Yes, it’s true and it’s amazing. Two of my absolute favorite actresses, Jenna Fischer and Vanessa Marcil have been involved in new projects… and their trailers BOTH came out today!!

Jenna’s project is a movie called Solitary Man and you can check out the trailer here. Sample o’ the awesomeness…

Vanessa has a new web series called The Bannen Way and you can check out that trailer here! Picture proof? You got it…

I’m telling you guys… it’s like it’s my birthday. But it’s not May 13th, so my brain is confused. The only thing that could make this better? If Kelly Clarkson & Idina Menzel came out with new songs and/or albums today. Or, you know, ice cream. Not for me, so much, as for Michael Scott. Anyone?

Seriously, air brushing is the biggest lie known to man. This first came to me seeing this picture while checking out at the grocery store:

Yes, Jenna Fischer is a very attractive woman, but you can just tell this is airbrushed. Her stomach, boobs, and face just look too “creamy” and unreal. This only affects women though, in my opinion. It gives them a false sense of what to look like. Maybe this leads to anorexia? Who knows? But I’m not going to lie, this is a hot picture.

Today’s girl of the Day is another Office girl and actress.  I’ll get straight to the point..her name is Jenna Fischer, also known as Pam from the Office.

Us Weekly

At the Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood party at Voyeur, Audrina, 24, was spotted oogling over Mark Salling, 27, the mohawk-sporting hunk from FOX’s new hit show Glee.

Audrina and Mark were reportedly very close at the event and even shared a table. They talked for 45 minutes, whispering into each other’s ears and laughing. Just before the clock struck 11pm, Audrina and Mark made an early exit with their respective entourages. Their cars followed one another out.

Hopefully she’s slowly forgetting about Justin Bobby. The last time Audrina dated an actor, it didn’t go so well. Hopefully this one is more down to earth.

Several other celebs were in attendance including: Audrina’s frenemy Kristin Cavallari plus Stephanie Pratt and Whitney Port (now of The City) joined Salling’s fellow Glee castmates, American Idol’s Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, Dancing with the Stars‘ Lacey Schwimmer, Cheryl Burke, Melissa Joan Hart and Mya, musicians Leona Lewis and LL Cool J, engaged Office star Jenna Fischer, Playgirl cover man Levi Johnston and many, many more.

Get ready for some new Scrubs… yeahhhhhhhh

Thanks so much to a friend for letting me know about this new promo picture from the upcoming The Addams Family Broadway musical! That link happens to also have some new info about the show.

Entertainment Weekly has a list of 20 people they’d like to host SNL, courtesy of their readers. Although John Krasinski & Jenna Fischer are missing from this list (fail), I agree with many of these… come on, SNL! Let’s get creative!

Jim freakin’ Carrey has a new website and it’s insanity. I’ve always been a huge fan, since his In Living Color days, so I really love the fact that he’s made his website so awesome. I mean, honestly… how many huge movie stars have their own site?

58, you say?

Another solid episode of The Office. Lots of good things happening here, with some terrific lines.

Functionally, it got rid of Pam’s mom as Michael’s girlfriend (good thing), it maintained Pam’s crazy spats and Jim’s fear of said crazy spats (good thing, although I hope the spats don’t disappear once she delivers the baby), and it featured another of Dwight’s schemes to dethrone Jim (always a good thing).

"You owe me one."

And the episode had a schoolyard fight. Well, it didn’t quite deliver on the fight, although the writers wisely knew that if there’s a fist on the mantle in act one it’s gotta punch in act three, but it had all the requisite drama with an amusing buildup in which the office mates were forced to choose sides and pretty much everyone rooted for Pam to knock out Michael. Toby even went so far as to teach Pam how to throw a punch.

Jenna Fischer was particularly strong in this episode, so I gotta give her props. And it’s great to see that she took time out of her grueling schedule of promoting her airbrushed magazine covers.

Way more important than Afghanistan.

But before we get to the physical violence, the lunch date scene was a classic uncomfortable Michael Scott moment in which he makes the right decision (break up with her) for the wrong reasons (she reminds him of his unfulfilled life and imminent death) at the absolute worst time (on her birthday in front of Jim and Pam).

Michael: “I am not robbing the cradle. If anything, I’m robbing the grave.”

