Thu, 1 May 2008
Strange title aside, I am curious to see how this clash of the titans plays out tonight. Michael trying to give Stanley an attitude adjustment? After going through an entire BRANCH WAR to get him back? :) There's no Stanley tree out there, people. WATCH THE FULL EPISODE NOW: DID I STUTTER 9/8c TV-PG 05.01.2008
TAKING
ON THE BOSS - When Stanley (Leslie David Baker) snaps at Michael
(Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) during a meeting, Michael tries to
give Stanley an attitude adjustment. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) decides to
buy Andy's (Ed Helms) car. Meanwhile, Pam (Jenna Fischer) deals with an
unexpected inconvenience after spending the night at Jim's (John
Krasinski). Brian Baumgarter, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar
Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Craig Robinson
and Creed Bratton also star.
---------------- As always, leave your comments below. EDIT: Here's a link to a large size picture of the organizational chart. Whose name is crossed off on the accountants side? And if Devon is here, where are the other Stamford people? :) EDIT 2: NBC has made a PDF file of the chart available for download. Click HERE to get the PDF of Dwight's "emergency" plan overlay.
Category:general
-- posted at: 3:08pm EDT
Comments[85]
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TWSS Matt (see how I learn?) thanks for standing up for me. :) Tom Strong, I do actually like the British version, in fact, I LOVE the British version, I just don\'t love any aspect of the show that drags on for what I view is too long. Editing is a good thing. :)
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Thu, 8 May 2008 NBC & Microsoft Team Up To Bust \"Pirates\" Many people were and are still upset about NBC yanking their content from Apple\'s iTunes store. The feud has been going back and forth, with rumors flying it may return, or may not, or whatever the case may be on that particular day. In the meantime, NBC has pimped their shows out to just about everyone ELSE, including Amazon\'s UnBox service, Hulu.com, cell phone video streaming... you name it. NBC is now teaming up with Microsoft to sell their shows on the Zune (Microsoft\'s MP3 player) video store. Not really that big of a deal, except that NBC is demanding Microsoft install some kind of filter on their Zune devices which will somehow block the device from playing any video file the filter believes is \"unauthentic.\" Never mind the consumer\'s legal right to rip their own DVDs, for example. If NBC doesn\'t like it, it won\'t work. Why Microsoft is bending over and taking this isn\'t a big mystery (they\'re desperate, and have already kowtowed to Universal Music\'s demand to give them a cut of sales... a \"pirate\" tax, if you will), but it seems to me to set a pretty dangerous precedent. EDIT: According to the NYT article, Microsoft is apparently denying they agreed to do anything more than \"discuss\" the issue with NBC. Category: general -- posted at: 11:37 AM Comments[7] Thu, 8 May 2008 The Office -- Episode # 4.13 \"Job Fair\" This one sounds pretty promising-- Jim, Andy and Kevin on the links? A situation rife with comedic possibilities if I\'ve ever heard one. From NBC.com: JOB FAIR 9/8c TV-PG 05.08.2008 Jim (John Krasinski) hits the links with Andy (Ed Helms) and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) to try and land his biggest client ever. Meanwhile, Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) sets up a booth at a local job fair, which happens to be at Pam\'s (Jenna Fischer) alma mater, to find \"the best and the brightest\" for Dunder Mifflin\'s summer internship. Rainn Wilson, B.J. Novak, Leslie David Baker, Angela Kinsey, Creed Bratton, Oscar Nunez, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Phyllis Smith and Craig Robinson also star. ----------- Leave your comments below, and join Kevin and me in the TWSS chat after the show. Category: general -- posted at: 10:43 AM Comments[48] Wed, 7 May 2008 That\'s Assistant President To You... Looks like Kevin was right in his speculation about Dwight\'s politics: on the Daily Show With Jon Stewart tonight, Republican presidential nominee John McCain (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) said that his running mate in the 2008 election is going to be Dwight Schrute. Well, he couldn\'t be any worse than Dick Cheney, could he? Category: general -- posted at: 11:45 PM Comments[5] Wed, 7 May 2008 Rainn Wilson ROCKS The first trailer for THE ROCKER was just posted over at Yahoo! Movies, and it\'s definitely worth checking out if you\'re looking for a glimpse of the \"wilder\" side of Dunder Mifflin\'s favorite beet farmer. I dunno... looks like it could go either way, as the trailer seems heavy on \"getting hit in the nuts\" and \"falling off stuff\" jokes. Not exactly subtle... but then, when is rock ever subtle? In the plus column, one of the writers is listed as Wallace Wolodarsky, a verteran writer on THE SIMPSONS (you know, from the GOOD seasons before it jumped the shark...?). If you\'re unfamiliar with THE ROCKER, allow Yahoo! Movies to elucidate: A failed drummer is given a second chance at fame. Robert \"Fish\" Fishman (Rainn Wilson) is the extremely dedicated and astoundingly passionate drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius, who is living the rock n\' roll dream until he is unceremoniously kicked out of the band. Twenty years after his rock star fantasies are destroyed, just when Fish has finally given up all hope, he hears that his nephew\'s high school rock band A.D.D. is looking for a new drummer. They reluctantly make him the newest member of the band, giving him a chance to reclaim the rock God throne he\'s always thought he deserved, and taking the young band along for the ride of their lives. THE ROCKER is set for an August 1st release. Category: general -- posted at: 11:22 PM Comments[3] Tue, 6 May 2008 \"Cool Guy Paul\" Talks To Remote Access Friend of the show Brian Howard over at the Remote Access TV blog offers up yet another interview with a recent THE OFFICE guest star, this time talking to Five Families member Paul \"Cool Guy Paul\" Faust. Head on over to Brian\'s blog for all the details. Category: general -- posted at: 12:05 AM Comments[0] Mon, 5 May 2008 Episode # 43 -- \"Did I Stutter?