The Office U.S.A.

[Reply #160 on:]

Great, now I don't even need to watch those episodes, since I know what's going to happen.

[Reply #161 on:]

I didn't like him!

[Reply #162 on:]

I'm ok with him, especially if hes slated to take over as CEO.  I do think he is too weird to have on for most of the episode ala Michael.  Even though he will have more airtime than Jo, I think it would be like Gabe airtime.  Not much?

So him moving up goes to my theory that Dwight will be made manager.  Though the article still talked about Cathrine Tate (I think?).  I can't speak for her acting in Dr. Who since I have never seen it, but as for the character she was playing on The Office - terrible.  Would not be able to deal with that.  Would make me stop watching.

[Reply #163 on:]

I think they should get John Hodgman.

[Reply #164 on:]

I recently started watching this and whizzed through all 7 seasons within a few weeks (what a fantastic show! Not quite as good as the original, but still... fantastic).

Anyhoo. I would have loved Jim Carrey to have been the new boss, but not as the fingerlakes guy character -plus it obviously was never going to be him, as good as a career move as it'd probably be for him at the minute.

I would also have loved for it to be have been Ricky Gervais, but again, this was obviously never going to happen.

I was mortified when I heard that Ray Romano was one of the contenders, though, after watching the episode, I wouldn't mind it. I quite liked his character.

Catherine Tate was surprisingly not awful as a one-off guest appearance, but I couldn't deal with her on a weekly basis. She's most famous here in the UK for her sketch show which is dire.

I don't want the job to go to anybody already working in the office as they need some new blood to keep the show fresh -although I suppose the logical thing for them to do from a writing/producing standpoint would be to hire Spader as CEO and then give the manager position to Andy or Dwight.

I'd personally love Will Arnett to take over. I love the guy, but initially thought his character might be too similar to Dwight... but the character actually seemed quite unusual for him, less confident than normal. So yeah, I'm hoping that after Spader is promoted, the managers position goes to Will Arnett or some other character we haven't seen yet.

[Reply #165 on:]

Ahh cyber turnip you stole my thunder! I was going to pst exactly that, how Will Arnett is pretty much the only person who could save that show if he were brought in as manager. Too bad he's busy on the AD project (who am I kidding though I'd rather see him in that than office). It'd be pretty funny though, I saw a lil GOB in him in his interview.

The first episode was meh...Spader is okay, in general I like Andy, but the dyanmic isn't working for me...of course anything is better than Will Ferrel...

[Reply #166 on:]

Yeah, it wasn't a great episode. I can't tell if it felt off because of the new dynamic or just because the script wasn't great.

Either way, I still laughed out loud a few times which is more than I can say about most shows. I liked what I saw of Spader's character.

[Reply #167 on:]

Agree though I was surprised to see:

Show spoiler

Angela was pregnant

. I'm curious how that's gonna work out.

[Reply #168 on:]

I think there's a good chance that it'll be Dwight's.

But then, there's a good chance it won't be.

[Reply #169 on:]

http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/121/1217286p1.html

apparently a Dwight spinoff is in development

[Reply #170 on:]

Oh god, I wonder how this is going to turn out. I have a feeling that it's gonna be really bad...

[Reply #171 on:]

I love Dwight and I'm glad that he's getting a spin-off because it assures more of the character for a while.

But I'm not glad that it's happening now - I want it after the main show ends. Firstly, it'll mean Dwight leaving the show. I'm not convinced that it can survive with both Michael Scott AND Dwight gone. Secondly, I'd say it has more chance of being bad than good. I mean, Schrute farm was always a bit whacky for my liking and an entire series set there could be really... goofy? And not in tune with the old show.

Still, I'll remain cautiously optimistic.

[Reply #172 on:]

So, last night's episode was fantastic. Best episode of the season so far if you ask me and easily up to par with the show when Steve Carell was still on it.

It makes me very sad that the show is on its last legs with regards to ratings because this episode proved that there's still a lot of potential life in it.

[Reply #173 on:]

*  SGB agrees with cyber_turnip's review of last night Office word for word.  

Parks and Rec also had a great episode. I feel like it's really starting to get it's own voice...

