Im not a big fan of this show, but the gf is, and its definitely gone from humorous to “somewhat funny sometimes” to “wow, what happened to this show?”
The guy in sitcoms should never get the girl. The awkwardness of dating is ripe for comedy. Watching Pam and Jim grow into level-headed adults picking out daycare options can be comedic for an especially gifted writer, but the Office writers just are not delivering the goods. I mean, walking in on someone in the bathroom? Really? I think the show has really been hurting. Frankly, the Andy character cant pull off being the lead comedic male and airheaded super-perky Erin is a poor substitute for Pam.
This isnt a drama. Its really a goofball comedy. That’s its strength. The best scenes are usually between the most ridiculous characters - Michael and Dwight. Or between old Jim and Dwight. Watching the show destroy its own formula for character progression of ridiculous characters is really pushing it. In a few years every standup comedian will be doing a bit on “Remember when The Office didnt suck?”
Heh, wasn’t so much funny as just had me feeling bad for Wallace. He was one of the more likable characters, at least in the way he interacted with Michael.
He tossed it out of his car.
Agree the show is kinda falling apart, but I don’t think its just the fact that the romantic tension thing is gone. They had a bunch of 'story arcs" that kept things fresh and funny apart from the Pam/Jim thing. Ryan’s rise and fall as corporate boss, Michaels various romances, Michael and Pam leaving and founding a rival paper company, etc.
Now they seem to have just run out of ideas. The Jim as co-manager never made much sense and seems to have been basically forgotten. The Andy/Erin romance is just kinda boring (doesn’t help that Andy’s the least amusing character, IMHO). I guess the Sabre thing is the latest effort to find new plots to hang jokes on, but so far it just seems a rehash of previous plots where the company owners clash with Michaels idea of how things should be run.
I was really hoping they’d mix things up this season by making Jim take Michaels job and putting Michael in corporate to give him a new bunch of people to interact with. Ah well.
Agreed. I felt bad for Wallace, in a good way. Er. If that makes any sense. I mean I liked how they handled his character progression given his circumstances. He remains one of the few “normal” characters on the show.
Also, even if his attempt at a “Suck It” theme song, well, sucked, I thought him jamming with his son at the end was uber-cute. As sad as the situation was, it was nice that he and his son seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. And that kid is a badass drummer.
It’s more than that. At its best, “The Office” wasn’t ever really about the plots, so much as the all-too-familiar awkwardness that comes from a group of disparate (but empathize-able) personalities interacting in a work environment. They’ve lost that, to a large part because of the Flanderization of most of the main cast. Rather than being slightly-exaggerated examples of common workplace characters who sometimes reveal unexpected complexity (Michael’s rapport with children, Jim’s insecurity about his long-term career prospects, Kevin’s musical aspirations, Pam’s artistic side, etc.), the characters have become one-note, one-joke vehicles for that worst of sitcom failings, bad situation comedy.
Incidentally, I disagree strongly with the poster upthread who said that the show was never more than a decent-but-not-great sitcom. I’d put the second season of “The Office” (and to a lesser extent, the first and third) up against any other sitcom ever made. It perfectly balanced hilarious jokes whose punchlines you never saw coming, character drama, and slowly-simmering plotlines that built to powerful conclusions. The show has taken a pretty steep nosedive in the past few years, but there definitely was a time when it was great.
Well, Jim, Pam and Dwight were the funny ones before. Micheal had his moments but he was just a bonus. He was never the reason why I watched the show. Dwight was great and I don’t think he’s changed much but the gag is just old now. The dynamic between Jim and Pam has changed too much since they got together so that’s ruined too. They were able to keep me going up until some point in this season, even despite destroying everything I liked in the show. I think I’m done with it for now though. It’s time to move on to something new.
This seems like a silly complaint. The “documentary crew” was a conceit to explain the filming style. Complaining about it like it’s a plot hole is like complaining about every other show because the characters never acknowledge that there are guys with cameras all around them.
But they do some things that are completely specific to the documentary film style - sometimes characters (mostly Jim) will look directly at the camera when something happens (like Michael being stupid). And they have those one on one confessionals, which can’t be explained at all except as “we know there are cameras around, and they interview us directly on occasion.” Plus they’ve spoken directly to the cameramen at times - like when Jim was going to prank Dwight’s hotel room in Philly, and found a hooker/Angela in there.
The best fanwank explanation I’ve ever heard for the documentary framework of The Office is that it’s not a professional production at all but rather an ongoing project for a video production class at a local college. This would explain the sometimes unprofessional behavior of the crew, why no one in the office seems concerned about their embarrassing moments being broadcast (it’s only seen by the students and instructor of the class), and why there’s no shooting during the summer.
If we are meant to understand it as a professional production then I agree with Simplicio, it’s a TV show – the same TV show that we’re watching – and not a movie. Why no one on The Office, including the main characters themselves, seems to have ever seen this show would be something of a mystery, although within the context of the show it might be broadcast exclusively overseas. There would probably be a market in East Asia for a documentary/reality series about a “typical American office”.
Yeah, I’m softening on that a bit. I completely forgot that Sabre was from Florida.
I would like it to be something Michael did on purpose. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a producer’s cut or a later episode reference to Michael planning it.
I don’t see how any of that conflicts with my claim that it’s a conceit for the purposes of the style. The Office is shot in fake documentary style. The characters acknowledge that the cameras and crew are there, and have private “interviews” and occasionally block the camera out. But the cameramen aren’t important. They’re not really a part of the plot. It’s like romantic irony.
I think he absolutely did it on purpose. The Florida story was a cover for why he was making the toast. Why would he do something in homage to the Sabre guy, who he doesn’t like? This was a win for Michael.
I don’t know if I laughed out loud once during this episode, and sadly, that’s not the first time in recent episodes. So far I just keep watching to see if it can perhaps return to even a fraction of its former glory, but if it keeps up for too long, I’ll have to bow out of this show. It’s just been terrible lately. That’s reinforced by all the channels playing older episodes in syndication and them actually being realistically funny and not over-the-top like a sitcom.
It definitely seems more scattered than before. They’re just keeping too many balls in the air. I’d love to see Dwight get more story time. Maybe usurp Jim. I’d be an interesting interplay where Jim and Pam need a good income and Dwight fighting for meritocracy or something.
Aww.
This mean less posters on the weekly threads.
I’m personally looking forward to tomorrow’s episode. Hope it’s one that that gives us more to talk about other than it not being a good episode.
I know of at least two “LOL” moments for me, (I caught some spoiler clips)… After the episode, I can see if anyone agreed. I think they will, I wish I could clue you guys in on what I’m talking about but I can’t.