The dumping of Pam’s mom was uncomfortable, but not quite cringe-worthy for me as I don’t have anything invested in her character and don’t want a love interest for Michael other than Holly, even though Holly has the problem of not bringing any conflict. They’re TOO well suited for each other, but unlike Pam and Jim, they are a very entertaining team to watch. So, writers, I ask you to please bring back Amy Ryan, even if only for a couple episodes, so that we may get more inspired bits like…”Slumdunder Mifflinaire!”

Happier times (kinda).

With the brutal breakup, we are reminded that Michael can be a really shallow jerk (reminiscent of an older episode where he went on a blind date and told the woman about Jan and her breast implants) but I don’t believe he’s malicious; it comes from a place of complete ignorance of himself and social norms; that he could go that long without knowing the age of the woman he’s sleeping with, and then once he finds out decide to immediately dump her, is not an act of malice, but an act of cluelessness. And that’s why we love him.

But the Oldenburgs weren’t the only couple bucking horns. One of my favorite moments was Jim busting Pam on her fake emergency:

"Hello? Well, that's great!"

Lots of little moments struck gold:

• Kelly complimenting Pam’s mom on her necklace and then shaking her head “no” to the camera.
• Ryan’s photography project of office nudes, with Kelly as the first model.
• Creed being relieved that the emergency paper shipment was not real, because it was never supposed to get there.
• Jim can’t call off the fight because Pam “looks crazy” but he can work on a solution if Michael can give him a week, maybe two.
• Andy is unable to let a favor go unreturned, leading to a war of pleasantries between him and Dwight.

It all leads to high noon at closing time.

Michael: “Am I scared of getting hit in the face? No. Every day, dominatrixes get paid by weirdos for just that privilege. I’m scared I’m gonna love it.”

Out in the parking lot (which is apparently far enough so as to be off company grounds?), the gang waits in eager anticipation of the big hit. Kelly’s even enjoying a pre-game snack…

Michael: “Are you eating popcorn?”

Kelly: “It has almost no calories.”

Michael apologizes to Pam and she stands down, until he mentions that her mom was the one that came on to him first. So it’s open season…

When saying you're sorry isn't good enough.

Phyllis: “Holy crap.”

Pam: “You okay?”

Michael: “Nooo!”

Pam: “Yer okay.”

Jim: “Feel better?”

Pam: “No. You were right.”

We end on Michael’s interview in which he describes how Pam’s slap gave him an instant vision of his future life, which includes four kids, a hover car, a hover house, wealth, happiness and eternal life.

“It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough for me.”

-Dan Calvisi
Dan’s Scriptomatic Cinematic Telematic 3D!

BONUS: Here’s Mindy Kaling’s music video parody (they’re all in character) for the new song from Subtle Sexuality entitled “Male Primadonna”

Sometime during the last season – and without me even realizing it – the American version of The Office became equivalent in quality to its British progenitor.

Ever since the American version got its start in 2005, I’ve sworn up and down that it just doesn’t hit the same emotional notes as Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s original iteration of the show.  Much has been made of that show’s “comedy of discomfort,” of Gervais’ amazingly rendered office manager David Brent, of the delicious antagonism between employees Tim and Gareth, and of course the sweetly fumbling romance between Tim and Dawn.  As a comedy it’s nearly perfect, with each episode sporting one or two moments that should be immortalized in some comedy museum somewhere.

But what set it apart from the American version, at least until recently – and what makes me watch the entire series all the way through a couple times each year – is the rich vein of emotion that runs just below the surface.  The British version works so well because the characters, even David and Gareth, are profoundly real. There’s no cartoonish buffoonery or high-concept hijinks; the show is rooted in reality, and Gervais and Merchant were never afraid to let relevant emotion seep in when it was appropriate.  The scene at the end of Season 1 where David begs for his job is one of the most excruciatingly heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen on television.  And the culmination of Tim and Dawn’s relationship in the series finale is – with all apologies to the American version’s Jim and Pam – absolutely note-perfect.

I’ve used the word perfect a couple times, and that’s really the thing about the British version: each episode presents a situation, or sometimes a series of moments, that could go wrong in so many different ways – cheap comedy, easy laughs, bogus sentimentality – but Gervais, Merchant, and the actors found, 100% of the time, the exact right way to develop and resolve those situations.  That’s a nearly impossible feat that I’m not sure any other show has consistently replicated.

The American version, by contrast, has more often than not gone for the easy laugh.  It’s usually a good laugh – don’t get me wrong – but the show has largely plowed a different furrow than the UK original. There’s no denying that the appealing chemistry between John Krasinski’s Jim and Jenna Fischer’s Pam helps keep the show grounded, but where the British version mined humor from the mundane, the American version often goes for the wacky premise – Michael burns his foot on a George Foreman grill!  Dwight plays the recorder at a bird’s funeral!  This tendency often drags the show into the realm of sitcom, which it otherwise seems to be commendably resisting.

