The Office: Anyone else worried?

This post will contain spoilers for the two past episodes of The Office.

Hey duders. Is anyone else worried about the direction the show is taking? For the last two episodes, we've been seeing a lot this Brian duder. He's the sound guy for the documentary they are filming, and obviously he and Pam has some sort of connection.

With Pam and Jim struggeling, I can't help but feel that this is going to play into a whole love triangle drama thing. That's not what I want from The Office! I don't want Jim and Pam to struggle, because they're the best television couple in fucking ages.

It just doesn't fit the tone of the show. They've never fought before, so it's stupid to cash in on that when there's just a few episodes left. And tonights episode was just stoopid at the end. A fight scene broke out, where this Brian dude literally smashed his sound rod into a guys face. At least he got fired, but I don't think he's gone from the show for good. Pam will end up calling him, and the whole love triangle is on. Stoopid!

So what I'm saying is this... Fuck Brian!

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

The show has sucked since Micheal left.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It definitely should have. The few episodes I've seen from Season 8 are abysmal.

Wait, there were only two seasons. And the Christmas Special. What are you talkin about?

Didn't the boss leave to become a actor but could only find bit parts as an extra, this took a severe mental toll on him and he ended up being a caregiver in an retirement home?

fuck the office, why aren't you watching the hot new thing, The Workplace?

@Legion_ said:

This post will contain spoilers for the two past episodes of The Office.

Hey duders. Is anyone else worried about the direction the show is taking? For the last two episodes, we've been seeing a lot this Brian duder. He's the sound guy for the documentary they are filming, and obviously he and Pam has some sort of connection.

With Pam and Jim struggeling, I can't help but feel that this is going to play into a whole love triangle drama thing. That's not what I want from The Office! I don't want Jim and Pam to struggle, because they're the best television couple in fucking ages.

It just doesn't fit the tone of the show. They've never fought before, so it's stupid to cash in on that when there's just a few episodes left. And tonights episode was just stoopid at the end. A fight scene broke out, where this Brian dude literally smashed his sound rod into a guys face. At least he got fired, but I don't think he's gone from the show for good. Pam will end up calling him, and the whole love triangle is on. Stoopid!

So what I'm saying is this... Fuck Brian!

Every couple faces struggle sometime down the line. Even those that haven't fought before.

Last season was pretty underwhelming; however, at present The Office has returned (with the re-addition of Greg Daniels) into NBC's best Thursday night comedy. It's strange, considering how many people have bemoaned the death of Community after Harmon was canned, despite no episodes of Season 4 even airing yet, that the return of the person who was responsible for many of the best years of The Office continues to be cause for dismissal. The hive mind hasn't caught up yet, I suppose.

Regardless, the more troubling element than Brian (Jim and Pam will probably be okay, though I have loved watching the deterioration of their relationship thus far this season, since it seems so anti-The Office) is the Pete/Erin relationship. Mostly this becomes concerning because it's so telegraphed (like I'm not sure how the show doesn't wrap up with Andy/Nellie and Eric/Pete pairing up), the guy who plays Pete doesn't seem like a great actor, and because Ed Helms has been off the show for like three months now and it's tough to develop any sort of emotional investment when they basically destroyed the Andy character by making him a Michael Scott-lite version last year and (a fault of Daniels this year) this season.

Clark Duke has been a great addition though, and now that he seems to be full on back from whatever he was filming for Kick-Ass 2 I'm expecting big things from him going forward.

@RVonE said:

@Legion_ said:

This post will contain spoilers for the two past episodes of The Office.

Hey duders. Is anyone else worried about the direction the show is taking? For the last two episodes, we've been seeing a lot this Brian duder. He's the sound guy for the documentary they are filming, and obviously he and Pam has some sort of connection.

With Pam and Jim struggeling, I can't help but feel that this is going to play into a whole love triangle drama thing. That's not what I want from The Office! I don't want Jim and Pam to struggle, because they're the best television couple in fucking ages.

It just doesn't fit the tone of the show. They've never fought before, so it's stupid to cash in on that when there's just a few episodes left. And tonights episode was just stoopid at the end. A fight scene broke out, where this Brian dude literally smashed his sound rod into a guys face. At least he got fired, but I don't think he's gone from the show for good. Pam will end up calling him, and the whole love triangle is on. Stoopid!

So what I'm saying is this... Fuck Brian!

