(Mainly starting the thread to get back to proper labeling of episode titles.)
Who knew Gabe had an office? I've been wondering for weeks where he actually sits and works at Dunder Mifflin. Kathy Bates doesn't think much of him for giving Jim's office to Darryl and making him work in a corner near Toby, Kelly, and Ryan.
Ryan gave me the biggest laugh when he saw Michael take what he wants, bolted out of his chair, told Erin to sleep with him, got shot down, and came back defeated.
Creed's one line was also great. We haven't heard much from Creed all season but the last two episodes, his token lines have been showstoppers.
The season's over next week, I believe. I don't side at all with the people who think this was a horrible season overall, but I DO believe that the second half of the season after the Christmas episode was not nearly as good as the first half, which had the wedding, the aforementioned Christmas episode, Scott's Tots, the end of Dunder Mifflin Corporate, Michael dating Pam's mom, etc. I thought that stuff was great.
When Sabre took over, The Office suddenly, confusingly felt like season 19 of The Simpsons. Suddenly, the show felt exhausted and redundant. That's just what I think. Not that there wasn't good stuff in the second half, like when the sales staff were acting like assholes, but something felt off the last several episodes since the return after the Winter Olympics. Personally, I never recovered from resetting the paradigm and having Jim go back to being a salesman. The forward progression of events in the office halted.
At the end of the day, though, chin stroking analysis of a sitcom is pointless since the goal is to make people laugh. I still laugh a lot at The Office, I still like the characters a lot. Community and Parks and Recreation's freshness and creativity hit The Office hard and 30 Rock harder. But then, I have friends who only watch The Office on Thursday nights who tell me it's as funny as ever. Maybe it is, but I'm just looking elsewhere for new laughs.
-You failed to mention the hilarious cold open involving an absurd hypothetical scenario involving bullets Osama Bin Laden, Hitler and Toby. When Dwight had them line up in front I was losing it.
-Michael: "I'm Beyonce. I'm always Beyonce"
-Of course it had to be Meredith's birthday cake. Hope they at least got her a decent card this time around.
-The ballgame scene was classic Office cringe awkward.
The little things that make me laugh about this show are still there. Case in point, Andy getting excited about being chosen to be Bin Laden.
Creed's line was good, but not quite as awesome as last week's "I've done a lot more for a lot less" line. We had to pause the DVR we were laughing so hard at that one. To me, that's not the sign of a show that has lost it. Not as good, maybe, but not lost it.
In watching some of the early shows on TBS recently, I am amazed at how so many of the characters were fleshed out from the beginning. But has any character changed more than Ryan since the show began? Funny that he was supposed to be the "normal" one (along with Jim).
I was actually thinking 30 Rock had slipped recently, but the last 2 episodes have been much better.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
It's a good show, and I've liked it for a long time.. but I think my favorite part was possibly getting a sneak peek at how the show will end when Gabe wanted some important papers destroyed and Michael was answering questions about printer fires.
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