The Office (American version)

[Cannonballism]

So the driving into the lake thing was extra funny for me.

In my Systems Engineering class we've been talking and learning about how wonderfully awesome GPS/Directional technology is. I can't wait to bring this up.

[Chelpo]

About PB&J, I think it's very difficult to balance keeping it in the background with making their relationship feel like proper payoff for 3 years of lead-up. I think they're doing a fairly good job so far, considering. Maybe a bit too much Pam and Jim right now (I agree with vcalzone, there's nothing dramatic about two normal, happy people in love), but I'm sure they'll tone it down after the first few episodes. Give them a chance to shine after their 3 years of lead-up, and then let them sink into the background.

I also thought Michael's storyline was a little over the top, but The Office has always had episodes where Michael goes just a bit too far over the crazy line and the writers always get him back on track. Not my favorite moment, but I'm certainly not worried about the direction of the show.

[byron]

"L[spoiler]a[/spoiler]unch Party" = best Season 4 episode so far. Quite a few laugh-out-loud moments.

Again, Michael misdirected his anger at Ryan towards someone/something else. Last week, computers...this week, emo pizza boy. that seemed really long and drawn out, but it wasn't as painful to watch as the gift baskets/driving into the lake from last week.

Also, I thought Jim started at DM before Pam? maybe I'm confused.

A great cold open.

The "which Angelo's" cracked me up, as I have two similarly named pizzeria's nearby. "It's like eating a hot circle of garbage."

the pizza guy stealing Dwight's hemp and thinking it was really bad weed was also quite funny to me.

Maybe it's the AD fan in me, but any time Michael is bleeped...

[Pont]

Completely agree with bryon. Season four thus far is absolutely wonderful in every way imaginable. One quible, that won't be a concern after next week anyway, but the way they're tailoring these hour-longs so that they'll be so easily split up when they go into syndication, is a little distracting. None the less awesome.

[Beamer]

Also, I thought Jim started at DM before Pam? maybe I'm confused.

No, I'm pretty sure Pam was there first. Remember back in "The Secret?" Jim's cover was that he had a crush on Pam when he first started.

One quible, that won't be a concern after next week anyway, but the way they're tailoring these hour-longs so that they'll be so easily split up when they go into syndication, is a little distracting.

That's annoying me too, though luckily it wasn't as obvious with this episode as it was with the first two.

"Launch Party" was, like the rest of this season so far, hilarious, but with a feeling that the show's still somewhat... off. This time mainly due to the storyline with the pizza boy. Even for Michael, that was just plain retarded. I LOVED the cold opening (especially since I've done the exact same thing with a DVD screensaver in situations of sheer boredom) and the story with the computer becoming aware of itself was pure gold. Oh! And the bit with Stanley dancing to the website's music. Stanley's brief out-of-character moments are the best!

Unfortunately, Angela continues to jump the line from "annoying as a character" to "just plain annoying" - I was really hoping Phyllis would actually punch her in the face instead of just throwing paper at her. Though I had to admit, watching Andy sing to her was pretty great, but I still hope she suffers a fate similar to Sprinkles some day. Also, thanks for reminding me that Ryan never made a single sale. Man, he's such a dick!

[Pont]

One quible, that won't be a concern after next week anyway, but the way they're tailoring these hour-longs so that they'll be so easily split up when they go into syndication, is a little distracting.

That's annoying me too, though luckily it wasn't as obvious with this episode as it was with the first two.

I don't know. It seemed more apperant to me in this one. I gurantee when these are split up, the first part will end with Michael's talking head about "Not crying now, I did that on the way home," and start with Michael telling Angela they have an hour to put together a party. It kinda helps that i'm watching these on the computer and know roughly when it's about 21 minutes in. Could have been smoother since they stick pretty tightly to that formula for endings, but I bet it doesn't even register with most people.

[Beamer]

Okay. It's official. Funniest moment of The Office ever? "I... Declare... BANKRUPCY!!!" Oh. My Freaking. GOD. I had to pause the episode for, like, 2 minutes I was laughing so hard. The rest of the episode was bleeping stupid but that bit alone made it worth it.

I'm actually looking forward to the return of the half-hour episodes. As much as I love the show being as long as possible, it'll be nice to go back to the structure of one complete episode rather than one long episode that's obviously two put together. I'm still struggling to buy the idea that this show could possibly be a documentary now, with the key moments all conveniently captured on cameraa and characters being willing to confess certain things in front of them. I don't know why. I didn't have this problem in Season 3, even with episodes like Iniation.

[OceanWalker32]

This episode wasn't nearly as good as, say, last week's was, but it still had a good bit of consistent laughs. My favorite parts were the ones with Jim and Pam at Dwight's "bed and breakfast" (don't call it that), Michael impersonating Meryl Streep (still not nearly as hilarious as last week's "floating screen-saver box" opening scene was), and Michael's "I ... declare ... BANKRUPTCY!!" Glad someone else thought that was funny.

As much as I like this show, I personally think that a half-hour running time works better for it. These hour-long (technically ~45-minute-long) episodes sometimes seem too awkwardly structured and drawn out, but I don't want to complain too much about a good thing.

[Beamer]

If they actually made them as one episode instead of just two episodes put together into one, I wouldn't mind at all. I just prefer the structure of a single episode, regardless of it's length. Last year's supersized episodes were brilliant. But, I'm guessing it's all for syndication...

[Beamer]

Crappy production quality aside, Michael's commercial was surprisingly good. He had a nice concept (though the original commercial had a decent concept too, and he had no reason to bash Darryl's perfectly good song).

"Break me off a piece of that apple sauce."

One thing I noticed: Dwight's second-life character's title is "Assistant to the Regional Manager." Wasn't he promoted in The Fight? Or did Jim get that title after the brances merged? Either way, you'd at least think that Dwight would use the slightly more impressive title in a fictional world. Then again, it IS Dwight.

[OceanWalker32]

I thought Michael's commercial was pretty good, too ... when it showed that clip of Stanley in an orange jumpsuit picking up trash, I immediately thought of George Sr.! I also liked the Second Life stuff:

Dwight: "Second Life ... doesn't have winners or losers."
Jim: "Oh, it has losers."

I much prefer regular-sized episodes like this one for the show, even though there have been some great super-sized ones in the past. It just seems to work better, and not feel like two conjoined episodes.

[gobias30]

I thought the funniest part of the episode last night was when Kevin said that his nick name in high school was "Kool-aid guy" The face he made was hilarious!

I also thought that it was funny with Andy trying to figure out the last line of the comercial. It was great when they should Stanley in the oarnge jump suit because for the first time in the series he actually smiled.

[Cannonballism]

It was great when they should Stanley in the oarnge jump suit because for the first time in the series he actually smiled.

I second that. This was one of the episodes that makes you see why these people still go to work every day, they're commercial had a lot of heart.

[vcalzone]

Loved it. Fake moustaches get me EVERY DAMN TIME. I was really loving the Jim/Karen thing this episode too. And the Jim/Pam thing, for that matter. I missed who wrote it, but whoever did has an excellent understanding of how to write realistic relationships in an amusing way.

[byron]

I think this one was written by Mindy Kaling.

I was dying during the walkie talkie scene.

"Just climb on top of her and think of Stanley."

"Promise me one thing....host the Dundies."