In today's column, I review tonight's hour-long "The Office" baby episode:On tonight’s episode of "The Office," Jim and Pam are going to have a baby. "The Office" is in the midst of a disappointing season.You can read the full column here.
However tempting it may be to connect those two dots, it’s a coincidence, not a cause-and-effect situation.
The episode itself is actually quite good, the first half particularly. I'll have a separate post discussing it in more detail going up tonight at 10.
Instead of Ted McGinley can it be John C. McGinley instead. It doesn't even have to be Dr. Cox.
ReplyDeleteI've given up on this show totally and could care less if the baby is coming tonight.
ReplyDeleteThe show has been dragging for a while and it just got too tiring to watch. when you have to actually look for things to laugh at, you know it's jumped already.
these are things I don't envy Alan about at all. I can't imagine having to watch shows past their prime, let alone having to post about them.
Talk about taking one for the team.
@jasctt
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you did just post. Irony!
The funny thing about the Office is so many people think it's hip to talk about how terrible it is now. Someone came into this post, just to say how he DOESN'T like the Office. And it was in a post where Alan said the episode is the best in a while!
ReplyDeleteThe Office performed at such a high level for the first few seasons, that the Office seems worse than it really is because of what we expect from it. This show is still better than every comedy out there except for Parks and Rec, Community and Modern Family.
I'm tired of everyone ripping it so much. It hasn't slipped as much as 30 Rock has.
I dearly LOVE "The Office" and I think it's time for the producers to set an end-date, so the series can wrap up with dignity. Heck, just setting an end-date will probably end the aimlessness that's been hurting this season.
ReplyDelete@10:28 anon: Dan and Alan covered this in last week's podcast: What's the deal with people saying "set an end date"? This isn't "Lost," this isn't "Battlestar Galactica" -- the show will end once it stops making money. If you dislike it, stop watching; you can declare it your own personal end date. But it isn't like there's this overarching mystery throughout the season for which the producers must send an end date so you can see it all resolved.
ReplyDeleteI saw that Linda Stasi of the money-hemmoraging NY Post gave this show one star! Well, seeing as that Stasi is an ugly, ignorant troll, I'm looking forward to the episode, esp. since it can't POSSIBLY be worse than that disgraceful 30 Rock fiasco with Jan Hooks...
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ReplyDelete@Anon @12:28 - I've been making the end-date comment since a couple episodes before the Olympics, and Alan and Dan discussed it in their podcast a couple weeks ago. As Dan pointed out, that's not likely to happen given the ratings NBC enjoys from The Office.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm 100 percent with you on wanting The Office to end with dignity. I fear it has careeened so far off course, its legacy is going to be one unfit of its former creative and comic glory.
People get alot of flack for saying the show should end because it isn't funny anymore. The argument is "if you don't like it, stop watching." But the problem with shows like the Office that used to be so so good is that even though every episode seems to be less funny than the last (IMO), there is still the fear that if you stop watching you will miss something great. It's like ending a relationship where you still remember how great it used to be and you aren't quite sure exactly where it went wrong. All the ingredients are there for a great show, and we know this because it used to be great, but the mojo is gone.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, it isn't as simple as just stop watching. People are frustrated and want to talk about it. And this is where they come to do that.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteIn your article you said "lots of great, long-running sitcoms have had bad seasons and rebounded" but didn't cite any examples.
Is that really true? I can't think of any sitcoms that were good at one point, then started to decline and then rebounded.
Just off the top of my head, Cheers got really terrible for a while in the middle Kirstie Alley years, then rebounded in a huge way towards the end.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be great for The Office to set some sort of end date. It really feels like they're floundering with no focus this season, and that's hurting the quality of the show. I am looking forward to tonight's episode, though, since it sounds like it may be a really memorable one.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering whether I should drop this show from my viewing schedule due to my recent disappointment in this season, but as Laurel so eloquently stated, it's tough to give up on this show since I've watched and enjoyed it for so long. I've grown attached to the characters, and would hate to miss something potentially big down the road.
i stopped watching before the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I didn't post just to say it's a bad show now, I was posting in amazement that Alan has to watch all of these crap shows. I'd rather have my teeth pulled every night with pliers than have to sit through a minute of AI or Survivor or Cougarville.