Thu, 12 February 2009
From NBC.com:
LECTURE CIRCUIT (Part 2) | 02.12.09 | 9/8c PT | TV-PG L
 
TOUR
OF THE BRANCHES (PART TWO) - Michael (Steve Carell) and Pam (Jenna
Fischer) continue their tour of the branches with Michael taking a
lesson from their visit to Utica. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Jim (John
Krasinski) struggle to fulfill their new party planning duties with a
grumpy staff. Angela's (Angela Kinsey) new cat causes a stir. Ed Helms,
Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling,
Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Creed Bratton and Paul
Lieberstein also star.
--------------- Hm. Huge Holly fan that I am, I was initially thrilled by the cliffhanger ending last week. Unfortunately, I am starting to think that the writers are going to pull something-- some "lesson" about how Holly left and won't be there or something along those lines-- that is going to leave me an unhappy camper. I dearly hope I am wrong, but since we haven't gotten any leaks or announcements about Amy Ryan coming back to the show (think about how long in advance we knew that Karen would be back) I am fearing the worst. Still, I enjoyed the "Jwight" dynamic last week immensely, and even if Holly is gone I hope those two knuckleheads will keep the smile on my face. As always, join Kevin and me in the TWSS Chatroom during/after the show, and post your comments below.
Category:general
-- posted at: 3:07pm EDT
Comments[24]
|
-
Listening to the podcast I was thinking of a reoccurring topic: when suspending reality for a joke or the show\'s plot works, and when it doesn\'t. There\'s so, so many way over-the-top moments I can brainstorm right now: Michael thinking Kevin\'s \"negative\" skin cancer was a bad news, Michael \"declaring\" bankruptcy, and so many of Creed\'s lines, including him not being sure if he had sex with women or men. But here\'s the biggest stretch I\'ve seen on the show: Ryan getting rehired after being fired for corporate fraud. But sometimes these most ridiculous ones are a kind of \"wink\" moment with the audience. In that I give Ryan\'s rehire a pass. Sure its bizarre, and a far, far reach, but I can play along knowing its a comedy show and its for the sake of keeping a character around. But in season two Dwight didn\'t knowing where the clitoris was, and then deciding to ask Toby for help. Oh no - bad joke. I mean, it was unfunny on two levels: it was simply not funny, but it was also an overly-corny caricature of the office nerd. (like a \"wow - that grown man has never been with a woman\" ha ha at him joke.) Not knowing basic biology just seemed like a cookie-cutter cheap joke you\'d see on another, simpler sitcom. Anyways the characters on the show are deeper than that. For instance how Dwight\'s social ineptitude and respect the ideals of power and authority match with Angela\'s, and so even though they don\'t seem similar at first, they see eye to eye and hook-up. That\'s deep, and that\'s funny. Anyway, I think Angela licking her cat seems like a pretty small stretch, in the big picture, here\'s my match: Angela licking cat: 3/10 Ryan rehired: 6.5/10 Oscar climbing in the ceiling to escape a fire: 9/10 Dwight\'s clitoris: 1/10
-
All these recent plot lines seem so boring. I like Jim and Dwight working and fighting together but when they\'re the highlight of the episode, you know you\'re in trouble. The only thing more uncomfortable than Michael botching a presentation is having Pam act and look uncomfortable. Haven\'t seen anything interesting or half-way funny since \"the duel\". This is my favorite show. I own all the seasons on DVD and I\'m really struggling this season with the lame plots. The writers have put a spark in Stanley but he\'s been the only bright spot since Holly left. Since Jim and Pam are stable, we need some romantic edginess. Hook up Andy and Kelly to add some sparks - or maybe Angela and Darryl. I can take some nice subtle plots interwoven with some great humor or romance but several flat plots don\'t make for great episodes.
-
Errr, this really let me down. i enjoyed the 1st part and got it right that holly would be with someone else. but this episode to me was just very forgettable only bit that made me chuckle was when michael cut off the arm! Angela and the cat bit was not funny just wierd and the party bit was a none event. roll on the next episode....
-
I think these episodes pointed out once again that Jim is NOT cut out to be a supervisor. With him yelling at Dwight and Kelly, I think this is the first time we\'ve actually seen him lose his temper a little. Regardless, John and Rainn have magnificent chemistry in their scenes together. It\'s stuff like this that make these 2 episodes and Customer Survey the best episodes of the season so far. Long live DWIM!
