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[VeryGooster]

Andy Greenwald of Grantland wrote up a piece offering some perspective on The Office as it was and what it is now and its potential legacy being in that Thursday 9pm slot: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9277121/the-end-office

Damn this week flew by. The finale is tomorrow night!

 

[The Real Abed]

I'm surprised The Office didn't get a whole Thursday night block like Seinfeld did where the finale is an hour and then its followed by a retrospective. (Fancy clipshow)

Guess not all their long-running shows deserve that kind of attention.

 

[VanWinkle]

I'm surprised The Office didn't get a whole Thursday night block like Seinfeld did where the finale is an hour and then its followed by a retrospective. (Fancy clipshow)

Guess not all their long-running shows deserve that kind of attention.

What do you mean? Isn't it getting an hour long retrospective and an hour-and-fifteen-minute-long finale?

 

[Link]

I'm surprised The Office didn't get a whole Thursday night block like Seinfeld did where the finale is an hour and then its followed by a retrospective. (Fancy clipshow)

Guess not all their long-running shows deserve that kind of attention.

Err... it is getting that. One hour retrospective followed by one hour+ finale.

 

[BFIB]

Odds are NBC tried to do the whole tie in night w/ a Leno "Office Central" theme like they did with Seinfeld, Friends, etc.

My guess is the cast is as done as we are with the way the show's been.

 

[The Real Abed]

Err... it is getting that. One hour retrospective followed by one hour+ finale.

What do you mean? Isn't it getting an hour long retrospective and an hour-and-fifteen-minute-long finale?

Is it? How have I not heard this news?

Odds are NBC tried to do the whole tie in night w/ a Leno "Office Central" theme like they did with Seinfeld, Friends, etc.

My guess is the cast is as done as we are with the way the show's been.

Still wouldn't get me to watch Leno.

 

[Hobbestetrician]

Not gonna be able to watch the finale until Sunday but luckily it is easy to avoid spoilers in the woods.

 

[Grinchy]

Yuck. An hour long clip show? So it'll be the Jim/Pam video but 20 times as long? Is there anyone here who is going to suffer through that?

 

[toddhunter]

Yuck. An hour long clip show? So it'll be the Jim/Pam video but 20 times as long? Is there anyone here who is going to suffer through that?

Yes, why not? There has been a lot of amazing moments over the years and we have already suffered through much worse to get here.

Sure it'll probably be a 50 minute Andy singing montage, but I'll give it a go.

 

[Link]

Yuck. An hour long clip show? So it'll be the Jim/Pam video but 20 times as long? Is there anyone here who is going to suffer through that?

Not just clips. Cast and crew interviews too.

EDIT - And according to my DVR, a look inside the writer's room and actor audition footage.

 

[Grinchy]

I can't wait to see Craig Robinson's audition tape. I can just imagine them asking him to be more monotone and to try to seem more like a guy without any acting talent.

 

[The Real Abed]

I should make sure to record the whole two hours.

 

[vatstep]

If the retrospective is actually well-produced, with a decent amount of new material, behind the scenes footage or whatever, I'll watch it.

If it's, like, 80% clips, then I won't bother. I hate clip shows.

 

[The Real Abed]

The Onion has put up their awesome look back at The Office's best moments:

Season 1: The first episode, an exact remake of the British version’s premiere, focuses solely on Michael’s inability to get the tea the right temperature and his dreams of being on the telly
Season 1: Critics hail the 114th brief glance of withheld, unexpressed infatuation between Jim and Pam in episode 2 as the show’s most poignant
Season 2: Four-episode story arc where Dwight learns to format cells in Microsoft Excel
Season 2: A love triangle develops between Jim and Pam and Thomas, who was later edited out of the show in post-production
Season 3: After running out of episodes of the original British series to adapt, the show begins to reuse plots to old episodes of Dr. Who
Season 4: Felix, the wise janitor played by Judd Hirsch, is introduced
Season 6: It is revealed the reason Michael hates Toby so much is because he murdered Michael’s entire family in the early ’90s
Season 8: Phyllis becomes the 14th character to have a spin-off series with her show, Phyllis’ Daily Routine
Season 9:

Spoiler

Keeping true to its British roots, the series finale has Jim and Pam getting a divorce and the rest of the cast dying in a warehouse fire

http://www.theonion.com/articles/remembering-the-office,32458/

 

[fluffydelusions]

Do you think Michael will come back one last time. Actual show I mean not behind the scenes stuff.

