The Office "Launch Party" (open spoilers)

[Max_the_Immortal]

@PunditLisa

…I hated that Phyllis is being a stone cold bitch (we already have one)

I, on the other hand, like that we now have a passive-agressive bitch in addition to an openly judgemental bitch. I think that it will add new opportunities for conflict in the show. Phyllis hasn’t really done all that much before, and her “more than meets the eye” qualities have probably already been mined as much as they should be. Dwight, on the other hand, continues to provide us with a seemingly endless vein of hilarity; it totally fits with his character to farm hemp for all sorts of practical reasons.

[Acsenray]

@Frostillicus

BTW, does anyone else notice that every time they show a reaction shot of Creed, his computer screen behind him is dispaying a solitaire game?

It seemed to me that they were reusing the exact same footage each time.

[CJJ]

@PunditLisa

I hate the one hour format!!

Here here. The first half-hour was funny, but once they got to the party I felt like the writers had run out of gas. Kidnapping the delivery guy was a colossal overreaction even by Michael’s standards, and the writing was strained to connect it to the NY-launch-party snub in the first 1/2 hour (Michael treated the delivery boy the way he wanted to treat Ryan for snubbing his party invitation).

Frankly the only funny bit in the 2nd half-hour was the whole argument over “which Alfredo’s”, and Andy’s speaker-phone “Take a Chance on Me” was just nauseating (breaking the current streak of PB&J givng us the most nauseating romantic moment of the week).

The same problem was apparent in the second half of last week’s effort, where the whole gift-basket plot seemed lifeless and relied on Michael doing something incredibly stupid (drive his car into the lake) to jump-start the laughs. The episode then ended with Michael’s speech about “relying too much on technology”, a lame attempt to impose some meaning on what was truly a desperate move by the writers.

The show works better in self-contained 1/2 hour bits; here’s hoping the hour-long experiment isn’t repeated anytime soon.

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

@CJJ*

Here here. The first half-hour was funny, but once they got to the party I felt like the writers had run out of gas. Kidnapping the delivery guy was a colossal overreaction even by Michael’s standards, and the writing was strained to connect it to the NY-launch-party snub in the first 1/2 hour (Michael treated the delivery boy the way he wanted to treat Ryan for snubbing his party invitation).

Frankly the only funny bit in the 2nd half-hour was the whole argument over “which Alfredo’s”, and Andy’s speaker-phone “Take a Chance on Me” was just nauseating (breaking the current streak of PB&J givng us the most nauseating romantic moment of the week).

The same problem was apparent in the second half of last week’s effort, where the whole gift-basket plot seemed lifeless and relied on Michael doing something incredibly stupid (drive his car into the lake) to jump-start the laughs. The episode then ended with Michael’s speech about “relying too much on technology”, a lame attempt to impose some meaning on what was truly a desperate move by the writers.

The show works better in self-contained 1/2 hour bits; here’s hoping the hour-long experiment isn’t repeated anytime soon.

One more next week, and then half-hour episodes for the rest of the season.

Frankly, I loved Andy’s speaker-phone singalong serenade. I thought it was an uncharacteristically sweet moment, and really the first time we’ve seen Andy cast in a positive light. Even Angela was touched, in spite of herself.