One other fundamental difference between the two series rests with the characters.  The British version had a smaller canvas, focusing primarily on David Brent, Gareth, Dawn, and Tim.  There are certainly supporting characters – Dawn’s fiancee, Lee; Neil, the district office manager; Chris Finch, Brent’s #1 sales rep – but by and large the smaller characters play only bit parts.  The American version, on the other hand, has a sprawling cast, with entire episodes centering on (or at least featuring) a dozen or more other characters in the last few seasons.  I stress again that the show has been consistently funny, but I always felt that the sheer number of characters has diluted the impact.

Or at least that’s what I thought until a couple weeks ago.  Even the casual viewer knows that the show has been building steadily toward Jim and Pam’s wedding since the end of Season 2.  In short, they kiss, he goes away, he returns, he’s dating someone else, they get together, she goes to art school, he proposes, she’s pregnant.  The wedding episode finally rolled around shortly into this season, and I was pleasantly surprised while watching it until …

***** SPOILER ALERT FOR PEOPLE WHO CATCH UP LATER ON DVD *****

… the wedding march begins, one of the wedding party signals the organist to stop playing, and Dwight immediately turns on a boom box playing that godawful Chris Brown song that accompanied that stupid YouTube wedding dance sensation from a few months ago.  I don’t remember groaning out loud in disappointment, but it’s entirely possible that I did.  This kind of straight-faced parody/homage seemed to run counter to everything the show was about.  It was a predictable joke, and worse, it was about two months too late to even be topical.

But I kept watching, and a funny thing happened.  Each of the supporting characters did his or her dance down the aisle – Michael, Phyllis and Bob Vance, Andy (using a walker after tearing his scrotum in a dance contest the night before) and Erin, Kelly and Ryan, Stanley, Michael again, Oscar and Kevin, Angela, Creed, Dwight, and then the whole cast – and this sequence was intercut with scenes from the real wedding ceremony that had already taken place in secret.  Watching it, I realized just how brilliant this show has become.  Even though the humor is broader, the characters are just as finely drawn as in the British version, and the emotional reaction I had at the end of this episode  – sitting in my apartment with a big, dopey grin on my face and a lump in my throat – was based on just how much I’ve come to care about them over the last five seasons.  The huge cast is one of the reasons the show has continued to grow and improve, and the wedding dance – rather than the hokey and ill-conceived joke I thought it would be – seems to be just as much a celebration for the actors as it is for their characters.  Above all, it demonstrates just how far the show has come in five seasons, and just how much this remarkable cast has evolved into the funniest group of actors on television.

The wedding episode could have gone wrong in so many ways, but, taking a page from its UK counterpart, The Office did the unthinkable and made it perfect.

Here’s the wedding video, for those who haven’t seen it, or who just want to remember how great it is (and sorry if NBC makes you watch a commercial first):

*****

Current listening:

Love and Rockets – Earth Sun Moon

Current reading:

Kate Krautkramer – “Roadkill” (in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005, ed. by Dave Eggers

Cibole, Pam Beesly Halpert!

Jenna Fischer est quelque chose sur le cover du nouveau SHAPE magazine.

Pourquoi j’ai pas la motivation de me bouger le cul, moi? GROSSE MOLLE! That’s what she said! Ha!ha! La pognes-tu, pit?

Last week I started watching the Office regularly after I caught a bit of it on TBS.  I thought the show was rather witty and had to see what else it could offer.  Sure enough, in less than a week with my busy schedule I got through the first season (which was only a meager 6 episodes) and am now getting through season 2.  The biggest joy of watching the American Office, for me, comes from watching Jim and Pam.  Pam is engaged to Roy, a worker in the Dunder Mifflin warehouse, but is complete best friends with Jim, while Jim is definitely so into Pam.  Their story is the classic tale of guy and girl are best friends, but guy can’t tell her for some reason- the reason being Pam and Roy’s engagement.

I love watching Jim and Pam’s relationship play out because they’re so adorable together.  Pam is this cute, innocent girl, and Jim is a quirky, intelligent gentleman.  Clearly the best part of each other’s day is when they get to talk to each other and engage in office pranks.  They’re always smiling together, always having a good time… I love seeing that on screen.  I know that in the later seasons Jim and Pam DO get together and there’s even an episode where Jim buys them a house without asking Pam and he sets up an art studio in the garage for her.  Sound like anything else you might guess?

