The Office 3/25 - Happy Hour

Cafe Society
1

Am I the only one still watching this show? For all of its flaws (do I need to start reciting MST3K lyrics here? The documentary format is a STYLE FORMAT only. There’s no real documentary!!!) I still find the show quite enjoyable…well, a week off from Pam WAS enjoyable (I can’t stand what they’ve done to her character over the last couple seasons) but she was back, and ruining things for everyone. Nah, actually she was quite enjoyable too, for a change. She should have really known better than to try to set up ANYONE with Michael, especially after what happened with/to her mom…

It’s been interesting how they keep making Phyllis more and more of an evil bitch each week. “Yeah, I like to go out to bars so that single guys can hit on me, and then Bob can beat them up”. On the other hand, Kevin used to be someone to root for, but his “WAAAH’s” are creepy even by my standards. Strangely enough, I found myself rooting for Angela this week, right up until she was bopped on the forehead, which was epic. I wish they could have found a way to fit Jo into the happy hour

2

Well, I enjoyed learning that Michael’s drink is Grenadine.

3

To my surprise, Date Mike cracked my shit up.

4

Btw, was it intentional or just a big coincidence that Date Mike sounds just like Date Night, his new movie?

I was expecting him to look straight at the camera and say “Date Mike. April 3. See it”

5

Oh- and

“I kill yakuza boss on purpose. I’m an excellent surgeon.”

6

Really great episode… except they keeping effing up Kevin’s character. Remember in the first two seasons when he was just a little immature but a fully functional adult? Had a fiance’, raising a kid? Now he’s stock bumblin idiot character. He’s boring.

The Dwight/Pam’s friend relationship is great. I couldn’t even imagine they could make you feel sorry for Angela.
“I’ll see you in small claims court!”

7

LMAO! I would go see it just for that!

I found Date Mike painful to watch. I also kinda felt for Angela, but Isabella bopping her was awesome! Looking forward to her becoming a semi-regular!

Who was the Bar Manager? She was darn cute.

Kevin was truly creepy, but that look of joy on his face when Pam did start lactating almost made it worth it.

8

it was a good enough episode, but what bugs me most about the Office is that while good, i always feel like it could be so much BETTER. That inevitably leads me to reminisce when i didn’t have such feelings (seasons 1-3).

maybe it’s just not geared towards me (but somehow used to?) but i thought that:

Date Mike could have been better if he actually USED tactics that reality dating shows employ like… plowing a girl with drinks, “peacocking” better, acting like a tremendous jerk to the girl as opposed to the establishment, exerting his alpha maleness (he kind of did this in the beginning before ‘date mike’ was invoked), etc. It would have been so much more believable and less… WACKY?

Kevin used to be a dullard who had a fantastic social life unbeknownst to the office - in a band, WSOP bracelet, “hot” “gf” (yes, both needed separate quotes), etc. Now he’s just functionally retarded. I don’t like it, i don’t like the unbelievability of such a character in the workplace, and i think it’s just stupid, lazy writing.

Erin and Andy is a perfect opportunity to revive the magic that JAM had that made people love the office in the first place. Except it’s wackified to an extreme. I don’t mind the silly banter that they started off with, but once they got to the bar, their aversion to being seen together was just… again, unbelievable. Gone are the awkward pauses, discreet glances at the camera, tight lipped smiles, and any semblance of nuance. Instead it’s Andy screaming at Erin and using the word “drama” 2x a sentence. Why?

The last bar scene they did when Roy was there and they played up jenkins was both believable and entertaining. A similar dynamic was found in Dwight playing whack-a-mole. i wish they explored those scenarios more instead of having Michael play air guitar on a pool table. It’s ok to have an episode where something exceptional happens to someone other than Michael Scott.

anyway, it was a good episode, but it seems the better the episode, the bigger my gripes are about how much BETTER it could have been.

oh yeah, the frustration is magnified even more since i’m rarely dissatisfied with the other 3 NBC sitcoms - Parks, Community, 30 rock.

9

Did anyone else notice the push-ups Kevin was doing at the beginning? His body was motionless from the stomach down, and he was just lifting his chest off the ground.

I also liked Dwight’s “What the f&#*!” when Angela was standing behind him.

10

Isabella (to Dwight, who’s playing whack-a-mole): “How’d you get so good?”

Dwight: “Whacking moles, of course.”

(paraphrasing)

11

I liked it too. I was flummoxed that the bar manager seems interested in Michael, but then she doesn’t know him like we do. She might be playing with him, but OTOH maybe she thought he was cool. His comment about the Iacocca (sp?) book would have been witty if it had come from someone else. “Read it? I own it!”

12

Because they’re not JAM. Jim & Pam are basically functional adults who have minimal quirks and are trying to survive the chaos around them. Andy and Erin are both really strange people. They’re sweet and adorable and it’s easy to root for them, but they’re weird. And weird people are going to have slightly weird relationships. When Andy was going on about how he wanted to keep it secret to avoid the drama, it was like he thought he was leading Jim’s life, who of course did keep him and Pam a secret for quite awhile. But Andy A) is a weird dude B) is a drama queen and C) doesn’t want to keep it a secret at all. He was basically playing at what he thought normal people did in a relationship (minimize drama) even though all of his instincts probably wanted to do the exact opposite, as we saw at the end when he admits he’s a drama queen.

I really loved Craig Robinson in this episode. Of course, I usually love it when we see Darryl. “Be straight with me. You can be gay with Matt, but be straight with me.”

13

That monologue at the end was awesome.

14

Isabella whacking Angela, mole-style, was truly hilarious. I thought this was a very solidly entertaining episode.

Creed being a master of DDR makes perfect sense somehow.

15

This episode and the birth one are my two favorites of the season so far.

16

Second or Thirded. This segment was hilarious!

17

This episode was a keeper. The full cluelessness of Michael Scott was exhibited in all its glory. When Michael wasn’t Date Mike he was actually pleasant, but after Jim told him about Pam setting him up with Julie, the transformation into an obnoxious weirdo was truly cringe-worthy. I love the ending because the last line was totally unexpected!

18

Decent episode over all, but the surgeon at the end was epic.

19

I don’t remember the last time I laughed as hard during this show as when Dwight turned around and said “FUCK!” when he saw Angela behind him.

Also liked that Kelly was, of course, a weepy drunk. And Stanley had two women with him, and loaded the free lunch with dozens of business cards.

20

I liked this episode as well. I appreciated the sparing use of Pam. I didn’t miss her at all since the delivery. Frankly, I’m bored of the Jim and Pam relationship. They need to drop the relationship as a plot point and just let us infer that everything’s hunky-dory.