[Reply #174 on:]

I caught the Turf War episode on Hulu and enjoyed it thoroughly. I love that Andy managed to grab a huge customer away from Dunder Mifflin. It's both a show of his worthiness and the incompetence of his sort-of-insane former boss.

What's Andy gonna do now? Sell his new Big Red Paper company to Dunder Mifflin for huge sums? That's what I'd do.

[Reply #175 on:]

"Turf War" was one of the better episodes this season, definitely.

I imagine he's just going to convince David Wallace to buy Dunder-Mifflin-Sabre and to give him his old job back, kicking out Robert California and Nellie in the process. It's possible that David Wallace will just be the CEO like he used to be with Andy as regional manager, or it's possible that he'll be CEO and will appoint Andy as the new whatever-job-title-Jan-had with Nellie staying on as regional manager or with a new search committee situation.

I'd still kill for Will Arnett to take over. Or if they insist on giving odd breaks to British talent, why not go for someone better than Catherine Tate? Off the top of my head, why not hire Steve Coogan, David Mitchell or Peter Capaldi? They'd all be excellent. If David Mitchell just played a heightened version of himself like he does in Peep Show then it'd be excellent because he could both be an antagonist and a protagonist at the same time whilst still being friends with everyone in the office - like Michael Scott.

But I digress. I hope this show manages to limp on for a while, yet.

[Reply #176 on:]

I stopped watching when they fired Andy because I think that is the stupidest thing ever. Nellie walks in and takes Andy's job and he's the one who gets fired. I fucking hate Nellie.

[Reply #177 on:]

I think you should keep watching. Andy is putting together some master plan to bring down Robert California. Or he's just winging it and is going to get himself into even bigger trouble. Either way, just because Andy is fired right now doesn't mean he's not still a big part of the show.

And I'm pretty sure everyone hates Nellie. The whole point of her character seems to be being as repulsively awful as possible.

[Reply #178 on:]

The firing of Andy and making Nellie the manager was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. After that I just had it. I'm done for now. I just got so mad and I stopped caring by that point because the show stopped caring. I'll probably watch the finale but that's it.

[Reply #179 on:]

I wouldn't mind the story arc as much if Nellie wasn't such an awful useless character

[Reply #180 on:]

So, last night's episode was fantastic. Best episode of the season so far if you ask me and easily up to par with the show when Steve Carell was still on it.

It makes me very sad that the show is on its last legs with regards to ratings because this episode proved that there's still a lot of potential life in it.

Old post! Not sure which episode you are talking about. However, I will use this as a jumping-off point to talk about this season.

For the most part, the show is exactly what I expected: the same Office-style humor, but without Michael Scott who contributed about 70% of the laughs. If this were a brand new show, I don't know if it would be consistently funny enough for me to watch...but since I am invested in the characters (and it IS still funny at times) I will gladly keep watching.

A couple of episodes have really surprised me--notably the Sabre store episode, which IMO was one of the best ever. I also liked the episode where Andy breaks up with his girlfriend. Erin is the cutest girl on TV--I could watch her making cute faces forever and never get bored.

However! With all of that positivity, I will come back to earth by complaining about the current storyline with Andy getting fired. They have made him way too pathetic. Michael Scott was always pathetic-funny and pathetic-endearing. Andy is just pathetic-embarrassing. It is possible that they will come up with a resolution clever enough for me to change my opinion about this storyline...but so far it just kind of sounds like an unfunny rehash of the Michael Scott Paper Company (best story arc they've ever done, if you ask me).

[Reply #181 on:]

The firing of Andy and making Nellie the manager

...what

I haven't watched this show in...a very long while (pretty much since Michael was booted out, though I did catch a few this season) and I made the right choice. This isn't The Office, it's just a horribly written fan fiction with a lot of the same characters thrown in there engaged in plots not based in reality.

And what I find even more ridiculous is that it was picked up for another season. Shows how crappy NBC's shows are now, or perhaps they got a lot of bobbleheads to sell in the NBC store

[Reply #182 on:]

Let me clarify that: Andy leaves to go find Erin in Florida (it's cute but there isn't much payoff). So while he's gone Nellie happens to just show up on the day he's left and decides, 'well he's not here so I'll just sit in his chair and declare myself the manager and steal this man's job through sheer bullshitery'. And for that one episode everyone is like WTF, but no one does anything. When Andy comes back two episodes later and is like, get the hell out of here you crazy bitch, Robert fires him because he's sexually attracted to Nellie.