Seeing how Pam and Jim are together is like seeing a really good couple together or witnessing a 30th year anniversary between a wife and husband- it’s just heartwarming to see and it’s my favorite part of the Office.  The best part is just knowing that Jim totally deserves Pam and vice versa.  John Krasinski’s character is a high-profile television figure who represents everything a nice guy should be.  He’s a lot like Marshall, in that sense, from How I Met Your Mother, but Jim’s softer- definitely more refined and smarter.  Jim’s the guy opening a car door for a lady and being completely in-tune with someone else’s emotions and knowing exactly what to do and say to spread good vibes.  Like the episode where Michael buys a house and is crushed because he feels it was a terrible choice?  Jim presents Mike and Dwight with the Gold and Silver medals for the Office Olympics they didn’t even participate in which leaves Michael in joyful tears because he’s so touched by the gesture.

It’s just really nice to see such a man of good character on T.V.

And then there’s Pam Jam who’s generally so soft-spoken, but totally opens up when Jim’s nearby.  She’s always concerned for him and looking out for his best interest.  Like the time when Jim entered Michael’s office and everyone thought he might be getting fired?  She was the first one to dart at him, grab his hand, and hurriedly ask if everything was okay.  And then there’s the way that Pam takes it upon herself to find new ways of entertaining Jim while at work because she knows he’s a wonderful guy stuck in a crappy job.  Pam also knows how to stand up for herself and doesn’t take shit she doesn’t like from others.  She’s really just a classy, kind-hearted woman.

If you don’t watch the Office, you should really give it a shot.  Netflix has all the seasons on Instant Play and they’re an absolute joy to watch.  I don’t entirely laugh every second, but I’ve gotten very invested in certain characters already and it’s highly entertaining.  Most specifically, Jim and Pam’s story is beyond delightful and I cannot wait to see where everything goes.

Here’s to nice guys finding nice girls.

Recent Gluekit illustration of The Office for Entertainment Weekly magazine, 2009.

Another great episode for the second week in a row, slowly making up for the wedding aisle dance-or-rama spectacular.

Okay, I’ll stop busting on the wedding aisle dance. The awful one.

Jim and Pam return from their honeymoon and are greeted by none other than Blind Guy McSqueezy…

B.G. McSqueezy, post-falling into a pool of acid eyes first.

…Michael’s new character that the women in his improv class absolutely hate, but yet he’s still so proud of it.

From there, we launch a nice subplot, wherein Dwight plants a listening device in a mallard on Jim’s desk.

And this takes us to the major crisis of the episode, which begins when Michael tells Jim that he’s taken a lover and it’s Pam’s mom.

I love how Jim confirms the affair:

Jim: “You did not have sex with Pam’s mom.”

Michael: “Big time.”

Jim: “What kind of car does she drive?”

Michael: “A green Camry.”

Jim: “F*%K!”

So Jim explodes with a serious warning not to tell Pam and to cease and desist the dating of her Mom. He obviously knows Pam well enough to know she will not take this well.

Jim: “For both of our sakes, never, ever ever see her again!”

"Then take another way home, man!"

And of course Michael can’t help but tell Pam.

Pam GOES NUTS (which was extreme, but I rolled with it) even trying to lead an office revolt in a conference room meeting about volunteerism and conservation (which is courtesy of an NBC initiative which inserted these themes into the actual scripts of each show on tonight’s lineup).

This scene is a classic Office cattle call, with so many little moments to savor.

• Look at how happy Stanley is, here, as the only one who’s joining Pam in her chant…

"No more meetings!"

• Meredith: “Paint a mural of Chicano leaders?”
• Michael calls Pam’s mom on the phone “boo” and “pickle.”
• Michael to Pam: “I am your boss, and I may someday be your father!”

Michael’s plea for acceptance pretty much falls on deaf ears, save Phyllis, who seriously crunches on him.

Michael: “I’m caring. I’m generous. I’m sensual. Is it really so horrible that I could possibly go out and find happiness?”

Why can't I be loved?

He’s right, of course, and what makes this situation so interesting is that Pam was the first person to support him with his personal trials. She saw him as a fragile human being when others dismissed him; she was his rock during the storms of Jan and Holly and she returned to Dunder Mifflin as his one of his conquering generals from the Michael Scott Paper Company. It will be interesting to see if this will continue a disintegration of the Pam-Michael alliance, and will this be treated seriously along with the humor?

