Thu, 30 April 2009
From NBC.com:
CASUAL FRIDAY | 04.30.09 | 9/8c PT | TV-PG
 MICHAEL
IS TORN BETWEEN HIS TWO SALES GROUPS - Michael has to mediate a dispute
within his new sales team. Meanwhile, trouble brews in the office when
several employees take the term "casual" Fridays too loosely. Rainn
Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, Leslie David Baker,
Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis
Smith, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton, B.J. Novak and Paul Lieberstein also
star.
----- As mentioned in yesterday's podcast, I can't help but think these last few episodes might be a bit of a let down after the thrilling rollercoaster ride that was the Michael Scott Paper Company plotline. Can an episode about dressing too casually on a Friday REALLY stand up to our newly reborn expectations of excellence? I will be hoping for the best, but writer Anthony Q. Farrell (who has written only one other episode, "Employee Transfer," and a few of the "Kevin's Loan" webisodes) has a LOT to live up to. As always, leave your comments below, and join Kevin and me in the TWSS Chatroom during and after the episode airs.
Category:general
-- posted at: 8:56am EST
Comments[24]
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This episode reminded me why my husband and I now watch 30 Rock on Thursdays and save The Office for the weekend. It was just sort of blah. The only thing that tickled me was the dialogue between Creed and Jim during the chess game. Was it definitively settled that Ryan didn\'t get the job and Pam did? I thought Michael offered it to both of them; is there a chance that Ryan will show up for work as a salesman next week, along with Pam? I long for Holly\'s return. I\'ll watch that episode on a Thursday night. Still love the podcast, Kevin & Matt.
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The Office is my favorite show. I even named my son after Dwight Schrute. The only other Dwight I know of is Eisenhower. The show is nowhere near its peak and they have focused on Jim and Pam more than Michael because he was out doing bad movies. I wouldn\'t even attempt to watch it if they replaced Steve Carrell because of his movie career. That\'s why I stopped watching CSI, when Warrick, Sarah and now Grissom left, the show wasn\'t worth watching. If they cancel this show or change the leading characters, I\'ll be left with sports and reality tv because this is the only network show I watch.
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I\'m sorry, but I didn\'t love. I used to support Pam, but when all this client stuff stuff went down, I was really surprised that Pam got caught up in the \"them\" against \"us\" stuff. She was more sensitive than this. Sorry, not matter how the crew could have \"treated her like she didn\'t exist\", that\'s their problem. There wasn\'t enough to support any kind of justification for her defiance. She took money out of their pockets. She took their clients. Michael? Ryan? I expect that behavior for them. But Pam? What happened to her? She was the underdog assistants (such as myself) or stuck in the mud receptionists could always cheer for. But, she always wins now. She goes out and tries, but never follows through, yet always wins. I\'m supposed to keep rooting for this? That alone confused me. Not loving this. At all. I guess I take this show too personally, but...Fail.
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I loved this episode! It\'s great that everything didn\'t just go back to the way it was bmspc (before Michael Scott Paper Company). I loved Michael, Pam and Ryan against the rest of the office and Jim standing up for Pam to Michael. I also liked Andy in a plotline related to work for once. I also got a kick out of everyone\'s casual friday attire. It just added something funny, and I don\'t know why.
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Ok, I didn\'t think that this episode was great. I agree with Matt about the cold open being not good. The whole thing with Meredith made me want to poke my eyes out. As far as the whole MSPC against Dunder Mifflin conflict, I thought it was kind of predictable and contrived. I did think the Creed/Jim stuff was amusing though. Oh, and the thing with Dwight and the urine.. I thought that was a little bit over the top even for Dwight.
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I wish they would have extended the michael scott paper company plot line until the end of the season. Having a long break in between such a great plot line and the return to things as usual would have been better suited for when we had time to miss the show a little bit. maybe they have something really big planned for the finale that will change my mind.
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I\'m on the road on a business trip (have chainsaw, will travel), and have listened to about 8 hours straight of the podcast so far. So, for some of them, I hadn\'t seen the episodes in a while. I\'d like to suggest that, when you guys say something like, say, \"the cold open started well, but the last joke didn\'t work,\" that you describe what you\'re talking about a little bit. Just a quick hint so those of us who re-listen can remember what it was. Other than that, sharing the road with you guys and the Dunder Mifflin staff is a pretty great way to eat up the long hours. Except that I now automatically recite Dwight\'s watercooler dialogue with him. And sometimes without him.
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Wow. That cold open was funny and revolting at the same time. But I wish they had mentioned it in the episode. Except for the fact that Ryan and Pam were there, and the little bit of controversy over the sales, it seemed like they forgot the MSPC plot line had ever happened. The \"A\" plot line seemed more like a good \"B\" plot line. Oh, also, when Andy calls the cake company in \'The Duel\' his says it is a sailboat cake, not a cross as they say in the Heavy Competition deleted scene. Am I right or am I right? Later skater.