Every couple faces struggle sometime down the line. Even those that haven't fought before.

This is true. Nothing wrong with writing a struggle for them. Through that hardship they may become closer. Now, weather or not the plot is well done is something I can't say.

The office is too big to fail, but that means it's just going to decline in quality until everyone who was interested has fled the scene, much like what happened to How I Met Your Mother.

It's frightening to think that the closet thing that we have to Seinfeld level of consistence and humor is "Always Sunny".

The last episode was the first episode of The Office I have seen in a long time. It was okay, but Pam seemed out of character throughout the entire episode.

@laserbolts said:

The show has sucked since Micheal left.

I still watch the show, it's definitely peaked but it's still worth watching if you're like, eating a sandwich in front of your computer or something- it's still on Hulu. I'm not sure I care for the drama they seem to be leading up to, but I still like the back-and-forth between Jim & Dwight.

Jim: I can't make it Dwight, I'm in Philadelphia right now.
Dwight: How is that my problem? Get in your car and drive down here. You can make it in 30 minutes if you drive 240 miles per hour.
Jim: Huh. How long would it take me if I drove 300 miles per hour?
Dwight Hm. ...that is a good question

Dwight finally snaps and shoots up the office to become a martyr for gun control legislation. Calling it right now.

The show ended for me when Michael left. That's when it lost its soul.

@Winternet said:

Wait, there were only two seasons. And the Christmas Special. What are you talkin about?

Two seasons, a christmas special, and an American remake.

@AngelN7 said:

@laserbolts said:

The show has sucked since Micheal left.

It sucked before then.

Though I've read some very interesting rumors about this current turn of events and it's gotten me to tune in for the first time in a long time.

I haven't watched since Steve Carrell left.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It should have.

I just get tired of American shows, they stay past their welcome way too long. The only comedy I can think of that was good every season is Seinfeld.

Curb Your Enthusiasm too, but that doesn't count because it has half the episode count of crap like How I Met Your Mother.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@RVonE said:

@Legion_ said:

This post will contain spoilers for the two past episodes of The Office.

Hey duders. Is anyone else worried about the direction the show is taking? For the last two episodes, we've been seeing a lot this Brian duder. He's the sound guy for the documentary they are filming, and obviously he and Pam has some sort of connection.

With Pam and Jim struggeling, I can't help but feel that this is going to play into a whole love triangle drama thing. That's not what I want from The Office! I don't want Jim and Pam to struggle, because they're the best television couple in fucking ages.

It just doesn't fit the tone of the show. They've never fought before, so it's stupid to cash in on that when there's just a few episodes left. And tonights episode was just stoopid at the end. A fight scene broke out, where this Brian dude literally smashed his sound rod into a guys face. At least he got fired, but I don't think he's gone from the show for good. Pam will end up calling him, and the whole love triangle is on. Stoopid!

So what I'm saying is this... Fuck Brian!

Every couple faces struggle sometime down the line. Even those that haven't fought before.

This is true. Nothing wrong with writing a struggle for them. Through that hardship they may become closer. Now, weather or not the plot is well done is something I can't say.

It's not. Two episodes ago, Jim just blew up over the phone. And you could tell that the actors weren't comfertable, because it was so unlike their characters. Just strange all over.

I'm not even joking, I had no idea this show was still on.

I actually appreciate them giving the illusion that they're pulling back the curtain on the documentary and are breaking the fourth wall by introducing Brian. IMO, the show has been stale for a long time...even before Michael left.

@FLYmeatwad said:

Last season was pretty underwhelming; however, at present The Office has returned (with the re-addition of Greg Daniels) into NBC's best Thursday night comedy. It's strange, considering how many people have bemoaned the death of Community after Harmon was canned, despite no episodes of Season 4 even airing yet, that the return of the person who was responsible for many of the best years of The Office continues to be cause for dismissal. The hive mind hasn't caught up yet, I suppose.

Regardless, the more troubling element than Brian (Jim and Pam will probably be okay, though I have loved watching the deterioration of their relationship thus far this season, since it seems so anti-The Office) is the Pete/Erin relationship. Mostly this becomes concerning because it's so telegraphed (like I'm not sure how the show doesn't wrap up with Andy/Nellie and Eric/Pete pairing up), the guy who plays Pete doesn't seem like a great actor, and because Ed Helms has been off the show for like three months now and it's tough to develop any sort of emotional investment when they basically destroyed the Andy character by making him a Michael Scott-lite version last year and (a fault of Daniels this year) this season.