We can’t forget Toby, who gets his first loving embrace from Michael…

"Once he got to know me..."

…and a few minutes later it’s back to being called a jackass. Poor Toby. But he deserves every scrap of garbage heaped on his head. Because it’s funny.

Toby’s attempts to broker a peace accord go down in flames, and when Pam throws down the gauntlet, Michael fires back: “I’m going to start dating her harder.” She knows what that means.

He also reveals that Jim knew about the affair, which leads to some classic Jim caught-in-the-headlights flustering…

"Barely. Didn't have all the facts. ~frank and beann...~"

…which I find to be hilarious. I’ve seen a number of internet posters complaining that Jim is such a wimp, that he needs to lay down the law with Pam when it comes to the office. But these moments are a nice counterpoint to the cutesy-mush- poop that they normally inflict upon us. We need some conflict up in that marshmallow center. (Also, I’m married and I realize more every day the power of a smartly-placed “Yes, dear.” It is a quiet power, a humble power, an ego-less power. Amongst other things.)

But Jim gets his manly moment when he takes out Dwight in a nice scene with a clueless Andy and an aria.

The mallard defense.

But Michael’s okay, he’s got plenty of female friends, right? They include…

• His mom.
• Pam’s mom.
• His aunt, although she just blocked him out of IM, and…
• What’s-her-face from Quiznos that he sees four times a week.

We’re left wondering, will we see more of Ryan’s fedora?

Sinatra and Dino, over here.

We end on, I will admit, a nice scene where Jim reminds Pam of their honeymoon highlights to calm her down, and a failed attempt to suggest that she may be over-reacting.

"Do you think I'm over-reacting." "Yeah, maybe." "But I don't think I am." "You're not."

And just so we don’t have to fade out completely on a patented Pam-Jim cutesy-poo, we get a nice Norman Bates-style denial of insanity from Dwight, straight into camera…

Not stupid enough to put his primary listening device in a wooden mallard.

Solid episode, guys.

your “tuna boss,”

Dan Calvisi
Dan’s Scriptomatic Cinematic Telematic 3D!

p.s. there’s some deleted scenes on nbc.com, immediately after the full episode replay, worth checking out.

[all images: nbc.com]

[this article also posted on joeonthetube.com]

Another great episode for the second week in a row, slowly making up for the wedding aisle dance-or-rama spectacular.

Okay, I’ll stop busting on the wedding aisle dance. The awful one.

Jim and Pam return from their honeymoon and are greeted by none other than Blind Guy McSqueezy…

B.G. McSqueezy, post-falling into a pool of acid eyes first.

…Michael’s new character that the women in his improv class absolutely hate, but yet he’s still so proud of it.

From there, we launch a nice subplot, wherein Dwight plants a listening device in a mallard on Jim’s desk.

And this takes us to the major crisis of the episode, which begins when Michael tells Jim that he’s taken a lover and it’s Pam’s mom.

I love how Jim confirms the affair:

Jim: “You did not have sex with Pam’s mom.”

Michael: “Big time.”

Jim: “What kind of car does she drive?”

Michael: “A green Camry.”

Jim: “F*%K!”

So Jim explodes with a serious warning not to tell Pam and to cease and desist the dating of her Mom. He obviously knows Pam well enough to know she will not take this well.

Jim: “For both of our sakes, never, ever ever see her again!”

"Then take another way home, man!"

And of course Michael can’t help but tell Pam.

Pam GOES NUTS (which was extreme, but I rolled with it) even trying to lead an office revolt in a conference room meeting about volunteerism and conservation (which is courtesy of an NBC initiative which inserted these themes into the actual scripts of each show on tonight’s lineup).

This scene is a classic Office cattle call, with so many little moments to savor.

• Look at how happy Stanley is, here, as the only one who’s joining Pam in her chant…

"No more meetings!"

• Meredith: “Paint a mural of Chicano leaders?”
• Michael calls Pam’s mom on the phone “boo” and “pickle.”
• Michael to Pam: “I am your boss, and I may someday be your father!”

Michael’s plea for acceptance pretty much falls on deaf ears, save Phyllis, who seriously crunches on him.

Michael: “I’m caring. I’m generous. I’m sensual. Is it really so horrible that I could possibly go out and find happiness?”

Why can't I be loved?