\" (5/1/08) Episode # 43 of THAT\'S WHAT SHE SAID finds both Matt and Kevin polishing up their back-up glasses. When a sassy, upset black man named STANLEY lets out his smelly frustrations on his clueless, purple boss MICHAEL, it\'s up to Dwight to eat the nice catfood. Errr... let\'s try that again. When Stanley erupts, Michael has to find a way to deal with the office insurrection. Dwight plots his revenge against Andy, Pam gets beaten with the ugly stick, and Jim faces a humiliating beat-down of his own from a hobbit-loving half-beard. How can Jim and Ryan solve their differences? Two words -- fluffy fingers. Incidental music provided by the Podshow Podsafe Music Network. Email us at TWSSpodcast @ gmail.com, or leave a comment on our blog page at TWSSpodcast. com. Check out Kevin\'s blog and podcast at the-frat-pack. com. iTunes reviews are always appreciated! Help spread the word! Direct download: TWSS43.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:31 PM Comments[24] Sun, 4 May 2008 Buy Andy\'s Xterra (For Real) Dwight buying and then flipping Andy\'s Nissan Xterra was one of the funniest bits to be found in DID I STUTTER? this past week. Dwight\'s Jedi mind-trick sales techniques, the \"three way bidding war\"... pure comedy gold. Inspired by the episode, the actual OWNER of said Xterra (one of the hairstylists on THE OFFICE) has put the car up on eBay as well. If you happen to be luck
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I enjoyed Ian\'s input, but think Kevin adds a nice dynamic to the podcast. Also, Kevin often has additional information that Ian never brought in the past. (Not that Hannah was dissin\' Kevin, but I thought he needed some respect). Oh, speaking of respect: considering what this episode was about, I found it funny that Matt had to \'be the boss\' and lay the ground rules on how to treat one another on the board. Finally, it\'s 8pm on Monday and no podcast. WHAT\'S THE FRIGGIN DEAL!?
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Hey TWSS. I discovered the office 2 months ago and blew through all 4 seasons using amazon unbox (staying up till 2am several work nites) once then again then listened to your podcast from beginning to end - I had a blast listening to you guys. This episode was only the second one where I\'ve watched it on commercial tv and I Hated it - the whole series has a much nicer flow and impact watching it commercial free. I watched it a second time commercial free and had a completely different experience. In the commercial version the scene was Stanley was more jarring and disturbing and Michael\'s epiphane, the last part of that scene is so anti-climatic, low key, non-drama queen and totally unlike the michael we\'ve come to know and love that I completely missed what an evolution that that was for michael. That was the very first time that Michael, in the entire series, was able to accept that someone may not like or respect him - and accept it calmly and also the first time he ever asserted himself as boss. I think he actually won some respect. I was waiting for the more formulaic plot that we\'ve gotten conditioned to, which is that, Stanley deep down really does like and respect Michael he just doesn\'t show it and that once you get past his gruff exterior there is a big ol\' teddy bear. We found out that deep down inside, Stanley really doesn\'t respect Michael (in the real world, most men wouldn\'t respect michael) and it\'s not what those of us who have become fond of Michael wanted to see - Stanley was brutally honest. But, then, in the end, by being un-Michael, and growing up a little, Michael did actually end up gaining, just a smidge, of respect. In parallel plot line, Jim is learning the hard way that just being the un-Michael is not enought to succeed at boss and he too is going to have to travel that same painful path that Michael has been walking and learn that in order to be a good boss, he is going to have to live with not being liked all the time. I really do believe that Jim thinks that by being not Michael, he is going to be a great boss and loved by all. And finally, Dwight has got his Mojo back!!
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(not relevant, but) I have been listening to your podcast from season 3, since i came in on season 4. it\'s really funny-you have joked about andy and angela, predicted the strike and Dinner Party, and joked about Pam getting hit by a car (which is sort of relevant to Fun Run, Pam in this case being Meredith of course). and I am listening to Beach Games, which I did a school video project on. i\'ve just been remembering why i love this show and it\'s making me want to go back and rewatch season 4 to see if it turned out as you guys suspected!