Clark Duke has been a great addition though, and now that he seems to be full on back from whatever he was filming for Kick-Ass 2 I'm expecting big things from him going forward.

Yeah, the whole Pete/Erin thing is also strange. At first, I was really upset when they started flirting and stuff, because I was rooting for Andy. But now, Andy has been gone for like ten episodes, and he was pretty dickish in the early parts of the season. Let's just hope his return will be triumphant.

Dwight finally snaps and shoots up the office to become a martyr for gun control legislation. Calling it right now.

The Office ended when Michael Scott left the show. The rest is just deleted scenes.

The finale should reveal that they're all actors.

@Legion_ said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@RVonE said:

@Legion_ said:

This post will contain spoilers for the two past episodes of The Office.

Hey duders. Is anyone else worried about the direction the show is taking? For the last two episodes, we've been seeing a lot this Brian duder. He's the sound guy for the documentary they are filming, and obviously he and Pam has some sort of connection.

With Pam and Jim struggeling, I can't help but feel that this is going to play into a whole love triangle drama thing. That's not what I want from The Office! I don't want Jim and Pam to struggle, because they're the best television couple in fucking ages.

It just doesn't fit the tone of the show. They've never fought before, so it's stupid to cash in on that when there's just a few episodes left. And tonights episode was just stoopid at the end. A fight scene broke out, where this Brian dude literally smashed his sound rod into a guys face. At least he got fired, but I don't think he's gone from the show for good. Pam will end up calling him, and the whole love triangle is on. Stoopid!

So what I'm saying is this... Fuck Brian!

Every couple faces struggle sometime down the line. Even those that haven't fought before.

This is true. Nothing wrong with writing a struggle for them. Through that hardship they may become closer. Now, weather or not the plot is well done is something I can't say.

It's not. Two episodes ago, Jim just blew up over the phone. And you could tell that the actors weren't comfertable, because it was so unlike their characters. Just strange all over.

Yeah so it's not so much the direction of the series as such that's worrying but more a case of bad writing.

Last season was painfully bad, but there's been a recent uptick in quality (explained, I believe, by the absence of Ed Helms).

This show sucked ever since they made the American version.

@wewantsthering said:

This show sucked ever since they made the American version.

The american version is roughly a billion times better than the british.

@Sooty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It should have.

I just get tired of American shows, they stay past their welcome way too long. The only comedy I can think of that was good every season is Seinfeld.

Curb Your Enthusiasm too, but that doesn't count because it has half the episode count of crap like How I Met Your Mother.

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

@ll_Exile_ll: I love Arrested Development but I think if it had gone to much longer it might have gotten stale and the 3 seasons was just about right. I'm excited to see what the new season will be like tho!

@Winternet said:

Wait, there were only two seasons. And the Christmas Special. What are you talkin about?

@ll_Exile_ll said:

@Sooty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It should have.

I just get tired of American shows, they stay past their welcome way too long. The only comedy I can think of that was good every season is Seinfeld.

Curb Your Enthusiasm too, but that doesn't count because it has half the episode count of crap like How I Met Your Mother.

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

Only a couple of months until the next season! May can't come fast enough.

@Legion_ said:

@ll_Exile_ll said:

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

Only a couple of months until the next season! May can't come fast enough.

I just have this bad feeling that it won't be the same. The talk about not every character being in every episode has me a little worried, though I hope it lives up to the legacy.

@Kerned said:

I'm not even joking, I had no idea this show was still on.

this

@ll_Exile_ll said:

@Legion_ said:

@ll_Exile_ll said:

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

Only a couple of months until the next season! May can't come fast enough.

I just have this bad feeling that it won't be the same. The talk about not every character being in every episode has me a little worried, though I hope it lives up to the legacy.

That's not the way I've understood it. To me, it sounds like there will be character centric episodes, where the other characters have minor roles. Might be wrong though. What has me more worried is the fact that IMDb states that Tony Hale was on the show from 2003 - 2006, while all the other characters have 2003-2013 on their profile. Is Buster not returning?

@ll_Exile_ll said:

@Sooty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It should have.

I just get tired of American shows, they stay past their welcome way too long. The only comedy I can think of that was good every season is Seinfeld.