-
I\'m surprised Angela\'s cat lick is getting such attention here - it was bizarre but not that crazy. I mean, I babysat a cat for a month a while back and although I never licked the cat - I swear - I renamed him 50 Cent and talked to him for like 20 minutes at a time. Weird times. I was re-doing that SNL skit from a few weeks back when Mark Wahlberg talks to animals. \"Hey goat: I\'m Mark Wahlberg, I produce Entourage. Say hi to your mother for me.\" I did that for like 20 minutes. So that\'s not quite Angela-zone, but hey its getting close.
-
Wow. I\'m surprised at all the negativity and cynicism in regards to this episode. I thought this ep perfectly continued the tone and quality set out with part 1. Awesome Michael/Pam interaction, still more blundering from Jim and Dwight, although they did come through, and the image of Kelly sleeping under the table has to be one of the sweetest moments of the series, if ruined by Dwight in the end. Angela licking the cat didn\'t bother me since she did date a guy who cut off the face of a dummy and wore it like a mask. And where\'s this \"Pam lied to Michael about Holly\'s letter\" bull coming from? Considering the heart to heart they had earlier, it would be waaayyy out of character and downright evil of Pam to do so. So let\'s just cut that down with a chainsaw. Overall, this two parter is one of the stronger eps of the series and a return to THE OFFICE of old.
-
What\'s the logical point of having Pam read the letter, OTHER than to spare Michael\'s feelings? If they just wanted to show that Holly still had emotions for Michael, then they would have had him read it himself. The fact that Pam read it could be a red herring, but I\'m sure was supposed to make us question the validity of what she said.
-
I just watched these episodes back-to-back, and I can say that after the abysmal Super Bowl episode, I was glad to see these two get The Office back on track. Aside from the disturbing visual of Angela licking her cats, these were an excellent set of episodes! We\'ve seen it in past episodes, but the pairing of Dwight and Jim equals comedy gold. As much as I love Pam, forget JAM and bring on more DIM! :-)
-
Thankfully, I read Matt\'s prediction about there being no confirmation of an Amy Ryan appearance before I watched the show. Because of that I wasn\'t let down as much by learning Holly was on an hr retreat. (Why wasn\'t Toby on that retreat?) The show was ok but it has been inconsistent all season. The fact that we are looking for storylines to be over with, rather than excited by the outcome, is not a good thing. I guess they no longer read fan comments like they said they did in the earlier seasons. Anyhoo, this episode did have a few good moments. I take a nap during my lunch break everyday, so I\'m happy Kelley made that choice. Team naps. Jim and Dwight are the worst party planning committe - ever. LOL I thought for a split second Pam would do a good job with the presentation but then I remembered she doesn\'t work in sales. LOL Another thing about Pam is I wondered if she was lying to Michael about Holly\'s letter to spare his feelings.
-
What the hell was that?! When did Angela change from uptight bitch into disgusting cat lady? What was the point of bringing up Kelly\'s juvy time? And if they weren\'t going to use Amy Ryan why did they bother dragging this plot out for two episodes? Loved the Jim/Dwight stuff though, and Pam cheering Michael up is always good.
-
Although I didn\'t enjoy this week\'s episode as much as last week, there were a few good moments. Loved the continued Jim/Dwight stuff. And those balloons make me laugh every time I see them. I was disappointed that we didn\'t get to see Holly, but not surprised. It broke my heart to see Michael so upset. But I did laugh at him cutting Holly\'s sweater, silly as it was. And Pam is back! I was so happy to see the old Pam. I had been missing the kind, considerate Pam from episodes past and it was nice to see her so supportive of Michael. And while I love the Jim/Pam dynamic, it was a nice change of pace seeing them on their own, without the focus on \"will they/won\'t they.\" I agree that the Angela stuff was a bit much, but she\'s been dumped by both Andy and Dwight and I\'m guessing she\'s probably a bit lonely. Her cats are her family and haven\'t we all done some strange things after a breakup? And we don\'t actually know that she licked the cat. Perhaps she was pretending to lick the cat and from that camera angle, it just looked real. And I admit that I\'ve had cat hair in my mouth - anyone with a cat can attest to hair being everywhere and sometimes after they rub against your face, pillow, etc. there may be a few stray hairs. Okay now I sound like a crazy cat woman... Overall, good episode.