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Hey TWSS Matt I\'ve been moving and my cable\'s out again, so I\'ve only managed to get around to this ep Monday morning. I wouldn\'t say that I loved this episode, but it was definitely a strong one. It\'s strange how the more heavier and dramatic episodes are the stronger but less liked episodes while the more straight out funny episodes that you see as weak are more loved by fans. I agree with all your assessments of the episode itself. Dwight was on fire, Jim\'s 2nd mock proposal and his head\'s up were two great set ups for the big finale, and Michael vs. Stanley was well played. I just wish that Michael didn\'t end up quoting five comedians horribly at the end of the ep. That totally took me out of the ep and lost me completely.
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This has nothing to do with the episode (which I liked a lot, even though Stanley WAS mean, and that would never fly in the \"real\" world) but, TWSS Matt - did you go to This American Life? I got excited when I heard you mention it on the podcast, because I went, but no one I know even know what it was. This made me sad. So, you get kudos in my book for being hip to Ira Glass. (And by the way, if you didn\'t go, you totally missed out, because it was great.)
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Thanks for mentioning my post in the last podcast! That was exciting. This episode was okay. I want more PB&J stuff because that is what I originally loved about the show, and I need less of Ryan the Ass and way less of Toby the Pathetic- although Michael was harsh to him. (Why can\'t Toby stand up to that?!) Dwight the Man is awesome; is Angela starting to come around?
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Although I found it to be quite amusing, I am glad they cut out the scene with Ryan coming into the office and chucking the bagel at Pam like a dog. They\'ve done the \'arms extended, come worship me\' Ryan entrance three times now. It is risking becoming the next \'Kramer barges into Jerry\'s apartment\' gag, but with a lot less comedic effect.
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melonie, i\'m totally with you on the glasses thing. i\'m as blind (if not blinder--is that a word?) as pam. i once broke my glasses at work, it sucked cuz i couldn\'t illustrate but it was great cuz i couldn\'t see my boss\'s stupid jerk-face. love the glasses deleted scene. i like the deleted scene in the breakroom too but it definitely felt unnecessary...hence, deleted. michael running into the camera man was a nice little touch, great reaction. ryan needs to get off the nose candy, i didn\'t know coke turns you into a metrosexual.
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As another blind The Office watcher, the \"had to wear my emergency glasses\" I actually looked forward to that side-plot. Also, I\'ve known a lot of women who no one knew they wore glasses until one day they showed up wearing the frames their mom picked out for them 10 years ago -- fashion changes always more extreme for women. I wish more of it had been in the episode, such as that second deleted scene maybe replacing some of Michael\'s desperate comedian digression. That deleted scene rang so very true. I have extreme stage fright. So, when I had to give speeches or presentations, I would always wear my glasses, then leave them behind so that I couldn\'t actually see anyone looking at me. Sometimes it\'s just easier when they\'re all blobs.
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If you don\'t like Michael doing Dangerfield or think it was too long, then you don\'t understand Michael and what Carrell has been building for 4 years. That\'s the essence of his character right there. You probably don\'t like the British Office either (or even bothered to see it). Maybe According to Jim is more your style.
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\"I don\'t get no respect\": I agree that it was too long, but I think its a funny idea (maybe just on paper though). If Carrell came up with it on the spot even better, but I imagine one of the writers saying, \"Ok Steve, for this scene you are going to be Michael Scott doing an impression of Jerry Seinfeld who is doing an impression of Rodney Dangerfield\". Again, I think its funny on paper. Glasses Deleted Scene: I thought the Glasses storyline was fine, but the deleted scene was so much better... especially blurry Dwight and Creed.
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This may be a dumb comment, but I was just watching the episode again and I just noticed the opening theme song was shortened. I think this is the first episode to do that. Almost every show starts out with a theme song that eventually gets edited to a few seconds. Some people would say thats good to get more content in the show, but its probably to get one more in commercial. Anyway I think its too bad because the theme song always pumps me up to start watching the show.
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Just random here...I\'m looking up the meaning of Din 4844/24340, & the Kentucky Derby is on...There is a commercial for the Office about horse gambling! Kevin, Creed, Dwight, Andy, & Dwight again! All of them make some funny comments about horse racing & gambling. I don\'t know if that will be posted anywhere, but it was funny. That Din 4844/25430 I believe is the label identification for that particular radioactive hazard sign! Very bizarre detail to include...but less bizarre than an obsessed fan that feels the need to look up such meaningless facts!
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I actually liked the last Michael TH. If they had made it any shorter then we wouldn\'t have gotten the point of the whole thing, which was Michael\'s struggle to feel better about what Stanley said to him. So it was very awkward, horrible and sad. If it had just been a Rodney Dangerfield impression it would have been pointless. Just something to consider.