 

[inm8num2]

Well, today's the end. Crazy this show began as a little 6-episode first season over 8 years ago. Then it became a huge cultural phenomenon. Then the show went downhill but still kept many viewers.

I feel a little sad and nostalgic.

 

[AstroLad]

I guess there were mixed feelings but I thought last week was a fantastic penultimate episode. Yeah some of it is fanservice but it was mostly well done, and a lot of the episode was near S3 quality or at least feel (even S3 had some lame Jan moments, so an episode doesn't need to be perfect). That last couple episodes have me really excited that they will do the finale right, which seemed almost inconceivable a month ago.

Now I need to avoid spoilers since I am DVRing and watching late tonight.

 

[Stumpokapow]

From an interview about S9:

A big story line the final season was creating new tension between Jim and Pam.
Fischer: I felt like it was overdue. I feel like this should have started for them last year, but we had the issue of Steve leaving and a lot of stories about who was going to be the new manager. There just wasn't a good place to have this deep of a story line last season.
Daniels: I felt like they started to have less to do in Season 8, so when it was clear that we were going to have a last season, part of the fun of it was for John and Jenna and I to say, "OK, we've been really good. We haven't put any drama in their relationship." We always thought it was a little bit of a contradiction that the show was pretty realistic and we made a great effort to have real stories, but their relationship was kind of a romantic fantasy relationship.
Fischer: I think I said something in a very early interview that has people very scared, which was that I always thought that maybe the real ending of Jim and Pam is that they aren't meant to be together. I think now that they've had kids, they need to do everything they can to stay together.

Did Fischer and Daniels miss all of the very contrived times they tried to inject conflict? Pam's art school guy, that one episode where Pam worries that because her parents were divorcing Jim was secretly going to leave her but actually it was that Jim loved her so much Pam's father divorced her Mother because he didn't? Cathy hitting on Jim in Florida? It's weird because in the very next question, he references the art school thing as an aborted storyline.

 

[AstroLad]

"romantic fantasy relationship" is stupid. totally agree that the contrived drama was universally horrendous. always has been between the two of them. almost beyond cringeworthy episodes like the one where jim says "something" that makes pam's dad split with her mom ("and what if he says it to me!?" *sniffle*). shudder

Last week was such a breath of fresh air because it had almost none of that contrived unfunny time-sucking crap.

 

[inm8num2]

Good read at HitFix.

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/the-office-a-look-back-at-a-brilliant-volatile-comedy-mix

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

From an interview about S9:



Did Fischer and Daniels miss all of the very contrived times they tried to inject conflict? Pam's art school guy, that one episode where Pam worries that because her parents were divorcing Jim was secretly going to leave her but actually it was that Jim loved her so much Pam's father divorced her Mother because he didn't? Cathy hitting on Jim in Florida? It's weird because in the very next question, he references the art school thing as an aborted storyline.

The art school thing was a red herring for the expected "Jim and Pam have problems" plot. I think every single episode sets up some sort of conflict, and then it resolves happily at the end of the ep. It was a meta-joke, not real conflict.

 

[TOP SHOTTA]

Well, today's the end. Crazy this show began as a little 6-episode first season over 8 years ago. Then it became a huge cultural phenomenon. Then the show went downhill but still kept many viewers.

I feel a little sad and nostalgic.

I fully expect to cry. I can't deal. I have been with the show through it's ups (Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9) and downs (Season 8).

I will cry. The Jim/Pam video should have but it fell utterly flat for me and therefore didn't make me cry, so the bases are definitely loaded.

 

[AstroLad]

The art school thing was a red herring for the expected "Jim and Pam have problems" plot. I think every single episode sets up some sort of conflict, and then it resolves happily at the end of the ep. It was a meta-joke, not real conflict.

If it was a joke, it was a huge waste of time. But then again that pretty much sums up Pam's entire NY trip.