He’s right, of course, and what makes this situation so interesting is that Pam was the first person to support him with his personal trials. She saw him as a fragile human being when others dismissed him; she was his rock during the storms of Jan and Holly and she returned to Dunder Mifflin as his one of his conquering generals from the Michael Scott Paper Company. It will be interesting to see if this will continue a disintegration of the Pam-Michael alliance, and will this be treated seriously along with the humor?

We can’t forget Toby, who gets his first loving embrace from Michael…

"Once he got to know me..."

…and a few minutes later it’s back to being called a jackass. Poor Toby. But he deserves every scrap of garbage heaped on his head. Because it’s funny.

Toby’s attempts to broker a peace accord go down in flames, and when Pam throws down the gauntlet, Michael fires back: “I’m going to start dating her harder.” She knows what that means.

He also reveals that Jim knew about the affair, which leads to some classic Jim caught-in-the-headlights flustering…

"Barely. Didn't have all the facts. ~frank and beann...~"

…which I find to be hilarious. I’ve seen a number of internet posters complaining that Jim is such a wimp, that he needs to lay down the law with Pam when it comes to the office. But these moments are a nice counterpoint to the cutesy-mush- poop that they normally inflict upon us. We need some conflict up in that marshmallow center. (Also, I’m married and I realize more every day the power of a smartly-placed “Yes, dear.” It is a quiet power, a humble power, an ego-less power. Amongst other things.)

But Jim gets his manly moment when he takes out Dwight in a nice scene with a clueless Andy and an aria.

The mallard defense.

But Michael’s okay, he’s got plenty of female friends, right? They include…

• His mom.
• Pam’s mom.
• His aunt, although she just blocked him out of IM, and…
• What’s-her-face from Quiznos that he sees four times a week.

We’re left wondering, will we see more of Ryan’s fedora?

Sinatra and Dino, over here.

We end on, I will admit, a nice scene where Jim reminds Pam of their honeymoon highlights to calm her down, and a failed attempt to suggest that she may be over-reacting.

"Do you think I'm over-reacting." "Yeah, maybe." "But I don't think I am." "You're not."

And just so we don’t have to fade out completely on a patented Pam-Jim cutesy-poo, we get a nice Norman Bates-style denial of insanity from Dwight, straight into camera…

Not stupid enough to put his primary listening device in a wooden mallard.

Solid episode, guys.

your “tuna boss,”

Dan Calvisi
Dan’s Scriptomatic Cinematic Telematic 3D!

p.s. there’s some deleted scenes on nbc.com, immediately after the full episode replay, worth checking out.

[all images: nbc.com]

[this article also posted on joeonthetube.com]

“The Lover”

October 22nd, 2009

This review is going to seem somewhat hypocritical, as I have always been a known supporter of serialized sitcoms. However, there are times when there are elements in previous episodes that I don’t necessarily want to see continue, left to remain as an enjoyable aside that is left to the audience’s imagination. Even heavily serialized shows like The Wire would often introduce small elements that aren’t part of some broader serialized storyline but rather sit under the surface and add to our understanding of these characters.

I know that I was being more than a bit idealistic, but I had really hoped that The Office would resist the temptation to take Michael’s rendezvous with Pam’s mother and follow it through to this logical but blown up conclusion. That small moment in “Niagara” was a shocking moment for the coda, but for it to turn into an entire episode played out like melodrama more than an episode of comedy. The episode succeeds in finding some comedy in the setup to the situation, with Pam’s realization proving to be an absolute highlight, but once things become about yelling things begin to fall off the rails a little.

It isn’t that this is a failure, as I thought the episode did a few interesting things on the dramatic side of things, but in its desire to be both comic hijinks related to the scenario and a depiction of Michael Scott’s eternal sadness it never quite connected on either front.

What makes this episode work, in the end, is that it’s more about Michael Scott’s quest for happiness than it is about Pam’s reaction to the news of Michael and her mother dating, but what keeps it from really working is that we’re really only given Pam’s side of the story. Ultimately, I felt for Michael in this episode, especially when he basically asked the office whether they believed he would ever find happiness. It was the kind of moment that some could view as part of the show’s incessant efforts to embarrass Michael, but in reality it was simply sad: here is someone whose quest for happiness has been the show’s greatest tragedy, Jan turning into a crazy person and Michael turning into a crazy person with Carol, and yet here he’s finally found someone he loves but it’s causing him all of this trouble. In that moment, the rest of the office sympathizes with Michael in a way that Pam can’t, and it’s at that point that we as the audience feel much the same.