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I keep forgetting there are two Matt\'s now. I was referring to TWSS Matt in my post, but now I\'m replying to you, Matt. :) (Sorry if there was any confusion!) I am going to respectfully disagree. I often thing some of Michaels impersonations, etc. go on far too long. I got the point after about two seconds -- he\'s upset. I don\'t like having a point rubbed into my face (I felt) because then it makes me as a viewer feel that the writers think I\'m stupid. On the other hand, you\'re right. Having him babble on like that DOES make it sadder -- like those people we know who continually bring things up that you said in a moment of anger/frustration/whatever. It\'s irritating and sad. So maybe they got the desired emotions out of me after all.
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Ok, go to http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/downloads/dunder_mifflin_emerg_org_chart.pdf to see the emergency takeover chart. It\'s hilarious! Dwight has Mose & his family take over, he fires Andy, & he puts the warehouse crew on lockdown! He is dominant over every department as well as blocking out even Michael & Ryan! There is an odd German warning near his name next to a radioactive sign! Warnung vor radioaktiven Stoffen und ionisierenden Strahlen (Din 4844 / 25430) Any German speakers out there to translate?
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I know people aren\'t really digging Pam\'s glasses story line, but I\'ve got to say that I absolutely LOVE it. Probably because that is me to a \'T\'. I thought it was hilarious when she couldn\'t see the phone (me) and then when she was taking notes and was an inch from the paper (me) and best of all, that her glasses were from the stone age of glasses-dome (mine -- well, until a bit ago when I FINALLY decided to splurge and get some decent looking specs) and that Kevin wanted her to say, \"These are due back on Thursday.\" I laughed for five minutes about that. Ha ha! Otherwise, I liked the episode (you have a buddy, Matt!) except Michael\'s respect speech. A few \'bits\' would have been fine, but it just went on waaaaay too long. I LOVED the scene with Stanley when they came to a mutual agreement -- Very well done. I also loved the Darryl scene. I know you don\'t love Darryl, Matt, but this one was awesome, especially when he said he was in the Newsies gang. Totally, completely awesome. O.k. must sleep now. I only pray that this post makes sense as I haven\'t got the energy to read over it . . .
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I thought this was an awesome episode! I had a lot of laugh out loud moments on Thursday night, but (as usual with the office) I appreciate it even more after the second viewing. Two comments I want to make: (1) This episode reminded me A LOT of Conflict Resolution from the end of Season 2. I loved that episode, although I know many didn\'t because of all the angst. I found Conflict Resolution funny and I thought there was a lot of important character movement that set up the season finale. I see parallels here. (2) I agree that Stanley was out of line with Michael. No one should speak to their boss like that, especially in front of your coworkers. HOWEVER, Michael totally deserved that. On my second viewing, I noticed the way that Michael was speaking to Pam regarding her glasses. He was unspeakably rude to her in front of everyone. Yet, when I saw that the first time, I laughed and thought nothing of it. Stanley is right and it\'s good that that came out. What goes around, comes around. Why should he be able to treat his employees with such disrespect and expect them to take it? Frankly it\'s a wonder Stanley hasn\'t already broke much sooner. Now, whether this has any lasting impact on Michael remains to be seen...
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I think the Dark Toby (which keeps making me think of the Pure Evil Dave Nelson for some reason) pretty much kicked in the instant he caught Pam giving Jim that peck in the breakroom at the beginning of the season. He actually looked like he had a stroke at that moment. I\'ve always thought it was a sign of a show\'s strength when lots of people all liked and hated different parts of it. One thing I really do like about reading/lurking here is that the actual episodes are discussed. It\'s not a lot of \"OMG!\" and half-sentences finished with \"LOL!\"
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Hi. My name is Becky, and I am an Office-aholic. The Office is becoming my freakin\\\' obsession!! Do any of the rest of you find yourself quoting it in situations at work? I know the first 3 seasons by heart because they are on my ipod and I listen at work. I\\\'ve never been like this with a TV show before. I seek out the people in MY office who are Office Freaks like me, and we throw quotes back and forth all day! Today we sang happy birthday(oh how lame) to the March people, and I was TRULY tempted to sing the Michael/Andy \\\"High Harmony\\\" part. Nobody would get it though. Imbeciles! LOL About the episode: The thing that bothered me with Stanley\\\'s confrontation is that the exact thing has happened to me at work this year, and I guess it hit too close to home. I don\\\'t need to feel that way in a SITCOM when I have it in real-life. Then again, like TWSS Matt says, some of the best parts of The Office are when they seem like something that would actually happen in real life. Pam\\\'s glasses were hilarious. And Michael\\\'s \\\"I can\\\'t even HEAR you over the UGLY\\\" was our quote of the day at MY office. Oh, and my email signature in the office now bears this quote \\\"Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.\\\" Maybe that will find me some Office nuts!
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Way to go Becky! Nothing nutty about people who watch a show & then rewatch it/relisten to it, & then listen to a podcast (or two) on it, & then go onto websites & post comments about it, & save the Dwight chart from this past week! I guess I\'m an office nut like you, because that\'s where I\'m at right now!