-
I have to say that I loved last night\'s episode. This new Jim & Dwight pairing is like a really good buddy comedy. The fact that it\'s so low-key and filled with so many one-liners makes it better. I realize we haven\'t been giving John K. enough credit. We (mostly) all lived & died with Jim & Pam the first 3 seasons and then this season when we need a new dynamic, we get a deeper dynamic on the Jim & Dwight relationship. It would be easy & lazy of the writers to have Jim sit around and do nothing but sabotage Dwight or worse, let him have his way. By having Jim try to work with Dwight on the committee, we see flashes of what the writers hinted would have been their relationship when they were back doing sales calls together. They say they hate each other, but the scene of them eating cake together on the couch is priceless. So, what I\'m saying in a long-winded way, is that John K. seems to be making the people he acts with shine more. And I hadn\'t had that thought before. Angela and the cats didn\'t bother me as much as it did Kevin but I did love that Oscar and Kevin got that peek into her weird little world. Am I the only one who noticed what a pretty smile Angela Kinsey has? Too bad her character doesn\'t allow more of that. All in all, I liked the episode a lot and from the early comments, it looks like I\'ll be in the minority but that\'s OK with me. I will be looking forward to Kevin & Matt doing their Jim/Dwight impressions on the podcast this week.
-
Ok ok...it was cartoonish. The Angela thing was bizarre. That was more of a Meredith thing to do (ok...even more bizarre mental picture!). It is odd that they said she had a boyfriend, but then Pam said that Holly still had feelings for Michael. Is she lying to spare his feelings? If so, that is actually cruel. The only thing worse than heartbreak is false hope, because that means harder heartbreak later. I think the Kelley/Kelly/Kelleigh/Kellie birthday plot was a lame-brain pointless storyline. Seriously, do the writers forget that just a few episodes ago, we had Kelley upset at Dwight & Jim because they forgot to honor a party of hers? At least have it be someone else, or have her mad at someone else, or wait one season or so before regurgitating an old plot point. Hey, why not have Dwight actually set off that bomb scare next week? Why not have Michael jam his foot in a toaster right after he burned his foot? Why not have Ryan burn a bagel in the toaster, setting off another office fire? I still love the show, & I actually really laughed at several parts in the episode, but I find myself liking the plot ideas you guys come up with more than many of the ones the writers come up with.
-
I\'ve thought of something recently. We TWSS listeners as well as you as hosts are quite critical of the show. That\'s not a bad thing; I think I enjoy dissecting the show & going through past events. Comparing & contrasting things helps me to enjoy little nuances I wouldn\'t normally have seen before. The Office is a much deeper show than say other classics of the past. No one would compare the consistency of characters like Lucy, Cliff Huxtable, Jerry Seinfield, Frasier, or the Cheers & Friends cast. Great shows get scrutinized, especially with the strong dramatic elements of the show. This however can be a negative, because it gets the critical examination of a serious drama. However, it also has to continue to deliver laughs, since this really is a comedy at heart. My new outlook on it is to enjoy the dramatic elements & seriously critique them. They better not screw up the Jim/Pam plot or fundamentally ruin Michael\'s life. Michael deserves to end up with Holly or someone like her. However, when it comes to the comedy, I\'m just gonna laugh as long as it is funny. The reality & drama makes the humor matter more, otherwise it would be another cartoonish show like 30 rock or Earl. I like those shows too, but they are never realistic. Hence, I ONLY laugh, & am never moved in any other way. Other shows are mostly dramatic, & occasionally I\'ll laugh. This show makes me laugh hard & feel strong emotions. Name me a show that can deliver that...they are rare.
-
Here\'s a theory on what I think might go down as a result of tonight\'s episode: Dwight\'s gets his third strike when he looks at Kelly\'s personnel files.... Dwight will eventually get fired and mysteriously ends up working for Prince Paper...taking his client list with him Suddenly, Dunder Mifflin Scranton isn\'t the most productive branch anymore.
-
I feel... like all these episodes are getting worse?? I love the office and will keep watching, but I feel like they aren\'t as great as they used to be. Seasons 3 and 4 are my favorite. I realize you can\'t keep doing the same things but really? Angela? that was a little over the top for me. What was the point? I understand Michael trying to get closure with Holly. I wonder is that was what was actually in the \'letter\' that she still had feelings. Pam trying to finish the speech (when there was nothing being said by Michael anyways) was pointless.. I don\'t know about Kelly\'s birthday either. Why don\'t they just pass on the responsibility to someone else? LIke... back to phyllis. She was doing well with it! Lets kick it up Office folks!
-
Ha! Well this second part was real interesting - I think awkward and strange was the theme - and on a few levels: the nap/tv show party, Angela acting bizarre (first she was happy, then she was a cat), Dwight slapping Kell(e!)y\'s ass. Weird. Highlight was Pam taking over: \"Freckles, Penguin, K.D. Lang\" then \"I have a chainsaw! VVVRRRMM\" Overall it felt different - funny on another sort of level than many other episodes.
Adding comments is not available at this time.
![[Valid RSS]](http://static.flickr.com/81/247458026_2d6cc2cec1_o.png "Validate my RSS feed")