However, the episode doesn’t really reflect this, as it derives all of its comedy from Pam’s hilarious overreaction to the news. The moment of realization is the real selling point of this storyline for the writers, allowing Pam to slowly realize that the mother in question is her own, and just how much that horrifies her. And the show gets to play Michael’s naivete, acknowledging that he never expected her to be upset, for laughs as well, along with Jim being stuck in the middle of it all knowing how bad it all was. However, the show starts with Pam’s return rather than with Michael’s affair, which means that we’re meant to see things from her perspective. We never even get to hear Pam’s mother speak, yet alone get to see the nature of her relationship with Michael, so we’re left with only the employment-related chaos that results. This has its comic moments, absolutely, but it has limited returns when it comes to really connecting with the characters involved.

The episode’s final moments are charming, as Michael struggles to walk away without trying to smooth things over while Jim and Pam return to their honeymoon as a way of blocking out everything that is happening. But it seems like the real potential for this story was only hinted at when it should have been the point of the matter, as things kept flitting back and forth between comic and dramatic consequences. If we had seen more of Michael’s side of this story, or if he had even had some talking heads that felt like they reflected less Michael ignoring the impact this was going to have on Pam and more his logical position that his quest for happiness deserves a chance to be proven (as opposed to assumed) wrong. While one  could argue that this creates a dichotomy that in itself drives this point home, the lack of time spent with Michael made it seem more like a continued delusion than any sort of deeper sentiment, and that’s unfortunate.

As for the other elements of the episode, there were a lot of fun individual moments in this one that in some ways seemed like a distraction rather than a welcome diversion from the main storyline. Dwight’s attempts at espionage was an intriguing new dynamic to Dwight and Jim’s relationship, where Dwight takes the proactive role and Jim is forced to retaliate. I think it was a really fun little B-Story that unfortunately seemed like it took time away from the other storyline which needed some more time. I thought each scenario (Jim playing the Aria and pointing to Dwight so as to raise his paranoia, and then Kelly and Ryan talking about Fedoras) both played into the larger storyline and offered some really clever little moments (like Dwight’s anger over it being called a duck, or Creed breaking down crying at the beauty of the Aria), and in some ways it was the kind of office storyline the show does best. However, because of the episode operating around it, it didn’t really fit in, and almost felt cut in from an entirely different episode at times.

I said above that the episode felt like melodrama, and I want to make clear that any attempt to deal with this story, including my own where we get more of Pam’s mother’s side of things, would ultimately feel more melodramatic than a normal episode of the show. However, I wanted it to be a better melodrama than it was, in the process better connecting with the dramatic elements of each character. I don’t think that initial reveal would have been less funny if we had had more of the picture, and I thought the comic payoff from the moment wasn’t good enough to justify the streamlining of things. I understand that they couldn’t resist Pam’s reaction and let this be the kind of secret that just sits there and potentially comes up a long way’s down the line, but there was something about how this was handled that just felt off. I don’t know if it would have worked better to have the buildup to Pam’s revelation last an entire episode, having the fallout depicted in another episode once things had settled down somewhat, but the execution was just lacking for me on this one.

Cultural Observations

• I liked the idea that Jim and Pam came back from their honeymoon with inside jokes, and I kind of liked that they were really mundane. The one moment with Pam that felt really authentic dramatically was the sad “Frank and Beans” from Jim at the end of the episode, so it was nice to see that come full circle.
• I might have felt she dominated the episode a bit too much, but Jenna Fischer was kind of great throughout.
• Loved that Toby ended up in the line of fire of Jim when he found out about the news, and that later Toby and Michael actually bonded. Perhaps I’m underestimating the show’s time spent with Michael, as reconciling with Toby is kind of monumental. However, since I know that will be gone soon enough, I guess I wasn’t entirely jumping up and down or anything similar.
• Volunteerism is a theme on television all week as part of a broad television initiative, and I like that the show chose Dwight to be its volunteerism spokesperson with his pet euthanization. However, I felt Meredith stole the scene with her strategy of painting a mural of Chicano leaders in order to improve life in Scranton.
• I was really shocked that we never actually got Ryan’s back story about the Fedora, and was sad that the coda turned into an unfunny Dwight note (where we says he’s not insane enough to have only one listening device, and then listens to eight hours of Jim discussing paper) as opposed to a hat-related back story.
• Thought the cold open, with blind Michael, was a bit of a dud.

Sooooooo, welcome to the blog o’ craziness. Click away!