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so, can i redact all that stuff i\'ve said in the past about loving toby? cuz he\'s truly a sniveling little bitch this season. and ryan is a total pant-load. that confrontation with jim was like every conversation i\'ve had with middle and upper management, with the whole \"whooahh, don\'t get defensive!\" i truly felt sympathy for jim. and i don\'t think jim went behind ryan\'s back, he had a chance to speak with the cfo and put in his two cents cuz he knew that ryan doesn\'t want to hear it, despite him saying he\'s always open to \"constructive criticism\" (corporate bullshit code for, \"i\'m just humoring you, i own your ass.\") but it makes me wonder: ryan obviously found out about jim\'s comments through wallace so, did wallace tell him this as in he was seriously considering jim\'s comments or did he tell ryan as a way of saying, \"you need to keep this kid in line, you\'re his superior.\" wallace seems like a nice guy but, no doubt he\'s the kind of guy where business ultimately comes first and foremost. i dunno.
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There were some moments I loved and some I hated. I loved the Mad Libs game between Angela and Andy! But I did NOT like seeing this side of Stanley. And my fears of Jim and Pam possibly leaving the office that originated with last weeks episode, are becoming scarier with the threat of Jim losing his job. I also feel robbed of an explanation for Toby not following through on his move to Costa Rica and the awkwardness that should have come about with his return.
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Well this episode was all right. Some funny stuff. it was interesting to see Angela ACTUALLY happy with Andy, and i loved that line \"I hope nothing terrible ever happens to them\" from Dwight. At least he didnt break down and sob like he did in Dinner Party. The glasses thing was a VERY weak subplot. Then I remembered the whole car flipping thing. Both of them seemed more like gags and less of something that could really be expanded upon. I loved Darryl in this episode. And how he said it, so straight-faced. \"Fluffy fingers\" HA! The writers got me. I actually expected Michael to bust out the tickles all the way through after that, and I was even more suprised that Michael actually dealt with it (at the end) in a way that a normal boss might. I silently cheered for Michael for finally standing up to him. Also during that scene, I noticed that we once again acknowledged that is was not a SITCOM but a mockumentary. It seemed to me that they\'d more or less dropped those documentary angles and settled for more classic sitcom-y pans. I was SO scared for Jim, and really ticked at Ryan. Just surprising, I suppose. I didn\'t think he was doing THAT poorly. And it just occurred to me: if Ryan was there, why didn\'t Michael ask HIM to discipline Stanley? We wouldn\'t get that final little \"grown up\" moment, but still a plot gap (or whatever you might call it) And was it just me, or was the cold open strangely similar in its complete lack of continuity with the main plot? I LOVED that mock engagement and the Phyllis rebellion. Also, the closer (was it the closer?) sucked. That impression was funny for about 15 seconds...but when it came to a minute, it was like OK MICHAEL! ENOUGH! I need to go back and watch it again!
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I didn\'t really appreciate this episode. Stanley was way over the top dramatic, and I didn\'t feel that confrontation was necessary. Well, excluding the title \"did I stutter?\". I mean, Michael is not the brightest crayon in the box but come on, give the guy some credit. Without Michael how would stanley afford all those crossword puzzles? I found Pam\'s mayonaisse jar eye glasses hilarious though. I also found the cold open hilarious.
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I wasn\'t particularly into this episode. The whole thing felt kind of like one distended subplot. Maybe I\'m just not used to hearing Stanley talk that much, but his dialogue seemed forced to me-- and it wasn\'t as though it was particularly revelatory. If the point was that Michael could get over himself just enough to allow Stanley not to respect him, great. It could have happened in half the time, with about a quarter of the exposition. And I\'m far from asking that this turn into the Jim and Pam show, but I miss seeing them as the A plot a little more often. (Maybe the Ryan-Toby-Jim scene will grow into something soon?) I did enjoy seeing Pam force herself to work without her glasses, though, even if was a bit sitcom-ish. It was reminiscent of the time she closed her v-neck with a binder clip. (Dwight\'s chart is brilliance, though. Also appreciated Darryl\'s smooth handling of Michael; nothing gets to that man anymore.)
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I wish that they had chosen a real Michael screw-up for Stanley to get that ticked off over. Michael\'s idea for reenergizing things wasn\'t too stupid, but why did the blowup have to be over this? It would have been stronger had it been over something like Michael\'s rabies fun run pro-am \"for the cure.\" That said, I still say this was a good episode, and Dwight\'s chart is absolutely legendary. Hey, is there any photos of the \"Dwight in charge\" chart where Andy has been X-ed out? I expect a big escalation soon between Jim & Ryan over the job thingie. Maybe Jim gets fired, causing him to need to move away or something? That would certainly up the ante, & create some cliff-hangerish tension for a finale. One thing I liked about this episode is that it left much to look forward to.
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Gotta say, dug the episode. Wasn\'t my favorite of the season but it was perfectly fine. After a couple of seasons of seeing how Stanley really does feel about Michael, it was great to see it all finally come to ahead. Like Kevin, I am kind of disappointed that it didn\'t come to an epic battle of the titans. After watching Scrubs and The Office this week I figured what the spin-off would be. Andy and Kevin adopt a child and become LEGAL CUSTODIANS~! Or I guess it\'d be Paper Selling Paper Sellers but it\'d still work.
