 06:37 AM
i'm so upset - the DVR sometimes is unreliable and forgot to record both My Name is Earl and the Office.
so, so tragic...
Posted by: suze | Monday, 25 September 2006 at 09:38 AM
I'd freak if my TiVo kicked off like that. Well, more like I'd shoot it. Time to download from iTunes, eh?
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 25 September 2006 at 11:36 AM