JIM I AM A POOR HELPLESS WOMAN WHO LIKES TO DRAW BUT I DON'T KNOW COMPUTERS AND STUFF PLEASE SAVE ME AND DON'T BE MAD AT ME *sniffle*

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

If it was a joke, it was a huge waste of time. But then again that pretty much sums up Pam's entire NY trip.

JIM I AM A POOR HELPLESS WOMAN WHO LIKES TO DRAW BUT I DON'T KNOW COMPUTERS AND STUFF PLEASE SAVE ME AND DON'T BE MAD AT ME *sniffle*

I don't think it worked, but I think it's what they were trying to do.

 

[AstroLad]

I don't think it worked, but I think it's what they were trying to do.

Interesting. That honestly never even crossed my mind. I think you are giving them too much credit!

Apart from the romance angle, remember all the lame scenes with Pam and her college buddies? My God. There are even more in the deleted scenes and they are so bad.

 

[TOP SHOTTA]

Interesting. That honestly never even crossed my mind. I think you are giving them too much credit!

Apart from the romance angle, remember all the lame scenes with Pam and her college buddies? My God. There are even more in the deleted scenes and they are so bad.

Do you think we'll ever meet Sarah Kayacombsen?

 

[Crumpet Trumpet]

Man. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once this is all over. I've enjoyed lurking these threads and hate-watching this show with y'all for years now. <3

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Interesting. That honestly never even crossed my mind. I think you are giving them too much credit!

Apart from the romance angle, remember all the lame scenes with Pam and her college buddies? My God. There are even more in the deleted scenes and they are so bad.

I remember noting it three or four eps into the season, and after that it was almost predicatible.

I haven't rewatched to see if it's as consistent as I remember, but I certainly remember one "oh Pam and Jim/wait, it's OK" every episode.

 

[Killing_Joke]

The Office or the Ranger game...Hockey it is. At least i'll be able to skip commercials watching it later.

Hoping for a good finale. The preview sounds decent and the last couple of episodes created some good build. Happy NBC is giving it a respectful death. Deserves it even after the last couple of lackluster seasons.

God speed Dunder Mifflin.

 

[Iceman]

I so thoroughly enjoyed last week's episode that they've actually injected a bit of real hype into me. The nostalgia ran deep. I'm going in, actually, with high expectations.

It'll be tough to say goodbye to Jim, Pam, Dwight, Creed, Plop and the rest.

 

[AstroLad]

I so thoroughly enjoyed last week's episode that they've actually injected a bit of real hype into me. The nostalgia ran deep. I'm going in, actually, with high expectations.

It'll be tough to say goodbye to Jim, Pam, Dwight, Creed, Plop and the rest.

Plop, not so much.

Andy's song was excellent; they should have had that be the last time we saw him but oh well.

 

[vatstep]

I so thoroughly enjoyed last week's episode that they've actually injected a bit of real hype into me. The nostalgia ran deep. I'm going in, actually, with high expectations.

It'll be tough to say goodbye to Jim, Pam, Dwight, Creed, Plop and the rest.

Plop? Really?

 

[Stumpokapow]

Andy's song was excellent; they should have had that be the last time we saw him but oh well.

It's weird that they have him leave the Office for half a year, show up again, do nothing, get fired for no reason ("because if I don't get fired I'll keep having this to fall back on"), leave on an emotional and well-sung song...

... and then spend a third of the next episode chronicling the Independent Adventures of Andy where he does a not particularly good job singing songs no one wants to hear...

... and then... well, you said you're going in spoiler free for the finale so we'll talk again tomorrow.

 

[Link]

Andy at the audition was so stupid. Not the plot itself, but that he fights his way in and sings two songs no one would know and not do a good job with either of them. This is after we've seen him singing current songs throughout the series and immediately after he knocked it out of the park with the Sarah McLachlan song.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Andy at the audition was so stupid. Not the plot itself, but that he fights his way in and sings two songs no one would know and not do a good job with either of them. This is after we've seen him singing current songs throughout the series and immediately after he knocked it out of the park with the Sarah McLachlan song.