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I don\'t understand people who say things like the episode was too uncomfortable or confrontational or Stanley was mean, etc. Do you want a show about rainbows and kittens where everyone is nice and sweet? That\'s boring! Go watch Regis and Kathy Lee or whatever!
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There are a lot of parallels this episode: 1) the way that Jim/Michael/Pam confronts job or personal criticism 2) jerkiness of Ryan/Stanley 3) the way Andy/Michael responds to Dwight 4) the sales style Andy/Dwight (even if its a car) - one of the accessories of the XTerra is \"character\", by the way and others previously mentioned.
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Yeah, that deleted scene was brutal. I am glad they didn\'t include it (for a lot of the same reasons you were). It\'s technically \"canon\", but I choose to ignore it. Heh. I just need good ol\' relatable Jim back. Remind us why we like him, writers! That being said, the writers have him on a very solid arc which (hopefully) will get people back on his side. Dwight\'s chart hopefully became a poster at the NBC store, or a wallpaper. I wouldn\'t buy it (shipping to Canada is unnecessarily brutal) but I\'d like to know what the pictures are! Menstruation legend? Pure Dwight!
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Dark episode...there was little to laugh at in \'Did I Stutter,\' which kind of makes me like it more. Overall, I give it a B+. In general, I like the darker direction that this season has taken, but thought that the plot threads could have been tied together a little bit better this episode. Couple thoughts: 1) Stanley has, in my books, replaced Ryan as the least likable character on the show. Everyone has their beef with Michael\'s idiotic ways, and Stanley\'s blowup over the \'mock firing\' was in many ways justified. However, he really typifies the cranky do-nothing old-timer who contributes nothing but criticism, apathy, and negativity. Last week, he led the torch-carrying mob against Pam and Jim for the parking lot logistics snafu, concerned only with his bath and red wine. How about \'Traveling Salesman,\' when he ridiculed poor pre-half-beard Ryan about his timid introductions to the clients? 2) I used to feel sorry for Toby for having to endure Michael\'s endless abuse, but the writers have really made him a dark character this season. Some have observed that he is now playing the role of Seasons 1-2 Jim, pining over Pam, and wishing he could be the significant other. However, Jim was a decent guy about it – he was crushed, but realized there was little he could do. Toby, on the other hand, has sent out memos against PDA, made out with a girl to get back at Pam, fondled her leg, and is now trying to get Jim fired. Also, the discontinuity was a big head-scratcher for me – last week he\'s hopping the fence and running off to Costa Rica, and now he\'s in the conference room, plotting to get Jim kicked off the island? 3) Ryan quickly erased any sympathy I had for him after Night Out. I felt bad that he had to turn to posturing around Scranton and drugs to cope with his pathetic existence in NYC. Then, this week he conspires with Toby to take down Halpert, ostensibly for his slacker ways. He resents Jim for having made some sales, his luck with the ladies (he had struck out with Pam, The Purse Lady, and Karen), and his bond with David Wallace. The raging coke habit doesn\'t exactly help his insecurity and paranoia. The writers chose wisely, having last week\'s disaster only heighten Ryan\'s d!ckery, as opposed to the safer route of drug counseling, or a major personality change. 4) Dwight is kicking some major ass after the strike! I was getting tired of his Chewbacca-like (kudos to Matt for noting the similarity) crying and mopiness after being dumped by Angela earlier this season. By contrast, I loved his take-no-prisoners approach to everything, from making Andy look like a total chump with the XTerra flip, to his attempt to usurp Michael\'s power (with his permission, of course). He has also gotten better at ridiculing his coworkers since last season\'s \'spot on\' imitation of Jim Halpert (\'key Karen, wanna have sex...ooh, some comment\'): the Andy \'mockapella\' during the carwash, along with perhaps the maddest mad lib ever, were hilarious. The new Dwight seems to have some appeal to Angela as well, who looked on with slight approval at the XTerra transaction. 5) Steve Carrell continues to amaze me. The writers are making Michael Scott a truly multi-dimensional character, as opposed to an idiotic goofball (see \'Phyllis\' Wedding\') or an insensitive, solipsistic jerk (see \'Chair Model\'). His exchange with Stanley at the end was extremely believable and touching. Realizing that the guy will never respect him, he is content to compromise with a simple veneer of the typical boss-worker relationship. And yet, as always, the writers remind us that this is, after all, Michael Scott. His butchering of the works of Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Seinfeld, and Borat was far more painful than was the confrontation with Stanley.