And that's when I stopped watching, because the burning hatred for this BEYOND RETARDED premise made me so fucking mad that there was no way I would ever be interested in turning it back on.

[Reply #183 on:]

The proposal episode between Michael and his girlfriend would have made a great series finale. And that is what that episode was in my eyes. The rest of this is just arbitrary spinoff crap like Saved By the Bell: The College Years.

Show spoiler

Why don't shows ever leave on a high note like that anymore? Have some pride, you greedy jackasses.

[Reply #184 on:]

Did you just really call out NBC for having shitty shows now? Community, Parks And Recreation, and The Office are still funnier than any other network television shows currently going on.

[Reply #185 on:]

Sorry, ABC Wednesday night beats any of those shows. Suburgatory, Modern Family, Happy Endings, and my new favorite The B in Apt. 23 are all entertaining to watch. I never fancied Community or Parks & Rec; seemed like knockoffs of original The Office in different settings. The Office as it is now though stands to be amongst one of the worst shows I have seen recently on television. And it used to be among my favorite.

Did it need to be renewed for another season? Heck no. It needed to be killed just like Scrubs: The New Class or whatever the heck that last season was without the main characters. NBC is either very greedy, narcissitic, or really has no other shows in the works (or rather, I think it is all three considering they focus on a show that works to inflate their massive ego - 30 Rock).

Wasn't Whitney on NBC too? Ok I take it back. That was the worst show I had seen on television this past year. But Office is closely behind. When I watch it - I don't laugh. It's something on TV that I have no interest in and it becomes background noise. That is not a good thing.

So yeah, my point being, NBC needs to get their act together if they wanna sustain a captive audience.

[Reply #186 on:]

I can understand the comparison between Parks And Recreation and The Office, obviously...they're meant to be similar. Community, however, is nothing like either of them in any way, shape, or form. It is the most original, consistently hilarious, and smartest comedy on television right now by leaps and bounds. You not being able to get into it certainly doesn't reflect on its quality...just on your taste. Also if you gave Parks And Rec more of a chance you might be surprised...as an ensemble comedy it actually clicks very well and the storylines are clever and have satisfying payoffs, much like early Office. I won't argue with you about current Office...it's become stale and is no where near it's glory years. That said, I wouldn't say it's debilitated to total awfulness just yet. 30 Rock I've never really been able to get into, but from what I've seen it has its moments, and everyone else I know seems to be in love with it.

From what you've said, sounds like you've only watched a couple episodes of each (with new Office I mean of the new season), and not at all actually attempted to follow a multi-episode storyline of any of them (which is where most of them really succeed, emotionally and comedically). I think it's pretty harsh of you to condemn the whole network for sucking when you've barely given its shows a chance, especially when all of its comedies have fanbases that seem to think they're the best thing since sliced bread and all of which have received quite a bit of critical acclaim...which isn't something you can say for any of the ABC shows you mentioned except for Modern Family (which I agree is an excellent show). Just because none of the shows currently happen to be your thing personally doesn't mean that the network is doing anything wrong. They already have quite the captive audience...it just so happens that people who enjoy smart comedies aren't the majority when it comes to television viewership. But that's not surprising at all considering that the majority would clearly rather watch mindless crap like American Idol and Jersey Shore, and their taste in comedy is Two And A Half Men. If The Office is currently NBC's worst comedy, at least it's still miles above shit like that, which means they must be doing something right.

[Reply #187 on:]

I agree about the America Idol like shows, they are damn awful. But I don't think it's really fair to compare one genre of show (comedy) to another (reality tv). I referred to 4 comedies on another network that I rather enjoy (and even Modern Family is a little overhyped to me, I actually like Happy Endings and B in Apt 23 a lot more, but I do enjoy Modern Family in the positive).

I watched probably the first half of The Office this year (half or third), and then I just stopped caring. I missed it one week and I didn't really care, then I just stopped watching altogether. I did catch one episode a few weeks back when nothing was on and I was channel surfing, the one where they go to Spader's mansion like house. And meh, it was okay, but it's not The Office. Like I said, all the same characters were there but in a different reality. And over the last years I have severely grown to dislike Jim and Pam, immensely, which sours it for me when I see their characters whining on screen (like when Jim wanted to go home from the party early but Spader kept making him stick around).

