True, but Stanley didn’t hear any of that. Stanley wasn’t listening at all, he was doing his puzzle (and who can blame him?). Michael had to ask a few times before Stanley even said anything, and then when Michael kept asking him to join in, Stanley yelled.
I suppose some may be assuming that Stanley’s initial lack of response was due to his trying to ignore Michael’s dumbass “urban flavor” comment, but that’s totally not Stanley’s style. Stanley never ignores this type of remark; he’d respond with “Urban? I grew up in a five bedroom colonial” or some such thing.
I think the writers very purposely had Stanley not hear Michael’s “urban” phrasing because then he would’ve been more justified in blowing up at that point, and the staffers (and audience) wouldn’t have been as shocked.
Stanley was wrong to show such disrespect in public, and Michael was wrong for all his immature ignorance. And Toby was wrong to grope Pam, and Ryan was wrong to pull his powerplay against Jim. And Jim was wrong to prank Dwight so often. And Pam was wrong to string Roy along. The Office is filled with flawed people and doesn’t put anyone on a pedestal.
Which was a line-for-line remake of the first episode of the British Office. Which makes all this “Michael would never do something like that in the good old days!” so puzzling.
Please, don’t get me started on the UK version of The Office. David Brent fake-fires Dawn in the first episode, establishing himself as jerk of the year. He’s also in trouble with his bosses from the start, gets fired in the penultimate episode of the series because of his terrible attitude and inability to follow orders (episode 5 of season two), pathetically begs to keep his job in the final episode of the series, and shows up as a travelling salesman and sideshow loser in the hour-long special.
I can only dream of Michael meeting the same fate.
The fake firing of the receptionist in episode one of most versions of this show (including the Quebec version) establishes the boss as a colossal jerk. I say, leave it at that. Keep him more or less in character. The current hybrid Michael – simpering, confused whiner one minute and ultra-insensitive, cartoonish king of the imbeciles the next – is just painful to watch.
This used to be a show where the boss made just-believable remarks and created uncomfortable situations that had me covering my eyes and cringing. It was classic cringe humor. It worked because it was a fairly-close-to-real-life situation with scenarios that bordered on believability. Now it’s reduced to Michael doing and saying increasingly moronic things, and yet everyone is supposed to sit there and pretend to respect him. The fake firing of Stanley didn’t make me cringe the way the fake firing of Pam did, because it wasn’t performed by the jerk of episode one; it was performed by the over-the-top buffoon that Michael has become. Nothing Michael says or does rings even close to true anymore. At least not for me. I’m obviously in the minority.
This episode might’ve worked for me if Michael had truly fired Stanley after Stanley blasted him. Then Stanley could’ve lawyered up, and DM’s lawyers could’ve investigated (maybe even watched the five-year documentary), realized what a screw-up Michael is, and put him in a salesman’s chair. I still say the writers made that first crucial error by leap-frogging Ryan over Michael into Jan’s spot, just because he had an MBA. To me, the show has really lost its way since then.
Don’t get me started with Ryan and his MBA. As an MBA I find the way his career is represented as offensive. Ryan has a part-time MBA from the University of Scranton. Not exactly Wharton. The typical career path for an MBA tends to be I-banking, consulting, brand management or general management in an industry where they already have significant experienced. And in most of those positions, you get hired as an “associate” or something higher than an “analyst” but lower than management. Companies generally don’t promote former temps with a year of zero sales as a salesman to Vice President of anything.
I completely understand where you are coming from and agree that this was not true to life, for me. However, when the season 3 finale aired, there were people coming out of the woodwork to say how true to life this hire felt for them, with people with “the degree” getting the job over those more qualified.
I agree fully. They were going the direction of the UK Office for a short while, but I think the American writers didn’t have the nerve to make Michael the full out loser that Davd Brent is. Hence in the coming seasons, Michael actually displays brief working skills and also hooks up with the female boss. Then back again to being comic relief, since it’s a sit com after all.
The American Office doesn’t have the luxury of a 12-episodes-and-out run. They’ve got to keep Michael in (or around) the office until the show’s canceled or Carell’s contract runs out.