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This was the darkest episode of The Office that I can remember, but I thought it was the best since the strike ended. There was about a full two minutes of tense non-comedy that made me \'scared uncomfortable\' instead of \'awkward uncomfortable\'(when the employees scattered and Michael and Stanley had their showdown.) Also, Jim getting dressed down may have been the most \"real\" moment I\'ve seen Kransinki pull off (aside from maybe him and Dwight in the stairwell.) Maybe it\'s just that I\'ve been reprimanded at work more than a few times, but he captured that feeling of being totally blindsided really well. You know the feeling - when you think you\'ve been cruising along just fine and someone in authority tells you otherwise and you have no recourse but to simply take it. Like TWSS Matt, I think Jim is usually a dick. This time, though, I felt for him.
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I liked this episode, but the B & C stories were pretty much non-starters. Both didn\'t really go anywhere. Darryl: Latin King, Newsie, Blood, Crip. Fluffy Fingers. Excellent scene. Jim\'s reprimand: Really great stuff. I am a big Jim proponent, and having him get called out completely out of the blue felt dickish by Ryan. While his points are quite valid, it\'s obviously not about his job performance at all, but office politics. It was a very real, bare moment that was well played by both actors. Starting off with an innocuous Eagles comment? What a prick. I am a big Jim fan, and don\'t really agree with TWSS Matt\'s \"Jim is a jerk\" assertion. Excluding bits of this season and a few episodes of last, he is definitely the most sympathetic character on the show. He\'s a prankster, sure, and although it\'s sometimes a little antagonistic, it\'s never overtly malicious. When it gets too much, he redeems himself (\"Money\" being a prime example of this). He\'s easily the most relatable character on the show for me, so I can\'t see him as a jerk - and when I do, it\'s the exception rather than the rule.
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Another great episode in the evolution of Michael Scott. He stood up to Dwight and did the dirty work himself. I just wish I could have heard the conversation with Phyllis. And I am really looking forward to Jim kicking Ryan\'s ass (before he kicks Beasley\'s ass with a real proposal). I am loving the fake proposals.
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Did not like seeing Jim thrown off-guard by Ryan. Too dark for me. I assume it\'s the drugs talking. I can understand Toby\'s actions a bit. He\'s so desperate for Pam that this is all he can think to do. Lots of people in real life denegrate others to feel better about themselves. Given that the writers had Stanley\'s harsh lines out there (which I didn\'t like either), I thought he and Michael actually came to a pretty good understanding afterwards. It\'s something they both can live with. In a way, Stanley finally respects Michael\'s need for some respect as the manager. In those moments, Michael actually behaved like a competent manager. He did it calmly and in private.
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I\'m finding it harder to say I like or hate a particular episode because I find moments I both love and hate in each episode. I\'m just glad to have the show (the writers) back. I can put up with the bad (what I don\'t like) for the good. If they break up Jim and Pam, I won\'t like it but at least I\'ll have had them finally get together for a while. As to our guilty pleasure of Meredith being hit in the face with the football last week - I felt the same thing when Michael hit her with his car. I can\'t explain it - it\'s just funny to me. I\'ve thought about it a bit and can\'t imagine it being funny with anyone else getting hit. I don\'t watch the show for this slapstick but I enjoy these moments when they\'re thrown in. I\'d go nuts trying to make every bit connect. I just enjoy the unique characters, the romance and the moments of absurdity and humor.
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\"Whose name is crossed off on the accountants side?\" That would be Tom from accounting. You might remember him from Performance Review. Remember when they were reading off the comments from the suggestion box and there was one about depression and Michael didn\'t know who that was? He\'s the guy Phyllis said shot himself. She puts a gun to her head and said \"poof\".
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This may have been the only episode in the show\'s history which I considered too dark for my taste. Michael\'s dressing down by Stanley was hard for me to take as he is my favorite character and I don\'t feel he was redeemed in any way. It\'s a shame since I loved the b story involving the resurgence of The Dwight and unsexy Pam. I give it a B-
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I have to say that this is probably my least favorite Office episode EVER. I also think it was far too dark! I felt like I was being punched in the gut over...and over...and over again. This episode showed the worst of everyone, and exposed everyone\'s weaknesses, with very little payoff at the end. I needed more genuine laughs and little victories from the characters to balance out the whole thing. I\'ve never felt this depressed at the end of an episode!
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Just like with Gay Witch Hunt, it\'s so difficult to watch Michael be cut down despite how much he deserves it. I suppose seeing him not want to address the situation creates sympathy. But once Stanley cut into him, you can\'t help but feel bad for him. Also, it was a little odd by how much Toby actually pushed for Michael to address it. Obviously that\'s his job, but it just seemed out of left field since Michael provoked Stanley\'s reaction. Of course, I suppose Toby\'s prominence must be tied into next week. I don\'t know if his role in the Stanley situation is directly tied to his attack on Jim, but it seems to hint at some destructive tendencies as he approaches his \"goodbye.\"
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I have to say, I wasn\'t a huge fan of this episode. I was glad to see it back in the office, and the first ten minutes or so were hillarious, but after that, I really didn\'t laugh all that much. I thought the initial jokes on Pam and the cement were both priceless, but the Stanley confrontation wasn\'t what I expected it to be. I could have done without the Andy/Dwight plotline, and Ryan calling Jim out was totally out of character and just weird... And the whole Michael\'s last talking head was uncomfortably NOT FUNNY. If there are deleted scenes that are priceless, I\'m going to be mad they put that one in and not the others. I thought it was just... bad. All in all, not the best episode ever. It had some extremely funny lines, but I\'d still take Chairwoman over it any day.