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Did I make some sort of promise that this episode would stand up to the last four or five MSPC episodes? I surely don\'t recall saying that I expected this one to be \"fantastic.\" Initial impressions: a) Loved the cold open. I was crying I was laughing so hard. b) Casual Friday gives us naked Meredith. Wow... a stretch by the writers c) Pam wins. d) Michael was kicking ass until Phyllis used the \"F Word\" (family). F-ing Phyllis! I rated this as a 7 on first watch.
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I remember Matt saying in the podcast that after 5 back to back phenomenal episodes, using casual Friday as a theme, this episode couldn\'t be good. I thought it was (and I repeat) fantastic. The casual Friday thing was a secondary plot line and the salesmen\'s war was the real deal. Superbly done because it covers all the things we love in Michael Scott: the childish (resentful of the people who hadn\'t followed him), the idiot (when he thinks all salesmen went for lunch together), the smart guy (eating their lunch), the just (giving the job to Pam), the bumbling buffoon (the \"you\'re fired\" pranks on Pam and the new receptionist). Like Kevin Crossman would say, this was television gold. By the way, have you guys watched the video?
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One more thing: The cold open could have paid off if there were a few nods to the accident during the episode. Like, for instance, a big stain in the carpet, Kevin\'s shirt stained with chili during a talking head, people complaining about the smell during the day.
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Good episode. Sadly, since the storyline is over, I\\\'m thinking they are going back to the same inconsistent episodes we have had to deal with all season. I\\\'m interested in seeing how Pam will succeed as a salesperson. I\\\'m guessing it wasn\\\'t that difficult for her to get clients now that we know MSPC was offering ridiculously low prices. As someone else mentioned, I wouldn\\\'t mind seeing Ryan sent down to the warehouse with Daryl. LOL The cold open was ok. I don\\\'t do potluck at work because you never know what happens to the food before you see it on the table. Kevin scraping the food back in the pot freaked me out. I loved how Phyllis threw the we are a family line back at Michael.
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Am I missing something? Why was the cold open NOT funny? It definitely wasn\'t the best ever, but I thought it was different from the ones that they have done in the past, and I was laughing at it . . . (although I must confess I created a fake email account in a friends name and sent him an email from the future, if thats an indicator of what makes me laugh . . . ) Good episode though, I have been real happy with the conclusion of the michael scott paper company story line.
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Now Matt, I believe you will have to take back your comments from the last podcast. This episode was absolutely fantastic! By the way, I don\'t know if this has been brought up yet but Ellie Kemper (the new receptionist) has a hilarious video on youtube. Why don\'t you embed it on your blog? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JJfHMY4T4I
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Glad to see the full cast involved but lots of drama with the \"family\". Would like to see Erin with Andy - they\'re both naive and clueless - even clueless people deserve love. Ryan is Michael\'s protege. When Pam offered to give him the sales slot - he jumped on it.
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man i am REALLY hating Phyllis atm, wow such a cow so vindictive on the whole the episode was needed, we needed to see how things settled and what the new status quo would be. a bit disappointing that some other resolution couldnt be found but i guess ryan isnt much of a salesmen. but it just didnt sit right to me that michael we held to ransom like that. meredith\\\'s character just seems too absurd to me and while i love creed, he seems to be better used in shorter bursts, or just talking heads. i think just the chess would have been enough. i guess the casual friday story line was there to lighten the tension that was generated from the main story line, and in that i think it served its purpose, just kind of silly but had its funny moments. and yes i like the erin character, she seems to brighten up the office, the rest of the characters have all seemed to have become a shade darker, due to events during the year.
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I have a lot of mixed emotions about this episode, I hated the cold, probably the worst so far, I feel lately they\'ve been skimping on the Creed but he was used all wrong in this episode, (With the exception of the word \"Challenge\"). I know that we had to have had a little bit of a blow back from having 2 new sales staff, however the tone was very nasty and felt like it made the episode drag with misery. I loved the way Michaels fake firing/hiring with Pam, however with Erin/New Kelly I think it would have been better to have a shot for shot reenactment of the fake firing from the pilot, this time with Pam in the Ryan roll. And for continuity purposes, I\'m not sure how I felt about Toby\'s Costa Rica shirt, Toby\'s dream of Costa Rica turned into a nightmare, so shouldn\'t he have a new place to dream of? I don\'t know, it just seemed weird. Future thoughts/predictions, Ryan should work in the warehouse and be Daryl\'s problem, I smell a spin off!
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