Apparently, Hulu is going to start charging in 2010. Boo to that, I say.

Although I don’t watch these shows myself, I have some friends and family members who do, so I felt I should post this bit of news. The Vampire Diaries and Melrose Place have been picked up for full seasons, so yay for them! Also, two main actors are leaving!

Judy Greer has been cast in a new sitcom for ABC.

Adam Shankman is set to direct & choreograph the movie version of the Broadway musical, Rock of Ages. Awesome.

Vote for Jenna Fischer (or other people, I guess) for the People’s Choice Awards.

Jane Lynch & Kristen Bell are coming back to Party Down!! Woohoo!! P.S. I totally saw Jane Lynch on the street in NYC yesterday, but since my brain was basically rattling off her IMDB credits, I decided not to say anything to her aka make a giant a$$hat of myself. I mean, Glee isn’t her first rodeo, kids. I was starstruck. She’s still awesome. The end. Hmmm speaking of…

Glee-Mania!!

The new Entertainment Weekly cover

Joss Whedon will be directing an episode of Glee!

Madonna approved her songs!

FOX is releasing the first 13 episodes on DVD December 29th!

L.A. Times’ Top 10 Performances

I like Jenna Fischer, I wish we could see more of her. But this is a start.

wow, so i’ve been so busy lately, i actually thought i already wrote a post about the office wedding. JIM AND PAM’s wedding! i’ve been talking about it for WEEKS. and no, i just completely forget to comment. wow, i’m disappointed in myself. it was probably the single greatest episode of television ever. well, it’s over a week late now so instead i will refer you to my friend josephine’s blog post about it. she breaks it down perfectly. pam/jim love <3.

and for those of you who missed the amazing dance routine down the aisle–relive it here.

I just thought it’d be fun to put all initials for the main topics of this post. Doesn’t it force you to play a little game in your head? I imagine it going something like this… “Well, what could these initials stand for? I know Carly loves Kathy Griffin and Jenna Fischer, which take care of 2 of them. BL could be Biggest Loser and if I’m especially a fan of Broadway, I can see the last 2 as being Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs. No clue on the BP.” Was I even close there, people? Well, some of those were right, but in THIS particular post, BL stands for Big Love, my absolute favorite drama and BP is Brad Paisley. I probably have never talked about him, but I do enjoy him & his music and there happens to be some fun news regarding him today…

Big Love returns to HBO on January 10th

Brad Paisley is going to be involved in a new show on the CW

Kathy Griffin’s new Bravo special will air November 3rd @ 9 PM. Title? Yeah… “Balls of Steel”

Jenna Fischer’s the new cover girl for Shape magazine

ET’s article on Jenna Fischer’s awesomeness

Taye Diggs talks to Ellen about his wife, Idina Menzel, giving birth to their son

Oh yeah- and a new episode of The Office is on tonight! It’s no Beesly-Halpert wedding, but a girl can’t complain. Last week definitely left me smiling and satisfied /Jim.

Okay, so seriously. Click on any of these 4 people/shows/things of mine and you’ll find a fun treat. Um, Scrubs totally includes spoilers but everything else is fair game.

Scrubs

Jenna Fischer

Gilmore Girls

HIMYM

Plus, a little casting info from a new show I enjoy I can’t quite call it a favorite yet, but click here for some Modern Family scoop.

Yes, this is only part one. I’m working on it, but for now, pull up a chair/pillow/whatever, put on some fun music and enjoy!

Access Hollywood: Jenna Fischer & John Krasinski Talk Office Pregnancy Don’t worry spoilerphobes- Jenna only really mentions when Pam’s baby is due and then just how she’ll be padded… and there’s cute video from both John & Jenna!

The Office in Niagara Falls, NY

Just Jared: Pictures (not all scenes shown in these pictures aired, btw)

Six Sneak Peek Clips We’ve obviously seen these in the actual episode, but they were put out there ahead of time.

Why Jim & Pam’s Wedding is good for TV comedy

Entertainment Weekly: Popwatch’s Wedding Recap

The following links all feature this promotional behind-the-scenes video

however, I wanted to post everything I could find, so I guess it could still be fun to see what everyone’s take is on it…

TVGuide: Behind the Scenes of Jim & Pam’s Wedding

Entertainment Weekly: ‘Office’ nuptials video clip: I do!

NPR: ‘The Office’ Makes A Wedding The Heavily Promoted Ratings Grab Of Your Dreams

E! Online: Jim & Pam are Going to the Chapel & They’re Gonna Get Married!