One of the problems with all of the characters on the Office who have an oblivious side (Michael Scott, Kevin, Andy, Dwight, Erin) is that the writers play up or down those attributes in order to service whatever joke they're trying to make, which results in wildly inconsistent characterization as to the characters social and cultural intelligence and knowledge base.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

One of the problems with all of the characters on the Office who have an oblivious side (Michael Scott, Kevin, Andy, Dwight, Erin) is that the writers play up or down those attributes in order to service whatever joke they're trying to make, which results in wildly inconsistent characterization as to the characters social and cultural intelligence and knowledge base.

Word.

A lot of people complain about how unrealistic the office has become, but I think that ship sailed when Ryan was made Michael's boss. The fact that it's a cartoon now is not really a bad thing. But the wildly inconsistent takes on some of the characters absoultely is. Even slow change is OK, but random shifts like we've seen just makes me not invested at all.

That's probably why I still like Dwight, Pam, and Jim-- they haven't suffered random changes the same way. I know a lot of early Pam stuff was shown to contract recent Pam stuff, but that was more a "people change" kinda thing.

 

[Permanently A]

I've been trying to get into the show but frankly, it bores me. When does it get funny? Should I skip the first season?

 

[Tucah]

I've been trying to get into the show but frankly, it bores me. When does it get funny? Should I skip the first season?

First season is okay but the second and third are some of the finest seasons of comedy around.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I've been trying to get into the show but frankly, it bores me. When does it get funny? Should I skip the first season?

You can start with 1x05 or so, but honestly if you don't like the first half of the second season, there's not much reason to watch the rest of the show.

 

[Permanently A]

First season is okay but the second and third are some of the finest seasons of comedy around.

Any episodes of the first season that stand out, or will I be fine starting from the second?

You can start with 1x05 or so, but honestly if you don't like the first half of the second season, there's not much reason to watch the rest of the show.

Okay, thanks! I like Parks and Rec a lot so I expect to like this as well, hopefully I do.

 

[AstroLad]

Any episodes of the first season that stand out, or will I be fine starting from the second?

Diversity Day. If you don't like that one, you can probably skip the whole series since you have bad taste in comedy.

 

[Plinko]

I really wish Clark had been added to the show earlier. He was a great character. Way better than Catherine Tate.

 

[toddhunter]

You can start with 1x05 or so, but honestly if you don't like the first half of the second season, there's not much reason to watch the rest of the show.

I think 1x05 is a good starting point. To me that is where the show stopped trying to be the UK office and started to be its own glorious thing.

 

[inm8num2]

I really wish Clark had been added to the show earlier. He was a great character. Way better than Catherine Tate.

If I had tons of money I'd pay someone to edit Andy Bernard completely out of the show. No references to him or anything. Cut out anything that has to do with Andy and retool certain plotlines as necessary.

 

[FSLink]

I really wish Clark had been added to the show earlier. He was a great character. Way better than Catherine Tate.

Plop wasn't too bad either.

And yeah I agree, just remove Andy earlier and Catherine Tate's character. :/

 

[Grinchy]

Clark is awesome. Is Plop "New Jim?" For some reason I just don't remember why he was called plop.

 

[Tamanon]

I haven't really watched since the Jim/Pam wedding, just kinda fell off and only picked up the occasional episode. Will watch the finale though.

 

[Iceman]

Plop? Really?

Nah, not really. Clark is so much a better character. But I just wanted to throw in the word Plop.

Diversity Day. If you don't like that one, you can probably skip the whole series since you have bad taste in comedy.

Don't know about that. That was a hard one for me to get through myself. Especially, when Michael has his exchange with Kelly. Ugh.

I would say the Basketball episode or Hot Girl, at the earliest. The tone changes dramatically in the beginning of season 2 though, so the safest bet is to start with season 2, ep. 1: The Dundees. I was personally hooked after that episode.

Which was the season 1 episode that had Jim & Pam convincing Dwight to

Spoiler

hide in the cardboard box in the warehouse

? Was that the one with the birthday party for Meredith? If so, the birthday stuff was so hard to sit through, but the Jim/Pam/Dwight subplot was unforgettable.

 

[VoxPop]

Is the finale 8PM eastern time?

 

[The Real Abed]

Is the finale 8PM eastern time?

Retrospective is 8PM. Finale is 9. According to our FiOS box.