Curb Your Enthusiasm too, but that doesn't count because it has half the episode count of crap like How I Met Your Mother.

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

It didn't really end though, it got culled by Fox because most networks only care about their shitty numbers.

I'm glad HBO and Showtime are happy with their fairly modest numbers for Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy, otherwise more quality shows would be off air.

Anyone remember Jericho? I thought that show was great, got cancelled due to lower viewership, lame.

Should have ended after the third season with Jim coming back and asking Pam out to dinner.

@ll_Exile_ll said:

@Sooty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It should have.

I just get tired of American shows, they stay past their welcome way too long. The only comedy I can think of that was good every season is Seinfeld.

Curb Your Enthusiasm too, but that doesn't count because it has half the episode count of crap like How I Met Your Mother.

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

It didn't really end though, it got culled by Fox because most networks only care about their shitty numbers.

I'm glad HBO and Showtime are happy with their fairly modest numbers for Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy, otherwise more quality shows would be off air.

The show has sucked since Micheal left.

@MariachiMacabre said:

@Sooty

@ll_Exile_ll said:

@Sooty said:

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This show is still going? I could of swore It ended a while back.

It should have.

I just get tired of American shows, they stay past their welcome way too long. The only comedy I can think of that was good every season is Seinfeld.

Curb Your Enthusiasm too, but that doesn't count because it has half the episode count of crap like How I Met Your Mother.

You forgot the best American comedy of all time:

Arrested Development.

That show ended way before it's time.

It didn't really end though, it got culled by Fox because most networks only care about their shitty numbers.

I'm glad HBO and Showtime are happy with their fairly modest numbers for Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy, otherwise more quality shows would be off air.

Wait. Sons of Anarchy on Showtime? Is it different outside the US? Here it's on FX.

Oops. I meant FX.

I guess Showtime are the same with Dexter though, I don't think that pulls in more than 1.6-2m per episode which a lot of shows on Fox/NBC get cancelled for.

Similar spoilers to the first post below:

Last week's show was the impetus for me creating that "TV shows that took a dark turn" thread the other day on here. At first, what they did last week was actually kind of interesting to me. I was hoping this going to be a mindfuck hing on the level of Roseanne's final season being all made up, or ALF getting captured by the government in the final episode, but this week I thought they kind of blew it a little. Subtlety goes a long way and there wasn't much of that to be found. The camera guy literally saves Pam from getting beat up? That's a little much for me. I know they are short on time at this point, but it seems like they are coming on way too strong with trying to make a) Jim seem like an asshole all of a sudden and b) The crew member seem like the best guy ever.

Regardless, I assume they'll be too afraid to have anything but a happy ending when the show concludes.

@Winternet said:

Wait, there were only two seasons. And the Christmas Special. What are you talkin about?

@Sooty said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

It didn't really end though, it got culled by Fox because most networks only care about their shitty numbers.

I'm glad HBO and Showtime are happy with their fairly modest numbers for Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy, otherwise more quality shows would be off air.

Wait. Sons of Anarchy on Showtime? Is it different outside the US? Here it's on FX.

Oops. I meant FX.

I guess Showtime are the same with Dexter though, I don't think that pulls in more than 1.6-2m per episode which a lot of shows on Fox/NBC get cancelled for.

The difference is that HBO and Showtime make their money off subscription fees, not ad revenue, so they can hang in with a show that has lower ratings as long as it has strong critical reception and positive word of mouth, because that will generate more subscriptions and dvd sales. Traditional networks live and die by ratings because they make their money from ads, which is why trash like Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory continue to be renewed while things like Arrested Development and Firefly were treated so poorly.

The show was pretty great when the characters resembled real people, and the conflicts resembled real awkward issues real life coworkers fall into. That's not to say you couldn't make a perfect season by hand picking ones from seasons 4 onwards, I just think their outrageous ideas aren't as funny or "worth it" as Seinfeld's Bubble Boy, Soup Nazi, Gay Puerto Rican Thugs, etc. The UK office ended too soon, but went out flawless.

@_Chad said:

@laserbolts

The show has sucked since Micheal left.

Who's Micheal?

I really hate that the show has lost its way, particularly that good-natured absurdity from the second through fourth season. It's still got some great jokes from time to time, but it should've ended with Steve Carell leaving.

The Office ended when Michael left, so I'm not sure what you're talking about!