So if I was to compare this last season of Office to any of those ABC shows (even The Middle, which I detested initially as a Malcolm in the Middle knockoff, which is still is), I much rather prefer any of ABC's comedy shows than NBC. They just aren't funny.

I have seen a few episodes of Park and Rec. Or rather, the same episode twice lol (the one with the mun type conference thing). That episode wasn't that bad - it wasn't SPECTACULAR, but I found it entertaining. Perhaps because I am biased towards Amy Poehler...but the other characters weren't that annoying, I could actually tolerate them, not like how characters on The Office have become.

I still have yet to see a good episode of Community. I admit, I have only seen a few, but the ones I saw were just...uninteresting. The characters do not appeal to me and they do not want to make me watch more. I much much rather prefer Parks and Rec to this.

But consider any of these shows pitted against a show as amazing as Arrested Development. They aren't even playing the same ballgame as them. AD is major league and all these are little league. And AD didn't make it, but crap like The Office gets renewed. That to me tells me NBC has no creative talent on their side right now.

And as far as 30 Rock goes, I've seen it, and I don't see the big hype over it is  

[Reply #188 on:]

How is Malcolm in the middle like The middle apart from the setting?

[Reply #189 on:]

You mean how is The Middle like MITM (as MITM came first).

• The title (stupid I know, but first clue)
• The family structure: overbearing Mom, laid back Dad, 3 kids at home (aside from one of them being a girl whereas MITM had all boys. Later on MITM they had another boy, but for this comparison we are talking about classic MITM. They had Francis as well, but he didn't live at home so his plot was rarely relevant to the home plots). And as usual, the oldest child Axel (aka Reese in MITM) is the dumb one.
• The actors: Don't tell me you haven't looked at the youngest boy on The Middle and thought, Wow, he kinda looks like Dewey! As well as the father (tall and lean) and the mother (short and fiesty, and even sporting a similar hairdo).
• The narration style: The only difference here is that it is from the mother's point of view and not the child's.

These are just the similarities I can name right away. I'm sure were I to delve more into it (being that I last watched MITM years ago) there would be more.

[Reply #190 on:]

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/office-creator-greg-daniels-last-season-190900198.html

Hopefully Greg Daniels coming back can make up for last years shit-stain of a season

[Reply #191 on:]

Its hard to believe this show is still on, I haven't seen a new episode in probably 3-4 seasons

[Reply #192 on:]

Man...I can't believe I defended this show last season! It showed some promise, but the last stretch of episodes were awful. Weakest season ending, without a doubt.

With that said, having Greg Daniels back gives me some bit of hope that the show will go out on a not-completely-terrible note.

[Reply #193 on:]

I still think last season was good TV, even if it was the weakest season of the show.

[Reply #194 on:]

You know what?  Not bad.

I'm glad Kelly and Ryan are gone.  I enjoy that Andy is going after Nellie because she is awful.  I like the Jim storyline.  I like Dwight Jr.  Creed wins the award for making me lol though.

I am a bit disappointed with the Angela/Dwight/baby story line.  I hope that they touch on it at least a little more, this wasn't much of a pay off.

[Reply #195 on:]

I didn't realize at the end of last season that Catherine Tate was in the Office. Now that I've seen Doctor Who I know it's her and I was so happy to see her!

                                                                               _{Copyright Donna Noble}

            

[Reply #196 on:]

If there was one moment that made this episode worth watching was Jim's reaction to that phone call. Throughout the entire show I have always been able to count on Jim.

And I agree with Andy, WHAT THE FUCK IS NELLIE STILL DOING HERE?!?!

[Reply #197 on:]

Yeah, right?! It's not like Andy gave her a permanent job, himself, despite not needing to do so at the end of last season or anything!

[Reply #198 on:]

I stopped watching last season after Andy got back from Florida. Excuse me if I didn't care enough to honestly catch up with how the rest of the season. Besides it seems like they're re-tooling this season to make up for the awful season 8.

[Reply #199 on:]

I was complaining about the show's internal logic rather than attacking you; sorry if it came across that way.