Thanks to listener Melonie for pointing out that NBC has set up a bogus "Princess Unicorn" website in conjunction with this week's episode. 

Entertainment Weekly posted a slideshow of what they consider to be Jim Halpert's seventeen best pranks over the last four and a half seasons of The Office.

I'm on record as not being a fan of pranks that aren't "deserved" -- in other words, that Dwight (or whomever) needs to do something to deserve punishment.  With Dwight being a massive tool this season, I am completely DOWN with some righteous pranking-- and the cold open from Moroccan Christmas definitely goes down as one of my all time favorites.

A CHRISTMAS PARTY IN MOROCCO - Phyllis' (Phyllis Smith) Moroccan-themed holiday party goes up in flames when Meredith's (Kate Flannery) hair catches on fire and Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) is forced to deal with the accident. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) corners the market on the hottest toy of the Christmas season. John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Leslie David Baker, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Oscar Nunez, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Paul Lieberstein and Craig Robinson also star.

Well, the Christmas episodes of The Office have always set the bar incredibly high... I hope this year's episode can live up to that legacy! Kind of sad/funny to think about how we never did get one last season.

As always, leave your comments below and join Kevin and me in the TWSS chat room after the show.

Blog poster "Funtivities" brought up an interesting dilemma that is all too familiar to many foreign residents-- Hulu.com, NBC's great streaming service, only works to those who live within the United States.  This blocking is accomplished by a simple check of your IP address-- if it's located in the US you're golden, and if not, NOT.

I ran across this on Digg.com a few days ago, and thought it might help-- full instructions on how anyone outside of the US can access Hulu.com.

Good luck!

We mentioned it quite a while ago, but NBC officially confirmed today that The Office will indeed air a special one hour episode immediately following the Super Bowl on February 1st.


Originally, the "Office Spinoff" was supposed to fill that second half hour slot, and then when THAT disappeared the Poehler show was supposed to find a home. Alas. With both shows MIA, it's up to The Office to fill the hour.

I brought this up a few months ago, but I think it'd be brilliant to see Jim throw a big Super Bowl party at his new house as part of the plot. Shades of "Email Surveillance" and "Dinner Party" perhaps, but it'd definitely be topical and would give us a glimpse of the cast in a new situation (Kevin with a huge bet riding on the game, Pam & Jim trying to entertain as a couple, etc.).

If any of the writing staff is looking for more ideas, you have my email address :)

EDIT:

Yes, I am aware that the details of the episode are already wandering around on the internets.  I just refuse to be spoiled-- so there! :) It's more fun my way.

From NBC.com:

SURPLUS SPENDING AT THE OFFICE - Oscar (Oscar Nunez) informs Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) that the office must spend a $4300 surplus or lose it in next year's budget. When Michael opens up the floor for suggestions, factions break out and officemates square off against one another in order to get what they want. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) takes Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Andy (Ed Helms) to Schrute Farms to work on their wedding plans. John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith, Creed Bratton and Paul Lieberstein also star.

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Post your comments below, and join Kevin and me in the TWSS chatroom after the episode.

We've talked for a while about John Krasinski's directorial debut, his own adaptation of the late David Foster Wallace's BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN (plot: when her boyfriend leaves with little explanation, a doctoral candidate in anthropology tries to remedy her heartache by interviewing men about their behavior).  The film stars Krasinski, Julianne Nicholson, Timothy Hutton, Dominic Cooper, Christopher Meloni, and Rashida Jones, and was set to be released sometime in the new year.

Well, some extremely good news came for Johnny K. today by way of Park City, Utah-- it seems that BRIEF has been selected as one of the 16 official entries in the 2009 Sundance Film Festival's U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION (selected from 1,026 submissions).

Nicely done. Buzz at Sundance can only help the film spread to a wider audience, and here's hoping that we'll actually get to see what John can do on the big screen (no offense to fans of period football flicks or cheesy rom-coms).

For a list of other films accepted into the festival, click HERE.

So PREGNANCY magazine had an interview in this month's issue with everyone's favorite Office related psycho, Jan Levinson. Yep, it's a magazine interviewing a fictional character (IN character) about her fictional pregnancy (which has been over for quite some time now).