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I loved this episode. It feels like it has larger story arch. Is Toby really that big of a dick to hate on Jim like that? Oh Ryan is really turning into someone I really despise, which is awesome I like that villain comedy edge, especially now that we see he is a drugging disco boy. What will happen to our Jimmy boy? What will come of his performance review spurred on by Toby?
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Also Val, He did very subtly say this when he was talking about the yellow zig zag, passing michael jim, dwight, and then Stanley. I don\'t think dwight respects Jim enough to give him an opportunity at \"laddership\" (please tell me someone gets this reference PLEASE!
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I too was not a huge fan of this episode. I liked a lot of the parts, but, like last week, it seems to add up to less than the sum of it\'s parts. The Andy/Dwight plotline seemed useless, and Ryan calling Jim out seems totally contrived. I get that Toby is trying to \'use the system\' but it fell flat. And why did they make such a big deal about Pam\'s glasses? It was in the promo, but hardly added anything to the plot. Despite not liking it, I would have liked to see this as a supersize or hour episode. I feel like there was a lot more that should have been said. I really liked the cold open though.
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Thanks Viraj. Also before I forget-- Wasn\\\'t Jim just promoted last year? When Dwight was showing the chart I thought he would point out that maybe Jim as 2nd in command should try to talk to Stanley & it would be another opportunity for Jim to try his hand at management. I also think Jim should have pointed this out when Ryan said he was giving him a warning about his job performance.
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Did you notice that Devon\'s name was crossed out on Dwight\'s chart? Yet, he has Ryan above Michael. So, he made the chart after Devon was fired but after Ryan was promoted...Also notice that he has Andy\'s name crossed out with his takeover chart. Andy\'s name also has his \"regional Director in charge of Sales\" title over it! Hilarious! Jim\'s title is \"assistant Regional Manager, but Dwight\'s title is \"Original assistant regional manager,\" & is just slightly higher than Jim\'s position on the chart... Not very funny, but Ryan\'s title is \"Vice President, North east Regional and Director of New Media\" Some pointless trivia, & a few mild funnies there, but worthy of noting I think.
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I feel like I am in the minority here but I totally hated this episode. It gave me all sorts of bad feelings. Sure Michael is a horrible boss, but does Stanley have to say that to his face? And although Toby is impotent and weak, I don\'t ever remember him doing anything openly mean before this. And Ryan threatening Jim\'s job seems to create more drama than comedy. Is this the end of office pranks? Will Jim stay away from reception? If this is a hint of an end of season plot arc about Jim fighting for his job I am not very excited about it. And Michael\'s Rodney Dangerfield act looked so much like a delted scene I had to make sure my tv hadn\'t switched to my dvd player.
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I agree with Val here. I really didn\'t like the episode. It was WAY too confrontational, and it\'s not like Stanley at all to be so upfront about his hatred for Michael. He has always just back and done his crossword, and just let everything else go on. He could\'ve simply just said okay, paid attention for 3 seconds, and then gone back to his crossword. I thought everyone running out of the office was hilarious, but unfortunately, I didn\'t get a chance to laugh at it because I was too busy anticipating what was going to happen next because god damn NBC and its promo department advertising \"that someone will b fired\" I assumed that this was actually someone leaving (although I assumed that Michael fired toby instead of letting him move to Costa Rica) good comment
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I really enjoyed this episode. I had to watch the cold open to catch the \"that\'s what she said\" (force it in as deep as you can). A great Dwight episode (again!), and I liked the character development with Michael getting bolder & actually acting like a competent boss & a grown adult for once. Lots of good unresolved plot lines, like the further proposal attempt with Jim, Dwight messing with Dwangela, & Jim\'s job woes. Hey, since both Ryan & Toby both have expressed interest in Pam (and both acted very unstable last week!) perhaps they are both plotting against Jim. Just a theory. I was hoping that Michael would try to tickle Stanley, but I liked his crying even better. Great ending as well. Not an A episode but a solid B+.
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I loved this episode! It\'s strange how seeing Michael getting his head rubbed with peanut butter gets no laughs from me but him sticking his face into cement makes me almost die. Loved that. Dwight\'s charts and him knowing the women\'s menstrual cycles were great, Darryl referencing Newsies made my week, Creed flat out saying he wanted to see Pam topless was awesome, and Kevin should quit and become a fight night announcer. Do I dare say we have an episode that matches The Injury in terms of comedy?? I think so.
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Wow! what a great episode. Great cold opening. There was a lot of truths spoken (Michael, Stanley). I got to see Dwight in a tanktop. See what a lame mad lib sounds like. And I always love when the fourth wall gets broken with Stanley reacting to the news of the fake firing. 10/10 fo sho
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